EE September 2011

S E PT EMB E R

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The Entrepreneurs’ Express

MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE E-CELL, VNIT

In this Edition: THE MAN OF STEEL A feature on the man that L. N. Mittal is.

THE STOCK SOUQ All about the stocks...and where they are headed.

MAKE IT HAPPEN! A feature article from Nurture— Talent India.

X AND Y Punctuate your time with this crossword puzzle.

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The Entrepreneurs’ Express Team Design Coordinator: Pratik Das Content Editor: Ankur Mathur Content Coordinator: Sanchit Agrawal Stock Market Analyst: Vedant Bang

COPYRIGHT DECLARATION The contents of this edition are Copyright sensitive and the author and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the editor‘s prior permission.

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APOLOGY We, at Entrepreneurs’ Express deeply regret that the last month’s edition of this magazine could not be out on time. As you have seen, this EE is bigger and better. So, our efforts were concentrated in making the newer edition more reader friendly and visible with more content. We thank our patrons for their continued support and promise the best of content, always.

-Ankur Mathur Content Editor, EE

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Contents Page No.

Brawl Over a Beverage 5 Ways To Make It Happen

…………………….4 …………………….6

The Stock Souq …………………….8 X and Y

…………………..10

The Man of Steel

…………………...11

Green Sense …………………..12 and Simplicity

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Juggling Jargons

…………………..13

Pixels in Business

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Brawl Over a Beverage -Ankur Mathur

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undisclosed prices to hand roasted Robusta beans hitting the right notes, the coffee connoisseur‘s days have come. The branded ones too have discovered this market – with the induction of Starhat does it take a group of loquacious bucks and The Coffee bean and Tea Store.

youth to gallivant about the city in their pristine white Mercedes or BMWs ogling coquettishly at any probable arm-candy? Loud music, lots of fuel and a bottle of chilled lager. And what if these men were to meet at a more sober place with a mind at sharing their lives? A juke-box, lots of spot-lights punctuating the ambience and a cup of hot coffee.

Same is the case with the drink of the Scots— premium whisky like Glenfiddich, Glenlivet—and women in Delhi. An increasing number of affluent women have taken to sitting with a glass of the drink and chatting away through afternoons. With

Without further stereotyping the brash as brash, and the traditional as anachronistic, let me quickly put forth the point. Like every occasion has its own rituals; so does every ‗activity‘. Unlike the olden times when, guests coming over were treated to a cup of soulfully made chai, and in metros like Mumbai, cutting chai became popular, today‘s times have a drink for every ‗event‘.

And cashing in on this phenomenon are the cafés mushrooming over the cityscape of modern India.

Your cuppa tea: Whatever happened to the English Tea...

And these are not restricted to the metros only!

The city based Coffee U & Me and Mr. Beans are giving the local branches of the ubiquitous Café Coffee kitty parties held over tasting sesDay a run for their money. sions at some of the most premium So what is it in a tea – totalcellars in posh South Delhi localiing nation that is making Inties, the drink has caught the eye… dians wake up suddenly and err, tongue of middle-aged, sucsmell the coffee…? For one, cessful women. it‘s more about the ambience than the beverage itself. Soft, However, in all this brouhaha, plush lounge like couches there still remains the voice of the that spur lazy conversations, humble drink – that sip of sugary the privacy of people over ochre warmness, made full with tables, hygiene and most imthe body of milk. The coffers are portantly, convenience is filling with exports of 440 000 what drives them, while pounds of coffee beans, 15 harvests competition keeps the prices of the splendid Assam tea and a comfortably within budget. repositioning of the beverage secThe Indian coffee scene also tor. It is an amazing time to be in has another facet to it. The the industry. Cheers! luxury side – with preciously crafted silk bags filled with Smooth as whisky: A Glenlivet standing proud. aromatic Arabica retailing at

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-Amit Grover

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ne out of 7 days in a week, I feel like giv- have to sit back and take note of what is working ing up my entrepreneurial journey! There (scale up fast) and what is not working (give up are challenges, failures and fast). Give about 100 days for anycommercial setbacks on thing to take shape, and put your soul one side and then on the other side is and heart to it for that time, but after the lure of a lucrative job, other peothat leave it as if you were a tourist! ple making it big and comfort of spending time with family. Is it now Spend time in – no, this has been going on from the day I launched my startup, when I training was a ‗baby entrepreneur‘! So why Train yourself as well as your team am I sharing this – I want to discover At Nurture Talent, we spend a lot of ways to keep a startup motivated, time ‗sharpening the axe‘ – collecting make a difference to your startup and information for startups, updating learn for myself in the process. about new schemes/techniques, new venture ideas/opportunities, gaps of aspiring students and professionals and visiting networking events/ Keep executing Keep executing but do not forget to Nurturing Talent from the start. meets. This may take about 70-80% of our time. But it‘s a very important p l a n part of our business, so we see it as I have come across several startups, an investment.

