The Dark side of The Social Networking

Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have enabled people to not just reconnect with friends and family, but have provided a platform for sharing information and staying in touch. You upload pictures, share information, tell the world where you are and what you're doing. Fact: once you put anything online, it is shared around the world in seconds and stays there for decades. Here is the bad news - even if you delete what you wrote, chances are, it is sitting pretty on one of the servers halfway across the world. So much for privacy.

It would be rhetorical to ask if you've seen The Social Network.

For the uninitiated, this movie chronicles the creation of Facebook, arguably one of the most popular websites the World Wide Web has to offer. What led to 500 million smiling faces was a shaky, unstable start. Instead, what the movie doesn't really show is how the dark side wasn't only internal to Facebook, as it added fuel to the already simmering darkness of social networking. Not questioning the potential or power of social networking, one cannot deny the influence it has on our daily lives. Be it constructive or perverse. Here is an insight into how the multiple ways the dark forces of social networking often unleash themselves on to unsuspecting users.

Trolling

Trolls are people who post rude, offensive and abusive messages on social networking sites. They disrupt online conversations by hurling abuse and posting rude and offensive comments. Anyone who has been on social platforms long enough would have had an interaction with trolls. The more popular you are, the higher the chances of your getting trolled.

A few months back, director Karan Johar, vented on Twitter. "While most tweets are objective, frank and warm... the ones that are constantly making tactless statements about my personal life are upsetting.'' Johar isn't the only one.

Sample this:

@chetan_bhagat kaisa hai bandarr??

@MallikaLA hey...i'm just like u...i love to kiss boys and love to be nude...

@Abhishek Bachchan And that was the last 100 bucks I spent on any movie starring this joker. Period

Attempt to put a face to this troll and one finds that they are normal people who let their dark side out once they get online. The availability of a medium, freedom of speech and a sequestered dark side is the perfect combination for a troll to thrive. Not just limited to non-celebs, Shobhaa De recently got trolled by Arbaaz Khan after she wrote that his movie Dabangg should be banned. Arbaaz tweeted: 'Buddhi badnaam hui darling mere liye :) hahahahahaha'

Foot in the mouth

A seemingly innocent tweet or a status update can do you more harm than you can possibly imagine. Popular news pieces tell us about people getting fired, arrested or even divorced. More often than not, we don't think twice before posting a status update on any social network; truly unaware that users outside our friend circle are looking forward to such gaffes. Others, looking to do a quick background check- like a prospective matrimonial alliance, new employers or even a new acquaintance can be dealt quite a blow if an unintentional tweet or status update shows up on their feed.

There is a long list of people losing their jobs thanks to irresponsible posts on Twitter and Facebook. It is generally not such a good idea to bad mouth your boss or company on public profiles, or to post holiday photos on Facebook while you are on a sick leave. Abhijit Acharya (@abijit_tabs) once went to give an interview and tweeted about the company. The interviewers did not take it well and he obviously did not get the job. A waiter in the US lost his job recently after he tweeted about an actress, a star from the American series Hung not leaving him a tip. In July, Infosys announced the rollout of a social networking policy for its employees. This policy enlists dos and don'ts while interacting on social networking sites. It empowers the company to take legal action against employees who leak sensitive company information through their social networking profiles.

Social networking websites are a goldmine for lawyers. According to a survey, 20 per cent of the divorces in US today involve Facebook. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers has stated that more than 80 per cent of members have utilised or come into contact with evidence found on social networking sites in the last five years. Amendments to India's IT Act, notified last October, make status messages and tweets admissible as electronic evidence in court. According to Karnika Seth, cyber lawyer: "There are couples who are filing for divorce for reasons which could not have been proved before, but with tweets and status message updating several times a day, it works as additional evidence, often making adultery easy to prove.'' Relationships are not just ruined because of Facebook but even on Facebook. A change in relationship status is all it takes to communicate to your lover that it is over.

Privacy

Life has never been easier for stalkers and thieves if they want to track your routine. They can simply do that by keeping track of your timeline. An innocent tweet like, "Chilling at big chill with friends" can let a stalker know your exact whereabouts. Or "we are on vacation" can invite burglars.

India has also caught up to the popular social networking site called Foursquare that allows registered users to connect with friends and update their location. A direct invite to the criminals, isn't it? People can even mark their location on tweets now using Google maps that can be very dangerous.

Consider this: If a criminal can easily find out where you are, what stores you frequent, what your daily habits are, who your friends are, and even what your personal food, entertainment, and beverage references are, you can be targeted with a level of ease never before possible.

Identity Crisis

Fake profiles are an increasing menace on sites like Twitter and Facebook. Fake accounts of celebrities, personalities and politicians are created on Facebook and Twitter to get lots of audience and then to spam them or post malicious content. Twitter now verifies accounts of popular and publicly known users, but has just a 'report spam' button for regular users.

