Hi All,

Its been a while since I interviewed a fellow blogger. And today I am glad to interview Mr. Raghuram of Happy Schools Blog, striving to help students achieve their dream of studying in US.

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Coffee With Raghuram, Founder of Happy Schools Blog
Me: Sundar Rajan G S
RR: Raghuram

Me: Hi Raghuram, Welcome to Coffee With Sundar!! Can you give a brief introduction about yourself?
RR: Hello Sundar, It’s my pleasure to introduce myself to your readers. I completed my Bachelors in India(Coimbatore) and Masters in UT Arlington(2005). Currently working as Senior Software Engineer in North Carolina.

Me: What is Happy School Blogs all about? Who are your target audience?
RR: Happy Schools Blog is about all about my personal experience in U.S.. I started gathering information about GRE, U.S. Universities, when I was in first year B.E. Engineering. That gave am an head start among my friends. But, it was fascinating to learn about various schools. I started Happy Schools Blog on July 23, 2007. But, I was doing same thing what I’m doing with Happy Schools Blog offline before that. I was providing guidance to  my friends, family members about university selection, job search, visa preparation.

Every International Student has to go through the following stages

1)      Make decision to study in U.S. and take GRE Exam

2)      Prepare for GRE and TOEFL

3)      Select Universities, prepare documents to apply to universities

4)      Decide which university to attend, if there is more than one admission

5)      Prepare for student Visa interview and visa stamping

6)      Packing for travel and landing in U.S.

7)      First few days in U.S. in most enjoyable to few, but very tough for some.

8)      Classes, thesis, project, part time job, searching for scholarship, …

9)      Internship Search

10)     Job search after graduation

11)     Applying for OPT

12)     Applying for H1B Visa ( lottery in H1b, other immigration issues)

13)     Car Buying, renting apartment, buying home, building network, …

Me: What ignited the spark in you to start this ? How did it all begin? What are some of issues you faced, the progress you made etc during your early days?
RR: Articles I write in the blog tends to reflect what I went through and how I could have done things differently. Studying in U.S. is completely different experience. I have observed how one’s lifestyle changes based on first few friend students make or associate with in U.S. once they reach U.S.  It’s not just a blog, I use it as a medium to build my network. I have been in contact with students who was initially chatting with me 1 year back. I forward them internship and job opportunities that I come across or from my network.

I initially started a website, but I had to put in so much effort to develop from the scratch. But, I was reading lots of personal finance blogs, then I realized, why not use Blogger platform to start a blog. It took me 2 minutes to come up with the name. I didn’t know anything about blogging when I wrote the first post.

Initial challenge I had was to drive traffic. Within first few days, I did realize, it was not easy to get visitors.  I had about 10 articles published, created an Orkut profile and added few students to IM. That got me going.

Me: How would advise a new blogger in terms of growing his traffic? What should he/she focus on?
RR: Content in the King. That’s what every famous blogger in the world will say. If you need to get traffic, you will need to have great content. It’s not possible for someone to write contents in field/area they are not familiar with and don’t have interest. Initially there is nothing much needed more than interest in the subject.

A blog can be also collection of your ideas and information. Contents must provide ‘value’ and anything you wrote about – there are visitors who are interested to read. Challenge is to find where people of similar interests hang out. In my case, it was Orkut communities (Universities, Semester) and forums.

But, in long run, you will develop your skills in Search Engine Optimization, Internet Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Persuasive Writing, other skills to drive traffic to blog. After first 3 months, I moved to wordpress from blogger.

Me: What is your typical work day like..? How many hours do you spend on HSB? How do you manage your time..
RR: HSB is  like hobby( or part time). I get comments like “reading your articles made me feel, I’m almost there in U.S.”.  I personally know that information I write is not available in one single place in other blogs. I haven’t seen other blog in my niche, in last 1 year. As you can see from 13 items listed above, each topic could potentially have one blog dedicated to it.

I spend equal time in content research, creation, website marketing, learning to blog and networking. I have standard routine – morning 1 hr, then off to work ( 8 to 10 hours), back home and spend about 2 hours. I tend to write contents in weekends and spend weekdays on other activities.

Me: How do you define success? Both in personal life and interms of HSB
RR: Success is subjective to events I’m working on currently. HSB was getting 9000 page views in January 2008 and it ad increased to ~ 104,000 in September 2008 and set to increase coming months. But, I measure success in HSB in terms of impact it makes in students life. Each good comment I get from students, brings smile in me.
 
In personal life, instead of living life as it comes, I like to define what I want to achieve and measure progress towards that. I might get there, I might not, but considering the feeling “I have put in  best possible effort at that moment”. At end of the day, I need to the feel that there is nothing more I could have done. This applies to saving money, spending time with my family, friends, co-workers, job, ..