Training is not only for team memwhich were so bent on execution that they forgot to plan way forward. Somewhere down the line, you bers, it is also for the owner of the venture. So in-

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vest some money into yourself – go out and learn new skills of finance, marketing etc.

NEVER FORGET YOUR MOTIVE

Remember why you started up If you wanted to be an entrepreneur, stick to it. If your venture is not doing well, try new things. If things do not improve, then become a co-founder of another venture. Always remember why you started up – were you pushed or pulled into entrepreneurship? Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur!

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE

Share your experiences with people you trust If you are not doing well, no point in fooling yourself by writing on Facebook, ―had a successful launch of a new product‖. Go out and meet your mentors, share your problems and seek solutions.

The problem may not get solved as soon as possible or you may not work on the advice, but Arjun will never lose by speaking to Krishna. Try someone in your family or your business network, whosoever you trust.

Walking that extra mile…

THAT EXTRA BIT

1% extra is all that is required to win Entrepreneurship is about giving that 1% extra – a little word here, a small effort there! Make a call to your customer you met 1 year back. Make someone awesomely happy with your service or products!

What does not work is reading about others‘ successes, spending time on Facebook etc.

The author is an individual with passion about entrepreneurship. He is the CEO and Founder of Nurture Talent Academy- India’s 1st training institute for entrepreneurs. He is an IIT Delhi and IIM Indore graduate and has previously worked with renowned companies like Infosys, Asian Paints and Onida. He is also a part of Mumbai Angels, a not for profit organization of angel investors and actively helps with funding and mentoring early stage companies.

YOU KNOW WHAT! The typewriter was invented by a Hungarian immigrant Qwert Yuiop, who left his ‗signature‘ on the keyboard.

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The Stock Souq -Vedant Bang GOING FORWARD: SEPTEMBER 2011

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s Indian markets are in an oversold zone, looking forward for September, they are expected to bounce back. The signs of this pullback were seen in the form of gains in the last couple of days of August. On the upper-side NIFTY may touch 5250. It would continue to consolidate around 5200 levels, unless another bad news in the form of Repo/Reverse Repo Rate hike or deepening of Eurozone crisis strikes the market.

LAST MONTH SUMMARY: AUGUST 2011

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n the last month, when S&P downgraded the US credit ratings, it ruffled quite some feathers in the global market nest. The downgrading basically meant that the ease of getting loans or the cash flow which the US had for years would now be a bit tougher for them. This would result into slower growth of American economy, thereby slowing the global growth. The commodity prices fell sharply as their demand reduced due to the slow growth. Some speculative activities were seen in precious metals viz. silver and gold since they are considered as safe bets during periods of such volatility. Owing to this, they gained around 15-20% in a month‘s period.

Currently in the bearish rally that we have seen, many stocks came down by around 20-25%. Thus they are available at very cheap prices now. So one can start building up an SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) portfolio of IT stocks. The SIPs are a plan that invests a particular sum in different instalments on every further dip in the stock price.

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The major reason for IT stocks‘ fall was their outsourcing based business model. But companies like HCL Tec and TCS are still getting big contracts and continue to grow. Also some private sector large and midcap banking stocks – like those of FEDERAL BANK, YES BANK and HDFC BANK – are still promising as their loan-books are showing good growth even in this period of high interest rates.

From the long term perspective Indian markets are looking very good fundamentally. Chiefly because, inflation which has been an obstacle for the growth of India for around one and a half years now would automatically come down as the repercussions of downgrading of the US credit rating trickle down in turn reducing commodity prices. One should avoid

BSE Sensex

Company

Percentage Change

SKS Microfinance

-35.01

Jet Airways

-29.10

Educomp Solutions

-21.89

Company

Percentage Change

YOU KNOW WHAT!

Rajdhani Leasing

+119.06

Sapan Chemicals

+101.90

TCL Technologies

+92.29

No one ever claimed that the Titanic was ‗unsinkable‘. The quote, ‗practically unsinkable‘ was taken out of context.

In 1911, Shipbuilder magazine published an article describing the construction of the Titanic. The article stated that when the watertight doors were closed, the ship would be "practically unsinkable".

