19 Apr / HSBC: Compliances and Taxation for StartUps & LLP Basics

Friends

Trust you are making the most of this long weekend and hope tomorrow's Startup Saturday: http://network.headstart.in/projects/startup-saturday-bangalore/project-home is on your calendar.

Here's an invite to the next OCC meet:

Date: 19th Apr 09 - Sunday

Time: 10 AM - 12:30 PM

Venue (New): HSBC Bank 3rd Floor, No. 7, M G Road, Bangalore - 560 001

Map: http://tinyurl.com/df9jyw

Helpline: Pranjal: 98861 23706 AND Sreeni: 98455 44601

Topic: Basic Compliances and Taxation with reference to Start Up Ventures & Basics of Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs). And lots of Q&A.

Featured Guest: Mr Sreenivasan Ramakrishnan, ACA, Grad. CWA

Partner in Charge, Bangalore, Jacob and Balakrishnan Chartered Accountants.

You may learn more about the guest at: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/7/864/55 or go through the attached half-pager.

Do mark your confirmations at: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/2408175

Note: In case you want to send your queries in advance with respect to the topic - then just shoot it to us and we will factor that in advance. Thanks!

Helping you comply / be on the right side of the law ... OCC Bangalore (well ...!!!)

-Ramjee

OCC B'lore Blog: http://bangaloreocc.blogspot.com
OCC B'lore Twitter: http://twitter.com/occbangalore

Upcoming OCC Generic Meet 5th Apr

Dear Friends,

Hoping all of you had a nice time during Ugadi, and enjoyed the long weekend.

As most of you know, we just finished the meet yesterday on “VC/Entrepreneur: Two sides of a coin”. The number of new faces in this meet was overwhelming, and undoubtedly encouraging. It’s always nice to meet enthusiasts from different walks of life working on his/her big idea. The phenomenal turn-out in the theme/interactive meet prompted us to put together another meet to network, and to get to know each other better. The last three OCC meets have been theme meets – “Play safe with Real Estate Laws”, “Discoverability, Distribution and Monetization of Online Videos” and “VC/Entrepreneur:Two sides of a coin”; and the time is right for a generic meet. So, here I’m, announcing the next OCC Bangalore meet on 5^th April.

Yup, we are meeting next week. The reasons –

- As I mentioned, we saw many new faces today. Here’s a chance for those introductions and to know the OCC fraternity well

- We’ve not talked about ourselves for a whileJ

- It’s New Year for many the following week - rescheduling for some breathing space in between

- We have a great new venue which we would like to explore!

Date: 5th Apr 09

Time: 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Type of Meet: Generic Meet / Open discussion

Agenda:

- We talk about ourselves and our progress on our ideas/ventures

- Introduction of new faces and sharing of their ideas/ventures

- Exploring help/collaboration on any challenges that you have been facing

Venue: The Ants Cafe, Location : Indiranagar, Address: No 2023/B, Near New Horizon School, Abv Ants Store, 14 A Mn, Off 100 feet Road, HAL 2nd stage, Indiranagar, Bangalore 560008

Phone : 080-41521742

Cover Charge: INR 50 (to be adjusted against beverages and/or snacks that you may like to order).

The Ants Café has worked out delicious combo menu just for OCC guests at Rs.75. So, you can grab your breakfast as well during the meet – this place is famous for its breakfast.

Directions: Get on to 14^th Main from 100ft Road, Indiranagar. 14^th Main in the lane between New Horizon School and the Limelite Salon. The Café is on the first right as soon as you enter the 14^th Main from 100ft Road. The Café is on top of the Ants – the store.

It’s a good idea to park your car on the 100 ft road – there is parking space near new Horizon School.

Any confusion, call Kakoli at 9902005823.

Action Item: Please do mark your confirmations on this link if you’re planning to come: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/2294583/?ps=6

Please feel free to contact me on email/phone (+91 990 200 5823) for directions/any other information. Looking forward to seeing you at the meet and getting to know more about you.

Best,

- Kakoli

OCC B'lore Blog: http://bangaloreocc.blogspot.com
OCC B'lore Twitter: http://twitter.com/occbangalore

Next OCC meet on 29th Mar - Two sides of a coin:VC/Entrepreneur

The next OCC meet on 29th Mar is an attempt at the view from both sides of the coin - VC as well as an entrepreneur.

Here are the details about the meet:

Meet Type: Theme Meet / Interactive Guest Meet

Agenda: Two sides of a coin: VC/Entrepreneur. Our guest speaker will demystify VCs from his experience as a VC as well entrepreneur.

Guest Speaker: K.Ganapathy Subramanian.

Ganapathy has been part of the innovation industry as a classical VC since 1992. He was the Group Manager of Private Equity Investments (Information Technology) at ICICI Venture, India's leading venture capital firm. He was the founding partner of Jumpstartup: an India-US early stage venture fund formed in 2000.His area of focus has been investments in young and high growth companies in the software and services industries. At Jumpstartup, Ganapathy has led investments (and exits) and held active board member in several technology companies. In 2006, he founded MyDunia Networks - a web based service platform for mobile consumer and consumer interactive businesses for Beyond Voice services. Currently, he is back to the VC industry as CEO of India Innovation Fund. He has been a speaker in various events, including the WAT Blog session in Proto.in. So those who missed him in January, here’s a chance to catch up with him.

His LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gansub

Date: 29th March 2009, Sunday

Timings: 10AM - 12PM.