Me: Excluding yours, what other blogs or sites do you admire the most in this domain?
RR: I have been trying to find similar blog for some time now, but one I enjoy the most is app2us.com. There were other few blogs, but it’s not active anymore. I follow DailyBlogTips, JohnChow and 10 other blogs that thought me how to create and maintain the blog.

Me: Is there any thing else you would like to share with CWS readers?
RR: I stumbled across CWS and spend some time reading articles and other interviews. It was interesting to read success stories and experience. You are doing great work, keep it up. If your readers are looking for information about U.S. Schools or about the process, I will be more than happy to help them. My Email Id Raghuram@happyschoolsblog.com. I have published an e-book ‘Students Guide to U.S. Universities” (available at homepage sidebar)  that will give an idea on what to expect from GRE preparation to getting student visa. I’m working on second e-book ‘Extreme Job Search Methods’ which should be available in months time.

Thanks Sundar for providing this wonderful opportunity to connect with your readers.

Me: Thank you Raghuram for this interview.

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Hello All,
It has been a while since we had a CWS interview show. Thanks to summer placements @ IIMB. Next post will be on my experiences et al here @ IIMB during the most talked about summers..

Today, we have a very special guest who is going to shed light on research from an industry perspective. It is my pleasure to welcome Sitaram Ramachandrula

The following introduction is taken from http://www.hpl.hp.com/india/people/#rnvs

Sitaram Ramachandrula is a Senior Research Scientist at HP Labs India working in PriDE project. He joined Hewlett Packard in March 2003. He has earlier worked in speech recognition for local languages. He has also worked in few projects in the areas of document image processing, video global motion estimation and location based services.

Prior to joining HP he was a senior technical leader with Philips Semiconductors, in Philips Innovations Campus, Bangalore, India, for over 4 years. Earlier he was an assistant project leader in Encore Software, Bangalore. He holds a PhD in Electrical Communication Engineering, with a specialization in “speech recognition”, from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; M.Tech in Digital Electronics from Cochin University, Kochi, and B.E in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Osmania University, Hyderabad. His current research interests include: offline handwriting recognition and document image processing.

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Coffee With Sitaram Ramachandrula
Me: Sundar Rajan G S
SR: Sitaram Ramachandrula

Me: Hello Sir, Welcome to Coffee With Sundar! Can you give a brief introduction about yourself. You can talk about educational background, work ex, research interests, other interests, hobbies etc.
SR: My name is Sitaram Ramachandrula, and I am a Senior Research Scientist in HP Labs India in Bangalore for last 5years. I have done my BE in ECE from Osmania university campus and M.Tech in Digital electronics from Cochin university campus and Ph.D in ECE from Indian institute of Science Bangalore with a specialization in speech recognition.

Prior to working with HP Labs, I worked with Philips semiconductors and Philips consumer electronics divisions for nearly 5 years. Before that I had brief stints in Encore software and Ammanna technologies.

My research interests are broadly in pattern recognition and applications of digital signal processing. Specifically my areas of interest are speech recognition, document image processing, optical character recognition (both machine and hand printed) and location based services.

I play table tennis when I get an opportunity.

Me: Sir, in the schools in the world, which do you suggest is the pioneering school that does the best and fierce research in your field of interest?

SR: As I mentioned, one of my area of interest is “Speech recognition”. Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), MIT, AT&T Bell labs, IBM research labs, Cambridge University UK did pioneering work in this area. I will pick CMU for its contributions in this field. Lately, Microsoft research and Nuance are the largest speech research groups.

Me: For a new researcher – can u suggest shortly the steps that s/he should take in order to become successfully established in research. (What i mean is finding a topic, then a guide, then proceeding etc., )

SR: For students before embarking upon research, picking up an area for research: This is ideally done Top-down, but many end up doing Bottom-up based on opportunities available, I mean they apply to many top universities and based on the admissions they get, they choose the best in them according to some criterion. A Top-down approach where an individual really spends a considerable amount of time thinking, analyzing and doing an honest self-analysis e.g., what is worth doing? why? what he/she can do the best? where is his/her interest? This needs a considerable time (say 1 to 2 years). Many cannot do this well while doing their BE, so an alternative is do a job for 1 or 2 years after BE and get time to do this analysis. This needs to be done very actively, by reading many technical magazines, internet etc.

This process is needed mainly not to leave out topics which are more important to the society and industry. Of course the technology and knowledge are universal, but for few societies, few topics are more important than others, so those societies end up investing in those technologies the most. Now a days this sense of importance to society is getting neglected and we end up doing research based on outsourced job potential.

For a new researcher, depending on whether he is doing an MS or a PhD, I first suggest them to get some guidance in choosing fundamental subjects/courses to deeply master in the first 6months to 1 year before embarking on the chosen research area.