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Across As of January 2010, Amazon.com is America's larg- 1. est online retailer. Which company that deals with office supplies is the runner-up? n 2010, which company reportedly bought the domain name of the American Farm Bureau Federation 2. for $8.5 million?

What’s the name of the new phone launched by Tai- 3. wan’s High Tech Corp for competing against Apple 6. iphone?

Which American car firm made the Corvette?

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What word describes the minimum number of members required to be present for the proceedings of an assembly to be valid ?

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In 1996 what overtook Coca-Cola as being the most well known brand name in the world?

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Who first produced a book in 1955 to help pub owners settle debates (and bets) between patrons?

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Yoshida Kogyo Kabushibibaisha or YKK for short 15. appears on nearly every what?

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Which was the first company formed to manufacture motor cars?

According to a study by global brands agency Millward Brown released in May 2011, which company 19. overtook Google as the world's most valuable brand?

Ron Dennis has been the manager for many years of 20. the team behind which Formula One motor racing car?

Which drink was named by its inventor after rejecting the first six names that were offered?

Red Barn, now a historic site in the US, was the origi- 21. nal manufacturing site of which company?

X and Y

-Sanchit Agrawal 10

Down The discovery of Metallica's song "I Disappear" on a file sharing network in 2000 started a chain of events that led to the demise of the original incarnation of what company?

What was the Jaguar car called before 1945?

Owner of Mr.Beans Coffee Junction?

Who's the largest operator of Duty Free Retail Shops?

The 1st vending machines in the USA were installed on New York City railway platforms in 1888, what did they dispense?

Lambretta is a famous manufacturer of what?

Which company opened the first Burger Restaurant in Britain in 1954?

What is Colombia’s chief export?

What was Mr. Ferrari's first name?

It is made from thermo-plastic paper and the manilla hemp used to make rope, it is designed to withstand boiling water, what is it?

Which vehicle took its name from the fact that it was made to be used for general purposes?

Conducted by tea expert Yangdup Lama, ______ Tea Trails is a journey traversing the rich and unknown history of tea, its prop erties, varieties, brewing and serving secrets?

The world’s largest Mobile Phone maker is based in which country?

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-Nitin Sutrave

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ime and again, the universe has witnessed personalities who succeed in winning the hearts and minds of millions across the globe. Setting an example and trend for others to follow, they walk with their heads high on their very own paths. One such magnificent celebrity, the 6th richest individual in the world and the man the world‘s largest steelmaking company boasts of as a CEO, Lakshmi Narayan Mittal has proved his mettle battling all the way from taking over his family business to what he is today.

Mittal steel, which was founded as Ispat International, began strengthening its hold in the global economy acquiring firms at various places over the world. In June 2006, Mittal Steel decided to merge with Arcelor Steel giving rise to an organization named Arcelor Mittal. This merger proved to be very beneficial as Mittal then became the largest steel manufacturer in the world. It is believed today, that one out of every five cars in the world is composed of the steel manufactured by Mittal‘s firms. Arcelor Mittal claimed to have a production representing an astonishing 10% of the total steel Born to a Marwari family in Rajasthan, Lakshmi‘s output in the world. initial days were as simple as it could be. Later, as their family shifted to Calcutta and his father hav- Apart from ruling the steel empire, Lakshmi Mittal ing become partners in a steel company, fortune also contributed to other sectors of the society. He decided to show its brighter side to them. Complet- came up with Mittal Champions Trust to support ing his graduation with a Bachelor of Commerce ten Indian athletes to increase their strengths to degree in Business and Accounting in 1969, Laksh- compete at the global level. He also awarded Abmi started contributing his hand in his family‘s hinav Bindra a handsome amount for winning the steelmaking business. A bright first gold medal for India in an young mind and first hand experiindividual event at the Olympics. ence in the functioning of a steel Lakshmi also partnered with the plant under the guidance of his very Government of Rajasthan to esfamily members. What else could tablish a university named the have made it a better start for LakLNM Institute of Information shmi?

Technology in Jaipur.

