April - 2018

Recent Posts

Archive

Tags

Everyone is Creative

Everyone is Creative

Everyone must explore their creative side. Yes. Everyone. Without exception. This is especially true in the light of the ever-uncertain job scenario and to build in an additional income stream. Of course, it is not as easy as it sounds. If you are talkative and introverted, you could try voicing. If you are talkative and extroverted, you could start a Youtube channel about something, anything. If you drew well as a child, you should do something around drawing. Like storyboar

The new employment model

The new employment model

It seems to me that the full-time salary model is no longer the default mode of #employment. Large staff = Large office = Large cost, especially in a city like Mumbai with prohibitive real estate costs. Speaking for myself as a first-generation #entrepreneur, this is suicidal. Also, all said and done, #firing is not easy. A project-to-project involvement is more viable, especially in our kind of business where we work with equals, and can cull in #experts of different kinds i

First generation entrepreneurs

First generation entrepreneurs

It can be argued that the dice is loaded against first #generation #entrepreneurs, so much so that first generation entrepreneurs almost do not stand a chance. Of course, there have always been successful first generation entrepreneurs and there always will be, but there might be merit in examining things from the above perspective. There are many things we do not know, the kind of knowledge which can be gleaned only through growing up in a #business family. Such as (and this

Lessons from Failure

Lessons from Failure

This was in #2004 or roundabout. We had a meeting with a #Corporate Honcho, head of a #Company which is considered among the biggest #debacles of #Corporate #India. At that point when we met him, he was blacklisted by the #RBI, a fact he himself informed us about. “My travel agent gets a car loan, I don’t”, he said .For obvious reasons, I will take no names. We were meeting him for a #Corporate #Film they were planning to do. The Film was to be directed by the most promising

Kind attn: Govt / PSUs

From my experience over the last 2-odd years, my one suggestion to this Govt is to simplify the #Tendering/RFQ process for #VIDEO PRODUCTION in #Govt organisations/#PSUs. We are #creative people (somewhat, if not too much) and this process is simply too complicated for us. In fact, it’s 10 times more draining than the work itself – with its hundreds of clauses, assprted Legalities, requirement of L1 and occasionally Bank Guarantee, and no advance. After all, if a service prov

Regarding Fine print

As a #service provider, or let us say, media-related service provider, what will you include as your ‘#Fine Print’. In our case, Fine Print is not so fine and clients do read all of it. This is something we need to think about. There was a #Computer Graphics team closely aligned with us a few years ago, but I must still make a mention of their Fine Print. Their Estimates used to come with some 15-20 points as the Fine Print, two of which I remember: - At least 80% of the mat

A sound methodology

There’s a parable by #FranzKafka which goes like this: A man goes to his stables and asks his assistant to bring his horse. Assistant : “Sir, where are you going ?” Man: “Away from here”. Assistant: “Away from here “? Man: “Yes. As long as I keep getting ‘Away from here’, I’ll reach my destination. ‘Away from here’. A #philosophy for #life and #work. Thoughts welcome.

A lesson in pricing

A lesson in pricing

There’s a #scene in #GovindNihalani’s ‘#ArdhSatya’ which goes like this. The characters of Shafi Inamdar, Om Puri and a third police officer finish a meeting, sit in a taxi and are about to leave from the place. Suddenly a voice is heard off camera: “Excuse me gentlemen”. By then, the doors of the taxi are shut and the taxi is about to leave. Now, we see suspended Inspector Mike Lobo, played by Naseeruddin Shah. Naseeruddin Shah: “Excuse me gentlemen. Excuse me.” By then the

A sound methodology

This was a few years ago. I had mailed our Profile and #Showreel to a #client in #Bengaluru, and then he called me. “Can you mail me your #methodology in half an hour ? he said. Wow. What a brilliant way of knowing whether a person or team or company knows their job to professional satisfaction. Beyond #Profiles, #Portfolios, #Showreels and Samples, it’s almost foolproof, calling for years of experience to be distilled into a few lines, not even a full page. Moreover, require

1

2