Anyone can create a fake account and start talking to people. How do you tell the fake from the real? Recently, Bollywood director and scriptwriter Anurag Kashyap was very upset. There were fake accounts of him on Twitter, as well as on Facebook. An imposter opened accounts with his name and also opened an account with the name of his next movie That Girl In Yellow Boots. The imposter was continuously interacting with many of Anurag's acquaintances using these fake accounts. Ronald K Noble, secretary general Interpol, recently revealed that two fake accounts were created in his name on Facebook and were used to find the details of highly dangerous criminals. Last year someone was managing a false account on Facebook impersonating Amartya Sen, the Indian Nobel Laureate. He was dishing out advice and participating in discussions.

Even after repeated objections by Amartya Sen himself, Facebook refused to remove the page. Using a pseudo-identity, you can now take pot-shots with malice towards one and all. The intentions might not always be malicious though. Parody accounts on social networking sites are not uncommon today. People make these accounts for fun. A parody account of stock broker Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has more than 13,000 followers. The parody account of Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs has 2.5 lakh followers. There is also a fake Bal Thackerey with 1,500 followers

Profile marketing

Your tweet that you need a new car or a house is a direct invitation to marketers. They can just search for keywords like 'car' and then tweet /call you back trying to sell their product. Try typing that you are not happy with a particular telephone operator and you will soon be stalked by the competition. You might be sick of the marketing calls but they don't spare you on the Internet either. A service called Twithawk is a real time target marketing engine that will find people talking on Twitter, now by your chosen topic and location, allowing you to really hit your target, even mid-conversation, with ease. Gursimran Khamba (@gkhamba) tweeted a joke about calling Just Dial, the online directory to say he is looking for a shera, the CWG mascot's costume. Just Dial immediately tweeted him back providing the numbers of shera costume traders.

According to Ankita Gaba, a marketing professional: "Companies are now increasingly using Twitter for marketing and customer care." She has to actually tell her clients to do it subtly because users don't want Twitter to be used for this. American company Rapleaf helps banks scan your social network and identify contacts connected with you that also do business with the financial institution. Based on the financial stability and credit history of your social network connections, the bank can make an assumption about what sort of credit risk you might be. Maybe it is time to do some thinking; maybe it is time to list the pros and cons of social networking.

Think about it, weren't our lives a lot simpler before this revolution? If you really can't live without it maybe just exercise a modicum of discretion and common sense regarding what you post online. Either way, its probably time you reworked your social networking privacy settings.

NASA's achievement in Research and Development

This is a story of Anti Gravity Space Pen featured in the movie-3 idiots, my friends it was not the story but the fact happened many years ago, ok then let me explain you to this. 

During the space race back in 1960’s, when NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found out that the pen wouldn't work at zero gravity. (Even Ink won't flow down to the Writing surface). Russian’s also had the same problem too, when they launch cosmonauts in space.

In order to solve this problem, Americans hired Andersen Consulting (which is Accenture today). It took them one decade and 12 million dollars.

They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, underwater, in practically any surface including crystal and in a temperature range from below freezing to over 300 degrees C.

But the Russians they did not scratch their head like Americans. They neither spent money nor time. They used a bit of commonsense. “Russian’s used pencils instead of pens"

The Lying Game

It’s said that one of the most difficult and complicated thing is to pull off. LYING. We have all done it and we still doing it. There could be a moral argument whether we should lie or not. But my friends believe me, the world would come to an end, if we all start saying the truth.

 So based on this scenario, I would like to narrate a story of Four (4) MBA Students doing Management, one night 4 MBA students were boozing (consuming alcohol) till late night and didn't study for the test which was on the next day.

 In the morning they thought a plan. They made themselves look as dirty and weird as they could with grease and dirt. Then they went up to the dean’s office and said that they had gone out to a wedding last night and while coming back the tyre of their car burst and they had to push the car all the way back to home and due to this we unable to prepare for the test.

 Dean said that you can have the re-test after 3 days. They said they will be ready by that time. On the third day they appeared before the dean. The dean said that this was a special condition test.

All four were required to sit in separate classrooms for the test. They all agreed as they had prepared well in the last three days. The test consisted of 2 questions with total of 100 marks.

Q.1: Write down your name ----- (2 Marks)

Ans:

Q.2: Which tyre burst ------- (98 Marks)

Ans:

Here they are caught !!

Let me explain you to this, to be a successful liar you have to be innovative in your stories. Make sure you cover up your story very well, so that you aren’t exposed later on.

But at the end I have to agree with one thing “Satyamev Jayetey”. It’s very difficult to go on this path but if you have the determination and the will power then believe me you can.              

Moral of the Story:

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” - Winston Churchill.

Dhirubhai Ambani's Eight lessons of Management

Dhirubhai Ambani, founder of the Reliance Industries, was no ordinary leader. He was a man who gave management a whole new "ism". There is a new "ism" that I've been meaning to add to the vast world of words for quite a while now. Because, without exaggeration, it's a word for which no synonym can do full justice: "Dhirubhaism". 

