Entrepreneurship on Hi from Dwipal

Bringing YouTube one step closer to replacing traditional TV - Announcing VideoMirchi.com

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 20:08:00 +0000

I had subscribed to Indian programming on Dish Network, mainly to get the latest updates on bollywood movies and music. YouTube always had all the content, but never had a good way to discover it in a easy way.

This is fixed now. I am super-excited to announce Video Mirchi. You can access it at http://www.videomirchi.com.

Video Mirchi looks up the top charts every day and creates a continuously playing video channel powered by youtube. There is no login or signup - its just like a TV channel playing the latest bollywood videos.

It works on both computer and mobile. Connect it with your TV directly or via Airplay.

Enjoy!

Startup Exit Strategy

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 07:30:00 +0000

While pitching my startup to investors, or listening pitches from founders for their startups, the topic of Exit Strategy often shows up. In general, there are 2 kinds of startups:

Startups built to stay independent
Startups built to be acquired

I think both of them are valid exit strategies, but entrepreneurs who build them with the goal to get acquired are thinking very small.

Pivoting + Startups

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 07:27:00 +0000

Pivot is one of the most overused terms in the startup world in 2010. The general thinking is that Pivoting is a good thing and founders are very proud to say that they have ‘pivoted’ X number of times for their current startup. I have seen funding pitches which even contain a slide on ‘possible pivots’, where the founders talk about how its easy for them to change their vision.

Having ‘pivoted’ my own startup (Pickv -> TheIceBreak), I feel this is definitely something that is important in a startup’s lifecycle. However, it is not all that fun or glamorous, and there are very strong reasons to have a plan that does not involve pivoting as the strategy.

Pivoting usually involves changing the vision of the company. From what I have seen, there are 2 kinds of ‘pivots’:

Pivot to a bigger opportunity: You have a generally decent product getting tiny amount of traction, but see a bigger opportunity so you switch over to that.
Pivot to a new product: What you have done is not doing well, or has very little hope of getting traction, so you pivot to a new product that might or might not have anything to do with the original idea.

In both cases,

Pivoting is extremely painful: You have spent a ton of time and energy really optimizing the service for a particular use case. Now you are dumping that use case.
Pivoting doesn't really solve the problem: It shifts the problem somewhere else, or results in a different problem.
Too many Pivots = lack of vision: If you have a clear long term vision, there might be changes required in the execution where you take 'diversions' to get to the final goal, but there is not usually a full 180 degree pivot. If there are too many pivots, the long term vision might get lost and the company might flounder and stutter without getting anywhere.
Pivoting means something has failed, and its time to try something new. This applies to the first kind of pivot that I described earlier. While its good to accept failure early and move on, there should be enough time and resources spent on each iteration so it can reach its potential.

In general, I am still a supporter for pivoting, but has to be done thoughtfully. There is absolutely nothing glamorous about doing so and it should generally be the last resort.

Comments

Salil (January 04, 2011):

Good post Dwipal! Really liked the thought process.

My New Venture: Pickv.com

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:38:00 +0000

Just launched my new website: http://pickv.com.

It's a new kind of relationship and online dating site that helps you to find someone based off of your favorites (movies, music, tv shows, and books).

Not single? No worries - you can also use the site to connect with a new friend.

Check it out! Dwipal

Comments

wnc78 (December 30, 2009):

Looks good man …. -Wasim