The next step is to do literature survey, to establish/get a feel of the chronological developments in the area (over a span of past 20 years or in some cases more than that), to find out the importance given to different topics at different times in that area. And what are the current different topics which people are looking at. What are the popular approaches or methodologies of looking at the topics. This part according to me is a continuous exercise throughout the research, (even after choosing a topic/problem/approach), so that one is abreast of latest developments or even to get new ideas. Most importantly, people need to spend time thinking while each of the paper is being read as knowledge continuously dawns. This is needed, as the researcher needs to create a new path, which in his/her thinking is interesting or important and he/she ultimately needs to prove/validate his/her own path by implementing or by theoretically proving.

Researchers need to be ready for different types of work, reading as a student, reading as an expert, learn to implement, implement to learn, implement to test ideas, thinking, thinking big, thinking differently, facing failures patiently, spending months just brooding/thinking. All these phases will not be equally enjoyable or give immediate results but put together all train a person to be a good researcher, as any real problem, or any real solution is not going to be that trivial.

Me: Sir, How is research in Industry (or research labs) different from that done in universities? Is there any collaboration between the two?

SR: Industry research is more directed and done in larger groups compared to academic research groups or what a PhD or an MS scholar does. Industry can afford to do bigger and expensive experiments or take bigger risks. And many ideas can be pursued quickly in industry. More Ideas get generated dynamically, due to group brain storming. But finally when it comes to one individual taking up a research task, the pace will be similar as researcher is dealing with the knowledge and real problems. Only difference is in industry many take up those tasks and knowledge gets churned faster. Lastly industry research aims to produce business by creating value.

Collaborations are definitely possible, when there is a potential difference between any two groups, the knowledge flows in one direction and when both are similar, knowledge and idea exchange happens. Some problems are more theoretical or farther from business, and industry may not have time for them, until those problems reach a stage Academic research can contribute to industry. And industry can sponsor that kind of efforts by seeing their long term potential.

Me: How does a student decide if he is more suited for “Academic Research” vs “Industry Research” ?
SR: This is individual choice, industry research makes you do nearer to practical things, can make you richer economically. Academic research gives you freedom to do more profound research and that may not be nearer to market or so no market pressure but can make you richer in deep knowledge. A good researcher can anytime change to other type of research. Sometimes costly explorations attract academic researchers to take sabbaticals to industry, and more theoretical topics attract industry researchers to spend time in academic institutions/groups. Most of the academic researchers also teach, which in itself is interesting to some; apart from giving them opportunity to visit well known fundamental topics again and again, and also look at them w.r.to current developments outside. This gives opportunity for bringing a new light into fundamentals. Lastly Industry research makes people to also continuously think for the other two often ignored directions of research by academicians, i.e., the business and usability of the technical research being done.

Me: Almost any research topic connected to engineering requires a student to be comfortable in programming – amongst the huge pool of programming languages (C, C++, FORTRAN, MATLAB, Mathematica, Perl etc.,) – what do u suggest is the most suited for research oriented programming?

SR: Ya I do agree, good programming or implementation skills are helpful in research. Depending on the topic of research the programming languages or tools become appropriate. Matlab is good for many areas of Signal processing. But C or C++ and scripting languages like PERL etc are preferred in areas such as Speech recognition, here you have more control and get more knowledge of the field while developing algorithms using these languages. Based on the vastness of the area, the toolkits get gradually formed by the research communities, using these toolkits appropriate to each topic is a good approach. Of course these toolkits themselves get upgraded and a researcher is expected to learn to work on the source code of these tool kits.

Me: What do you think is the most vital and unique part of Research that can never be got in any other spectrum of professions?

SR: All the professions have their value in the society. Some professions are characterized by less range/dynamics of feelings they produce, some produce high range of feeling in the minds of people pursuing them.

Some topics of research can take people to bliss, when on a right path, but researchers also need to be patient when failures occur which can take people to their lows (e.g., all your effort could turn out to be in a wrong direction, or your costly experiment failed or all of your great ideas have occurred to someone else few years back).

Historically society has faced many unique situations, and is going to face more and more unique and specific problems, the solutions to these are not going to be simple, each of these problems need good amount of research work. Unless some healthy proportion of population takes up (or is encouraged/enabled to) research (as a profession) in each field, we are doomed to solve any problem we face in the hard way, sometimes re-inventing or sometimes spending/loosing huge amounts of time and money.

Lastly, research profession has potential to give higher value to the society and researcher can enjoy more respect and have more say on things (“Knowledge is power”).

Me: In HP R&D, which field of engineering would find most applications like, amongst Electrical, Instrumentation, Chemical, Mech, Prod, Meta, Comp Sci – who would find better opportunities in the R&D in HP.
SR: In HP Labs India major chunk of researchers are from a) Electronics-and-Communications and b) Computer Science engineering.

