Category: Business

  • AI driven Survey Insights

    AI driven Survey Insights

    Surveys are the boon (or bane) of modern society to collect information quickly. Millions of surveys are run daily across a range of domains. I personally had participated in 1000s of surveys and constructed 100s of surveys as well. As a survey creator, I often face a few problems In the past decade, survey tools…

  • Book: New Product Development  – A FMCG Perspective

    Book: New Product Development – A FMCG Perspective

    As a consumer, every week, we discover new products. At Microsoft and RapL, I had worked with companies specializing in Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). At Starbucks, I observed closely the efforts from across the company to create and release new products. There is intense art and science involved in creating, launching, succeeding, and learning…

  • Book: Leadership Lessons with The Beatles

    Before my birth, The Beatles rocked the world to new music that blended classic music and traditional pop in innovative ways. They grew into a worldwide phenomenon, alongside the growth of vinyl records, live tours, color televisions, and the young population. Besides the music style, the lyrics held deep meaning that inspired millions of people…

  • Why we remember teachers and the lessons I learned

    Why we remember teachers and the lessons I learned

    Each country has its own traditional day for celebrating teachers and teaching (see here). In India, Sep 5th is celebrated as Teacher’s Day. Happy Teachers Day! On this day, the usual activities and classes are replaced by activities of celebration, thanks and remembrance. Sometimes the senior students may teach to show appreciation for the teachers.…

  • Write better with Elements of Style

    Write better with Elements of Style

    About twenty years back, I was a member of the Toastmasters club. The club helped me to learn more about public speaking. One of the topics I spoke about was about communicating ideas. Yes, in a workshop meeting on communication, we spoke about how to communicate. When I looked at the discussion note, two things…

  • Disruptor 2020: GoodRx

    GoodRx is #16 in the CNBC Disruptor List for June 2020 Purpose: a marketplace for affordable and convenient health care, in particular with pharmacy refills.  Recently, they also added HeyDoctor by GoodRx – for telemedicine, which adds another product line to their business. Through this platform, GoodRx offers $20 family care physician checkups online. The company…

  • Top 50 Disruptors – from CNBC

    Often, news media has been filled with discussions about disruptors. Disruptors embark on a pioneering journey to bring novel solutions to problems. Or at least they find ways to do an existing thing significantly better or cheaper than before. CNBC publishes a list of top 50 disruptors based on the recent performance from private (often…

  • New Bikes to address Air Pollution

    World over mobility is important for people. With mobility, we have the opportunities to learn, work, live, and enjoy life better. Historically over the past hundred years we have had gasoline and diesel engine driven vehicles. These are great for mobility, but come with a cost for the environment because of the high carbon emissions.…

  • Completed a year at Starbucks

    Completed a year at Starbucks

    I just completed 1-year as a partner at Starbucks. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to work here. It has been a great year for me, my family, my team, and the company.  Starbucks Coffee’s corporate mission is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a…

  • Path to Product paved with Directional Roadmaps

    Path to Product paved with Directional Roadmaps

    In the technology industry we often create products. Products solve one or more customer problems. Starting from the Customer Problems and needs, working back, and inferring what may help solve problems is important. Often companies do extensive surveys – quantitative and qualitative – to understand the needs and formulate plans. However, sometimes any number of…