What is the best character of a trader?

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The word says it all. Read more over here.

Private Equity

Steve Rosenbush has a good analysis of Private equity in Business week.



Private equity slowdown

was surprised to see that the early read on this year's M trends. Yes, I know. We're just five weeks into the year, so it's arguably too early to draw any conclusions. But the magnitude of the slowdown in total M deals, not to mention private equity, is significant. And as private equity slows down, the volume of stock-based transactions undertaken by strategic investors is on the rise. All this data is fresh from Dealogic. I delve into it at greater length here. I think there's compelling evidence that strategic buyers are gaining leverage in the marketplace as equity values rise and price private equity players out of the market, a point that Credit Suisse's Americas M chief Boon Sim explains succintly in the story.

Interesting model. How social sites help us.

I have an excellent idea about what social sites teach us. How they are helping. Its just tons of information and interesting thing is that its public. Its very easy to draw some quick conclusion and build a viable business model surrounding it.

I understand dozens a dime companies are starting everyday. Except the one which I have in mind. I did some market research and many of the companies express their desire of having some thing.

Let me see how long it holds and if I didn't hear any thing. I am going to hire some one build the stuff ( What outsourcing is all about buddy).

Shoe buying guide

Five Simple Rules for Men's Dress Shoes - The Everything Guide to Shoes -- New York Magazine

Five Simple Rules for Men's Dress Shoes






1. Do not wear square-toe shoes. Buy a classic, rounded-toe style.





2. Dress shoes and sneakers are different beasts—do not attempt to consolidate the two with a “fashion sneaker.”





3. You moisturize your face; your shoes need regular moisture too. A shoeshine costs $2.50 at Eddie’s Shoe Repair (30 Rockefeller Center, Concourse level; 212-581-3463).



4. A black-leather lace-up, worn with a dark gray sock, will go to 90 percent of your formal occasions.





5. Spend as much as you can afford—nice shoes last longer. And invest in fitted cedar shoe-trees ($95 at Church’s), which extend shoe life by years.

Success factors

As I mentioned many times web companies are the easiest one to start. But its interesting to see what are the major factors which contribute towards the success of any start ups.

Top 7 indicators of consumer Internet success By Nissan Gabby


1. Define a previously unrecognized niche
Video sharing as in Youtube
2. Strong ability to leverage natural search as the primary means of user acquisition
Have a catchy name buddy
3. Service that empowers people to make a living
Let other people to make a business model around you Ebay
4. Free (or near free) alternative for a previously high cost service
Gmail as in POP3 alternative for yahoo
5. True viral distribution potential
Myspace
6. Ability to jumpstart user acquisition through distribution partnerships
Flickr + yahoo
7. Story that lends itself to mainstream PR
Quality product which makes user addict

Home Sales Slump Slows

Home Sales Slump Slows; Buyers Still in Charge (Star Tribune, Feb. 12th): "Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota Realtor Ass'ns: Signs of recovery from the deep doldrums of late 2006... Pending sales for January were down 6% from January 2006, compared with double-digit declines during much of 2006. That's about 600 fewer transactions than were posted when the market peaked in 2003 and still within historical averages... Inventory remains at record highs, but the increases have been much more moderate than during most of 2006, when monthly listings jumped as much as 40%. Last month, the number of new listings was up 5%."

Community Communication, Consideration and Content

Ever bothered about driving traffic to your website. This is all what u need.

On Private Equity and Grads

Why MBAs are in hot pursuit of private equity jobs - Feb. 13, 2007

Grads going into investment banking have a fairly mapped out idea of what their job will entail and what sorts of projects they'll be working on. "But a private equity shop has much more of an entrepreneurial flair, which appeals to students enormously," said Julie Morton, associate dean for MBA career services at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

It's common for students to flock to hot sectors that may be on the verge of overheating - consider the frenzy of tech hiring in the late 1990s. But private equity houses have been disciplined about building their teams and are known for their streamlined operations - Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, one of the world's largest private equity firms, has about just 90 investment professionals.

"Everyone in the world can want to work for private equity, but the private equity firms are only going to hire who they need," Korb said.

It isn't rare for private equity houses to hire grads fresh out of business school, he said, but 9 times out of 10, the students who nab these jobs are the ones who had private equity experience under their belt before even starting their MBA program.