            Inspired by the truly phenomenal Dhirubhai H. Ambani, it denotes a characteristic, tendency or syndrome as demonstrated by its inspirer. Dhirubhai, on his part, had he been around, would have laughed heartily and declared, "Small men like me don't inspire big words". There you have it - now that is a classic Dhirubhaism, the tendency to disregard one's own invaluable ontribution to society as significant. I'm sure everyone who knew Dhirubhai well will have his or her own little anecdote that illustrates his unique personality. He was a person whose heart and head both worked at peak efficiency levels, all the time. And that resulted in a truly unique and remarkable work philisophy, which is what I would like to define as Dhirubhaism.

Eight Lesson's Of Mangement

Dhirubhaism No. 1 - Roll Up Your Sleeves And Help.

You and your team share the same DNA. Reliance, during Vimal's heady days had organized a fashion show at the Convention Hall, at Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi. As usual, every seat in the hall was taken, and there were an equal number of impatient guests outside, waiting to be seated. I was of course completely besieged, trying to handle the ensuing confusion, chaos and protests, when to my amazement and relief, I saw Dhirubhai at the door trying to pacify the guests. Dhirubhai at that time was already a name to reckon with and a VIP himself, but that did not stop him from rolling up his sleeves and diving in to rescue a situation that had gone out of control. Most bosses in his place would have driven up in their swank cars at the last moment and given the manager a piece of their minds. Not Dhirubhai. When things went wrong, he was the first person to sense that the circumstances would have been beyond his team's control, rather than it being a slip on their part, as he trusted their capabilities implicitly. His first instinct was always to join his men in putting out the fire and not crucifying them for it. Sounds too good a boss to be true, doesn't he? But then, that was Dhirubhai.

Dhirubhaism No. 2 - Be A Safety Net For Your Team.

There used to be a time when our agency Mudra was the target of some extremely vicious propaganda by our peers, when on an almost daily basis my business ethics were put on trial. I, on my part, putting on a brave front, never raised this subject during any of my meetings with Dhirubhai. But one day, during a particularly nasty spell, he gently asked me if I needed any help in combating it. That did it. That was all the help that I needed. Overwhelmed by his concern and compassion, I told him I could cope, but the knowledge that he knew and cared for what I was going through, and that he was there for me if I ever needed him, worked wonders for my confidence. I went back a much taller man fully armed to face whatever came my way. By letting us know that he was always aware of the trials we underwent and that he was by our side through it all, he gave us the courage we never knew we had.

Dhirubhaism No. 3 - The Silent Benefactor.

This was another of his remarkable traits. When he helped someone, he never ever breathed a word about it to anyone else. There have been none among us who haven't known his kindness, yet he never went around broadcasting it. He never used charity as a platform to gain publicity. Sometimes, he would even go to the extent of not letting the recipient know who the donor was. Such was the extent of his generosity. "Expect the unexpected" just might have been coined for him.

Dhirubhaism No. 4 - Dream Big, But Dream With Your Eyes Open.

His phenomenal achievement showed India that limitations were only in the mind. And that nothing was truly unattainable for those who dreamed big. Whenever I tried to point out to him that a task seemed too big to be accomplished, he would reply: " No is no answer!" Not only did he dream big, he taught all of us to do so too. His one-line brief to me when we began Mudra was: "Make Vimal's advertising the benchmark for fashion advertising in the country." At that time, we were just a tiny, fledgling agency, tucked away in Ahmedabad, struggling to put a team in place. When we presented the seemingly insurmountable to him, his favourite response was always: "It's difficult but not impossible!" And he was right. We did go on to achieve the impossible. Both in its size and scope Vimal's fashion shows were unprecedented in the country. Grand showroom openings, stunning experiments in print and poster work all combined to give the brand a truly benchmark image. But way back in 1980, no one would have believed it could have ever been possible. Except Dhirubhai. But though he dreamed big, he was able to clearly distinguish between perception and reality and his favourite phrase "dream with your eyes open" underlined this. He never let preset norms govern his vision, yet he worked night and day familiarizing himself with every little nitty-gritty that constituted his dreams constantly shifting the wheat from the chaff. This is how, as he put it, even though he dreamed, none of his dreams turned into nightmares. And this is what gave him the courage to move from one orbit to the next despite tremendous odds. Dhirubhai was indeed a man of many parts, as is evident. I am sure there are many people who display some of the traits mentioned above, in their working styles as well, but Dhirubhai was one of those rare people who demonstrated all of them, all the time.

Dhirubhaism No. 5 - Leave The Professional Alone.