Me: A student has decided to do research – how do u suggest that he does a self analysis to really find out whether he is interested or can really sustain himself by doing research. (Peer pressure is very common in colleges, so he might have resorted to research just because his friends are into it)
SR: As you said, a simple self analysis will indicate, whether he/she is capable or interested in a research career. A simple test of capability is: with the current knowledge/intelligence they possess are they able to follow at least one thread of the field till the state of the art, say in six months? This makes them ready to start thinking innovatively for problems being addressed. However, hard work is an important ingredient for a research career, which is easy to figure out in self. And results will surely come to motivate if the effort is good enough.

Me: Thank you so much sir for this sharing this invaluable information. This input is going to be definitely useful for us.

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After a long time I am really writing something..

So Guys.. So butterflies in the stomach The moment has arrived.

You have been preparing for this one exam for past 1 year (3 years, 2 years, 6 months, 1 week whatever)

And just 2.5 hours to decide your fate..(does it??? I dont think so) It certainly does put your efforts into dustbin if you dont do well..

Anyways, so what to do in the last 1 – 2 week to go.. What to do now????

I am sure you have been searching “1 week to cat” in almost all possible forums remotely related to CAT.. I dont blame you for that.. Even I was doing the same last year..

Here is what I did. Disclaimer: You dont have to do what I did. I am just telling what I did.
1. Revise all basic formulas in quants.
2. Brought 2 novels & I was reading it to keep my thoughts away from CAT
3. Went out & Played cricket almost everyday.

So what should u do???

I am sure there will be hazaar forums out there.. which will recommend which movies to watch on the day before CAT.
Dont fall for all this. Do what fits you best. Do what you will naturally do to keep your focus, at the same time without getting too focussed.

There will a huge speculation about whether you should write your last mock cat, correct your last mock papers which you give in your room etc.. Again, Be yourself. If you are someone who can take a low score and still believe that you can go there and crack the paper, correct your paper. Else dont correct. Samething for last paper.

So remember one thing, be yourself. Be confident. Just believe in yourself.

I was having a conversation with my friend yesterday.. And this what he had to tell about life at IIMs & IITs.

“IIMs & IITs are like public toilets. People outside want to desperately come in. People inside want to desperately get out.”

Well, however hilarious that comment was.. it is partially true..

So dont worry.. There is life beyond CAT, irrespective of whether you do well or not.. So.. thats it.. give your best.. Enjoy the moment!!

All the best.

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Hey Guys,

Hope you had a great diwali!! I was damn impressed with the fireworks here in IIMB. I certainly a had time here on diwali with a couple of classes and 1 extra class

Anyways, today’s guest on Coffee With Sundar was the one who initiated a cracker of an event at NIT Trichy – Pragyan. Its my pleasure to host Arpit Agarwal, 2005 batch NIT Trichy alumni who is now pursuing his MBA at SJMSOM, IIT Bombay. Arpit is going to share information about MBA at IIT Bombay

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Coffee With Arpit Agarwal

- Brief introduction about yourself?
I am a NIT Trichy graduate from the class of 2005. I did my entire schooling in Agra (UP) before coming to Trichy. Thereafter, I worked with Ittiam Systems for two years. I then moved to join Shailesh J Mehta School of Management in IIT Bombay. I am currently studying in Second year of MBA.

My life was all about Acads before joining NIT Trichy. In NIT Trichy I learned how large organizations work and we created the platform of Pragyan, the first ever combined technical festival of NIT Trichy. This single event gave me such a grounding in the principles of management that I can now relate to fundamentals of management better than many of my classmates.

Over past three years after NIT Trichy, I have come in touch with several entrepreneurs and startups through NIT Trichy alumni, Barcamp and Mobile Mondays. With this my respect for entrepreneurial passion has increase so much that it has become the ultimate ambition for me.

Entry Criteria:
- What are the entry criteria? What are the exams which one should take? What are the typical scores?
Entry in SJMSOM takes place through IITs’ Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET). JMET gives each candidate a rank. The candidates then apply for various IITs and IISc. Based on this rank, the institutes call candidates for GD/PI round. The entrance criterion for SJMSOM is an engineering degree or a masters in science. It gets tough because only close to top 350 rank-holders are only called in the open category. This means the “gender diversity” is limited too!

- What is the selection process? (GD-PI or essays etc)
The written test has four sections: RC/Verbal, Quant, DI and LR. Some sections are further divided into sub-sections. Some of a sub-section might have mutiple choices correct. Otherwise the test is easier on an average than CAT. However, due to strict negative marking, the cut-offs are lower.

GD/PI are held only in Mumbai (IIT). This is a most typical GD/PI round with more GDs held on a case study basis than not.. The PI is a familiarization process only. No great complexity here. They also ask the candidates to come prepared with a one page SOP.

- What is importance given to workex? What is the average work ex at the university? What is the fees for the course? Are there chances of getting an aid or scholarship?
WorkEx is very important in SJMSOM. This could be guaged from the fact that close to 90% of my batchmates and 95% of my juniors have prior full time workex. The average workex is close to 25 months in both batches, with several people being above 5 years of experience. There is clearly a bias towards people with experience.

