OK… In the series of my writings on Insurance and particular Health Insurance, I feel like dwelling more for the benefit of 6.00 Million Indian Americans residing in United States. Here it goes…
Amongst the expenses for Americans, Health cost could be easily adjusted as top 3 monthly expenses after Mortgage (Rent) and Food. For lucky ones who get the Health Cover from their employer, the cost may not exist, but for the Self Employed / Students or Retirees, the cost is un-bearable and growing year on year. I am sure, India is no different now, but still health cost is not as expensive as in America. It will not be an aberration to mention that falling sick without medical Insurance in United States is a sin, thus every resident as well as visitor to this country must ensure that he or she is adequately covered. The bad news is that over 40 million resident Americans are not even having a basic cover.
Even someone having a Health Card (Insurance), one may not really know what is covered or not, unless one has read the Policy fine prints on Inclusions or Exclusion. A simple common exclusion could be Ambulance charge. Thus the thumb rule is that any thing less than USD 500K Comprehensive Coverage for a family of 4 will fall short in case of medical emergencies. You are in better position, incase you are part of the Group Health Plan purchased by your company. Higher the members in your plan, better you are in terms of coverage and inclusions.
Individual or Family Health Insurance holder may not get the renewal, if the claims were high last year. To protect millions, Lawmakers in several American states are limiting insurers' ability to cancel health policies for consumers who buy their own coverage. It is been reported that over 18 million people have individual or family coverage in United States.
Unlike group health policies offered by employers, individual plan may require applicants to submit many years' worth of detailed medical information. The insurers use that information in deciding whether to offer coverage and how much to charge. Most states allow insurers to revoke an individual policy — generally within two years (called contestable period in Insurance parlance) of granting it — if they find an applicant lied or inadvertently omitted information on an application. Cancellation of a policy is retroactive. Patients must pay for all their past medical care, even if the insurer previously approved and paid for the care. There is little nationwide data on the extent of cancellations.
Prompted by numerous consumer complaints and lawsuits against insurers, state lawmakers are finally taking some action. Worth mentioning are :
• New Mexico : The Legislature this month passed bills requiring insurers to show that applicants deliberately gave incorrect information on an application. Current law allows cancellation if the error or omission was inadvertent.
• Connecticut : In October, a new law took effect requiring approval from the state insurance commissioner before an insurer can cancel an existing policy.
• California : Legislation introduced last week would require insurers who want to cancel a policy to first win approval from the state's Department of Managed Health Care. Last year, legislators adopted a law requiring insurers to pay for any medical treatment they approve, even if they later cancel the policy. California state regulators have announced cancellation-related fines against some insurers, including Blue Cross, Kaiser Permanente and Blue Shield of California.
• New York : The Governor Eliot Spitzer may come out with some limiting clause soon.
Insurance companies argue that only a small percentage of policies are cancelled vis-à-vis the live policies. They say the action is necessary to protect against fraud, such covering up medical conditions. "To the extent that applicants aren't honest and forthright about their health care status, that means costs are shifted to everyone else," says Karen Ignagni, president of the industry lobbying group America's Health Insurance Plans. I kind of agree with this argument. USA Today reports that Blue Cross of California has said it cancels less 1% of all new policies.
This debate will go on but fact of the matter is that Insurance in America is expensive. It is expensive because managing Health Care (Doctors / Medicines & Infrastructure) is really expensive out here.
Fortunately for Indians in America (Non Citizens only) or any where in the world, one can buy less expensive American Health Insurance from http://USA.InsuranceMall.in (Click Visitors Health). There is no medical test required and the Health Card could be printed On-line today. The (Visitor)Health Insurance Plan is created exclusively for non Americans and is cheaper vis-à-vis American Health Insurance for Americans. It could be a good Health Policy for you if you are H1 / L1 / F1 / J1 and Green Card Visa Holder in United States.
Cheers. Enjoy and Stay safe.
Manish Jaiswal
CEO – Bonsai America, Inc.
http://usa.insurancemall.in/
for
http://www.newsandreviews.in/
Link - http://www.buynowindia.com/newsandreviews/index.php/Insurance/
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Student Loan in America
Graduate or Higher Academics open important doors for an empowered life without exception. Seventy five thousand or more students from India come to United States every year to pursue academic excellence. This make Indians, the largest legal migrant population coming to America each year followed by Chinese. Most students graduate from college with a lifetime of memories and path to grand success. Unfortunately, a lot of students also graduate with a lifetime of debt.
The leading news paper USA Today carried an interesting article by Sandar Block on Student loan. She mentions that about two-thirds of students leave college with student loans; the average balance is $19,237. Some students who attend out-of-state public universities or high-cost private colleges graduate with much more debt. With college costs rising faster than most family incomes, some students have no choice but to borrow. For Indians coming for Management degree or Masters could be even more expensive. On an average, an Indian Student takes USD 30K as Student loan to pursue his or her academic dream. The figure would easily touch around USD 100K incase of branded 2 yrs Management course from Ivy League Universities like Harvard / Stanford / Columbia / Cornell or Princeton.
Unsubsidized federal Stafford loans have a fixed rate of 6.8% and are available to all American students. For subsidized Stafford loans, available for students who can show economic need, the rate is 6% for loans taken out after July 1.
However, the Private student loans, which aren't guaranteed by the federal government, have variable rates that are typically tied to the prime rate or another benchmark. Rates range from about 6% to more than 14%. But while the prime has been falling, rates for many private loans are moving higher.
The credit crunch has made it more expensive for some lenders to raise money for student loans. It is expected that rates for private loans will rise by a quarter of a percentage point to 1.5 points over the next few months. Student borrowers, who don't have a co-signer with good credit will sure pay much higher rates or might not be able to get a private loan at all.
Many American borrowers turn to private loans because they've maxed out on their federal student loans. As private loans become more expensive and harder to get, "Students may think twice before going to a more expensive school."
To make college more affordable, a growing number of colleges and universities have eliminated loans from their financial aid packages. For example, Colby College, a private school in Waterville, Maine, announced in January that it's replacing loans with grants, a move that school officials say will save the average graduate $14,000.
In a typical financial aid package, the college will calculate how much it thinks a family can afford to pay, known as the expected family contribution. The school will then offer a mix of loans, grants and work-study to make up the gap between that amount and the actual cost of college.
If you attend a school that's replaced loans with grants, you might still need to borrow to cover your family's expected contribution. But you probably won't have to borrow as much.You can find a list of schools that have reduced or eliminated loans from their aid packages at the website for the Project on Student Debt, http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/ .
http://www.simpletuition.com/ , an American website, that lets borrowers compare loan rates and terms, is a good place to start your loan search. Of Course, Indian students have an additional option of taking loan from Indian Banks, before they embark the journey of higher studies abroad, which may or may not come without collateral security.
Manish Jaiswal
CEO – http://www.insurancemall.in/
manish@bonsaiinternational.com
Link - http://www.buynowindia.com/newsandreviews/index.php/Finance/
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Hollywood Movie Review : Intimate Affairs (2007)
• Movie : Intimate Affairs
• Director : Alan Rudolph
• Producer : Nick Nolte
• Cast : Dermot Mulroney, Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell, Nick Nolte, Terrence Howard
• Rating : 1.5 on 5 Stars
“Intimate Affairs”, a Hollywood flick should be avoided at all cost. It is a complete waste of time. The movie is shot in a room, around Harvard University campus, with bunch of (pseudo) intellectuals discussing or better put, researching the true meaning of love and sex.
You wish & hope that the Director Alan Rudolph may change the topic, course or characters, but till the very end, you will be tortured with the same garbage of un-wanted talks.
The movie is about a scholar professor (Dermot MuLroney),obsessed to come out with a scientific (anecdotal data) evidence on the mysteries of Love and Sex.
Other than Dermot and Terrence Howard, no actors could be easily recognized in the movie “Intimate Affairs”. I wonder why Terrence Howard picked up this flick as his role is limited without an impact. Robin Tunney and Neve Campbell (The Steno Assistant) are also quite average in this movie.
Overall, I would rate this movie low 1.5 on 5 Stars.
MK Jaiswal
manish@bonsaiinternational.com
for
http://www.newsandreviews.in/ (Movie Reviews)
Link - http://www.buynowindia.com/newsandreviews/index.php/Films/
• Director : Alan Rudolph
• Producer : Nick Nolte
• Cast : Dermot Mulroney, Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell, Nick Nolte, Terrence Howard
• Rating : 1.5 on 5 Stars
“Intimate Affairs”, a Hollywood flick should be avoided at all cost. It is a complete waste of time. The movie is shot in a room, around Harvard University campus, with bunch of (pseudo) intellectuals discussing or better put, researching the true meaning of love and sex.
You wish & hope that the Director Alan Rudolph may change the topic, course or characters, but till the very end, you will be tortured with the same garbage of un-wanted talks.
The movie is about a scholar professor (Dermot MuLroney),obsessed to come out with a scientific (anecdotal data) evidence on the mysteries of Love and Sex.
Other than Dermot and Terrence Howard, no actors could be easily recognized in the movie “Intimate Affairs”. I wonder why Terrence Howard picked up this flick as his role is limited without an impact. Robin Tunney and Neve Campbell (The Steno Assistant) are also quite average in this movie.
Overall, I would rate this movie low 1.5 on 5 Stars.