Much as people would like to believe, most owners (even managers and clients), though eager to hire the best professionals in the field, do so and then use them as extensions of their own personality. Every time I come across this, which is much too often, I am reminded of how Dhirubhai's management techniques used to be (and still remain) so refreshingly different. For instance, way back in the late 1970s when we decided to open an agency of our own, he asked me to name it. I carried a short list of three names, two Westernized and one Indian. It was a very different world back then. Everything Anglicized was considered "Up Market." There were hardly any agencies with Indian names barring my own ex-agency Shilpi and a few others like Ulka and Sistas. He looked at the list and asked me what my choice was. I said "Mudra": it was the only name that suited my personality. And the spirit of the agency that I was to head. I was very Indian and an Anglicized name on my visiting card would seem pretentious and contrived. No further questions were asked. No suggestions offered, just a plain and simple "Go ahead and do it." That was just the beginning. He continued to give me total freedom -- no supervision, no policing -- in all my decisions thereafter. In fact, the only direction that he gave me, just once, was this: "Produce your best." His utter trust in me was what pushed me to never, ever let him down. I guess the simplest strategies are often the hardest to adopt. That was the secret of the Dhirubhai legend. It was not out of a book. It was a skillful blend of head and heart.

Dhirubhaism No. 6 - The Arm Around The Shoulder Leader.

I have never seen any other empire builder nor the CEO of any big organization do this (why, I never adopted this myself!). It was Dhirubhai's very own signature style. Whenever I went to meet him and if on that day, all the time that he could spare me was a short walk up to his car, he would instantly put his arm around me and proceed to discuss the issues at hand as we walked. With that one simple gesture, he managed to achieve many things. I was put at ease instantaneously. I was made to feel like an equal who was loved and important enough to be considered close to him. And I would walk away from that meeting feeling so good about myself and the work I was doing! This tendency that he had, to draw people towards him, manifested itself in countless ways. This was just one of them. He would never, ever exude an air of aloofness and exclusivity. He was always inviting people into sharing their thoughts and ideas, rather than shutting them out. On hindsight I think, it must have required phenomenal generosity of spirit to be that inclusive. Yes, this was one of the things that was uniquely Dhirubhai -- that warm arm around my shoulder that did much more than words in letting me know that I belonged, that I had his trust, and that I had him on my side.

Dhirubhaism No. 7 - The Dhirubhai Theory Of Supply Creating Demand. 

He was not an MBA. Nor an economist. But yet he took traditional market theory and stood it on its head. And succeeded.  Yes, at a time when everyone in India would build capacities only after a careful study of market expectations, he went full steam ahead and created giants of manufacturing plants with unbelievable capacites. (Initial cap of Reliance Patalganga was 10,000 tonnes of PFY way back in 1980, while the market in India for it was approx. 6000 tonnes). No doubt his instinct was backed by years and years of reading, studying market trends, careful listening and his own honed capacity to forecast, but yet despite all this preparation, it required undeniable guts to pioneer such a revolutionary move. The consequence was that the market blossomed to absorb supply, the consumer benefited with prices crashing down, the players increased and our economic landscape changed for the better. The Patalganga plant was in no time humming at maximum capacity and as a result of the plant's economies of scale, Dhirubhai's conversion cost of the yarn in 1994 came down to 18 cents per pound, as compared to Western Europe's 34 cents, North America's 29 cents and the Far East's 23 cents and Reliance was exporting the yarn back to the US. A more recent example was that of Mukesh Ambani taking this vision forward with Reliance Infocomm (which is now handled by Anil Ambani). In India's mobile telephony timeline there will always be a very clear 'before Infocomm and after Infocomm' segmentation. The numbers say it all. In Jan 2003, the mobile subscriber base was 13 million, about 16 months later, shortly after the launch, it had reached 30 million. In March 2006, it has touched 90 million ! Yes, this was yet another unusual skill of Dhirubhai's -- his uncanny knack of knowing exactly how the market is going to behave.

Dhirubhaism No. 8 - Money Is Not A Product By Itself, It Is A By Product, So Don't Chase It.

This was a belief by which Dhirubhai lived all his life. For instance when he briefed me about setting up Mudra, his instruction was clear: 'Produce the best textile advertising in the country,' he said. He did not breathe a word about profits, nor about becoming the richest ad agency in the country. Great advertising was the goal that he set for me. A by-product is something that you don't set out to produce. It is the spin off when you create something larger. When you turn logs into lumber, sawdust is your by-product and a pretty lucrative one it can be too! It is a very simple analogy but extremely effective in driving the point home. Work toward a goal beyond your bank balance. Success in attaining that goal will eventually ring in the cash. For instance, if you work towards creating a name for yourself and earning a good reputation, then money is a logical outcome. People will pay for your product or service if it is good. But if you get your priorities slightly mixed up, not only will the money you make remain just a quick buck it would in all likelihood blacklist you for good. Sounds too simplistic for belief? Well, look around you and you will know exactly how true it is. 