Interesting seven deadly sins of a VC

Paul Kedrosky's Infectious Greed: Trading Blizzards

Trading Blizzards
Funny Altucher/Stockpickr "system" for trading blizzards. The upshot:

BUY: If there are 5 inches of snowfall in Central Park in the prior 24 hours to the open, then buy the open.

SELL: At the close the same day

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REIT and US

Institutional investors with $11.9 trillion in assets have been net sellers of REITs since November, says State Street.



US REIT yields are at their lowest relative to Treasury Bonds since 1985.



The National Vanguard REIT Index 12 02 2007 ChartAssociation of REITs estimates that average yield on US REITs fell to 3.78% at end-January, 1.03 percentage points below the 10 year Treasury's 4.78% yield Friday. US REITs trade at 18.8x adjusted funds from operations according to The Leuthold Group, their highest level since 1997 and almost 50% higher than their average over the last ten years.



US REITs have led the S this year, returning 12%, while the Bloomberg Asia REIT index rose 34% in the last 12 months and the British FTSE All-Share Real Estate Index rose 45% in 2006. Asian REITs currently yield 3.26% and Western European REITs 3.4%, according to Bloomberg.



REIT prices have been driven by rising rents and land values, and M Land prices in Tokyo rose in 2006 for the first time in 15 years. Office rents in mid-town Manhattan rose 19% in the 12 months to November '06 according to CB Ellis, allowing Blackstone to sell 8 Equity Office buildings in Manhattan yesterday to private developer Harry Macklowe for $7 billion, and the Port Authority of New York to open discussions with private investors to sell the $3 billion Freedom Tower in the World Trade Center.

Vodafone bagged hutch

Vodafone bags Hutch for $19.3 billion

British
telecom giant Vodafone has bagged the 67% Hutch Telecom International
(HTIL) stake in Hutch-Essar at an enterprise value of $19.3 billion
(approx Rs 86,000 crore) which comes to $794 per share

I am just not reading charts ahead. This is a good acquisition for Vodafone and probabaly a desired one. This country is going to grow leap and bounds in terms of telephone subscribers.



next? .. Some one should ride a PC and internet revolution. Yeah Reliance and VSNL is up there with all the gears.



Retail. Man this is the place you should focus. Some one should focus on all the large real estate necessary for the firm to get started. All the DLF, Rahejas, Unitech do u guys hear this.



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Why startups are paradises

Learning from Founders

Big companies won't be able to do everything these startups do. In big companies there's always going to be more politics, and less scope for individual decisions. But seeing what startups are really like will at least show other organizations what to aim for. The time may soon be coming when instead of startups trying to seem more corporate, corporations will try to seem more like startups. That would be a good thing.

L N Mittal lessons learnt

Laxmi Vilas Mittal - watch him & his life.

Third richest man after Bill and Warren
He is from a Middle class Rajasthani.
Learnt local medium.
Topped the school through out his education.
He started in Indonesia from a Holiday trip.

Lessons learned

1) Deferred success he consider it as a failure. ( Time is of high important man)
2) He says acquisition is of art more than a Science ( Heard this before from an I banker VP Merill Lynch though)
3) Believe in God and not in astrology ( Awesome)
4) He hire entrepreneurs to run the firm ( I think with a certificate in Entrepreneurship i have a good chance)
5) Acquisition is the way to grow ?? He says there is this many steel mills which we can make in a life time.
6) Only takes calculated risks.
7) Hate the word monopoly ( says consolidation)

What does money mean to him..
"Its the satisfaction for being some thing different and unique"
Business means
"Successful need not to be rich"
Mittal steel makes
"Ha ha no answer"
He still holds an Indian passport
"He says nothing distinguish from being a different nation"
India this much richer
"He says in India things would have been difficult if he stayed there"
Will his son follow him
"He says he will follow his son rather he following him"

Indian who made it at the top of the world today.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VI5D-1Z2PBA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=w8mgH8v8qKg&mode=related&search=
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zijUvSphR0s&mode=related&search=
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kpOZOesTgmI&mode=related&search=
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_YjQPT6B0Ks&mode=related&search=

Thanks karthik for sending the link
Facts,

More is less,

6 Startup Lessons For The Year 2007

Generally Speaking, the Smaller the Niche, the More Loyal the Users Become.

"If everyone exposed to a product likes it, the product will not succeed... The reason that a product “everyone likes” will fail is because no one “loves” it. The only thing that predicts success is passion, even if only 10% of the consumers have it." - Scott Adams, Dilbert Blog



Interesting thought , Any comments.

