So far majority of the growth in e-learning space in India has been in the Corporate space, where both Indian and non-Indian companies are using the power of Online Education to train their employees. The question here is, "Is a non-corporate, end user, sitting in his/her home, office, cybercafe in Guhawati, Chennai, Rajkot or wherever he/she is (maybe traveling to London, Paris on business trip).......ready to embrace the concept of online education ?"
Wanted to float this question around to readers of the blog and to other players in the Online Education space to see what they feel.....
Monday, July 16, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
PC and Net Shopping Penetration in India
There were two articles in last 2 days of Economic Times showing increased penetration of PCs in India
a) One PC for every 50 Indians (13 June, 2007)
b) Net Shoppers click nonstop (14 June, 2007)
IDC has called this as a watershed era in the history of Indian PC market and I tend to agree with that statement. In terms of pure numbers, we may still be lacking wrt western nations and there are still ways to go before everyone in India has access to a PC, it still is a great achievement considering Indian population and demographic spread. Around 21.6 million Indians have access to internet and 43% of them do some form of online shopping, spending an average of Rs 2,100 annually. While some call that to be a low number, it still is a good start.
Part of the credit in my mind goes to surprisingly Indian bureaucratic system … since they were directly responsible for introducing computers in the school education system very early on. I remember that it was back in 1985 that the first batch of Class XI science students were given the option of choosing ‘Computers’ as a subject, similar to Physics, Chemistry etc. I was part of the 2nd batch and had computers as a subject in class XI and XII. If you think about, if the batch was starting in 1985, all the pre-planning, approval from different regulatory bodies, getting books published, training teachers, setting up computer labs etc. has to be done atleast 2-3 years before that, so in very early 1980s….25+ years ago, much before the era of liberalization, new economy, internet. And we all are reaping the benefits of those decisions….Hats off to the Indian bureaucrats of that time who have paved for the progress of this country.
Going ahead, there needs to be improvement in both – increased users and usage per user. Broadband connection in India is still not strong enough and almost 1 out of 3 times, there is an issue with opening a website. ISPs need to take broadband connectivity to the next level.
Another interesting stat is that roughly 1.5 million Indians have their own blog …including me
a) One PC for every 50 Indians (13 June, 2007)
b) Net Shoppers click nonstop (14 June, 2007)
IDC has called this as a watershed era in the history of Indian PC market and I tend to agree with that statement. In terms of pure numbers, we may still be lacking wrt western nations and there are still ways to go before everyone in India has access to a PC, it still is a great achievement considering Indian population and demographic spread. Around 21.6 million Indians have access to internet and 43% of them do some form of online shopping, spending an average of Rs 2,100 annually. While some call that to be a low number, it still is a good start.
Part of the credit in my mind goes to surprisingly Indian bureaucratic system … since they were directly responsible for introducing computers in the school education system very early on. I remember that it was back in 1985 that the first batch of Class XI science students were given the option of choosing ‘Computers’ as a subject, similar to Physics, Chemistry etc. I was part of the 2nd batch and had computers as a subject in class XI and XII. If you think about, if the batch was starting in 1985, all the pre-planning, approval from different regulatory bodies, getting books published, training teachers, setting up computer labs etc. has to be done atleast 2-3 years before that, so in very early 1980s….25+ years ago, much before the era of liberalization, new economy, internet. And we all are reaping the benefits of those decisions….Hats off to the Indian bureaucrats of that time who have paved for the progress of this country.
Going ahead, there needs to be improvement in both – increased users and usage per user. Broadband connection in India is still not strong enough and almost 1 out of 3 times, there is an issue with opening a website. ISPs need to take broadband connectivity to the next level.
Another interesting stat is that roughly 1.5 million Indians have their own blog …including me
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Running a startup
Why do people leave the (relative) comfort of a corporate world to work for a startup ? I know there are thousand reasons out there and I am not going to add another one…. in my case it is the desire to make a difference, to try something new, to face hurdles and solve them (yeah…sure...).
Honestly, it has been a lot of fun trying to run the show at SolidGyan for the past couple of months. From thinking of a marketing campaign in one moment, one has to immediately shift gears and get involved in buying new servers to cope with customer demand and later go out and meet the subject matter experts or a potential partner….it has been a bucket load of fun !!