Warren Buffet Methodology of investment

Buffett's Methodology Here we look at how Buffett finds low-priced value by asking himself some questions when he evaluates the relationship between a stock's level of excellence and its price. Keep in mind that these are not the only things he analyzes but rather a brief summary of what Buffett looks for: 

1. Has the company consistently performed well? 
Sometimes return on equity (ROE) is referred to as "stockholder's return on investment". It reveals the rate at which shareholders are earning income on their shares. Buffett always looks at ROE to see whether or not a company has consistently performed well in comparison to other companies in the same industry. ROE is calculated as follows: 

= Net Income / Shareholder's Equity

Looking at the ROE in just the last year isn't enough. The investor should view the ROE from the past five to 10 years to get a good idea of historical performance. 

2. Has the company avoided excess debt? 
The debt/equity ratio is another key characteristic Buffett considers carefully. Buffett prefers to see a small amount of debt so that earnings growth is being generated from shareholders' equity as opposed to borrowed money. The debt/equity ratio is calculated as follows: 

= Total Liabilities / Shareholders' Equity

This ratio shows the proportion of equity and debt the company is using to finance its assets, and the higher the ratio, the more debt - rather than equity - is financing the company. A high level of debt compared to equity can result in volatile earnings and large interest expenses. For a more stringent test, investors sometimes use only long-term debtinstead of total liabilities in the calculation above. 

3. Are profit margins high? Are they increasing? 
The profitability of a company depends not only on having a good profit margin but also on consistently increasing this profit margin. This margin is calculated by dividing net income bynet sales. To get a good indication of historical profit margins, investors should look back at least five years. A high profit margin indicates the company is executing its business well, but increasing margins means management has been extremely efficient and successful at controlling expenses. 


4. How long has the company been public? 
Buffett typically considers only companies that have been around for at least 10 years. As a result, most of the technology companies that have had their initial public offerings (IPOs) in the past decade wouldn't get on Buffett's radar (not to mention the fact that Buffett will invest only in a business that he fully understands, and he admittedly does not understand what a lot of today's technology companies actually do). It makes sense that one of Buffet's criteria is longevity: value investing means looking at companies that have stood the test of time but are currently undervalued. 

Never underestimate the value of historical performance, which demonstrates the company's ability (or inability) to increase shareholder value. Do keep in mind, however, that the past performance of a stock does not guarantee future performance - the job of the value investor is to determine how well the company can perform as well as it did in the past. Determining this is inherently tricky, but evidently Buffett is very good at it. 

5. Do the company's products rely on a commodity? 
Initially you might think of this question as a radical approach to narrowing down a company. Buffett, however, sees this question as an important one. He tends to shy away (but not always) from companies whose products are indistinguishable from those of competitors, and those that rely solely on a commodity such as oil and gas. If the company does not offer anything different than another firm within the same industry, Buffett sees little that sets the company apart. Any characteristic that is hard to replicate is what Buffett calls a company'seconomic moat, or competitive advantage. The wider the moat, the tougher it is for a competitor to gain market share. 

6. Is the stock selling at a 25% discount to its real value? 
This is the kicker. Finding companies that meet the other five criteria is one thing, but determining whether they are undervalued is the most difficult part of value investing, and Buffett's most important skill. To check this, an investor must determine the intrinsic value of a company by analyzing a number of business fundamentals, including earnings, revenues and assets. And a company's intrinsic value is usually higher (and more complicated) than its liquidation value - what a company would be worth if it were broken up and sold today. The liquidation value doesn't include intangibles such as the value of a brand name, which is not directly stated on the financial statements. 

Once Buffett determines the intrinsic value of the company as a whole, he compares it to its current market capitalization - the current total worth (price). If his measurement of intrinsic value is at least 25% higher than the company's market capitalization, Buffett sees the company as one that has value. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, Buffett's success, however, depends on his unmatched skill in accurately determining this intrinsic value. While we can outline some of his criteria, we have no way of knowing exactly how he gained such precise mastery of calculating value.

Conclusion 
As you have probably noticed, Buffett's investing style, like the shopping style of a bargain hunter, reflects a practical, down-to-earth attitude. Buffett maintains this attitude in other areas of his life: he doesn't live in a huge house, he doesn't collect cars and he doesn't take a limousine to work. The value-investing style is not without its critics, but whether you support Buffett or not, the proof is in the pudding. As of 2004, he holds the title of the second-richest man in the world, with a net worth of more $40 billion (Forbes 2004). Do note that the most difficult thing for any value investor, including Buffett, is in accurately determining a company's intrinsic value. 