Later, in 1976, when his family set Today, Lakshmi Mittal is not only up their own steel plant, Lakshmi the CEO of ArcelorMittal, but also had bigger dreams of expanding is the owner of Karrick Limited, their business internationally. The The Man Who Did It: L. N. Mittal an investment holding company mark of this international venture and also a co-owner of the was the dilapidated plant in Indonesia he bought. Queens Park Rangers Football Club. A resident of The same year, he married Usha, a daughter of a London, he owns a spectacular 12 bedroom house money-lender. Things seemed to be going fine for decorated with marble that has been supplied from Lakshmi. the same quarry as that of The Taj Mahal. Apart from this, he also owns houses at places over the But there always is a time when man‘s intellect has globe. This business tycoon has demonstrated his to choose – choose between cribbing over the pau- power and dominance in his field and does not city of liberty and taking the path non-treaded. For seem to be contented with this. What more this Lakshmi, it was the time when a few differences magnate will achieve in the years to come, is just a were created in his family. Lakshmi chose to set out matter of patience. And whatever idea he comes up on his own and thereon, he has been handling his with is sure to set just another example to the business on his own. world.

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-Abhirup Abhirup Lahiri

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ith barely fifty years left to run out more than one. Noticeable contributions to this of black gold, the world is evident- end are often recognized and remunerated by the ly headed towards a dire dearth of bureaucracy and this is a huge economic boon to combustible fuel; the possibility of being a green company. The setting up of charitaa third World War for a basic need as water cannot ble socio-economic institutions like schools and be ruled out; international organizations have vocational training centres adds to the ethical assounded the siren indicating alarming environ- pect. The fulfilment of Corporate Social Responsimental consequences of the current rate of indus- bility is a crucial way in which ambitious enterpristrialization and urbanization. es vow to engrave their names on The world, surely, is on the the stones of honour and being brink of an imminent crisis that eco-friendly on the outset is its may question the very existence integral part. of the human race on Earth.

These efforts, however, ofHence however psychedelic and ten need radical transformations dynamic an entrepreneur may in the functioning of the company be the world gives cognizance to engine. Plunging into the comjust one shade of business these paratively obscure world of reVerdant Nature at its Simple Best. days, that being green. Manufacnewable fuel requires a certain turing industries and business enterprises are in a amount of financial consolidation and ambition in persistent attempt to improvise and optimize their general. Many such ventures of well-to-do comresource utilization paradigms. In the wake of a mercial enterprises in the heavy industry sector new found awareness for environmental sustaina- have failed in the past and it is not an easy decision bility, all they prioritize is to claim the accolades of to make when it comes to relatively financially vulbeing energy efficient and green. nerable entrepreneurs. This has jeopardized a rapWhat exactly is meant by going green? Quite id growth in the Green Movement in the entrepreoften, it is misinterpreted as the mere decapitation neurship sector in the recent past and will continue of the harmful impact an industry has on the envi- to do so unless dedicated efforts are taken in instilronment, may it be through optimal use of renewa- ling in young and budding entrepreneurs a sense of ble fuel or through effluent treatment. In fact, ambition and faith in novel initiatives. green business encompasses a multitude of facets Geriatrics breeds childhood and so is the of business, of which the above discussed efforts case with the Earth. So moving on to a green fuare primary aspects. A green company exemplifies ture, lets join our hands in a consortium of budefficient management of human resource and ding entrepreneurs and lead our motherland to the works for the overall growth of the nation in ways helm of economic progress.

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g n i l g g Ju 13

s n o g Jar

Net Present Value

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o what happens now, that you have diversified your portfolio, increased your outlook, decided to take risks and invest in stocks. I guess it‘s time to move on to the mathematical aspect of management. Ask any actuary, banker (or even a commerce student for that matter!) across the world and they‘ll tell you this – if there were to be one single concept that overshadows above all aspects of finance planning, it has to be this ‗Net Present Value‘ (NPV).

Suppose you are told that for a sale you made, the payment will come after a year. Then, how much should you charge the customer? Charging just the billed sum is not the answer since it‘ll reduce in value over the year – the sum‘s present value. And this present value is the ‗billed value‘ over 1 less the discount rate. So, money to be given today has a higher face value than the billed value which is due for a year hence.

The above discussion proves a singular point in finance planning a rupee today is worth than a rupee tomorrow. This is because you can use that rupee and invest it today so that after a given time, that rupee has appreciated to a larger face value (note that its actual worth may decrease due to inflation, etc.) In a nutshell, NPV gives you a way to bring on money to one common time platform where you can compare it and choose the best option of return.

Now, how much does this rupee give you back

when you invest it today are tabulated in what is called an annuity chart whence values may be read and multiplied for any sum required. In the meanwhile, which investment option gives you how much return may be known from various ratios – Cost/Benefit Ratio, Investment/Benefit ratio, etc. that will be discussed in the next edition. So long, get you calculators out and go for it!

YOU KNOW WHAT! Replying more than 100 times to the same piece of spam e-mail will overwhelm the sender's system and interfere with their ability to send any more spam.

