Non Profit Microfinance Vs For Profit Microfinance: The Stupid Debate

Image via WikipediaThere has been a stupid debate going on for a few years now that has taken new life the past few months. There is a school of thought that says microfinance can be non profit and non profit alone.

There has been some serious abuse of microfinance. A lot of MFIs - microfinance institutions - have been messing up the last mile in serious ways. Charging ridiculously high rates is one of them. Some debt collection methods have been shady.

Facebook Going After Disqus Now?

Image by skidder via Flickr

Caroline McCarthy: Facebook's next big media move: Comments: Facebook is planning to launch a third-party commenting system in a matter of weeks ..... This new technology could see Facebook as the engine behind the comments system on many high-profile blogs and other digital publications very soon....... it's an obvious and direct competitor to start-ups that provide commenting technology, like Disqus and Echo. With Facebook Places adopting much of the "check-in" methodology that smaller competitors Foursquare and Loopt offer, and Facebook Questions operating in the same space as Quora

Facebook Places did not kill FourSquare. Actually the day Facebook Places launched, FourSquare had its biggest day to that date. I expect something similar to happen to Disqus.

On the other hand, I really like the idea of comments sections at blogs where people necessarily have to use their real names. I think that would enhance the quality of comments.

Three Syllables

Image via WikipediaThe name of my company is going to have three syllables. I'd have preferred two syllables, but some of the obviously best ones have long been taken.

The name has to be three syllables, and it has to not mean anything. It can't be an obvious word in any language. Of course you might end up with a scenario where you come up with a word which you think has no meaning, but it has meaning in some obscure language somewhere. That would be fine. But I am going to start with a word that is just some sound.

10,000 People In 10 Years

Image via WikipediaI am going to have at least 10,000 people work for me in less than 10 years. I am a large scale group dynamics guy. I like large numbers of people.

Many, many atoms go to make one cell. Some people are cellular biologists, I am like that. That is why I so love revolutions, like the one that is going on in Egypt. I am a large scale group dynamics guy. That is my number one strength.

Immensely Excited

Image via WikipediaI am so very immensely excited with my startup.

Some people complain of the work environment of a big corporation, start a company, and their behavior will tell you they long for the big corporation.

You have to be excited, you have to stay excited. You have to get excited when you hit a wall, you have to stay excited when you get over it. Why would you get excited when you hit a wall? Because, well, what were you expecting? If you did not expect to hit walls, you were not expecting right.

At this stage with my startup it feels like I am getting to watch the formation of the DNA. It is an amazing feeling. I have a small team. We are making steady progress.

Soon I expect to speed things up.

I am really liking it that we could launch for very little. I am really liking it that we will start generating revenues almost right away. I am really liking that. I am liking the immense human component of my business model. Suddenly I will get to party with a purpose. The more people you talk to, the better you get at it.

A Mini Bubble Burst In Three Years

Image via WikipediaThis is not me agreeing with Fred Wilson on the topic, but I do foresee a mini bubble burst a few years down the road. We are going through a relatively easy funding phase of what I see is going to be a boom decade.

The first mini bubble burst is that not every startup idea seeking funding is getting funded. Most are not. That is normal. So you are already starting with the natural selection process in place. Investors are not fools. They go in with high hopes. They do say no. All the time.

But of all the companies that are getting funded, it is inevitable not all will survive. Many will not. I don't know enough to get into more precise numbers. You could argue nobody does. But there will be weaning out. The wheat will get separated from the chaff.

Every new economic sector in history has seen a bubble, some big, some small. The biggest bubbles have been reserved for some of the most exciting new sectors. Bubbles are good things. Bubbles are the market trying to figure out what will stick, what will not stick. And there is no way to know except by trying.

Some failures just can not be avoided. The best policy is to make peace when that happens. But there are other failures that can be avoided. How do you make sure you still have your startup three years from now?

Build a real business. Focus on the fundamentals. Don't overspend. Start generating revenues and profits within a reasonable amount of time. Work hard. Maintain perspective. Don't stop taking risks. Build a great team. Be a great team. Eat right. Sleep right. Exercise. Don't ignore your relationships.

Be open to the possibility that there are many kinds of exits, most of them not big. If you can earn a living doing work you love, that is a great soft landing actually. Don't ignore that possibility while shooting for the stars.

Shoot for the stars.

The Top Quora User Scoble Agrees With Me, But I Disagree With Him

Image via WikipediaRobert Scoble - someone I admire and like - has put out a blog post on January 30 - Why I was wrong about Quora as a blogging service … - that closely mirrors a blog post I put out on January 7 - As For Quora: Blogging Still Rules - only my blog post's title is better. In his blog post Scoble comes to the same conclusion. Blogging still beats Quora.

But then blogging for me has beat all other social media experiences: Facebook, Twitter included. Blogging has been my favorite social media platform. I guess I am really interested in people I don't know. But it is more the ideas thing. The blogosphere allows for a meeting of minds in ways not possible elsewhere. And I have a thing for the long form of blogging.

Union Square Ventures: You Love Me, You Love Me Not

Image via CrunchBase
Image via CrunchBaseUnion Square Ventures has an impressive portfolio. If you are fascinated by web tech like I am, you would be impressed by what they got. They are into Twitter, FourSquare, Zynga. USV constantly looks for companies that will perhaps come up with the next big thing in tech.

With my FinTech startup, I have made it absolutely clear we are not trying to come up with the next big thing in tech. We are not a web tech startup. Instead we will constantly be surveying the scene for new developments in tech to see what we can put to the service of microfinance.

That would be a good reason for USV to not come for us.

The Wilsons Were In Cairo Recently

The Wilsons were in Cairo a few weeks back. I don't know what they did while they were there, but whatever they did seems to be working.

A Moment Of Despair

http://bit.ly/fintech

During the wee hours of Friday morning when the rest of the world was asleep I sent out an email to Fred Wilson. I felt ready. I was proud to have a deck that had only three slides. Not only that, the email had no attachment. Instead it was a Google Doc web address, one simple line. T-h-i-s will impress AVC, I thought.

Instead I got put into place. We don't invest in companies pre-incorporation, but I'd be glad to have a Skype conversation with you, he said.

Slumdog Millionaire: A Movie About My People

A Mind Blowing Party

Jai Ho

I was born in Darbhanga, Bihar, India. I grew up in Nepal, did high school in Kathmandu, not my hometown. They absolutely hate Indians in Nepal. The Tamils in Sri Lanka also have it tough. They are also Indian origin.

Biharis end up in Mumbai like Mexicans end up in America. I have met a total of five Biharis in America. My mother is from Banjhula, Sitamadhi, Bihar. A maternal uncle of mine was Education Minister of Bihar in the 1990s when Laloo Yadav was Chief Minister. More recently Laloo was Railway Minister for all of India. India has the largest rail network in the world. Indian Railways is the world's largest employer.