Inspiring story of a self made entrepreneur also a IIM Alumini

His story is an inspiration for millions. A self-made entrepreneur, his mission is to help the poor through job creation. E Sarathbabu hit the headlines after he rejected several high profile job offers from various MNCs after he passed out of IIM, Ahmedabad two years ago. He instead started a catering business of his own, inspired by his mother who once sold idlis on the pavements of Chennai, worked as an ayah in an Anganvadi to educate him and his siblings. As a child, he also sold idlis in the slum where he lived. "We talk about India shining and India growing, but we should ensure that people do not die of hunger. We can be a developed country but we should not leave the poor people behind. I am worried for them because I know what hunger is and I still remember the days I was hungry," says Sarathbabu. In August 2006, Sarathbabu's entrepreneurial dream came true with Foodking. He had no personal ambition but wanted to buy a house and a car for his mother. He has bought a car but is yet to buy a house for his mother. The "foodking" still lives in the same hut in Madipakkam in Chennai. Today, Foodking has six units and 200 employees, and the turnover of the company is Rs.32 lakh a month. But it has not been a bed of roses for Sarathbabu. After struggling and making losses in the first year, he managed a turnaround in 2007. How has his experience as a 'Foodking' been in the last two years? Sarathbabu shares the trial and tribulations of an exciting and challenging job in an interview with Shobha Warrier. A tough beginning As I am a first generation entrepreneur, the first year was very challenging. I had a loan of Rs 20 lakh by the end of first year. I had no experience in handling people in business, and it was difficult to identify the right people. Though I made losses in the first year, not even once did I regret my decision of not accepting the offers from MNCs and starting an enterprise of my own. I looked at my losses as a learning experience. I was confident that I would be successful one day.
	E Sarathbabu with his mother infront of his house | Photograph: Sreeram Selvaraj
Sleeping on the railway platform My first unit was at IIM, Ahmedabad. When we started our second unit in October 2006, I thought now I would start making money. But I made losses of around Rs 2000 a day. A first generation entrepreneur cannot afford such a loss. But I worked really hard, working till 3 a.m. in the morning. What reduced my losses were the birthday party offers. I started the third unit again in Ahmedabad but it also made losses. All my units were cafeteria and I understood then that the small cafeterias do not work; I needed huge volumes to work. My friends who were extremely supportive in the first year when things were difficult for me. I had taken loans from my IIM-A friends. They were earning very well. In December 2006, an IIM Ahmedabad alumni event took place in Mumbai and I decided to go there mainly to get a contract. I was hopeful of getting it. I also knew that if I got the huge contract, I would come out of all the losses I had been incurring. I booked my train ticket from Ahmedabad to Mumbai for Rs 300 and I had Rs 200 in my hand. As the meet went on till late at night, I could reach the station only at midnight. I missed the train. I decided to sit on the platform till the morning and travel by the next train in the morning. I didn't have the money to check into a hotel. I didn't want to disturb any of my friends so late at night. It was an unforgettable night as I was even shoved off by policemen from the platform. It was quite insulting and embarrassing. After two hours, people started moving in, I also went in. A man who sat next to me on the platform gave me a newspaper so that I could sleep. I spread the newspaper and slept on the platform! I sleep well. I got my ticket refund in the morning and went back to Ahmedabad. And, luck did not favour me, I didn't get the contract.

In March 2007, I got an offer to start a unit at BITS, Pilani (Sarathbabu was an alumnus of BITS, Pilani). That was the first medium break for me. For the first time, I started making profits there though the other units continued to make losses. The reason for our success at BITS, Pilani was the volume; there were more students and there was a need for a unit like ours while in Ahmedabad, they have at least a hundred options. If I made Rs 5000 a day at Ahmedabad in two shifts, here I made Rs 15,000 a day. BITS, Pilani unit gave me the confidence to move on. Unless you make money, you can't be confident in business.