- Typical Ranking range of the univeristy (just ranking is not a good idea.. it doesnt convey much)
The latest rankings put us around 8-12 among all Indian B-schools.

- What is the fees for the course? Are there chances of getting an aid or scholarship?
The fees presently is Rs.62,500 per semester + mess + Hostel. There is a small scholarship given to student who score more than 8 (SPI) in a particular semester. But it cannot replace fees. IITB alumni also offers soft loans for students.

Life @ Campus:
- What is the system there? Is it semester or trimester? specialized MBA or general MBA with electives? How does one choose electives?
We have two terms of 5 courses each per semester (total 8 terms). It is general management degree with most courses in first year being core/compulsory and most in second year being electives from your area of choice.

- What is work load there in terms of acads? What are the other activities a student can take part in?
The academic load is significant. There is a 80% attendance rule for appearing in examination. However the load is not so much that it becomes impossible to participate in extra-curricular activities or make friends. The school has its annual business festival “AVENUES 08″ this month. We also have six “Continuums” focussed on different streams of management in addition to several industry interaction sessions.

IIT Bombay students are particularly exposed to a very strong entrepreneurship culture in the campus, mostly due to the technology business incubator “SINE” in the campus, where students get a hands-on experience in working of a startup. The E-Cell of IIT Bombay is one of the most successful cells in India. It organized Asia’s largest business plan competition “Eureka” every year in Oct and an Entrepreneurship Summit in Feb.

Apart from these, everyone vouches to visit the campus during Mood Indigo and Techfest. These events have a strong following within the student community. In addition, each department has its own calendar of activities. So does each of the numerous clubs in IITB.

- Is internship a part of curriculum? Is it a must? What are the chances of getting an internship?
Internship is not a part of the curriculum. But it is a must. Everyone in my campus gets placed through the summer placement process.

- How are the students in terms of diversity? What are the various back grounds from which people come from?
SJMSOM does not allow non-engineers to apply. An exception could be a M.Sc. Most students of SJMSOM have work experience with an average work-ex of 25 months. Most students from come from IT industry. Some others come with an experience in manufacturing industry as well.

Exit Options:
- What are the type of job profiles and companies which visit campus?
Finance: Treasury, Investment Banking, Front-End Banking, Equity Research, Credit Rating, Corporate Finance in various sectors
Operations: Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Sourcing, Distribution, Banking Operations
Marketing: Sales, Marketing, Branding in FMCG, IT, Realty, Pharma, BFSI Sectors
IT: Business Analyst, Project Management, Pre-Sales

There is a long list of companies which visit our campus.. I don’t remember all of them. Almost all top Indian firms visit our campus. Some foreign firms also make an offer.

- How many people start company on an average? What are the support available for students to start their own venture if they want to?
If entrepreurship is on your mind, IIT Bombay is the place to be. IITB acts as the hub of all elements that make an ecosystem – there is a strong research, an incubator (SINE) and proximity from market. If your plan is good enough, SINE will be interested in investing in you. Several ex-students have got funding this way.

Other Info:
- Any other information which you would like to share with aspirants?
None that I can think of.

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Thanks soo much Arpit for sharing this valuable piece of information.

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Hi All,

It is my pleasure to host Mr. Chandrakanth B N today on CWS.

Chandra is the cofounder and Managing Director India of Theorem. He has over 13 years of experience in the IT industry and a rich experience and knowledge of technical and management skills. He has a Master’s Degree in Industrial Management from Northern Illinois University and a Bachelors Degree in Engineering from Bangalore University. On completing his Master’s, Chandra managed the IT infrastructure of a manufacturing company in the Chicago area. Upon his return to India, he founded and managed a software services company, Pairee Infotech, providing software development services to clients in North America.

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Coffee With Sundar

Me: Sundar Rajan G S

CBN: Chandrakanth B N

Me: Hello Sir, Welcome to Coffee with Sundar!! Can you tell us what is theorem all about? How is it different from its competitors? Who your customers etc..

CBN: Theorem is a technology company focused on the digital marketing domain. Theorem provides online marketers including technology companies, advertising agencies and publishers with expert technology outsourcing services ranging from routine back-office support to higher end complex solutions. Leveraging a large team of 400 people, domain expertise, global infrastructure and technical skills, Theorem helps drive down costs and improve operational efficiencies. Theorem is uniquely positioned to service our customers by providing not only the technology support but also the valuable advice they need to make intelligent business decisions in the digital marketing domain. This sets us apart from other generic technology service providers. Theorem has customers globally covering the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia.

Me: Sir, You have over 12 years of experience in IT industry.. Can you talk about the evolution of IT & ITES.. You have seen the various phases of the industry.. What are some of the best and the worst phases of the industry?