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Looking at Sector Performance Over Recent Years - SeekingAlpha

Looking at Sector Performance Over Recent Years - SeekingAlpha: "Looking at Sector Performance Over Recent Years
Posted on Feb 6th, 2007 with stocks: SPX
Eric Savitz (Barron's) submits: I was chatting with Michael Panzner about the relative performance of numerous sectors since the market top in 2000. In addition to being a Technician, Mike is the author of the forthcoming book Financial Armageddon.
We rejiggered a few starting dates, to see how the timing of buying specific sectors impacted performance returns.
Consider these 3 different time frames:"

Entrepreneurship ? How viral is it

People say that Entrepreneurship should be in blood. How true is it. of course genes might have a lot to say. Sergey and Larry are great entrepreneurs. Nothing to do with genes both of their parents are from academia or in research. Is it the web 2.0 which rewrote the entire gene theory. More and more examples can be Digg, Flickr, etc and Giants Yahoo, Paypal, Ebay. Most of them have solid scientific background and their parents are more in to academic more than in business.

Some of the biggest exits like Skype and You tube has also nothing to do with Gene theory.

But I see a trend in people. People who got success fist its quite easy for them to move fast.Like Kazaa, Skype and now Joost.

Google is building an entrepreneurial cell with in.

Yahoo become exits for many companies.

I will make sure that I write about the viral nature of successful entrepreneurs and their viral nature in creating companies once.

Economist says - India over heated

Is India being over heated a problem. I believe this development stage is some thing every country vying for. I think its good for every one to be in the race rather than being left out.



India's economy | India on fire | Economist.com



India's growth rate is close to China's.THE economy is sizzling and foreign businessmen and investors are swarming to Bangalore and Mumbai to grab a piece of the action. India's year-on-year growth rate could well hit double figures at some point in 2007, and the country may even grow faster than China for at least one quarter.

Indian Entrepreneurs - Made Men

I am very much interested in Indian entrepreneurs, These are the people who had been in US and lured back to country. The growing opportunities in India and the strength of economy is surely people are looking in to. I dont know when I am going back but things are good in India. I will write about the life in US and about the dollar dreams in India.



Broking brains
Nirmal Jain,



Founder and CEO, India Infoline
Chartered accountants may not seem to possess the guile and energy to build and run a successful business, but Nirmal Jain's wild family roots reek of the non-comformist. His forefathers, commodity traders from Rajasthan, nearly bankrupted themselves when the silver market crashed in 1978. Twenty years later, Jain jumped ship from a stockmarket research firm and founded India Infoline, a fast-growing online financial supermarket.

Green giant
Chetan Mani,



Founder and CEO, REVA
Few budding Indian business leaders can boast a more meandering route to success than Chetan Maini, founder and managing director of REVA Electric Car Company. Almost 20 years after racing a solar-powered car to third place in a pan-Australian rally, the Bangalore-based entrepreneur seems somewhat surprised to be heading the world's largest maker of road-worthy electric vehicles (EVs).

Maini's career path is a classic Indian success story. He enjoyed early home-schooling and developed an interest in go-karting before being packed off to Michigan by his father to attend college. After earning a Master's from Stanford, he returned to southern India and co-founded REVA in 1994 with American partners

Wheeler-dealer




Dheeraj Garg, CEO, Steel Strips Wheels
Dheeraj Garg is in many ways the archetypal thirty-something Indian entrepreneur. He started young, setting up Steel Strips Wheels (SSW), a producer of steel hubcaps, wheels and rims, at the age of 19 in 1991, using a few million dollars raised from a domestic IPO. Success was slow in coming. Garg, now 34, was thrown into cutthroat competition with Chennai-based Wheels India, a company that had a virtual lock on the market for hubcaps in India. But the country's emergence as a favoured production base for automobile components, along with Garg's own drive and willingness to badger potential customers -- finally tipped the market in his favour.