What changed my fortune When all my friends who worked for various MNCs made good money every month and I made losses with my venture. But I kept telling myself, I am moving in the right direction to reach my ambition and vision. My dream was to provide employment and I was doing just that. I continued to work till 3 a.m. but I never felt tired. Through BITS, Pilani, I got the BITS, Goa contract and that was the biggest break for me. It was not a cafeteria like the earlier ones but the dining hall that we got. We had to feed 1300 students. We started our operations in July 2007. At Rs 50, for 1300 students, our sales was Rs 65,000 per day. We soon started making a profit of Rs 10 to 15,000 a day. Around 60 to 70 people work there. I gave the charge of the Ahmedabad operations to one of my managers and moved to Goa. I was still in debt by Rs 15-20 lakhs but I knew BITS, Goa would keep my dream alive. Within six months of starting our operations in Goa, I repaid all my debt. I was called to give a speech at the SRM Deemed University. After the speech, I asked the Chancellor, can you give me an opportunity to serve in your campus? He said, "If not you, to whom will I give such an opportunity?" It's a food court but a big one, similar to the one at BITS, Pilani. There are around 17,000 students there. Now, I have the BITS, Hyderabad contract, ready to start in July 2008. Other than the six units, I have approached a few more universities and corporate houses too. In the first year, I had made a loss of Rs 25 lakh. Right now, we have a turnover of Rs 32 lakh every month, which works out to 3.5 crore (Rs 35 million) a year. I have hired about 200 people. Indirectly, we touch the lives of around 1000 people. By this year end, we will have 500 people working for us. Only 10% of my workers are educated, the rest are uneducated. I want to make a change in their lives. If they have any problem, I will take care of it. We support the marriages and education of poor families. We are paying more to the employees as the company is doing well. Now that the foundation is strong, I plan to have ten units and a turnover of Rs 20 crore (Rs 200 million) turnover by next year His advice: Never give up! In the last two years, I have given more than 120 lectures in various institutions in India. When I got the first opportunity to speak, I thought God had given me an opportunity to encourage or inspire entrepreneurs. When youngsters tell me they are inspired, I feel good. When you just dish out the theory, nobody believes you. But when you do it, they believe you. What I tell them is based on my own experiences. When I thought of starting a company, I felt India needed 100 people like Narayana Murthy and Ambani. If 100 such people support 2 lakh people each, imagine how many Indians get supported. Entrepreneurship is needed to uplift the poor. It is not easy to be an entrepreneur, especially a first generation entrepreneur. There will be lots of challenges in the beginning but you should learn to look for the light at the end of the tunnel. Never give up even if there are hurdles. There are many who give up within a week. You need determination and a tough mind to cross the initial hurdles. If you are starting without much money, you should not have any overhead expenses. He still lives in the same hut As I am in the food business, I know how much the price of every food item has gone up. Many people will languish in poverty because of inflation. Had my mother been working as an Anganvadi ayah today and earning Rs 1500, she would not have been able to feed us and educate us. On the one side, we talk about India shining and India growing, but we should ensure that people do not die of hunger. We can be a developed country but we should not leave the poor people behind. I am worried for them because I know what hunger is and I still remember the days I was hungry. That is why I feel it is our responsibility to take care of them. I wanted to buy a car and a house for my mother. I bought a car first, not a house. I still live in the same house, the same hut. I can build a house right now but I want my business to grow a little more. I feel good in the hut; that's where I get my energy, that's where I lived 25 years of my life. I want to remind myself that the money and fame should not take me away from what I want to achieve. But within six months, I will build a good house for my mother. Her only advice to me is, don't waste money. Till I was in the 10th, there was no electricity in my house. I had to sit near the kerosene lamp and concentrate hard. That's how I learnt to concentrate. The two year journey has been very enriching. It seems like a 20-year journey for me. I was living every moment of the two years, from sleeping on the Mumbai railway station platform to this level. Article taken from one of the yahoo groups

5 Trading rules which will assure 100% profit in stock market.

1) Never trade against the market's direction.


2) Never average on a loss making stock


3) Always keep stop loss


4) Book profit in the expensive market


5) Initiate your investment only when the market corrected at-least 50% from it's previous peak.

The Wealthiest Inventors and Their Inventions Top 5 list

Sometimes, it takes just one really good idea. From food to toy moguls, the world's wealthiest inventors not only had that one genius idea but the ability to market it – and marketing it extremely effectively. Then, they maintained their earnings through smart investments or creating a product that truly lasts. Here are the top 5 wealthiest inventors worldwide, with brief descriptions of their inventions and other interesting factoids.

1. Michele Ferrero: At a net value of $11 billion, Michele Ferrero of Monaco is considered the world's richest inventor, and one of the world's wealthiest women. Her company, Ferrero, is one of the world's largest chocolate makers, and includes such notable brands as Nutella and Tic Tacs. Her genius moment came in making a chocolate hazelnut spread for toast, one that is now known and enjoyed worldwide. Her products sell for mere dollars, but are staples in households across Europe, North America, and she hopes Asia – Ferrero recently built a $35 million Tic Tac plant in India.

2. Jeff Bezos: Lots of entrepreneurs had great ideas during the 90s dot-com boom. Very few of those ideas lasted beyond the great dot-com crash. Jeff Bezos had an ingenious idea that has made him worth over $8 billion: sell books online. Amazon.com quickly became the world's #1 bookseller, and has since morphed into an all-purpose one-stop marketplace for electronics, music, and even clothing and furniture. Never underestimating the power of shopping conveniently from home, Bezos and Amazon have conquered the Internet. Now for new territory: Bezos' next project involves commercial space travel.

3. Pierre Omidyar: Also realizing the power of the Internet in its infant years, the French Omidyar started eBay after seeing the potential to create a digital auction block of an unimaginable scale. Today, people sell just about anything on the site to the highest bidder, including pieces worth tens of thousands of dollars. Over a million people now use his platform as a primary or secondary source of income. Omidyar is also a renowned philanthropist, having donated significantly to Tufts University, his alma mater, as well as financing small businesses in developing economies.

4. Ralph Lauren: Sometimes, only a logo is necessary. The eponymous jockey of Ralph Lauren clothing is known the world over, and has made its creator a billionaire. Overseeing a $4 billion empire, Ralph Lauren started at Brooks Brothers before moving on to his own clothing line. The brand's still-popular polos (sporting the logo prominently, of course) retail for $75 at the very cheapest. The line specializes in preppy wear and has become synonymous with American East Coast royalty. Now traded publicly, Ralph Lauren has moved into luggage, fragrances, and just about anything they can put their logo on.