MK Jaiswal
manish@bonsaiinternational.com
for
http://www.newsandreviews.in/ (Movie Reviews)
Link - http://www.buynowindia.com/newsandreviews/index.php/Films/
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Hillary Clinton : Six Solid Steps for Sure Success
“When going gets tough, Tough gets going”. That should be Hillary R. Clinton, the next President of America.
However, if proverbs were to chart history, then every thing would have been so easy to predict or achieve. Now the million dollar question! Why is Hillary Clinton going through a rough patch in the race, when she has every thing it takes to be the next President of America? If she has knowledge, if she has personality, if she has right experience and if she is ready, then why not a smooth sailing for her vis-à-vis her opponents?
This was baffling me hence I tried doing a bit of back-yard research (in Atlanta / New York and Jersey City) and here is what I could extract to solve the puzzle:
• Some think she is not trust worthy. When I asked why, then there is no firm answer
• Some think she is rigid. Again when asked for data, no convincing answer
• Some think she is like Bush, bringing family era into American politics. When I asked what is wrong with that, if an individual is good to rule and govern. Again no convincing counter argument
So, perhaps the above 3 reasons could be why a formidable Mrs. Clinton gave room to her young opponent. Clearly it is more like a communication or perception challenge, which we face in Corporate-World every day. Perception, not handled well on time, mostly becomes reality.
Perhaps, Hillary has to talk about her strengths in mega proportion now. She has to remind every one that she is ready to lead and direct a new course for America that will bring Prosperity, Happiness and Hope back to every one. A desired change and the buzz word from her opponent camp.
If I were to lead her campaign, I would initiate the following 6 steps on a yesterday basis.
6 solid steps for a sure success:
1. Visibility: Have more programming events at CNBC / MSCNBC / CNN and International Channels (Asian / Spanish). She must appear more often on the national media, not just through expensive Ad campaigns only but also on popular TV & Radio shows.
2. Heritage: Hillary has to show her past work, including the time at White House as First Lady. Being the First Lady in past is no shame or weakness but a privilege. Show the footage about her social work in the past with Women / Afro Americans / Asians / Latinos / Education and Jobs. This will put her in direct contrast against mere words of Mr B. Obama.
3. Experience: We all know, there is no substitute to experience. Hillary has more experience than Mr Barack Obama. Present that to the Americans and world media. Show her past exposure with world leaders and her firm understanding about the world affairs, both Economy and Polity. This relevant experience will provide strong foundation for the successful American Foreign Policy. A much needed requirement for the Super-Power. This will indeed give her the edge in the campaign.
4. Strengths: Bill and Chelsea are her biggest strengths and assets on her side. She must learn to leverage them well. Bill Clinton is an undisputed Brand. It is like Pope for Christians. Don’t put him into the back-seat. So is Chelsea. Let them campaign to different audiences. Ex President Mr Clinton can reach out to Afro Americans / Asian and Hispanics while Chelsea can easily win back College and young crowd.
5. Message: Hillary has every thing on her side. She is a successful Senator / mother and a loyal wife. A core of the American Values. Let her present that image to media and masses. When she is on the dais or at debate, let her say that she is proud of her past and a symbol of American Dream. Like her, every women, every girl and every American could be the First Lady or the next President of America. This message should be repeated without fail.
6. Presentation: Clothes are good but she must have a solid presentation too. Hillary has to start saying that she is better and she is ready for the post. She is ready to serve. She is ready to instrument CHANGE that is both acceptable and durable. Her speeches should have life and vigour. She should not read the speech. She should speak from her heart. Americans love heroic ways and oratory skills. She must work on this part which is weak, I must admit.
It will be shame to see that Hillary R. Clinton, with all her capabilities missing the finishing line. I sincerely hope, soon some one in her team could work on these 6 Solid Steps. If yes, then she will be the next president of America. I am still hopeful.
Cheers !!!
Manish Jaiswal
for
http://www.NewsandReviews.in
link - http://www.buynowindia.com/newsandreviews/index.php/MKJ/
However, if proverbs were to chart history, then every thing would have been so easy to predict or achieve. Now the million dollar question! Why is Hillary Clinton going through a rough patch in the race, when she has every thing it takes to be the next President of America? If she has knowledge, if she has personality, if she has right experience and if she is ready, then why not a smooth sailing for her vis-à-vis her opponents?
This was baffling me hence I tried doing a bit of back-yard research (in Atlanta / New York and Jersey City) and here is what I could extract to solve the puzzle:
• Some think she is not trust worthy. When I asked why, then there is no firm answer
• Some think she is rigid. Again when asked for data, no convincing answer
• Some think she is like Bush, bringing family era into American politics. When I asked what is wrong with that, if an individual is good to rule and govern. Again no convincing counter argument
So, perhaps the above 3 reasons could be why a formidable Mrs. Clinton gave room to her young opponent. Clearly it is more like a communication or perception challenge, which we face in Corporate-World every day. Perception, not handled well on time, mostly becomes reality.
Perhaps, Hillary has to talk about her strengths in mega proportion now. She has to remind every one that she is ready to lead and direct a new course for America that will bring Prosperity, Happiness and Hope back to every one. A desired change and the buzz word from her opponent camp.
If I were to lead her campaign, I would initiate the following 6 steps on a yesterday basis.
6 solid steps for a sure success:
1. Visibility: Have more programming events at CNBC / MSCNBC / CNN and International Channels (Asian / Spanish). She must appear more often on the national media, not just through expensive Ad campaigns only but also on popular TV & Radio shows.
2. Heritage: Hillary has to show her past work, including the time at White House as First Lady. Being the First Lady in past is no shame or weakness but a privilege. Show the footage about her social work in the past with Women / Afro Americans / Asians / Latinos / Education and Jobs. This will put her in direct contrast against mere words of Mr B. Obama.
3. Experience: We all know, there is no substitute to experience. Hillary has more experience than Mr Barack Obama. Present that to the Americans and world media. Show her past exposure with world leaders and her firm understanding about the world affairs, both Economy and Polity. This relevant experience will provide strong foundation for the successful American Foreign Policy. A much needed requirement for the Super-Power. This will indeed give her the edge in the campaign.
4. Strengths: Bill and Chelsea are her biggest strengths and assets on her side. She must learn to leverage them well. Bill Clinton is an undisputed Brand. It is like Pope for Christians. Don’t put him into the back-seat. So is Chelsea. Let them campaign to different audiences. Ex President Mr Clinton can reach out to Afro Americans / Asian and Hispanics while Chelsea can easily win back College and young crowd.
5. Message: Hillary has every thing on her side. She is a successful Senator / mother and a loyal wife. A core of the American Values. Let her present that image to media and masses. When she is on the dais or at debate, let her say that she is proud of her past and a symbol of American Dream. Like her, every women, every girl and every American could be the First Lady or the next President of America. This message should be repeated without fail.
6. Presentation: Clothes are good but she must have a solid presentation too. Hillary has to start saying that she is better and she is ready for the post. She is ready to serve. She is ready to instrument CHANGE that is both acceptable and durable. Her speeches should have life and vigour. She should not read the speech. She should speak from her heart. Americans love heroic ways and oratory skills. She must work on this part which is weak, I must admit.
It will be shame to see that Hillary R. Clinton, with all her capabilities missing the finishing line. I sincerely hope, soon some one in her team could work on these 6 Solid Steps. If yes, then she will be the next president of America. I am still hopeful.
Cheers !!!
Manish Jaiswal
for
http://www.NewsandReviews.in
link - http://www.buynowindia.com/newsandreviews/index.php/MKJ/
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
What are the challenges to market a website in India?
It is a tough question because a correct answer means finding the right solution too. Like any product, marketing a website has similar set of problems except the rejection rate for a website in question could be pretty high vis-à-vis a commercial product or services in the Off Line space. Offline offerings may have more tolerance compared to Online offerings.
I guess, like any where else be it America or India, the biggest challenge for the marketer or the owner of the Website (either transactional or info site) remains, how to reach masses on a yesterday basis at minimum cost. Fortunately in America, no sooner the Website build the traction, the company gets the credit line (loan) at competitive rate. However, for an Indian company trying to put a successful website on the world-wide-web, will not only have to work hard but pray hard too to get either funding or a credit line from a bank.
The Indian banks are pathetic as they would want to see 2-3 yrs of Balance Sheet with Profits, because they just don’t understand these new Online business avatar, where there is no inventory but only human and tech capital.
I know lot of successful managers and marketing people, working either in a Funded company or affiliated to Industrial house with some Online diversification, will come out with simple text book GYAAN, that try Google or put your Ad (TVC) on electronic media etc etc. However, fact of the matter is, that how a new start-up could afford these expensive marketing / branding medium to reach masses? How would one build customer traction or media traction without capital or aggressive cash flows , even one has done a great job of filling the expectation gap (Read Value Proposition in VCs language)?
So, the biggest challenge for any new website in India is Capital. If one could crack this piece, other things – Technology, Scalability, Value Adds, Marketing, Branding etc. could be managed as India has depth of such talents to manage other fringe hurdles of a new business. What you can’t hire is some one who is confident or even experienced to raise capital for the new venture as Online / Start-ups / Investment Banking etc is a new phenomenon in India till date. Having solved the capital issue will bring the other untold challenge of hiring quality people who understands the psychology of the online business. It is a different animal all together. A great offline Sales, Business development or Marketing resource may not be able to crack this piece with ease.
