NetFlix Presentation on Culture

Amazing clarity on how to run the company. Great presentation
http://www.slideshare.net/reed2001/culture-1798664

Change

AdventNet has now become ZOHO Corporation..cool ;-)

'No' Satyam

Absolute Fiasco at Satyam Computers.

Trying to acquire family company can be an error in judgment, but systematically manipulating the profit numbers is criminal activity.
Rediff:

Giving details of the financial irregularities, Raju said the company's balance sheet as of September 30 carries "inflated (non-existent) cash and bank balances of Rs 5,040 crore (as against Rs 5,361 crore reflected in the books."

The balance sheet also carries "an accrued interest of Rs 376 crore which is non-existent, an understated liability of Rs 1230 crore on account of funds arranged by me (Raju), an overstated debtors position of Rs 490 crore (as against Rs 2651 crore reflected in the books," Raju said. He further said that Satyam reported a revenue of Rs 2700 crore (Rs 27 billion) for the September quarter and an operating margin of Rs 649 crore (24 per cent of revenue) as against the actual revenue of Rs 2112 crore (Rs 21.12 billion) and an actual operating margin of Rs 61 crore (3 per cent of revenue).

"This has resulted in artificial cash and bank balances going up Rs 588 crore in Q2 alone," Raju said. "The gap in the Balance Sheet has arisen purely on account of inflated profits over a period of last several years (limited only to Satyam standalone, books of subsidiaries reflecting true performance)."What started as a marginal gap between actual operating profit and the one reflected in the books of accounts continued to grow over the years," Raju further said.

"It has attained unmanageable proportions as the size of the company operations grew significantly... The differential in the real profits and the one reflected in the books was further accentuated by the fact that the company had to carry additional resources and assets to justify higher level of operations thereby significantly increasing the costs," he said.

"The aborted Maytas acquisition deal was the last attempt to fill the fictitious assets with real ones. Maytas' investors were convinced that this is a good divestment opportunity and a strategic fit. Once Satyam's problem was solved, it was hoped that Maytas' payments can be delayed. But that was not to be," he said.

Should wait and see as to what will happen next. Another thing, if manipulation of this magnitude can happen in Satyam, it is time we have a look at corporate governance of other companies too.

p.s: I actually liked the way the disaster was put in words .."It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten,"

IBM vs. Tata: Who's More American?

Business Week has an interesting answer!

Based on where they make their sales, and the answer is surprising. TCS, India's largest tech-services company, collected 51% of its revenues in North America last quarter, while 65% of IBM's were overseas.

This juxtaposition helps explain investor reaction to the companies' most recent earnings reports. TCS stock declined by more than 10% on Apr. 21 after it reported that earnings for its fourth fiscal quarter fell short of expectations. IBM, by contrast, beat estimates on Apr. 16. Its stock is up 3% since then and 25% since mid-February

Hamm, the senior writer ends it on a positive note

Meanwhile, the Indian companies aren't in a terrible spot; after all, their services are designed to help clients simplify their businesses and save money. Until the U.S. economy pulls out of the doldrums, though, they will have to sell more aggressively and plan carefully so they don't end up with too many employees, which would pinch margins.

WhiteField, OMR - Vacant deals

India Syndicate reports that

In Bangalore’s Whitefield suburb, once a magnet for IT firms, supply outstripped absorption by 300,000 sq ft in 2007 and about 8% of the developed area remained vacant. In the first three months of 2008, the demand-supply mismatch was more than a million sq ft.
If Whitefield is in a bad way, the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) technology cluster on the outskirts of Chennai is deep in the doldrums, with just nine deals in the whole of 2007. Of the four million sq ft that came into the market last year, only 1.7 million sq ft were absorbed even as rentals fell by 18% and the vacancy rate was up to 11%, according to C&W data.

Zoho People

Zoho's latest offering is an on demand - People Management and Recruitment Solution - Zoho People. It is basically targeted at SMBs. Zoho just keeps adding to its stock. Web is an interesting place to be in.

Indian S/W Product Company

Zoho at its best - rediff coverage. Feels good to be associated with the company!

Data is god, Google is pujari ;-)

From Business Week

Google will pay Nielsen an undisclosed amount to obtain detailed information about the kinds of people who watch specific TV shows.

Google's access to the information is significant because it gives the Mountain View-based company more tools to draw upon as it tries to target television ads as effectively as it has done on the Internet

Since May, Google has been delivering television ads for about 14 million subscribers to EchoStar Communication Corp.'s Dish network and Astound Broadband cable service.The set-top boxes used by EchoStar and Astound enabled Google to track when commercials were watched and for how long. By drawing on Nielsen's data, Google will now have information on what kinds of viewers are watching the commercial.

"This was a missing piece of puzzle for us," said Keval Desai, Google's director of product management for TV ads.

AdventNet Launches ToonDoo

Papara.. Papara.. Pom...the trumpet booms ..

ToonDoo is out there in the big bad world...Go ..let humour get the better of you...ToonDoo is a cool tool to create your own comic strips...

After the internal release at our office, we were having a ball...lampooning each other..So Y don't U pull a fast one on your friends too...

My Own ToonDoo

Note: U will need Flash 8 or above.

HCL Laptops Safe?

India’s top IT manufacturer HCL has been accused by the NGO Greenpeace for releasing carcinogens (cancer causing substances) into the atmosphere.

Business Standard carries the report. The NGO, in a report released today said that HCL laptops were found to contain heavy metals, lead, mercury, cadmium and brominated flame retardants (BFRs). The study was conducted in labs in Denmark and Britain. Pranab Chandan Sinha a campaigner for Greenpeace said that BFRS are known carcinogens and accumulate in any room where electronic equipment run in large numbers.

Meanwhile, PTI reports Hours after the allegation, HCL Infosystems announced the launch of eco-efficient Notebook PCs in the country. The company said in a statement it has introduced eco-efficient consumer and business notebooks that are completely safe for users and environment.

ZOHO - what was behind that?

Kiruba Shankar interviews Dr.Sridhar Vembu, founder and CEO of AdventNet and the spirit behind ZOHO - Web 2.0 Online Office. The Podcost can be accessed here. Proud to have a chennai based company take on the world.

Kiruba Shankar has definitely got his intro right and the interview too.

It's not easy taking on the mighty Google. So, when you come across a man who has the guts to do that, you can't help but admire the man's spirit.