CBN: I have about 14 years experience in the IT industry. While the beginnings of the IT industry were in the early 80s, the fast paced growth happened in the 90s. With the internet revolution in the 90s, we saw a huge spurt in investment in IT companies which created a big .com bubble. The other big contributing factor for this growth during that time was the Y2K phenomenon. With a lot of irrational investments, IT industry saw an unprecedented growth during that phase, which ended in 2000 – 01 when the bubble burst. While US was in the forefront of the IT and Software growth in the 90s, Indian IT industry showed tremendous growth, post the .com burst. This was largely due to the outsourcing which was necessitated by cost cutting measures adopted by US corporations. Post 2000 we also saw an emergence of the ITES industry in India, which has since matured and contributed significantly to our economy.

Me: Sir, you are a MD at Theorem! What are the top skills needed to do well in your position? Can you throw some light on having/not having an MBA at your positions?

CBN: I strongly believe one of the essential qualities for a leader is to have a vision, passion, ability to build teams which share that vision and be able to carry that team along. Empathy towards your people and being genuinely interested in them goes a long way in ensuring peak performance and loyalty. Empowered employees always perform much better than those who are micromanaged. The other key qualities according to me are the ability to take risks, think big in the long term but reality in the short term, swift decision making and being able to walk your talk.

MBA can act as a good foundation for a management position, but nothing is better than real life experiences. Management programs train people on the essential skills and provide the necessary tools to perform well in the corporate world. However, implementing the same in the real world becomes a challenge. A good attitude and work ethic is crucial to achieve success. Human Beings are the most complex creatures. A lot about leadership is managing this complex being while keeping one’s own emotions under check. High emotional quotient is absolutely important for managers to be able to succeed in their roles.

Me: Can you share some of the lessons which you learnt outside the classrooms

CBN: Class room scenarios are always idealistic. In the real world, there are a lot more complexities in every situation than one can envision. Real challenges and issues are rarely simulated. Dependency on people, unexpected challenges that come from nowhere and the ability to calmly deal with them is something I have certainly learnt outside the classroom. As I have said earlier, people management is learnt largely through real life experiences.

Learning never ends, each day teaches you something new. Being open to new ideas, keeping ego aside to make business decisions that ensure organizational growth and success, taking unpopular decisions in the larger interest of the stake holders, thinking out of the box are some of the key learning I have had. Crisis management is another big thing I have learnt at work.

Me: Are you looking for people of any particular profiles? Is there any job openings?

CBN: Theorem has grown steadily over the last seven years and recruitment is an ongoing process. Our numbers have almost doubled over the last year. At Theorem we’re on a constant lookout for people with potential who can be groomed into good IT and Digital marketing professionals. We recruit at several levels. For our entry level positions, we look at graduates from any stream with basic knowledge of internet technologies, good communication skills and a hunger to learn. For leadership positions we look at people who are good at people management, have the potential to mentor teams, and are visionaries, creative and innovative. But of course, since we’re in the Online Media Marketing domain, people with a background in Advertising and Digital Marketing are always welcome to make a career with us.

Me: Finally, is there something else which you would like to share with readers of CWS?

CBN: Thank you for this opportunity. I would like to share with the readers of CWS the whole new opportunity that is being created around the online media marketing space. This is one of the fastest growing domains fueled by the need for corporations to get instant real time data on ROI for their marketing budgets. It also provides a platform for cost effective means of running marketing campaigns. This has created a whole new career opportunity for young engineering and marketing graduates to pursue.

Internet is a revolutionary phenomenon and the biggest invention for our generation and the near future. Generation X and Y are adapting to Internet like never before, which opens up newer opportunities in this domain. Technologies in this space are constantly changing, creating challenges for those hungry to learn and adapt to newer IT opportunities. SEO, SEM, Rich Media, Mobile and Social Networks are emerging as new interesting phenomena in online marketing. A number of innovations are around the corner to improve the online marketing eco space. These are exciting times and I hope many young graduates look at making a career in this space. Theorem being a pioneer in this space can provide excellent opportunities to people with passion and willingness to learn.

Me: Thank you soo much sir for taking your time for this interview

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CBN: Readers, Hope you enjoyed this edition of Coffee With Sundar. On a closing note, I would like to introduce you guys to a blog started by CWS interviewees – Sean Johnson & Jake Levirne – http://artoftheproduct.com/ Jake on an email mentioned that CWS was something which inspired them, atleast in part, to start this blog.

Have nice time!

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Happy New Year 2009!

The moment has arrived. 50^th interview on CWS! This is a huge moment for CWS, me & ofcourse for all the readers of CWS. Without your support all these wouldn’t have been possible. So, on this special occasion, I would like to interview a special person. And its my previledge to host Rama Bijapurkar.