All markets are different and difficult. Any new solution that solves the existing problem gives the room for new services and the case in point is - Online services. Whether it is India or America, (I can say this with confidence as I have lived all my corporate life in India and now for last 2 plus yrs in USA), the challenges to reach your base are same, only degree varies. In fact, I find sales and marketing in America is far tougher then in India because of enormous scale (50 states) and operational cost. With a modest budget of say USD 250K and smart marketing plan, one may still manage to push products / services in India with good ROI, where as it may cost over USD 2.00 million to achieve the same in the USA.
So, the debate about Indian market is different or difficult or it is more Touch-and-feel market are old management thoughts. Fact of the matter is that if Naukri.com or IRCTC or Shaadi.com became so successful, it means India and Indians are ready for new services or buying options from web portal, that is geared for servicing the latent needs.
With disposal income rising and Indians ready to experiment with new ideas and new way of life, we will see more and more quality web sites coming up on every opportunity space, be it Finance , Insurance, Forex, Banking, Stock trading, HR, Retail, Travel or Shopping. India is a beautiful market and very lucrative too, if one knows how to crack the Capital piece and of course the Branding piece ASAP.
Cheers !!!
Manish K. Jaiswal
manish@bonsaiinternational.com
CEO – http://www.insurancemall.in/
Link - http://www.buynowindia.com/newsandreviews/index.php/MKJ/
I guess, like any where else be it America or India, the biggest challenge for the marketer or the owner of the Website (either transactional or info site) remains, how to reach masses on a yesterday basis at minimum cost. Fortunately in America, no sooner the Website build the traction, the company gets the credit line (loan) at competitive rate. However, for an Indian company trying to put a successful website on the world-wide-web, will not only have to work hard but pray hard too to get either funding or a credit line from a bank.
The Indian banks are pathetic as they would want to see 2-3 yrs of Balance Sheet with Profits, because they just don’t understand these new Online business avatar, where there is no inventory but only human and tech capital.
I know lot of successful managers and marketing people, working either in a Funded company or affiliated to Industrial house with some Online diversification, will come out with simple text book GYAAN, that try Google or put your Ad (TVC) on electronic media etc etc. However, fact of the matter is, that how a new start-up could afford these expensive marketing / branding medium to reach masses? How would one build customer traction or media traction without capital or aggressive cash flows , even one has done a great job of filling the expectation gap (Read Value Proposition in VCs language)?
So, the biggest challenge for any new website in India is Capital. If one could crack this piece, other things – Technology, Scalability, Value Adds, Marketing, Branding etc. could be managed as India has depth of such talents to manage other fringe hurdles of a new business. What you can’t hire is some one who is confident or even experienced to raise capital for the new venture as Online / Start-ups / Investment Banking etc is a new phenomenon in India till date. Having solved the capital issue will bring the other untold challenge of hiring quality people who understands the psychology of the online business. It is a different animal all together. A great offline Sales, Business development or Marketing resource may not be able to crack this piece with ease.
All markets are different and difficult. Any new solution that solves the existing problem gives the room for new services and the case in point is - Online services. Whether it is India or America, (I can say this with confidence as I have lived all my corporate life in India and now for last 2 plus yrs in USA), the challenges to reach your base are same, only degree varies. In fact, I find sales and marketing in America is far tougher then in India because of enormous scale (50 states) and operational cost. With a modest budget of say USD 250K and smart marketing plan, one may still manage to push products / services in India with good ROI, where as it may cost over USD 2.00 million to achieve the same in the USA.
So, the debate about Indian market is different or difficult or it is more Touch-and-feel market are old management thoughts. Fact of the matter is that if Naukri.com or IRCTC or Shaadi.com became so successful, it means India and Indians are ready for new services or buying options from web portal, that is geared for servicing the latent needs.
With disposal income rising and Indians ready to experiment with new ideas and new way of life, we will see more and more quality web sites coming up on every opportunity space, be it Finance , Insurance, Forex, Banking, Stock trading, HR, Retail, Travel or Shopping. India is a beautiful market and very lucrative too, if one knows how to crack the Capital piece and of course the Branding piece ASAP.
Cheers !!!
Manish K. Jaiswal
manish@bonsaiinternational.com
CEO – http://www.insurancemall.in/
Link - http://www.buynowindia.com/newsandreviews/index.php/MKJ/
Monday, February 4, 2008
Where do you see the future of E-commerce in India? Will consumers in India buy branded products online?
This is an interesting question!
To start with, I would concur that India is all set for eCommerce as the potential is just terrific. We have had good success so far. Practically from Bride to Jobs to Insurance is now available Online. However, the mind-set of demographics above age 50 could be a challenge still, but that is changing on a daily basis for sure.
Having said that, I shall be honest that, there are very few (hand full only) eBusinesses in India which could fall into an eCommerce category in Toto.
According to my definition, the transaction could be classified into eCommerce only and only when there is no human intervention. What we are seeing in India vis-a-vis United States (as I stay here) is that, we are using Online for Branding and to generate leads. Call-Center (offline) is used to close the transactions. Even Sulekha.com is a successful portal but most of the stuff is sold on phone. Nakuri.com / Shadi.com are other successful portals in India, but can we really call it an eCommerce story?
Perhaps exception being is IRCTC / Travel Portals / Movie tickets and InsuranceMall.in . I am sure, there are others too, which I would have missed out inadvertently, but the list can’t be more than 10 genuine end-to-end eCommerce sites in India.
It is very tempting to close a sale through call center or by using feet on street, but that would never solve our challenge of selling Products Online. We have seen many funding but none has gone into a genuine eCommerce start-up in India, after the wave of Travel Portals including MMT / Yaatra / TravelGuru and Cleartrip.
To answer the question, will consumers buy Branded stuff online and I would say yes, but it depends.
If one is in position to create a Comparison Shopping and one is able to crack the value proposition then for sure, consumers will buy online, as long as the product is into Retail segment.
The challenge is to create true value proposition backed by solid technology and reliable payment gateway for consumers. If yes, then you are home. Look at what we did with Insurance, perhaps the toughest & most regulated financial services in India. We defied all pundits of eCommerce as well as Nay Sayers by launching India’s first Compare and BuyNow Insurance Portal – http://www.insurancemall.in/ . So, if we can do it, why not others ?
With Broadband penetrating Indian cities every day and computers reaching every household in urban as well as the rural areas, the sky is the limit. Today consumers want option and convenience which is the forte of Online Companies, so I am bullish about the future of eCommerce in India. If you want to bet on any company, this is the time as valuations of Start-up eBusiness companies are still far low compared to United States.
Cheers !!!
Manish K. Jaiswal
manish@bonsaiinternational.com
CEO – http://www.insurancemall.in/
Link - http://www.buynowindia.com/newsandreviews/index.php/MKJ/
To start with, I would concur that India is all set for eCommerce as the potential is just terrific. We have had good success so far. Practically from Bride to Jobs to Insurance is now available Online. However, the mind-set of demographics above age 50 could be a challenge still, but that is changing on a daily basis for sure.
Having said that, I shall be honest that, there are very few (hand full only) eBusinesses in India which could fall into an eCommerce category in Toto.
According to my definition, the transaction could be classified into eCommerce only and only when there is no human intervention. What we are seeing in India vis-a-vis United States (as I stay here) is that, we are using Online for Branding and to generate leads. Call-Center (offline) is used to close the transactions. Even Sulekha.com is a successful portal but most of the stuff is sold on phone. Nakuri.com / Shadi.com are other successful portals in India, but can we really call it an eCommerce story?
Perhaps exception being is IRCTC / Travel Portals / Movie tickets and InsuranceMall.in . I am sure, there are others too, which I would have missed out inadvertently, but the list can’t be more than 10 genuine end-to-end eCommerce sites in India.
It is very tempting to close a sale through call center or by using feet on street, but that would never solve our challenge of selling Products Online. We have seen many funding but none has gone into a genuine eCommerce start-up in India, after the wave of Travel Portals including MMT / Yaatra / TravelGuru and Cleartrip.
To answer the question, will consumers buy Branded stuff online and I would say yes, but it depends.
If one is in position to create a Comparison Shopping and one is able to crack the value proposition then for sure, consumers will buy online, as long as the product is into Retail segment.
The challenge is to create true value proposition backed by solid technology and reliable payment gateway for consumers. If yes, then you are home. Look at what we did with Insurance, perhaps the toughest & most regulated financial services in India. We defied all pundits of eCommerce as well as Nay Sayers by launching India’s first Compare and BuyNow Insurance Portal – http://www.insurancemall.in/ . So, if we can do it, why not others ?
With Broadband penetrating Indian cities every day and computers reaching every household in urban as well as the rural areas, the sky is the limit. Today consumers want option and convenience which is the forte of Online Companies, so I am bullish about the future of eCommerce in India. If you want to bet on any company, this is the time as valuations of Start-up eBusiness companies are still far low compared to United States.
Cheers !!!
Manish K. Jaiswal
manish@bonsaiinternational.com
CEO – http://www.insurancemall.in/
Link - http://www.buynowindia.com/newsandreviews/index.php/MKJ/
Career Trends - Start-ups are good option for talented Indians now
Very few HR executives, education institutions or successful CEO’s have touched upon this subject that Start-ups could also be a great option for aspirants in charting their careers in Corporate India today.