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-Aditya Agarwal

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ot just another million dollar idea, It was the Million Dollar idea. Around the same time the 'the' was dropped from thefacebook.com, there was another clean and neat idea that popped into a young entrepreneur's head. It was literally the million dollar idea. Nothing more, nothing less www.milliondollarhomepage.com was launched on 26th August, 2005, born out of a twenty minutes brainstorming session by then 21 year old Alex Tew. Tew was looking for ways to pay his tuition fees for a university he had secured admission into.

The concept was simple, a masterpiece of pure advertising. The homepage consisted of a million pixels (small dots that make up your screen) arranged in a 1000x1000 pixel grid. And the idea was to sell these pixels a dollar each as advertising space and make your million dollars. The minimum purchase was a 100 pixel block, costing $100, big enough for the advertiser to carry a small image or a logo and display a small message if hover your cursor over image. The pixels would hyperlink to the advertiser's site. The site was intended to run for five years, but if runs forever, people who bought those pixels would own a piece of internet history. Pixel Sales and Marketing The first sale, three days after the launch, was made by a friend of Tew's who bought the first 400 pixel (20x20) block for his online music website. At the end of two weeks, 4,700 pixels were sold mostly to Tew's family and friends. With $1000 dollars now in his pocket, Tew sent out a press release that was picked up by BBC. It acted as a catalyst to the already strong word of mouth campaign and the snow-balling had started. The Million Dollar Homepage was featured in articles on the BBC online, The Daily Telegraph and a bunch or so of other websites. The website began to receive worldwide coverage in the United States (Alex is Brit, the Dollar trick worked) and featured in newspapers in Germany, New Zealand and even China. Soon, the website was an internet sensation and as on 17th October, the site had re-

ceived 100,000 unique visitors. By new year's eve, the site reported that it was receiving 25,000 unique hits every hour and had an Alexa Rank of 127. Save the last thousand pixels, all the other were sold. On January 1, 2006 Tew decided to auction the last 1000 pixels on e-bay instead of launching a second million dollar homepage, thus preserving ―the integrity and degree of exclusivity intrinsic to the million-pixel concept‖. As a matter of fact, 2milliondollarhomepage.com, another one of those mimic spin-offs has hardly any pixels filled. After a ten day auction involving a lot of hoax bids and retracted bidders, the final 10 blocks were picked up for $38,100 by a site called www.milliondollarweightloss.com.After costs, taxes and a donation to a charity, Tew's net income was around $650,000 -- $700,000 from total sales of $1,037,100 in five months. With that much in his pocket, Alex now paid off his university fee, purchased a Toyota Mini, went on a Tokyo trip, and finally bought a pair of expensive socks--pixelated design ones, of course! Tew had taken a celebrity status and in the words of The Wall Street Journal ―had painted an interesting picture of online entrepreneurship‖. The million dollar homepage worked the way it did because of its novelty and freshness.

The publicity made use of viral marketing and Alex's enchanted story of an 'honest' boy trying to make money to pay off his university fees and buy 'a pair of socks' caught the media's attention. None of the other spin-offs made any money. Advertiser's were largely unhappy even with Tew's own version 2.0 Pixelloto (where pixels were sold at $2 each, and another million was given away to a random guy who clicked on one of the ads). What Next? After dropping out of the university in less than a year, rejecting a truckload of job offers, and a series of entrepreneurial flops on the web - Tew came back to what made him a millionaire and launched www.onemillionpeople.com (check it out) around October this year. Well, lets wait and watch.

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YOU KNOW WHAT! The surface area of a pair of Boeing—757 wings is 1,951 square feet (181 square meters), about the same as the floor space of a three-bedroom apartment! There are about 626,000 parts in a 757 with about 600,000 bolts and rivets fastening them together. The length of all wires in the twinjet is about 60 miles (100 kilometers).

Drinking milk may mean stronger bones, but the same goes for a cup of tea!

Because printed materials are being replaced by CD-ROM, microfiche and the Internet, libraries that previously sank into their foundations under the weight of their books are now in danger of collapsing in extremely high winds.

-Sanchit Agrawal 15

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The Entrepreneurship Cell VNIT is an initiative of some visionary students of India. It was established with a noble aim of reducing the industry-institution divide by making the rift, seem that lesser. Thus would be done by making the interaction between the two parties for viable through increased frequency and taking effective measures to continue to foster a healthy relationship between them.

We are on the internet only! Green environment, save money, live life!

Post you queries, comments, articles, and suggestions at : ee@consortiumvnit.com Last date for submission of articles for October 2011: 30th September, 2011

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