Pantaloon prince




Kishore Biyani, founder and CEO, Pantaloon Retail
Kishore Biyani might not be India's best-known retailer, but he's certainly the biggest.
Over the past five years, Biyani has transformed India's entire retail sector with the Pantaloon Retail company, of which he owns 44%. He has brought value-for-money goods to the middle-classes via his 112 Pantaloon clothing stores, Food Bazaars and general merchandise Big Bazaar outlets, which employ 12,000 staff. I His next major launch: Brand Factory, a discount chain selling top fashion labels, being rolled out in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Sugar daddy




Kushagra Nayan Bajaj, chief executive, Bajaj Hindusthan
Kushagra Nayan Bajaj is a man in a hurry. It has taken him under three years to turn a minor family concern, Bajaj Hindusthan, into the world's third largest sugar producer, behind Cosan of Brazil and Südzucker of Germany.
The corporate, which is listed on both the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange, will clear US$55 million in profits this year, Bajaj says, on revenues of US$870 million. He has funneled US$1 billion into the construction of several giant new production plants in the Indian sugar heartland of Uttar Pradesh that have each yielded 60% in annualized returns since issuance. He says that he got the money through a combination of internal cash and US$380 million raised from two Luxembourg GDR offerings.

Tech trailblazer




Rajiv Mody, founder and chairman, Sasken Communication Technologies
True to the best IT clichés, Rajiv Mody founded his company in a Silicon Valley garage in 1989 with US$50,000 in savings. Two years later he transported Sasken to southern India, where he set about building its reputation as the country's leading second-tier technology services firm behind Wipro, TCS and Infosys.
Speaking at his Bangalore headquarters which, with a fountain in the courtyard, oversized pillars and dimly-lit taupe corridors, resembles a Las Vegas casino in the off-season, Mody says his company has a lock on the mobile technology sector in India. "Roughly 12%-15% of our revenues go into R [meaning US$2 million in the latest quarter alone].

Money magnet




Atul Ruia, CEO, AREPL
Atul Ruia, one of India's rising real estate kings, balks at the thought of being a billionaire. "Not yet," he says with a cautious smile. Perhaps he's worth "US$400 million or US$500 million", but he says he really doesn't know.

Asiamoney 17 no9 34-6 O 2006

Risk management in Indian VC and PE firms: Comparative study

Part of a special issue on emerging markets and international business. A study was conducted to examine how Indian venture capital and private equity companies manage various dimensions of risk. Findings reveal that evaluation criteria are partly used by funds to mitigate adverse selection problems and that syndication and staged financing are used by funds as relevant methods to mitigate adverse selection and moral hazard problems. Also presented are findings that compare the risk-management practices of Indian and U.K. funds.

Thunderbird International Business Review v. 47 no. 4 (July/August 2005) p. 469-88

Merill banks on India

DSP Merrill Lynch chairman and CEO Hemendra Kothari has agreed to sell a 50 percent, $500 million additional stake to partner Merrill Lynch. In reaching the decision, Kothari was motivated by the realization that the firm needed two things to maintain its edge: additional capital and better expertise in such areas as derivatives and private equity. DSP Merrill Lynch was established in 1995 when Merrill Lynch acquired a 40 percent stake in a venture with Kothari's DSP Financial Consultants.

Institutional Investor (International edition) v. 31 no. 1 (February 2006) p. 9, 14

India venture capital industry

There is great growth potential for the Indian venture capital industry to compete or even outperform the other large players in the Asia Pacific region and even other global players. As a result, government should assume a supporting role in promoting and developing this industry in order to reap the full benefit of venture capital financing. Moreover, as the characteristics of the Indian venture capital model are totally different from the U.S. and Asian models, a completely new model must be devised. The development of India's venture capital industry is discussed.

Journal of Private Equity v. 9 no. 4 (Fall 2006)

Rolling in rupees

HW Wilson: Main

India's rapidly increasing number of millionaires are spending large amounts of money on posh homes, luxury vehicles, and designer clothes. Although hundreds of millions of people in India continue to experience grinding poverty, the economy is expanding at an annual rate of 8 percent. New millionaires are being created on a daily basis by such up-and-coming sectors as software services, telecommunications, finance, and real estate. Real estate consulting firm Cushman Wakefield Inc. reports that more people in more cities are buying homes of over 3,000 square feet. Sales of superluxury cars are gathering pace. Moreover, an increasing number of Indians are buying clothes from designer labels. The total market for high-end luxury clothing and accessories in the country has an annual value of around $434 million, and consultant Technopak Advisors Ltd. estimates that it will reach $800 million by 2010.

Should we measure traffic in minutes

Should We Measure Traffic In Minutes?

Not all traffic is the same, and the kind of traffic that specifically suits your needs depends on your own goals. If you are an advertiser that wants to blindly monetize page impressions, then yes, Digg traffic is the way to go. But if you are a content producer wanting to further intellectual discourse, then Digg is probably not the kind of traffic you are looking for

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