5. Ty Warner: There is a lot of money to be made in fads, if you can create one. Ty Warner did just that with Beanie Babies, sold by his Ty stuffed animal company, and started a national frenzy unseen before or since. The cute beanbag animals made Warner worth around $4 billion due to their popularity and partnerships with big corporations like McDonald's. Like any fad, the bottom fell out of the collecting craze and Beanie Babies soon died out, but Warner has continued to make good moves since then. He has invested in real estate and owns resorts in key vacation destinations, including his own Four Seasons in New York.

Top 10 Indian Actors of all Time

10 = Sivaji Ganesan





Sivaji Ganesan may not be as par with other super stars in the ranking in terms of commercial success. I am ranking him simply because of the variety of roles played by him from King to Beggar, From action role to comedy role. He was probably the only super star from South India who never had a particular image. He is priced as the university of acting by the Tamil actors.One of the finest actors in India who did not get deserved recognition.


10 = Dhlip Kumar





Kumar has starred in films of the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1980s. He was the first actor to receive a Filmfare Best Actor Award and holds the record for most number of Filmfare Awards won for that category. The evergreen actor is regarded as one of the best actors to have performed on silver screen in Hindi movies. Having more than hundred films to his credit, the splendid actor is an immutable star of the glamorous industry.


9 - Sharukh Khan





He made his film debut in Deewana (1992). Since then, he has been part of numerous commercially successful films and has earned critical acclaim for many of his performances. Khan has won thirteen Filmfare Awards for his work in Indian films, seven of which are in the Best Actor category, thus establishing himself as one of the leading actors of Hindi Cinema. He has got the best overseas market among Indian actors. By the end of his career, he can move higher in the rankings.


8 - Kamal Hasan





 Is an Indian film actor, screenwriter, and filmmaker, considered to be one of the leadingmethod actors of Indian cinema.He is well known for his versatility in acting. Kamal Haasan has won several Indian film awards, including fourNational Film Awards and numerous Southern Filmfare Awards, and he is known for having starred in the most number of films submitted by India in contest for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In addition to acting and directing, he has also featured in films as a screenwriter, songwriter,playback singer, choreographer and lyricist. In 2009, he became one of very few actors to have completed 50 years in Indian cinema. A true legend  has given most number of super hit movies among Indian actors. He is enjoying super star status in 5 different Indian languages.


7 - Raj Kapoor





 He is also known as The Show-Man, was an Indian film actor, producer and director of Hindi cinema.He was the winner of nine Filmfare Awards, while his films Awaara (1951) andBoot Polish (1954) were nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He is ranked above Sivaji and Dhilip Kumar purely because of his multi talented skills. He was having a huge fan following in Russia.The first Indian actor who had global recognition.


5 -=Rajni Kanth



He is considered to be the best Villon actor in India of all time despite of his current superstar status in mass hero roles. He is the second highest paid actor in India after Jackie Chan. Most of his films in the last 2 decades are super hit movies. He has got the best fan following in southern states as par with Chiranjeevi. A fine actor wasted by the commercial film directors and his fan's expectations.


5 =Chiranjeevi





The Telugu Mega Star enjoyed the number 1 super star status with out competition for thirty years. He delivered back to back super hits for 3 decades. Now fully involving in to politics after the retirement from acting, he his still the the number one actor in Telugu movie industry. He is getting the best opening among Indian heroes. A 100 day running movie of Chiranjeevi is an flop according to the Telugu Movie industry. That shows his mass fan following. He is considered to be the best ever Telugu actor in terms of acting skills apart from his mass hero image.


4 - Aamir Khan





He is the one who has given back to back record breaking movies in box office collection (Gajni and 3 Idiots). That is why he is ranked higher though he is still in the middle of his acting career. India's true and the biggest Super Star at present. Though he never had mass hero perception. A true world class actor with a combination of huge fan following. He can move to the highest ranking by the time he finished his acting career.


2= M.G.Ramachandran





The strength of the population of his fans wans enough for him to form Government with full majority.
In 1984 he won the assembly election in Tamil Nadu with majority. The people in some parts of Tamil Nadu are still believing as he is still alive even after 23 years after his death. The political party formed by his is still one of the two major political parties in Tamil Nadu getting votes by showing his images.
He was awarded Bharath Rathna India's highest honor for his contributions in Cinema and Politics.


2 = Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (NTR)



NTR whiped out the ruling Congress Goverment and Formed his own Goverment just with in 9 months from founding his politacal party purely because of his on screen image of Lord Krishna. In the subsequent Lokshaba Election, his party became the first regional party to become the largest opposition party in India. He also known as a famous Villon actor in his early daya in acting. A true ICON.


1- Amitab Bachan


 


The best ever actor in India is easily the biggest Super Star actor in the history of Indian Cinema. His Angry Young Man on screen image is still vacant. He is an unit of class and mass. He enjoyed the biggest fan following in the history of Indian Movies and he is the most critically acclaimed actor in India.