We have a mind-set that ‘Branded Study’ or and ‘Branded Career’ is the only road to success. Talk to any young graduate in Delhi or Mumbai University and you will hear one aspiration only - “ I want to join an MNC”. In fact this aspiration amongst Indians, are bestowed upon by parents and society at large. Look at Campus recruitment results of IITs or IIMs, you would not find a single soul opting for entrepreneurial career or career in a start-up. Even in B category management and engineering schools, it is the same story to some how get into the secured branded company or the Multi Nationals. Practically, all would want to join Consulting, Banking or would want to take up a job placement abroad.
Our terrific talent in India, either get absorbed into Corporations or into management schools post graduation, thus we miss out to garner the lateral and creative side of Indians or spark of new technologies, badly needed for future growth to compete with the changing world. Only when we have an environment where a young talent is excited to join the Start-ups or Innovation Labs, we could expect India delivering world changing products or ideas, lest we will remain the body-shopper for the world as is the case with China – Factory of the world.
I was impressed to read an article today in New Your Times that how best and the brightest talents in America (Silicon Valley phenomenon) from Stanford clamor to join Start-ups or New Tech companies like Google or Facebook vis-à-vis old behemoths like Microsoft / Oracle or Yahoo.
GARY RIVLIN and KATIE HAFNER reports in NYT today that engineering students stood as many as six lanes at the Google recruitment table at a job fair at Stanford last fall. Facebook’s representatives faced a similarly thick crowd vying for a few minutes of their time. At the Microsoft and Yahoo tables though, by contrast, students looked, but generally did not linger.
“Engineers in America want to work on tomorrow’s technology, not yesterday’s,” according to Bill Demas, quotes NYT, who worked at Microsoft through much of the 1990s and then at Yahoo until leaving last year. He is now chief executive at Moka5, a start-up of around 30 people based in Silicon Valley’s Redwood City. “If it’s perceived that Yahoo or anyone else is not focused on the future, it’s going to be very difficult to recruit top people,” Size is also an issue. For many young engineers, the future is in tiny start-ups, which offer a cozier work environment and greater ownership over a project, as well as the potential for a big payoff if the company is bought or sells shares to the public.
NYT gives a an example of Ben Newman, 23, who expects to graduate from Stanford in June with a master’s degree in computer science, is among those young pedigreed engineers who prefer the intimacy and excitement of a smaller company over the security of a large, established one. A merged Microsoft-Yahoo “definitely decreases my interest in either company,” said Mr. Newman, who interviewed with Facebook, the start-up of the moment, but took a job with Mozilla, creator of the Firefox browser.
Money, of course, is a factor in almost any engineer’s job-choosing calculus. Many of those students descending on recruiters from Google and Facebook were no doubt motivated by the idea of becoming rich in exchange for just a few years of hard work. Yet in Silicon Valley there is also the cool factor, and the prospect of potentially working on the hot new thing.
Even Google now, with 17,000 employees, has lost some of its luster as a top spot for engineers as the potential for big gains in its share price has begun to diminish. The company still receives more than 20,000 résumés a week, or two every minute, according to Sunny Gettinger, a Google spokeswoman. But it is also starting to lose engineers to start-ups and budding Valley stars like Facebook, including engineers like Pedram Keyani. NYT quotes Mr. Keyani, 30, started work at Google in June 2005, then left last summer for Facebook, which then had around 300 employees.
So, in essence the world is changing and it is changing fast. If one is looking at creating wealth in next 3 yrs for self, then one has to look at career switch into start-ups. It is true, that one could get an easy appointment for business, if one is working for a branded company and may have initial success and social value plus secured monthly pay-cheques, but that not be sufficient to motivate you for long. If more and more people will start getting richer and successful through Stock-Option routes (A start-up phenomenon), then we could expect a proper mix of corporate India, where we would have depth of talents spread across all types of organizations.
Indeed that will be a welcome change.
Manish K. Jaiswal
CEO – http://www.InsuranceMall.in
for
http://www.NewsandReviews.in (MKJ Blogs)
Link - http://www.buynowindia.com/newsandreviews/index.php/MKJ/
We have a mind-set that ‘Branded Study’ or and ‘Branded Career’ is the only road to success. Talk to any young graduate in Delhi or Mumbai University and you will hear one aspiration only - “ I want to join an MNC”. In fact this aspiration amongst Indians, are bestowed upon by parents and society at large. Look at Campus recruitment results of IITs or IIMs, you would not find a single soul opting for entrepreneurial career or career in a start-up. Even in B category management and engineering schools, it is the same story to some how get into the secured branded company or the Multi Nationals. Practically, all would want to join Consulting, Banking or would want to take up a job placement abroad.
Our terrific talent in India, either get absorbed into Corporations or into management schools post graduation, thus we miss out to garner the lateral and creative side of Indians or spark of new technologies, badly needed for future growth to compete with the changing world. Only when we have an environment where a young talent is excited to join the Start-ups or Innovation Labs, we could expect India delivering world changing products or ideas, lest we will remain the body-shopper for the world as is the case with China – Factory of the world.
I was impressed to read an article today in New Your Times that how best and the brightest talents in America (Silicon Valley phenomenon) from Stanford clamor to join Start-ups or New Tech companies like Google or Facebook vis-à-vis old behemoths like Microsoft / Oracle or Yahoo.
GARY RIVLIN and KATIE HAFNER reports in NYT today that engineering students stood as many as six lanes at the Google recruitment table at a job fair at Stanford last fall. Facebook’s representatives faced a similarly thick crowd vying for a few minutes of their time. At the Microsoft and Yahoo tables though, by contrast, students looked, but generally did not linger.
“Engineers in America want to work on tomorrow’s technology, not yesterday’s,” according to Bill Demas, quotes NYT, who worked at Microsoft through much of the 1990s and then at Yahoo until leaving last year. He is now chief executive at Moka5, a start-up of around 30 people based in Silicon Valley’s Redwood City. “If it’s perceived that Yahoo or anyone else is not focused on the future, it’s going to be very difficult to recruit top people,” Size is also an issue. For many young engineers, the future is in tiny start-ups, which offer a cozier work environment and greater ownership over a project, as well as the potential for a big payoff if the company is bought or sells shares to the public.
NYT gives a an example of Ben Newman, 23, who expects to graduate from Stanford in June with a master’s degree in computer science, is among those young pedigreed engineers who prefer the intimacy and excitement of a smaller company over the security of a large, established one. A merged Microsoft-Yahoo “definitely decreases my interest in either company,” said Mr. Newman, who interviewed with Facebook, the start-up of the moment, but took a job with Mozilla, creator of the Firefox browser.
Money, of course, is a factor in almost any engineer’s job-choosing calculus. Many of those students descending on recruiters from Google and Facebook were no doubt motivated by the idea of becoming rich in exchange for just a few years of hard work. Yet in Silicon Valley there is also the cool factor, and the prospect of potentially working on the hot new thing.
Even Google now, with 17,000 employees, has lost some of its luster as a top spot for engineers as the potential for big gains in its share price has begun to diminish. The company still receives more than 20,000 résumés a week, or two every minute, according to Sunny Gettinger, a Google spokeswoman. But it is also starting to lose engineers to start-ups and budding Valley stars like Facebook, including engineers like Pedram Keyani. NYT quotes Mr. Keyani, 30, started work at Google in June 2005, then left last summer for Facebook, which then had around 300 employees.
So, in essence the world is changing and it is changing fast. If one is looking at creating wealth in next 3 yrs for self, then one has to look at career switch into start-ups. It is true, that one could get an easy appointment for business, if one is working for a branded company and may have initial success and social value plus secured monthly pay-cheques, but that not be sufficient to motivate you for long. If more and more people will start getting richer and successful through Stock-Option routes (A start-up phenomenon), then we could expect a proper mix of corporate India, where we would have depth of talents spread across all types of organizations.
Indeed that will be a welcome change.
Manish K. Jaiswal
CEO – http://www.InsuranceMall.in
for
http://www.NewsandReviews.in (MKJ Blogs)
Link - http://www.buynowindia.com/newsandreviews/index.php/MKJ/
Career Trends - Start-ups are good option for talented Indians now
Very few HR executive, education institution or successful CEO’s have touched upon this subject that Start-ups could also be a great option for aspirants in charting their careers in Corporate India today.
We have a mind-set that ‘Branded Study’ or and ‘Branded Career’ is the only road to success. Talk to any young graduate in Delhi or Mumbai University and you will hear one aspiration only - “ I want to join an MNC”. In fact this aspiration amongst Indians, are bestowed upon by parents and society at large. Look at Campus recruitment results of IITs or IIMs, you would not find a single soul opting for entrepreneurial career or career in a start-up. Even in B category management and engineering schools, it is the same story to some how get into the secured branded company or the Multi Nationals. Practically, all would want to join Consulting, Banking or would want to take up a job placement abroad.
Our terrific talent in India, either get absorbed into Corporations or into management schools post graduation, thus we miss out to garner the lateral and creative side of Indians or spark of new technologies, badly needed for future growth to compete with the changing world. Only when we have an environment where a young talent is excited to join the Start-ups or Innovation Labs, we could expect India delivering world changing products or ideas, lest we will remain the body-shopper for the world as is the case with China – Factory of the world.
I was impressed to read an article today in New Your Times that how best and the brightest talents in America (Silicon Valley phenomenon) from Stanford clamor to join Start-ups or New Tech companies like Google or Facebook vis-à-vis old behemoths like Microsoft / Oracle or Yahoo.
