What a deal !!!

I just wanted to explain the Facebook-Whatsapp deal and represent the 19billion Facebook paid in easy terms. 19billion USD in rupee term means somewhere around 117762 crore. To understand it consider the amount was being used to purchase some major companies in India say BPCL, HPCL and IOC, then even after completely acquiring these 3 companies there would have been sufficient amount left out in the amount paid to Whatsapp. He could have even bought SBI in full and left out with a few crores in hand. The amount is more than the total revenue that indian railways makes in an year. All this for a mobile application that made 20 million in revenues last year from 450 million users. But something that has to be understood here is that Facebook has paid only 4billion in cash and the rest in Facebook shares which are at it's all time high at present. That means he had to dilute less of Facebook at current market value and he could always buy those back if the markets correct and bring down share price of Facebook(May be the reason to drive up the value of Facebook shares???)

Is this some sort of consolidation in app messaging or just the start of a 'mobapp bubble' in the making. Have to wait and watch, only time can tell. Let's hope Whatsapp makes a lot of money for Facebook. 

Cycling - A new hobby

After long 9 years I have started cycling again. Last time I cycled was back in 2005 when I was just out of school. My cycle then was hero devil which I bought for 1750 used for 7 long years and sold for 700. Presently I bought the base version of gear cycle the Hercules Atom (6 gear) as I was afraid I won't get enough time and I would be forced to stop and now after 3 weeks I feel confident that it has become a part of my life I will go a long way with it.

At first I could hardly cycle for 20 min - 3km, and I would soon become out of breathe, I was a bit rusty when I started. Now just after 3 weeks I am able to pedal more than 12km within 40 min which for me is quiet an achievement. I started this mainly because I have small breathing problem and doc asked me to do some physical exercise that would give my lungs some breathing exercise. Don't know why but running/jogging felt too weird so I choose cycling and here I am. The thing that keeps me motivated is the drastic improvement in my breathing problem and the Challenges in the Endomondo app. Hoping to cycle for a long long time and soon to participate in some cycling marathon, just for fun.

A long walk to freedom - Nelson Mandela

A must read book for anybody especially our current generation who are living in such a free country. The book is an autobiography by Nelson Mandela about the struggle of the people of South Africa on fight against apartheid. It showcases how the white minority suppressed the native black community for more than 3 centuries.
The book highlights that even during the modern days, racial discrimination was so rampant that there was parallel system for everything from transportation, job, land ownership and even for education. Even in prison where Nelson Mandela spend 27 years of his life there was differentiation between the white, black, Indian and coloured communities no matter what the crime.
The book also speaks about ANC the African National Congress and its role in uniting the people under one umbrella to fight for the right to justice.
Nelson Mandela and his comrades had struggled a lot for South Africans to live the life they are living today. A lot of sacrifices where made by these leaders both professionally and personally. It was indeed a long walk to freedom !!!

Entrepreneurship - Some thoughts

Below are some thoughts I like to share. I may add, edit or delete things in the future. I should actually.

Entrepreneur should

1. Keep oneself up to date about the his field
2. Always keep networking and meeting new people
3. Never give up - A company takes at least 5 years to mature
4. Find happiness in smallest of the achievements and celebrate
5. Surround oneself with smart people
6. Never assume anything and never take things for granted
7. Attach yourself to the company and not the product
8. Never be obsessed with your position it may change over time
9. Believe in yourself but believe in your partners more 

10. Spend money wisely.
11. Hug your wife not your company. Sell when opportunity is right.
12. Last but the most important - Dream big !!!

Hunan the Chinese

I am late writing this blog. Should have written two days back when I had a great dining experience from Hunan the Chinese restaurant. It is a dining place near here at Sanjay nagar. I don't know whether it is a chain of restaurant but it does provide some of the awesome food I ever had from where I ended up having a three course meal.
The moment we took our seat a waiter came over to us and lit the candle on the table and gave us all the menu card. We were finding it difficult to decide upon which dishes to order so the waiter stood near us and explained to us each dish we fired upon him so that we could decide better and we ended up ordering a 3 course meal. We started with soup one crab and one veg don't remember the exact names. Next a vegetarian tofu. I never knew paneer could be prepared like this. It was as soft as cotton and the spices they added was excellent. We had fought over it if the waiter had not distributed it evenly.
The main course consisted of four different kind of noodles. Nithin ordered dragon noodle, Prathi Singapore glass noodle, mahesh I don't know what and me ordered a Malaysian thick noodle. All were great. We ended our meal with the best desserts anybody could have.
We came out of the restaurant with tummy quite heavier and wallets quite a lot lighter. Have a look at the image below, it explains everything.

The kid inside every person

We always think that it would be great if we could relive our childhood or wish we could be born again and never grow up. Feel that we should be able to do all the crazy stuff that we used to do when we were child - run around, shout out anywhere, climb trees, play from sunrise to sunset and so on. But what do we do to make this happen. NOTHING - Yes that is right nothing.
We just keep wondering that's all we do. But now I have a friend who has proven to me that he will always be a kid and one never has to grow up. One can always be immature and live the life we want no matter what. I call him today The man with the plastic gun. Even though the name is funny it is how everyone wishes to be but never attempts to be so.

What an awesome launch !!!

It was great to know that my company Amidray was selected as one of the 18 top startups at the startupfestival launchpad. It even felt better when we launched our product in front of a big entrepreneur community. What a wonderful experience.
The launch went well and many came to congratulate. Later after the event many came to see us and gave a good review for the app. Developing a product is an awesome experience but seeing people use it feels even better.
Thanks to all for a great support and really like to thank Daniel and all the startup festival crew for helping us out and supporting us.
That is CEO of Amidray Technologies launching zimzim