Wishes for the Blissful 2010!

Experience Bliss! Now.

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Separating the signal from the noise - A MUST have quality of an effective start-up CEO.

The credit of this conversation goes out to Manoj Saxena, an experienced technology entrepreneur based in Austin Texas.

Better identify the right signals, or the wrong things will get done. Our world is full of noise and so many traps. As an effective CEO, you need to separate the signal from the noise and be intellectually honest about the moves and the motion. Lot of people can be busy in making lot of moves, but are they getting somewhere. Are they making the right kind of traction in achieving their key goals? Capability to identify the right signal and then becoming laser focused in executing them is a MUST have skill of an effective CEO, especially in the early stage, but any stage of the business.

Ask yourself right now- are you identifying the right signals to make the right moves and getting the right motion?

The best way to stay focused on the signal is to remain client/customer focused. If you are serious about staying focused, these are the ten most important questions that will help you do just that:

1. What are they (customers) buying?
2. What do they like about your or competition’s offerings?
3. What do they dislike?
4. What can your competition’s product do that you can’t?
5. How much money are they willing to pay to solve the problem?
6. Can you solve it in a way that you can make a profit doing so?
7. When is your product going to be ready for the market?
8. When can you get your first two paying customers?
9. Does your organization have a culture of execution? Do you know your nonperforming employees or service providers?
10. How will your product make people’s life richer?

Everyone has their own style of making things happen. But the folks who have achieved more success always remain focused on the big picture even while getting involved in minor details of the business in the early stage of the company. This is also the area where your board or advisors provide valuable guidance to keep you focused on the things that matter most to your business.

There is no limit to the top line, but the bottom line is that life MUST be blissful. Keep this in mind while you do everything to stay focused.

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World is blissful! Everyday. Startup best practices.

I got-up at 6AM and went to enjoy the scenic run with Isaac and Holly. We enjoy running together a lot. As people say, any activity is done at three levels – physical, mental or spiritual level. These running experiences are somewhat at the mental and spiritual level which provides more relaxation then just running physically, which we need to do anyway to enjoy level 2 and 3. We start the run at the physical level but after 2-3 miles into the run, we tend to transition into level 2 and start enjoying the run lot more.

After we were done with our scenic route, I thought to do my favorite 10 miler along Town Lake. My mind was in confusion whether I do 10 miles or not. But then I said to myself to go for it, no more discussion. And that was it, my body was all ready for it. There is an important lesson in this decision making and driving it to completion. As long as our mind is divided in two options, most likely none of the options will get attention. But when there is only ONE, it can be done and it makes journey lot more fun! This kind of decision making is very important for start-ups. Start-ups are faster to execute on the vision because they are focused on single thing and decision making is quick as oppose to big companies who do have lot of resources compare to start-ups. Secondly, start-ups also tend to worry about sharing their idea with others. As Isaac puts it nicely – share your idea freely, the fact that start-ups go ahead and realize the idea faster than others is what makes them valuable. Until unless, start-ups have that passion and energy to r and make a difference in people’s life, idea alone will not go anywhere. So the idea has to be executed at mental and spiritual level and not just at the physical level to compose an outcome that people will enjoy.

So I started my 10 miler run and I was no more thinking whether I should have done other things instead of the run. One the other hand, I was enjoying my run. I saw tortoise swimming in the lake, so free!. I saw birds singing. I saw trees dancing with bliss and giving their best. When I said hello to other runners, they gave me their energy with smile. I saw a little baby walking and wondering what these little pieces are on the track - and the father telling little one that these are rocks. I saw life, full of colors.

Suddenly I started thinking how beautiful and blissful this morning was and thanking God for providing me the opportunity to enjoy His creation today. God gives us everyday with the same bliss, but at times, we just don’t notice the bliss around us. Noticing this bliss is just as easy as looking at the tree outside and appreciating the dance and positive energy tree is selflessly providing to the universe. Applying this tree theory is what sets smarter start-up teams apart from others.

InXero recognized among top 10 Internet companies to watch out for in 2009 by SiliconIndia.

Austin, TEXAS - March 16, 2009 - SiliconIndia (www.siliconindia.com), the premier magazine for business and technology has selected InXero as one of the top 10 Internet companies to watch out for in 2009 in the U.S. The selection recognizes companies that are playing a leading role in innovating in the Internet business.

SiliconIndia tracks over 1,000 companies in the U.S. and selected the ones that have the potential to be the game changer in their segment of technology or business. For this prestigious award, companies were chosen by a distinguished panel composed of accomplished CEO's & CIO's of public companies, VC's, analysts, and founders of other VC funded companies, and the SiliconIndia editorial board. Evaluations were made on both quantitative and qualitative criteria including the technology innovation, uniqueness of service offering, management pedigree, innovation, global strategy, customers and customer retention and, venture funding.

"In the backdrop of current economic conditions, we’re seeing a lot of innovative new companies taking on the established players with disruptive technologies and innovative business plans," said Harvi Sachar, founder and Editor-in-Chief of siliconindia. "The 10 Internet companies we have chosen, among them InXero, are pushing and breaking the boundaries of the technology business and we are excited to report on their success stories. They have a lot of momentum and will rise above the rest."

“Austin has a long tradition of innovation in the enterprise software space and is currently transitioning from legacy technologies to applying web 2.0-like technologies to a new generation of enterprise software innovations.” said Bart Bohn, Director of the Austin Technology Incubator’s Wireless and IT Incubators. “InXero has the potential to help catalyze the emerging enterprise social media industry in Austin and make Austin the global innovation hub in this area by building an ecosystem of existing and new companies to fulfill to this new emerging market.” (www.ati.utexas.edu)
“It’s a great honor to have been selected for this award for our product innovation in Enterprise Social Media and differentiated enterprise 2.0 market offering." said Anand Raj, Founder and CEO of InXero, Inc. “SiliconIndia keeps a good pulse on the high-tech companies that are playing a leading role in innovating in the internet business, and we are very pleased with the recognition.”
The full story is available at: http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/10_Internet_companies_to_watch_out_for_in_2009-nid-53206.html

Follow carefully NOT blindly - Not all things are like what they may seem

A good rule for an entrepreneur is NOT to take things as they may seem at the first encounter. You may meet with lot of high profile people or high profile companies and may follow their guidance blindly. Not a good thing. Just believe in your instincts and follow your heart no matter what other people say. At the same time - there are also few really good people out there. Consider yourself lucky if you find one of those – and take their guidance seriously.

Above is a picture of a Palace in India. Looks very beautiful from outside. Isn’t it? Now let us look inside it.

Surprisingly, this is the picture of the main entrance of this palace. This is not visible from outside in the main picture.It is at the center of the previous picture. Well, you got the point!

As you start working on your new idea, not let big players in the industry scare you. Every successful company starts small. Remember, you start your journey where you stand today and you don’t worry about any thing else but remain focused on the value creation and making this world a better place.

Be open for new possibilities – but follow carefully, not blindly.