GARY RIVLIN and KATIE HAFNER reports in NYT today that engineering students stood as many as six lanes at the Google recruitment table at a job fair at Stanford last fall. Facebook’s representatives faced a similarly thick crowd vying for a few minutes of their time. At the Microsoft and Yahoo tables though, by contrast, students looked, but generally did not linger.
“Engineers in America want to work on tomorrow’s technology, not yesterday’s,” according to Bill Demas, quotes NYT, who worked at Microsoft through much of the 1990s and then at Yahoo until leaving last year. He is now chief executive at Moka5, a start-up of around 30 people based in Silicon Valley’s Redwood City. “If it’s perceived that Yahoo or anyone else is not focused on the future, it’s going to be very difficult to recruit top people,” Size is also an issue. For many young engineers, the future is in tiny start-ups, which offer a cozier work environment and greater ownership over a project, as well as the potential for a big payoff if the company is bought or sells shares to the public.
NYT gives a an example of Ben Newman, 23, who expects to graduate from Stanford in June with a master’s degree in computer science, is among those young pedigreed engineers who prefer the intimacy and excitement of a smaller company over the security of a large, established one. A merged Microsoft-Yahoo “definitely decreases my interest in either company,” said Mr. Newman, who interviewed with Facebook, the start-up of the moment, but took a job with Mozilla, creator of the Firefox browser.
Money, of course, is a factor in almost any engineer’s job-choosing calculus. Many of those students descending on recruiters from Google and Facebook were no doubt motivated by the idea of becoming rich in exchange for just a few years of hard work. Yet in Silicon Valley there is also the cool factor, and the prospect of potentially working on the hot new thing.
Even Google now, with 17,000 employees, has lost some of its luster as a top spot for engineers as the potential for big gains in its share price has begun to diminish. The company still receives more than 20,000 résumés a week, or two every minute, according to Sunny Gettinger, a Google spokeswoman. But it is also starting to lose engineers to start-ups and budding Valley stars like Facebook, including engineers like Pedram Keyani. NYT quotes Mr. Keyani, 30, started work at Google in June 2005, then left last summer for Facebook, which then had around 300 employees.
So, in essence the world is changing and it is changing fast. If one is looking at creating wealth in next 3 yrs for self, then one has to look at career switch into start-ups. It is true, that one could get an easy appointment for business, if one is working for a branded company and may have initial success and social value plus secured monthly pay-cheques, but that not be sufficient to motivate you for long. If more and more people will start getting richer and successful through Stock-Option routes (A start-up phenomenon), then we could expect a proper mix of corporate India, where we would have depth of talents spread across all types of organizations.
Indeed that will be a welcome change.
Manish K. Jaiswal
CEO – http://www.insurancemall.in/
for
http://www.newsandreviews.in/ (MKJ Blogs)
Link - http://www.buynowindia.com/newsandreviews/index.php/MKJ/
We have a mind-set that ‘Branded Study’ or and ‘Branded Career’ is the only road to success. Talk to any young graduate in Delhi or Mumbai University and you will hear one aspiration only - “ I want to join an MNC”. In fact this aspiration amongst Indians, are bestowed upon by parents and society at large. Look at Campus recruitment results of IITs or IIMs, you would not find a single soul opting for entrepreneurial career or career in a start-up. Even in B category management and engineering schools, it is the same story to some how get into the secured branded company or the Multi Nationals. Practically, all would want to join Consulting, Banking or would want to take up a job placement abroad.
Our terrific talent in India, either get absorbed into Corporations or into management schools post graduation, thus we miss out to garner the lateral and creative side of Indians or spark of new technologies, badly needed for future growth to compete with the changing world. Only when we have an environment where a young talent is excited to join the Start-ups or Innovation Labs, we could expect India delivering world changing products or ideas, lest we will remain the body-shopper for the world as is the case with China – Factory of the world.
I was impressed to read an article today in New Your Times that how best and the brightest talents in America (Silicon Valley phenomenon) from Stanford clamor to join Start-ups or New Tech companies like Google or Facebook vis-à-vis old behemoths like Microsoft / Oracle or Yahoo.
GARY RIVLIN and KATIE HAFNER reports in NYT today that engineering students stood as many as six lanes at the Google recruitment table at a job fair at Stanford last fall. Facebook’s representatives faced a similarly thick crowd vying for a few minutes of their time. At the Microsoft and Yahoo tables though, by contrast, students looked, but generally did not linger.
“Engineers in America want to work on tomorrow’s technology, not yesterday’s,” according to Bill Demas, quotes NYT, who worked at Microsoft through much of the 1990s and then at Yahoo until leaving last year. He is now chief executive at Moka5, a start-up of around 30 people based in Silicon Valley’s Redwood City. “If it’s perceived that Yahoo or anyone else is not focused on the future, it’s going to be very difficult to recruit top people,” Size is also an issue. For many young engineers, the future is in tiny start-ups, which offer a cozier work environment and greater ownership over a project, as well as the potential for a big payoff if the company is bought or sells shares to the public.
NYT gives a an example of Ben Newman, 23, who expects to graduate from Stanford in June with a master’s degree in computer science, is among those young pedigreed engineers who prefer the intimacy and excitement of a smaller company over the security of a large, established one. A merged Microsoft-Yahoo “definitely decreases my interest in either company,” said Mr. Newman, who interviewed with Facebook, the start-up of the moment, but took a job with Mozilla, creator of the Firefox browser.
Money, of course, is a factor in almost any engineer’s job-choosing calculus. Many of those students descending on recruiters from Google and Facebook were no doubt motivated by the idea of becoming rich in exchange for just a few years of hard work. Yet in Silicon Valley there is also the cool factor, and the prospect of potentially working on the hot new thing.
Even Google now, with 17,000 employees, has lost some of its luster as a top spot for engineers as the potential for big gains in its share price has begun to diminish. The company still receives more than 20,000 résumés a week, or two every minute, according to Sunny Gettinger, a Google spokeswoman. But it is also starting to lose engineers to start-ups and budding Valley stars like Facebook, including engineers like Pedram Keyani. NYT quotes Mr. Keyani, 30, started work at Google in June 2005, then left last summer for Facebook, which then had around 300 employees.
So, in essence the world is changing and it is changing fast. If one is looking at creating wealth in next 3 yrs for self, then one has to look at career switch into start-ups. It is true, that one could get an easy appointment for business, if one is working for a branded company and may have initial success and social value plus secured monthly pay-cheques, but that not be sufficient to motivate you for long. If more and more people will start getting richer and successful through Stock-Option routes (A start-up phenomenon), then we could expect a proper mix of corporate India, where we would have depth of talents spread across all types of organizations.
Indeed that will be a welcome change.
Manish K. Jaiswal
CEO – http://www.insurancemall.in/
for
http://www.newsandreviews.in/ (MKJ Blogs)
Link - http://www.buynowindia.com/newsandreviews/index.php/MKJ/
Sunday, February 3, 2008
SSK Hyderabad is leading the Microfinance wave in India
It is heartening to see that SKS Microfinance is still the darling for VC firms. Micro Finance is not a new phenomenon in India, but SKS has perfected the art and science of this lending mechanism to poor and needy strata of society. It is debated in many quarters that Micro Finance is panacea of all financial ills of rural India and a secured (capitalist) mechanism to alleviate rampant poverty and unemployment from India.
The Economic Times reports that Hyderabad-based microfinance institution, SKS Microfinance has raised $37.3 million in its Series C funding. Apart from the existing investors, Sequoia Capital, Vinod Khosla and Odyssey Capital, two new investors, the U.S. based Silicon Valley Bank and Columbia Pacific, participated in the venture funding. The transaction was completed in December 2007 and the funds will be used to finance MFI’s expansion plans in 2008, ET quotes SKS Microfinance COO MR Rao.
2007 had been a fund raising year for the Indian microfinance sector. Another Hyderabad based MFI Share Microfin had raised $27 million investment from Dubai’s Legatum Capital and Aavishkaar Goodwell. Among the MFI founders, Aavishkaar Goodwell had raised an undisclosed amount from International Finance Corp (IFC), the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), and Deutsche Bank, while Lok Capital has received a funding of $2.5 million from Boston based Accion International, a leading global microfinance institution.
More such funding in Micro Finance / Rural and Agriculture is a great news for India. One thing India is missing big time in the Rural area is use of modern tools and technology to enhance the productivity. Westerns World, particularly America has state-of-the-art tools at very competitive prices. Leasing and Hire Purchase / NBFC’s or Micro Finance companies could use their capital & knowledge to transfer these tools to their rural bases. Higher productivity means sure and higher ROI or IRR, which is the disbursement philosophy of any lending company.
Cheers !!!
MKJ
http://www.insurancemall.in/
http://www.buynowindia.com/
http://wwwnewsandreviews.in/
The Economic Times reports that Hyderabad-based microfinance institution, SKS Microfinance has raised $37.3 million in its Series C funding. Apart from the existing investors, Sequoia Capital, Vinod Khosla and Odyssey Capital, two new investors, the U.S. based Silicon Valley Bank and Columbia Pacific, participated in the venture funding. The transaction was completed in December 2007 and the funds will be used to finance MFI’s expansion plans in 2008, ET quotes SKS Microfinance COO MR Rao.