And what has honestly amazed me is the quality of people I have interacted with and the strong desire they have wrt not compromising on quality of their work……very, very different than my experiences 15 + years ago where general perception was of a bargaining mentality……where at a moment’s notice, majority would compromise on quality for a cheaper price…..not so anymore.
One really is bowled over by seeing the passion in their eyes, especially on a subject like education because they strongly (and rightly, if I may say so!) believe in Education being one of the key pillars that would keep India going forward. When others ask me as to why we would succeed ….the honest answer is because of the quality of people we are associating ourselves with. Just look at the plethora of experience these folks bring to the table – one has 20+ years of teaching experience; another has been involved in education space for 12+ years and also shoots movies; yet another one not only has 22+ years of experience, but is also a well respected author; another one is a Doctor, then did his MBA from one of the IIMs, then sat for IAS and still finds the time to help us; another has been exclusively focused on this space for last 6+ years; couple of them are Engineer – MBAs, who have left the horizons of corporate world to get involved with education; another used to be a fashion designer; another has been country manager for couple of multi-nationals; another runs his own software company; another is a financial wiz…..the more I look across the people who are willing to help us, the more this group looks like a real diverse class at the business school…..people with different backgrounds bonded together with a single reason. While the reason in B-school may have been to get the best grade, the real exciting thing here is that these people are willing to bond so as to help others succeed – Cliché as it my come across, money is not the #1 reason for all these folks willing to spare their time and knowledge… and that is why it has been a real great experience running SolidGyan ……..
Honestly, it has been a lot of fun trying to run the show at SolidGyan for the past couple of months. From thinking of a marketing campaign in one moment, one has to immediately shift gears and get involved in buying new servers to cope with customer demand and later go out and meet the subject matter experts or a potential partner….it has been a bucket load of fun !!
And what has honestly amazed me is the quality of people I have interacted with and the strong desire they have wrt not compromising on quality of their work……very, very different than my experiences 15 + years ago where general perception was of a bargaining mentality……where at a moment’s notice, majority would compromise on quality for a cheaper price…..not so anymore.
One really is bowled over by seeing the passion in their eyes, especially on a subject like education because they strongly (and rightly, if I may say so!) believe in Education being one of the key pillars that would keep India going forward. When others ask me as to why we would succeed ….the honest answer is because of the quality of people we are associating ourselves with. Just look at the plethora of experience these folks bring to the table – one has 20+ years of teaching experience; another has been involved in education space for 12+ years and also shoots movies; yet another one not only has 22+ years of experience, but is also a well respected author; another one is a Doctor, then did his MBA from one of the IIMs, then sat for IAS and still finds the time to help us; another has been exclusively focused on this space for last 6+ years; couple of them are Engineer – MBAs, who have left the horizons of corporate world to get involved with education; another used to be a fashion designer; another has been country manager for couple of multi-nationals; another runs his own software company; another is a financial wiz…..the more I look across the people who are willing to help us, the more this group looks like a real diverse class at the business school…..people with different backgrounds bonded together with a single reason. While the reason in B-school may have been to get the best grade, the real exciting thing here is that these people are willing to bond so as to help others succeed – Cliché as it my come across, money is not the #1 reason for all these folks willing to spare their time and knowledge… and that is why it has been a real great experience running SolidGyan ……..
From the desk of Chief Gyanee
Why start a blog - honestly because writing helps me get my thoughts in order and put things in perspective. After having recently moved back to India after 15 years in US and also having left the (relative) comfort of a corporate world to a startup, there are numerous experiences that I feel like sharing. I remember when I was in the process of making the decision of moving back to India, I had looked through some real honest postings by others who had gone the similar path recently and had found them to be really useful. Had also seen some interesting blogs by CEOs of startups both in US and India. Not sure if this blog would be that interesting or helpful to others…but one can always try….
A few areas where a reader would see content here and are welcome to share their thoughts ….
a) Running a startup
b) Education in India – Institutions, Coaching Centers, Process of getting admission, Life before and after getting a degree etc
A few areas where a reader would see content here and are welcome to share their thoughts ….
a) Running a startup
b) Education in India – Institutions, Coaching Centers, Process of getting admission, Life before and after getting a degree etc
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