The following introduction of Rama Bijapurkar is taken from here.

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Rama Bijapurkar is one of India’s most respected thought leaders on market strategy and consumer related issues in India.She is also a keen commentator on social and cultural changes in the evolving liberalizing India. She has her own market strategy consulting practice and works with an impressive list of Indian and global companies, guiding the development of their business-market strategies. She describes her mission as bringing “market focus to business strategy”.

Rama serves as an independent director on the boards of Infosys Technologies, CRISIL, Axis Bank, Godrej Consumer Products, ENIL (Radio Mirchi), Give Foundation (a not-for-profit company), Subhiksha Trading Services Ltd. and Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd.

An alumna of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Rama continues to be involved with her alma mater where she is a Visiting Faculty and also serves on the Board of Governors.Rama’s work experience has been in market research and strategy consulting and includes leadership positions with McKinsey & Company, MARG (now AC Nielsen India), and full time consulting with Hindustan Lever (now Hindustan Unilever India).

Her new book “We are like that only – Understanding the Logic of Consumer India”, (The Indian edition, Penguin) has been well received and very favourably reviewed. The international edition is called “Winning in the Indian Market – Understanding the Transformation of Consumer India”, (John Wiley & Sons).

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Coffee With Rama Bijapurkar – Independent director of Infosys & Author of “We are like that only”

Me: Sundar Rajan G S

RB: Rama Bijapurkar

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Me: Hello Maam, Welcome to CWS!! A good number of companies do sufficient market analysis before producing the final product.. Yet, most of them fail.. Why do you think this happens.. Can you talk a bit about market analysis.. What do you think these companies miss out (most often)

RB: There are several different reasons – sometimes it is just good old fashioned intellectual integrity – test one of those at one price and then launch at another. Test with one target group and launch for another – a lot of this happens. It usually happens also because of a little drift each time during the development process, which, at the end of the long development periods, ends up taking the launched offer far away from the original one that was tested. So test one thing, launch another, don’t notice it, and never compare what was tested with what was launched.

Sometimes it is asking the wrong question. The famous coke one was that consumers did not know that a vote for the new coke meant a vote for death of the old coke.

Sometimes it is ham handed market research where the scales of measurement are clumsy or not calibrated with behaviour “will you consider this new product” – what is consider? Sometimes in frequent purchase consumables, the questioning asks if people will buy, but assume that they will shift totally from their current product – the consumer could choose to use both and your volume estimates could go haywire therefore.

Market analysis also needs a strong mental model of the market to even design the analysis right – folks dont do it mostly.

Me: In markets like India, which is soo diverse.. What should do you think should be the way to build successful products – A generic/one size fit all type or a very specific product for a particular niche.. We can certainly see successful examples in both.. How do you compare the above methods of capturing markets?

RB: if no one is making ready made shirts, we will all settle for – happily – one size that fits all, and adjust to longer or shorter sleeves or wider or thinner lapels. But if some one comes and gives the right size for one group of people not served probably by the “one size”, then there is a real risk to the “one size” strategy. So if you want to preempt competition, make the effort and learn to manage complexity at the lowest possible cost

Me: Lets forget the recent volatility for the time being.. India has been doing pretty well in the past 4 – 5 years.. but the income distribution is very skewed.. What approach should we take for a more holistic development.. of course.. without sacrificing on our growth..

RB: education and encouraging entrepreneurship. Only those educated can participate in the goodies that the market economy and growth bring. How about 100 vocations and one hundred training schools for each – more young people can earn as para medics, as teachers, as bpo assistants, as tailors, as auto mechanics, as designers as para legals etc etc. Also help financial and non financial for entrepreneurs – several small ones.

Me: Can you talk about your experience of writing the book.. What triggered your interest.. How did you go about writing it.. What are the pain points, motivating factors etc..

RB: It was my area of work and writing and I wanted to throw my body over the space and take credit for it, before intellectual property went elsewhere and with no attribution to me. – a sort of ‘remember, she said it first’ in the interim I did a web site for that reason, but its not the same as having it out in the open in a book. When I wrote it, I just wrote it expecting no sales. I in fact kept 2 lakhs of rupees aside and said that there were about 300 to 400 people in the world that I wanted to read this book – and that I would send it to them free – I have always wanted impact more than revenue – but funnily and fortunately this book delivered both. We have crossed 20,000 in the Indian edition and done well with the international edition too. The IE is titled “winning in the Indian market”

Me: You serve as a director in the boards of Infosys, Axis Bank etc.. Can you talk a bit about your work as a member of this board? What are your roles and responsibilities…

RB: My job is to be part of a group of hopefully wise and honest people who will use their judgment to ensure that the business conducts itself in a fair and ethical manner such that no small shareholder is disadvantaged; and also to ensure that businesses stay healthy and grab all the opportunities they can, without risking the business beyond what is prudent. It is “nose in, fingers out” (directors are supposed to be nosey but they aren’t supposed to run the business) boards are not the management. They advise, supervise, monitor the management, and take steps to ensure that the business is not stressed out or not geared to continue value creation. For example, succession at top most levels ensures sustained value created. Sometimes businesses deliver financials, but the long term business health is in jeopardy – so we point those out and push management int he direction it needs to go. The board is a collective entity and it is this multi disciplinary collective judgments that makes board work very exciting.