2007 had been a fund raising year for the Indian microfinance sector. Another Hyderabad based MFI Share Microfin had raised $27 million investment from Dubai’s Legatum Capital and Aavishkaar Goodwell. Among the MFI founders, Aavishkaar Goodwell had raised an undisclosed amount from International Finance Corp (IFC), the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), and Deutsche Bank, while Lok Capital has received a funding of $2.5 million from Boston based Accion International, a leading global microfinance institution.
More such funding in Micro Finance / Rural and Agriculture is a great news for India. One thing India is missing big time in the Rural area is use of modern tools and technology to enhance the productivity. Westerns World, particularly America has state-of-the-art tools at very competitive prices. Leasing and Hire Purchase / NBFC’s or Micro Finance companies could use their capital & knowledge to transfer these tools to their rural bases. Higher productivity means sure and higher ROI or IRR, which is the disbursement philosophy of any lending company.
Cheers !!!
MKJ
http://www.insurancemall.in/
http://www.buynowindia.com/
http://wwwnewsandreviews.in/
The Dollar Decline and The New Challenge - American Inflation
Recently NY Times has picked up two pressing stories a) Inflation and b) Dollar Decline.
On face of it, these are 2 different subjects facing the country but my assessment is that it has same cause and effect. America and American life Style – cherished by all, draws the strength on 3 core factors i.e. Consumption ; Production and Trading (Import-Exports). I call it CPT Index.
There is no country in the world which has as high CPT Index as America. The Fed and The American government enjoyed relative success for last 60 yrs without hitch because they managed Inflation well. Business houses like Wall Mart / Dollar store etc did a great job in terms of negotiating very hard with Chinese Vendors and importing every thing –cup to dress to IPod from China at perhaps 1/10 price vis-à-vis an American Produced Market Price (APMP).
So far, it was a great Run for American Economy in last 15 years, when American mass production (low end manufacturing) moved to Chine for price arbitrage. So, what is wrong now? Nothing but a genuine fear in the mind of American lawmakers that how to manage China's over USD 1.4 Trillion Trade Deficit.
A quick solution for all problems is to let the Dollar decline and let American Exports (high end manufacturing) take the front stage once again. This is what is happening. Of Course, some proud Americans are feeling bad about the currency decline (though it is market driven, but I think it is managed now by Fed), but for Capital Economy of America, business and survival comes first, so few egos could take a back seat now.
But now I see a complex situation arising and I am sure, it will give a wake-up alarm for all the Top Economists of America. Though, the dollar has declined and Exports are growing, but the villain of all “Inflation” is rising beyond a manageable level, which could topple the Republican Government. To manage this quickly, Fed will stop Rate Cuts further, which means, Sub-Prime-Mess going out of control in 2008.
Here is the MKJ Predication for 2008. Dollar will continue to slide vis-à-vis Euro / Dollar and Indian Rupees, till Chinese continue to hold the currency in firm hand to boost their Exports further. Stock market will go down but surprisingly would remain steady and Inflation will hover around disturbing 5%. Americans will eventually learn to accept a week dollar and a new world order. Yes, if they get of Iraq asap, they can manage their economy better and life will be back to normal. The question is, will they?
Cheers !!!
Manish K. Jaiswal
CEO - Bonsai International Group
manish@bonsaiinternational.com
http://www.insurancemall.in/
http://www.newsandreviews.in/
http://www.newsandreviews.in/
On face of it, these are 2 different subjects facing the country but my assessment is that it has same cause and effect. America and American life Style – cherished by all, draws the strength on 3 core factors i.e. Consumption ; Production and Trading (Import-Exports). I call it CPT Index.
There is no country in the world which has as high CPT Index as America. The Fed and The American government enjoyed relative success for last 60 yrs without hitch because they managed Inflation well. Business houses like Wall Mart / Dollar store etc did a great job in terms of negotiating very hard with Chinese Vendors and importing every thing –cup to dress to IPod from China at perhaps 1/10 price vis-à-vis an American Produced Market Price (APMP).
So far, it was a great Run for American Economy in last 15 years, when American mass production (low end manufacturing) moved to Chine for price arbitrage. So, what is wrong now? Nothing but a genuine fear in the mind of American lawmakers that how to manage China's over USD 1.4 Trillion Trade Deficit.
A quick solution for all problems is to let the Dollar decline and let American Exports (high end manufacturing) take the front stage once again. This is what is happening. Of Course, some proud Americans are feeling bad about the currency decline (though it is market driven, but I think it is managed now by Fed), but for Capital Economy of America, business and survival comes first, so few egos could take a back seat now.
But now I see a complex situation arising and I am sure, it will give a wake-up alarm for all the Top Economists of America. Though, the dollar has declined and Exports are growing, but the villain of all “Inflation” is rising beyond a manageable level, which could topple the Republican Government. To manage this quickly, Fed will stop Rate Cuts further, which means, Sub-Prime-Mess going out of control in 2008.
Here is the MKJ Predication for 2008. Dollar will continue to slide vis-à-vis Euro / Dollar and Indian Rupees, till Chinese continue to hold the currency in firm hand to boost their Exports further. Stock market will go down but surprisingly would remain steady and Inflation will hover around disturbing 5%. Americans will eventually learn to accept a week dollar and a new world order. Yes, if they get of Iraq asap, they can manage their economy better and life will be back to normal. The question is, will they?
Cheers !!!
Manish K. Jaiswal
CEO - Bonsai International Group
manish@bonsaiinternational.com
http://www.insurancemall.in/
http://www.newsandreviews.in/
http://www.newsandreviews.in/
A New India
I was happy to read an interesting article by SWAPAN DASGUPTA, forwarded by my friend, where Swapan tries to connect the cord for changing India with energetic and impatient Indian Cricket Team.
India Today is different from what it was 10 yrs ago, where aspirations for an educated class was to some how get a job into Secured Government or Lucrative MNC. Today we have all walks of people and quite satisfied with their vocation be it music, movie or sports. We have whole new generation, who is ready to carve out a niche for himself / herself which a generation before could not have attempted. People working in Call Center, People working in Airlines, People working in Hotels, People working in Law Firms, People working in Liberal Arts are equally happy and excited about their job and career as people passing out from IIT / IIMs and joining branded global companies. This is a new India and this will make our “Dream India”, a promise land for Growth, Success and Wealth for all.
Tata Nano should not be a latent aspiration value million of Indians across Patna to Patiyala any more. like Mobile Phone revolution which has crossed Urban-Rural divide, this one car per family revolution will start the Job Multiplier Effect (JME) towards sustainable development, a dream by most progressive Economists. Indeed, this will user in a new Producing and Consuming economy for India towards our march for 2020 Super Power. It is no more a Dream Concept but slowly inching towards reality. All of us have to believe in this and contribute to the best of our capabilities.
Cheers !!!
Manish K. Jaiswal
CEO – Bonsai International Group
manish@bonsaiinternaitonal.com
http://www.buynowindia.com/ ; http://www.newsandreviews.in/ ; http://www.insurancemall.in/
India Today is different from what it was 10 yrs ago, where aspirations for an educated class was to some how get a job into Secured Government or Lucrative MNC. Today we have all walks of people and quite satisfied with their vocation be it music, movie or sports. We have whole new generation, who is ready to carve out a niche for himself / herself which a generation before could not have attempted. People working in Call Center, People working in Airlines, People working in Hotels, People working in Law Firms, People working in Liberal Arts are equally happy and excited about their job and career as people passing out from IIT / IIMs and joining branded global companies. This is a new India and this will make our “Dream India”, a promise land for Growth, Success and Wealth for all.
Tata Nano should not be a latent aspiration value million of Indians across Patna to Patiyala any more. like Mobile Phone revolution which has crossed Urban-Rural divide, this one car per family revolution will start the Job Multiplier Effect (JME) towards sustainable development, a dream by most progressive Economists. Indeed, this will user in a new Producing and Consuming economy for India towards our march for 2020 Super Power. It is no more a Dream Concept but slowly inching towards reality. All of us have to believe in this and contribute to the best of our capabilities.
Cheers !!!
Manish K. Jaiswal
CEO – Bonsai International Group
manish@bonsaiinternaitonal.com
http://www.buynowindia.com/ ; http://www.newsandreviews.in/ ; http://www.insurancemall.in/
For a corporate executive like me, doing a political prediction could be suicidal, but I will take my chance. I am pronouncing today, that Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton will be the next president of United States. Trust me, it will be a good news for America and the World.
I am new in this country hence does not have any bias for any political party, affiliation or groups। Being a student of History, my judgment is based on facts on ground. The Florida Win by Mrs. Clinton and Mr John McCain clearly puts Democrats on the front seat. They are now sure to win the Presidential General Election in Nov 2008 under the leadership of Hillary Clinton.
Mr Barack Obama winning South Carolina (SC) with huge majority due to polarized voting by African American’s, sealed his fate। Clearly it proved that his Presidential bid has racial overtones. The enthusiasm by African Americans to vote only for Obama, as seen in SC elections (he got 81% of Black Votes) has killed Whites / Latinos / Asians and Sr. citizens support for him. With only 20% of eligible African American voters and say another 25% support from other groups (Independents and Young Voters), Mr Obama could never make it to the finish line now. If Mr Obama was a good student of politics, he should have gone very slow in South Carolina to remain above the politics of race. If Mrs. Clinton had won SC, then Obama would have surly created history by becoming the first Black President of America. Alas, that was true as that is not going to happen now. Thus pundit says, set your strategies for war not for battle wins. Never mind, there will be election pitch again after 7 yrs. He is still very young and quite talented. I personally like his oratory skills, confidence & charm.
