The E-edge
Please have a look this video. It is a bit long, but nonetheless, interesting.
Well, yes, as IITians, we do have a lot of confidence and ambitions. The level of confidence is so high that it actually radiates from us to all in close proximity to us. H6 junta will remember Sandy, the guy who used to make Chinese food at our canteen. Those noodles were some of the best I had ever had and they have never been the same since he left. After a while of wondering where Sandy went, I came to know he now runs his own canteen at H5. Well, a canteen owner who isn't named Raghu is a pleasant break from tradition, but that is a story for another time.
Yes, entrepreneurship is in our blood. We want to keep people happy and we want to make money -- not necessarily in that order. Just a month ago, I asked a sophie in my wing what his plans for the future were and he replied that he would love to open a software company after passing out. Yes, software is the "in-thing" these days. This is rampant in the existence of a truck-load of companies still coming for placements looking for CS students oblivious to the fact that there are hardly any CS students left to be placed. Zynga, which owns something as lame as Farmville has overtaken EA sports in market share!
Now look at the hard facts: Just as there is a lot of room for new software development (since it is very easy and requires almost no investment), it is equivalently true that there are probably a million others who are working on the very same things one is working on. If you turn out to be the leader of the pack, you might, in all probability, be bought by google. Which turns out to show that it is extremely difficult to sustain a company which does good software stuff or uses existing technology in general. As Nandan puts it, sustainability is a load of crap: All good things in life must come to an end.
Also, even big companies must be on the lookout for change. My manpro prof has 2 very interesting anecdotes to share with anyone who would listen:
1) Why did the MAC fail against the PC? Well, the MAC came bundled with the hardware and one couldn't buy the software independently. On the other hand, MS DOS could be carried around in a floppy.
2) Why did Apple succeed with the ipod even when Samsung had the market share with the walkman? Apple came out with the revolutionary iTunes, which, apart from being excellent software for playback, allows you to download the songs you want to listen to. Beats the hell out of buying the whole album just for one or two songs.
On the same bandwagon comes Samsung who saved the cellphone industry with its sizable foray into the touchscreen market, putting an end to the Nokia dominance. (The contributions of the iphone and the android based open handset alliance to the Nokia monopoly debacle is also appreciated.)
All these examples suggest only one thing, if you want to make it big, use new technologies and out-of-the-box ideas. Software won't take you far away. I wish Sandy all the best for all his future endeavors.
Well, yes, as IITians, we do have a lot of confidence and ambitions. The level of confidence is so high that it actually radiates from us to all in close proximity to us. H6 junta will remember Sandy, the guy who used to make Chinese food at our canteen. Those noodles were some of the best I had ever had and they have never been the same since he left. After a while of wondering where Sandy went, I came to know he now runs his own canteen at H5. Well, a canteen owner who isn't named Raghu is a pleasant break from tradition, but that is a story for another time.
Yes, entrepreneurship is in our blood. We want to keep people happy and we want to make money -- not necessarily in that order. Just a month ago, I asked a sophie in my wing what his plans for the future were and he replied that he would love to open a software company after passing out. Yes, software is the "in-thing" these days. This is rampant in the existence of a truck-load of companies still coming for placements looking for CS students oblivious to the fact that there are hardly any CS students left to be placed. Zynga, which owns something as lame as Farmville has overtaken EA sports in market share!
Now look at the hard facts: Just as there is a lot of room for new software development (since it is very easy and requires almost no investment), it is equivalently true that there are probably a million others who are working on the very same things one is working on. If you turn out to be the leader of the pack, you might, in all probability, be bought by google. Which turns out to show that it is extremely difficult to sustain a company which does good software stuff or uses existing technology in general. As Nandan puts it, sustainability is a load of crap: All good things in life must come to an end.
Also, even big companies must be on the lookout for change. My manpro prof has 2 very interesting anecdotes to share with anyone who would listen:
1) Why did the MAC fail against the PC? Well, the MAC came bundled with the hardware and one couldn't buy the software independently. On the other hand, MS DOS could be carried around in a floppy.
2) Why did Apple succeed with the ipod even when Samsung had the market share with the walkman? Apple came out with the revolutionary iTunes, which, apart from being excellent software for playback, allows you to download the songs you want to listen to. Beats the hell out of buying the whole album just for one or two songs.
On the same bandwagon comes Samsung who saved the cellphone industry with its sizable foray into the touchscreen market, putting an end to the Nokia dominance. (The contributions of the iphone and the android based open handset alliance to the Nokia monopoly debacle is also appreciated.)
All these examples suggest only one thing, if you want to make it big, use new technologies and out-of-the-box ideas. Software won't take you far away. I wish Sandy all the best for all his future endeavors.
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