Me: On powerpoint, almost any strategy looks good..

RB: Yes but we challenge and test the assumptions and the view of how the future will unfold, based on which the strategy is developed.

Me: How/When does a board go against the CEO?

RB: if the ceo is not what the business needs given the tasks it has to perform given its situation, the environment etc. If a ceo is taking too few risks or too many, thats cause for concern too. Or if he / she is not creating a climate of talent growth or not interested in succession planning or not understanding the environment complexity then also.

Me: is the board only reacting to stock price?

RB: no. But to all signals of performance, if stock price is tanking and company is doing very well, there is a signal there for the board to examine. Or the reverse.

Me: as engineers @ the bottom of the pyramid, we rarely understand how the upper management *actually* works can you give some insights..

RB: there are models and models of this based on different ideologies and philosophies, some are for teams at the top some are autocrats. Some are the god of small things and deliver very well by managing a zillion details of the running of the company. Some are more interested in being coaches and motivators, some do all the thinking and leave the troops to execute. Some do it by consensus, it is important to understand the model that is being used – implicit sometimes but look carefully and you will see the pattern.

Me: what are your other interests? What do you do spend your free time?

RB: i watch lots of tv and movies, read every kind of book except science fiction and its allies. I sleep 8 to 10 hrs every night. Love listening to Indian classical music. Love people but hate partying. Am passionately interested in politics. I read harry potter, tagore, john keay, sudhir kakkar, edth wharton on the one hand and sara jessica parker on the other, adi shankara’s biography and all my professional reading. Cosmo and hbr are both critical reads. I travel a lot and sight see too. I take a sole holiday by myself every year. Its my silence and renewal. I am not at all into sports but do yoga everyday

Me: what are your favourite books which you have read so far?

RB: i think roald dahl (swutch bitch) and tagore (gorao , currently reading michael wood “story of India”, and “exploding mangoes” by hussein mohd, a hilarious story about zia ul haque and pakistan. Favorite raga is basant and malkaus, favorite singer is jasraj, favorite person is my 23 year old daughter, and favorite place is my home when no one else is in it except me!

Me: thank you soo much maam. It is indeed a great honour to host you as a guest on cws! Thanks a lot for your time maam.

RB: Thank you!

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Readers, hope you enjoyed this edition of Coffee With Experts. Previous editions of Coffee With Experts is here. Thanks a lot for your support!! You guys really motivate me to give my best for CWS

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Guys,

I have some thing really really special today!! My class mate at IIM Bangalore appreciated my passion for Coffee With Sundar and he gave it some thing very very special.. A peom.. Yes!! Mike is an amazing guy who can write poems in a minute.. And today, he has something for Coffee With Sundar (and about Coffee With Sundar)

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Hi Sundar,

The theme is to share as i feel you’re blog dares people to dream beyond the possible and care

I feel an integral part of it is your passion to share experiences that can make others dare

Overall I feel CoffeeWithSundar needs a message for its readers and that is

“CoffeeWithSundar is truly my small effort to reach out to big people like you to dare”

Coffee With Sundar – A poem by Micheal Sequeira

I just say I have experiences that can impact someone if I decide to share
I gather a cup of coffee and pen down my thoughts for days to share
Memories all of it each one special for experiences that I can share
Yet I feel I’m not impacting someone as I am just not empowered to share

A friend of mine whose Sundar has interviewed personalities to share
Experiences he brings of theirs to each interview he dares to share
What makes them special well some are big others bigger in ways he shares
He makes a difference impacting people in his small way he cares

CoffeeWithSundar his passion to gather experiences and share
Articles so distinct each one makes a reader relax and do or dare
Experiences so special that I can relax with a coffee in hand or share
Its time to spread your experience with Sundar and impact someone to dare

So friends this friend of mine at IIMB has shown what it takes to be aware
His blog is not just his voice but what he believes his readers can dare
He just shows you the way to reach it based on experiences others have shared
CoffeeWithSundar is truly his small effort to reach out to big people like you to dare

Vista is coming soon so get your coffee,relax and its time to care,share and dare

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Thank you soo much Mike!! Its my priviledge to have you write a poem about CWS!!
I just have no words to describe this truely wonderful poem which succinctly describes CWS..

Guys,

I also have another big news coming up!!

50th interview of Coffee With Sundar is going to be up soon!! Its going to be a great moment for CWS community. So stay tuned for a the big interview!

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