How can I be so sure about my prediction?
Well look at the election results at Florida। It is a big State with diverse population including Whites / Blacks / Hispanics / Cubans and Asians. Hillary got over 50% of the total votes, which is why I fee and declare that she will be the winner in Nov 2008 elections. My prediction is that the Super Tuesday (21 States going for Primary on next Tuesday) and rest of the States elections would bring identical results making Mrs Clinton a clearer winner. The margin of WIN could be 5-10% up or down, based on the demographics & race distribution in the given State.
I am aware that many Republicans and fairly good chunk of Independents just don’t like Hillary Clinton, but she is good and ready for he post। She is quite articulate and she has the best experience amongst candidates in the fray. Most importantly, she knows the meaning to Governance and World Politics. America being a Super Power can’t indulge into experiment with President Elect. USA today needs a charismatic World President, acceptable to all, more than a war monger Commander-in-Chief. Her husband Mr Bill Clinton, the most famous Democrat after JFK, is another asset on her side.
Political Gurus and News Channels know this for sure, but can’t speak out as they are not in business of speculation। For economic reasons and the fear of retribution, they don’t want to favor a candidate or declare the Winner before time. The only person, who could have given some fight to Mrs. Clinton, would have been Mitt Romney, with deep pockets and solid Corporate background. But I guess McCain would be contesting against her who would continue to talk about War on Terror and how Iraq war is going right to remain relevant to the conservative Republican base. This will further alienating majority of Americans, as they are more concerned about Economy, Jobs, House Foreclosure and Health Care. For them Iraq and prolonged war is a curse and they want to end it ASAP.
Hence, now there would be no contest ahead। Mrs. Clinton will win hands-down. She will write history by becoming first Female President of America. I guess it is long over due considering America is the champion for Capital Economy and Democratic World.
I take this opportunity to congratulate her in advance by saying "Welcome to the White House Mrs President". The America and world awaits your leadership.
Manish जैसवाल
World Market Crisis – Is it or will it be ???
Stock Market is not the Balance Sheet (Profits) of a Company that has to go up all the times. Stock Traders, atleast big ones, make money even when the market plunges.
Lot of people asked my opinion for last week’s sudden Market Crash across the world and equally spectacular recovery. Honestly, they were difficult questions and I avoided it. I was not very sure for the reasoning’s not because of genesis but the Timing’s. Last week I read and heard lot of Pundits and intellectuals of stock market giving various GYAAN but none so appealing than what I read today in the New York Times. I will come to that but here is what I feel is the 4 root-cause reasoning for the crisis in future. Why American Centric approach? Well, it is still true that when America sneezes, world market catches cold, with few exception..
• Americas Trade Deficit beyond control over Trillion Dollars
• Americas War Expenses running into billion of dollars
• Americas Subprime mess
• Emergence of powerful new markets viz. (BRIC) Brazil, Russia, India and China
I firmly believe that Stock market like Forex Market is a Zero Sum game for average investors unless companies that are being traded in the market, are producing new stuff and finding new markets. It is also naive to say that we are not seeing new discoveries or inventions or companies are not hunting for new markets (point 4), but the proportion or out-put is far less than the speculation Volumes in the market. And that is the recipe for crisis.
Now question is Timing and who was really responsible for it…
Mr Ben Stein – Lawyer, Writer, Actor and Economist has given a very interesting analysis on why Markets gyrates and who is the culprit. His theory has good standing as we now know why American and Asian Market recovered within 48 hrs with exception in Europe. A single Jérôme Kerviel, a former trader at Société Générale could bring losses over 7.00 billion to the largest French Bank, is difficult to digest, but it is true.
Ben coins a term “Financial Realism,” or what might more accurately be called “Trader Realism.” The theory says, traders can see masses of data any minute of any day. They can find data to support hitting the “buy” button or the “sell” button. They don’t act on the basis of what seems to them the real economic situation, but on what’s in it for them.
He narrates an example (based on his now diseased Trading friend’s first hand account). long ago I.B.M. came out with stellar numbers. The boss of the trading floor said, “O.K., the guy who’s getting the prize is the one who can make us money selling I.B.M. short.” So the Traders grabbed for their phones and started to put out any bad thoughts they could dream up about I.B.M. They called journalists, retailers, anyone. They sold huge amounts of I.B.M. short. Soon, they had I.B.M. on the run, made money on their shorts and went to Langan’s to drink champers.
This is what traders do all day long. MORE than that, they trade to support the way they want the market to go. If they are huge traders like some of the major hedge funds, they can sell massively and move the market downward, then suck in other traders who go short, and create a vacuum of fear that sucks down whatever they are selling.
According to Ben, Traders love to sell into fear because fear is bottomless — you can make money selling all day, while buying eventually slows because enthusiasm has limits. The amount of money available to large professional traders is so large that they can overwhelm the market, at least for a while, anytime they want. And they like to do it when the market least expects it.
So, this is the answer for “Timing” for last weeks crash. To my humble eyes, this is what we have seen recently on world markets. Note that the losses in United States markets alone are on the order of about $2.5 trillion in recent weeks. How can a loss of roughly $100 billion on subprime — with some recoveries sure to come as property is seized and sold — translate into a stock-market loss 25 times that size? The answer is trader realism. In other words, traders are sending stocks down by a fantastically larger amount than is warranted by a recession or the losses in subprime. How and why does it happen? As someone said in the movie: “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.” It’s just Chinatown in trader-land, where money is made and there is no perspective.
So when you see the market gyrating wildly downward and hear some pundit saying it’s because of this or that data or this paradigm or that ratio, remember trader realism. The traders move the market any way they want, any way they think they can make money, and then they whisper a reason to journalists later in the day. Then the journalists print it or say it on television, and the amateurs believe it. And the traders snicker.
These traders, not economists or securities analysts, can turn the world upside down, make governments tremble, give central bankers colitis and ruin the lives of ordinary men and women saving for their children’s college education or their own retirement. In America today, it is the traders, not the politicians or the generals or the corporate bosses, who have the power.
What is the way out or long term solution then? Well, as long as there is greed in the Stock Market and there is hefty Bonus for Investment Bankers / Trading Brokers to Rollin money at any cost, this trend will continue for long time to come. Markets will go up or down at the whims of these Traders with no exception. And one thing’s for sure: With the traders running things, it won’t be a good time for amateurs like you and me until the Traders cry “Switch!” and the market starts to rise. Looks like, they have switched it “On” again.
So, Cheers go into the market and make money. You are safe till Nov 2008 !!!
Manish Jaiswal
CEO – Bonsai International Group
http://www.insurancemall.in/
http://www.buynowindia.com/
http://www.newsandreviews.in/
Lot of people asked my opinion for last week’s sudden Market Crash across the world and equally spectacular recovery. Honestly, they were difficult questions and I avoided it. I was not very sure for the reasoning’s not because of genesis but the Timing’s. Last week I read and heard lot of Pundits and intellectuals of stock market giving various GYAAN but none so appealing than what I read today in the New York Times. I will come to that but here is what I feel is the 4 root-cause reasoning for the crisis in future. Why American Centric approach? Well, it is still true that when America sneezes, world market catches cold, with few exception..
• Americas Trade Deficit beyond control over Trillion Dollars
• Americas War Expenses running into billion of dollars
• Americas Subprime mess
• Emergence of powerful new markets viz. (BRIC) Brazil, Russia, India and China
I firmly believe that Stock market like Forex Market is a Zero Sum game for average investors unless companies that are being traded in the market, are producing new stuff and finding new markets. It is also naive to say that we are not seeing new discoveries or inventions or companies are not hunting for new markets (point 4), but the proportion or out-put is far less than the speculation Volumes in the market. And that is the recipe for crisis.
Now question is Timing and who was really responsible for it…
Mr Ben Stein – Lawyer, Writer, Actor and Economist has given a very interesting analysis on why Markets gyrates and who is the culprit. His theory has good standing as we now know why American and Asian Market recovered within 48 hrs with exception in Europe. A single Jérôme Kerviel, a former trader at Société Générale could bring losses over 7.00 billion to the largest French Bank, is difficult to digest, but it is true.
Ben coins a term “Financial Realism,” or what might more accurately be called “Trader Realism.” The theory says, traders can see masses of data any minute of any day. They can find data to support hitting the “buy” button or the “sell” button. They don’t act on the basis of what seems to them the real economic situation, but on what’s in it for them.
He narrates an example (based on his now diseased Trading friend’s first hand account). long ago I.B.M. came out with stellar numbers. The boss of the trading floor said, “O.K., the guy who’s getting the prize is the one who can make us money selling I.B.M. short.” So the Traders grabbed for their phones and started to put out any bad thoughts they could dream up about I.B.M. They called journalists, retailers, anyone. They sold huge amounts of I.B.M. short. Soon, they had I.B.M. on the run, made money on their shorts and went to Langan’s to drink champers.
This is what traders do all day long. MORE than that, they trade to support the way they want the market to go. If they are huge traders like some of the major hedge funds, they can sell massively and move the market downward, then suck in other traders who go short, and create a vacuum of fear that sucks down whatever they are selling.
