Posted by: Krishna Kumar
in On the Website on Aug 01, 2008
It is about three weeks since we went online -- we went online at 9.15 pm on the 9th of July, Indian time, and every day we spend hours literally poring over the analytics reports, much like new parents oogle their new born ;
Most of the data is along expected lines.
Most of our visitors come from India, and we still have a loooooong way to go in the number of visitors and page views (what did we expect, launching a new site with no publicity and no fanfare?)
The good news (according to Google) is that an average visitor spends about four times the time they spend on similar sites and our bounce rate (a bounce is when a visitor leaves the site from the page of entry without going to other pages) is less than 66% of similar sites).
The really surprising piece is the relative shares of different browsers that are used for visiting this site. 37% of all visitors are using Firefox! Internet Explorer is leading with 58 %, with Opera at third place with 2.5 % and Safari has 1.3 % share.
No where have I seen reports of Firefox having such a large market share. Most reports place Firefox at about 20 % or lower.
To cross check, we looked at the operating system these browsers were running on. There were no surprises there. 95% of users came from Windows machines.
Is it that Indian entrepreneurs tend to use Firefox? Or is the trend more pervasive?
It is early days yet; but if this trend holds, then there are huge implications. For starters, websites like this that right now require Internet Explorer to login and use will need to change themselves.
I am wondering what browser you are using right now. Leave a comment here mentioning your browser and we will come backlater with status updates.
Posted by: Krishna Kumar
in On the Website on Jul 31, 2008
There are these two entrepreneurs I have known for many years now, right from the beginning of my previous role. They come from a small town, but even in those days, they used to make some terrific software; software that were breakthrough products in many ways.
Unfortunately, they never made it to the big league.
Some years back, I remember asking them; You are creating good stuff....why dont you recruit more people? Why dont you scale up? You know, become really big, take on the world; create more fantastic products...? The answer really surprised me at that time. --"We do not want to loose control."
These days, I come across many entrepreneurs who share that thought. Right now, even as I am writing this, I am IMing another friend who has finally turned entrepreneur, another one man show!
A terrific programmer, this guy (a demi God in certain developer circles) finally started off on his own; but just refuses to add people so that he can scale - not even one. He says his ambitions are mininal and that he cannot manage people; that he has come a long way from wher he started.
There are many such wizards out there, who have wonderful ideas, possess wonderful skills or have created wonderful products . But they prefer to operate in small circles.
I cannot help but wonder -- If only some of them would scaled up...
Posted by: Shilpi Kumar
in Ideas on Jul 29, 2008
Looks like the Japanese have taken tree houses to a new level. Based in Okinawa, Japan, the Naha Harbor Diner lies on a tree 20 feet above the ground. The restaurant serves a wide variety of Asian and Indian food and is said to be quite affordable. No wonder it is said to be one of the most romantic destination for couples!!
But there is a catch to it- according to some reports! It is not a real tree
Check out the pictures by clicking here
Wondering what's the scene like in India for Tree Houses?
Read our story on Main Streaming Tree House Resorts.
Posted by: Krishna Kumar
in Print Magazine on Jul 29, 2008
of sending an issue to press (for me) is writing the editorial. One one side we are scrambling to get everything right and on time - we get mostof it right, but never on time. On the other, one is expected to get this flash of wisdom and compress it into 200 or so words. And on most months, I struggle. Till the last minute and beyond.
Obviously, I am struggling right now, even as the August issue is way late....
Posted by: Krishna Kumar
in Ideas on Jul 27, 2008
"Na bhujyathe vyakaranam kshuthadhurai
Pipasithe kavya raso na piyethe
Vidyaya kena chid-udhritam kulam
Hiranyameva aarjaya, nishphala kala"
(He who is hungry cannot eat the book of grammar
He who is thirsty does not drink the essense of poetry
No family has been revived just because of learning
Earn wealth, for knowledge [by itself] is useless)
Words from a poem, learned way back in school. They just struck in memory