According to Ben, Traders love to sell into fear because fear is bottomless — you can make money selling all day, while buying eventually slows because enthusiasm has limits. The amount of money available to large professional traders is so large that they can overwhelm the market, at least for a while, anytime they want. And they like to do it when the market least expects it.
So, this is the answer for “Timing” for last weeks crash. To my humble eyes, this is what we have seen recently on world markets. Note that the losses in United States markets alone are on the order of about $2.5 trillion in recent weeks. How can a loss of roughly $100 billion on subprime — with some recoveries sure to come as property is seized and sold — translate into a stock-market loss 25 times that size? The answer is trader realism. In other words, traders are sending stocks down by a fantastically larger amount than is warranted by a recession or the losses in subprime. How and why does it happen? As someone said in the movie: “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.” It’s just Chinatown in trader-land, where money is made and there is no perspective.
So when you see the market gyrating wildly downward and hear some pundit saying it’s because of this or that data or this paradigm or that ratio, remember trader realism. The traders move the market any way they want, any way they think they can make money, and then they whisper a reason to journalists later in the day. Then the journalists print it or say it on television, and the amateurs believe it. And the traders snicker.
These traders, not economists or securities analysts, can turn the world upside down, make governments tremble, give central bankers colitis and ruin the lives of ordinary men and women saving for their children’s college education or their own retirement. In America today, it is the traders, not the politicians or the generals or the corporate bosses, who have the power.
What is the way out or long term solution then? Well, as long as there is greed in the Stock Market and there is hefty Bonus for Investment Bankers / Trading Brokers to Rollin money at any cost, this trend will continue for long time to come. Markets will go up or down at the whims of these Traders with no exception. And one thing’s for sure: With the traders running things, it won’t be a good time for amateurs like you and me until the Traders cry “Switch!” and the market starts to rise. Looks like, they have switched it “On” again.
So, Cheers go into the market and make money. You are safe till Nov 2008 !!!
Manish Jaiswal
CEO – Bonsai International Group
http://www.insurancemall.in/
http://www.buynowindia.com/
http://www.newsandreviews.in/
Microsoft taking over Yahoo is a good news !!!
I have seen that lot of ink has been spilled over Microsoft’s hostile bid for Yahoo. Also, how Steven A. Ballmer was curt this time, when he announced intentions to the Board and Jerry Young, the Founder CEO of Yahoo, Inc. Microsoft has offered USD 46.6 billion in Stocks and Cash to take over Yahoo. The offer of $ 31 per share is a huge 62% premium over Yahoo’s closing stock price of $ 19.18 on Thursday. It is, Of course a far-cry from its peak of $ 118.75 in 2001.
I take this opportunity to explain how and why this deal may be a good news for SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) and Start-ups with limited sales and marketing budgets.
Like ever one, let me also concede upfront that Google is a great technology company founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, both Stanford graduates, like Yahoo founders Jerry Young and David Filo.
As an avid user of Internet as well as having built an online company to promote comparison Insurance shopping : http://www.insurancemall.in/ , Team Bonsai and I use Google extensively to remain relevant in the Online space. Hence I can say with confidence that there is no match for Google when it comes to Search Engines. They just don’t have parallel as on today and that is the curse for Internet users, because Google has virtual monopoly on the Internet space across globe without dispute.
This concerns me and may initiate users to highlight the pain areas in the internet marketing business model. Lets face it and acknowledge a fact now that Google is extremely expensive marketing medium and should be exercised as a last resort by any new company trying to successful with limited budgets .
Google Ad program is perhaps a biggest marketing success story by any marketer of any medium be it Electronic, Paper or Internet. Management schools should make Google as a first case study in their curriculum on how it made billions on search marketing business model, unheard and unseen before. Even when recession is hitting America and all businesses, Google has announced the robust growth in its AD earnings for the quarter.
Google is a great company and is doing very well with huge cash flows. No Problem, but what is there for SMEs and Start-ups who in first place made Google such a rich company. The small companies struggles to manage break-even owing to many un-controllable costs and moving targets goes with the easy bet of Google marketing. The collective thinking is that Google charge, advertising companies based on results (PPC – Pay Per Click) and that is the only way to succeed on the Online space (SEM – Search Engine Marketing). On face of it, Google has fair costing mechanism (the PPC concept) where small or big budget companies fits in with ease. How ever, in reality, the small business ends up spending huge and more money to get the search result first page (SRFP) in the hope that more Hits would bring sure business.
My experience of Google Hits to conversion ration is pathetic 100 : 3. It means that every 100 hits, one may get only 3 sure conversions (real sales). SEM mechanism, sure based on your budget gives you desired hits, but the purpose of spend is always sales and associated brand recall which miss big time incase for Google Ad’s. There is no researched data here but I am sure that the thumb rule results of Google marketing is only 60% ROI (return on investment), so it does not help small companies.
I am aware, that revenue margin differs, based on industry, but Google ROI may not be over 50-60% band. I am happy to change my theory or assertion, if there is any credible evidence of better conversion across industries around the globe. And this is the crux of my story that Microsoft taking over Yahoo will bring the cost of Internet marketing down and a level playing field for all. Today, Google has free hand to price its services as consumers have no choice as on today. It is high time that Google should also get some genuine competition now. They are growing unabated by garnering 25-50% of all marketing budgets of any company with limited ROI or success for the advertising companies.
It is also important for shareholders of Google to ask the Google management team to come out with a new revenue model as the present golden goose search engine Ads model will start giving diminishing returns for this great company soon. Even companies particularly Start-ups looking for a quick money source through program like Ad Sense will have better options from Yahoo and Microsoft soon. The competition from Microsoft will force Google to charge reasonable from consumers to place Ads on its Search Page which will improve the ROI to acceptable levels of 80-90% band.
Big and innovative player, chart the course for new business opportunities and options hence time has come for Microsoft to regain its leadership position now. The Yahoo deal will give the must wanted latitude to Steve now.
Cheers !!!
Manish Jaiswal
CEO – Bonsai International Group
http://www.insurancemall.in/
http://www.buynowindia.com/
http://www.newsandreviews.in/
I take this opportunity to explain how and why this deal may be a good news for SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) and Start-ups with limited sales and marketing budgets.
Like ever one, let me also concede upfront that Google is a great technology company founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, both Stanford graduates, like Yahoo founders Jerry Young and David Filo.
As an avid user of Internet as well as having built an online company to promote comparison Insurance shopping : http://www.insurancemall.in/ , Team Bonsai and I use Google extensively to remain relevant in the Online space. Hence I can say with confidence that there is no match for Google when it comes to Search Engines. They just don’t have parallel as on today and that is the curse for Internet users, because Google has virtual monopoly on the Internet space across globe without dispute.
This concerns me and may initiate users to highlight the pain areas in the internet marketing business model. Lets face it and acknowledge a fact now that Google is extremely expensive marketing medium and should be exercised as a last resort by any new company trying to successful with limited budgets .
Google Ad program is perhaps a biggest marketing success story by any marketer of any medium be it Electronic, Paper or Internet. Management schools should make Google as a first case study in their curriculum on how it made billions on search marketing business model, unheard and unseen before. Even when recession is hitting America and all businesses, Google has announced the robust growth in its AD earnings for the quarter.
Google is a great company and is doing very well with huge cash flows. No Problem, but what is there for SMEs and Start-ups who in first place made Google such a rich company. The small companies struggles to manage break-even owing to many un-controllable costs and moving targets goes with the easy bet of Google marketing. The collective thinking is that Google charge, advertising companies based on results (PPC – Pay Per Click) and that is the only way to succeed on the Online space (SEM – Search Engine Marketing). On face of it, Google has fair costing mechanism (the PPC concept) where small or big budget companies fits in with ease. How ever, in reality, the small business ends up spending huge and more money to get the search result first page (SRFP) in the hope that more Hits would bring sure business.
My experience of Google Hits to conversion ration is pathetic 100 : 3. It means that every 100 hits, one may get only 3 sure conversions (real sales). SEM mechanism, sure based on your budget gives you desired hits, but the purpose of spend is always sales and associated brand recall which miss big time incase for Google Ad’s. There is no researched data here but I am sure that the thumb rule results of Google marketing is only 60% ROI (return on investment), so it does not help small companies.
I am aware, that revenue margin differs, based on industry, but Google ROI may not be over 50-60% band. I am happy to change my theory or assertion, if there is any credible evidence of better conversion across industries around the globe. And this is the crux of my story that Microsoft taking over Yahoo will bring the cost of Internet marketing down and a level playing field for all. Today, Google has free hand to price its services as consumers have no choice as on today. It is high time that Google should also get some genuine competition now. They are growing unabated by garnering 25-50% of all marketing budgets of any company with limited ROI or success for the advertising companies.
It is also important for shareholders of Google to ask the Google management team to come out with a new revenue model as the present golden goose search engine Ads model will start giving diminishing returns for this great company soon. Even companies particularly Start-ups looking for a quick money source through program like Ad Sense will have better options from Yahoo and Microsoft soon. The competition from Microsoft will force Google to charge reasonable from consumers to place Ads on its Search Page which will improve the ROI to acceptable levels of 80-90% band.
Big and innovative player, chart the course for new business opportunities and options hence time has come for Microsoft to regain its leadership position now. The Yahoo deal will give the must wanted latitude to Steve now.
Cheers !!!
Manish Jaiswal
CEO – Bonsai International Group
http://www.insurancemall.in/
http://www.buynowindia.com/
http://www.newsandreviews.in/
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