Venue: Name Of Restaurant: ZOE, Location: Indiranagar, Address: No 3790, Opp Dr.Ambedkar College, 7th main Road, Off 100 feet Road, HAL 2nd stage, Indiranagar, Bangalore 560038,

Phone : 080-42115257 / 080-42044101

Cover Charge: INR 50 (to be adjusted against beverages and/or snacks that you order).

Additionally, ZOE has worked out a delicious deal – a sandwich/coffee combo for Rs.75/- especially for OCC guests.

Action Item: Please mark your confirmations at http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/2166371

Please feel free to contact me on email/phone (kakoli.das@gmail.com, +91 990 200 5823) for directions/any other information.

See you on Sunday!

Next OCC Meet on 18th Jan 2009

Jan 09 is definitely by all means a promised month for the startup community & ecosystem - going ahead with the spirit of developing a sustainable startup ecosystem, here are the details of the upcoming OCC meet. If you are new to Open Coffee Club, Bangalore, you can read out a Detailed FAQ about Open Coffee Club Bangalore.



Date: 18 Jan 09
Day: Sunday
Time: 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM (Reach by 10:20 AM)
Venue: CoreObjects, Brigade MLR, #50, Vani Vilas Road, Opp. National College, Basavanagudi, Bangalore, 560 004

Phone: 080 4178 9000

Map: http://www.smallguru.com/occ/gmap.html

Meet Type: Theme Meet / Interactive Guest Meet

Guest: Mr. Neetibodh Agarwal. He has spent most of his professional years (including Novell & CA) in building software products. Currently he contributes to CoreObjects, wearing multiple hats in Delivery, Business Development & Strategy.

You can learn more about him on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/neetibodh (fairly descriptive)

Proposed Agenda:

1. Challenges to Entrepreneurs in their pursuit of Building Technology Products.

2. Similarities and differences in Building Consumer & Enterprise Products.

Note: Thankfully the above will be discussed using real life cases as the foundation (without getting into specific company names & details).
Key Points:

1. The above topics are more from an entrepreneurs and founding teams perspective and less from a pure technologist perspective.

2. If you are essentially a non techie but leading or a part of technology driven startup then don't miss the meet. Neeti will share insights on what should be your approach in product development; managing internal / partner / external teams. Also, how to avoid most common mistakes.

3. The above topics are so vast and there is so much to learn from Neeti so suggest the following:

a. Please be on time so that we start at sharp 10:30 AM.

b. It is a theme meet, wide topic, so if you are late, I am afraid - we can't be repeating the already discussed content.

c. Yes the idea is to have a very interactive session but please be brief, to the point and don't hijack the thread or go off-tangent. Take such discussions off-line. Neeti will be available post the talk as well.

d. To save on time, club / bundle similar or closely tied questions so that they get addressed in one go.



If you are planning to attend this meet, do mark your confirmation at http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/1486394.
Also follow OCC Bangalore and important updates & notifications on http://twitter.com/occbangalore

4th January 2009, OCC Bangalore Meet

Welcome 2009. We are having the first OCC meet of 2009 as per the details below:

Type: Generic Meet

Date: 04 Jan 09

Day: Sunday

Time: 10 AM - 12 PM (Yup we are starting early).

Venue: Name Of Restaurant : ZOE, Location: Indiranagar, Address: No 3790, Opp Dr.Ambedkar College, 7th main Road, Off 100 feet Road, HAL 2nd stage, Indiranagar, Bangalore 560038,

Phone : 080-42115257 / 080-42044101

Directions: Map Attached.

Cover Charge: INR 50 (to be adjusted against beverages and/or snacks that you may like to order).

Do mark your confirmations: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/1471096

NOTE: Folks who are currently not a part of the mailing list - requesting you to come for couple of meets so that you really get hang of what actually happens at OCC and then you are most welcome to be added to the group.

Don't forget to mark the link (Thanks!): http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/1471096

OCC Bangalore January 2009 Calendar

Happy New Year. Welcome 2009.

Thankfully Jan 09 is already a promised month for our Startup Ecosystem & Community and even more especially for Bangalore.

Taking into account HeadStart on 9th & 10th Jan and Proto.in on 23rd & 24th Jan we will be having the OCC meets on 4th & 18th Jan 09 instead of what otherwise would have been on 11th & 25th Jan 09.

4th Jan, Generic Meet, ZOE restolounge (Indira Nagar).

18th Jan, Theme Meet, Guest: Neetibodh Agarwal. He has spend most of his professional years (including Novell & CA) in building software products. Currently he works with CoreObjects, wearing multiple hats in Delivery, Business Development & Strategy. We are yet to freeze on the topic but it can range from:

a. Building Consumer Products Vs Enterprise Products

b. Building Products in the Security Domain.

c. Learnings from Open Source Development Teams ...

Well for above - the focus will be from an Entrepreneur's perspective and not a pure technologist perspective. You may observe:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/neetibodh and in case of any suggestions for the meet - just let them flow. We are yet to decide the venue for this meet.

We are also conscious of the possible initiatives and detailed road map items for OCC which though were discussed but not executed in 2008. Hopefully we will roll up our sleeves in 2009.

Supernova End 2008 - 28 Dec 08 OCC Meet

Most of us don't come back from an OCC meet and write too much about it. I guess this goes more for Generic Meets and lesser for Theme & Special Meets.

In 2008 we had many generic meets and some of them were really moving in terms of dialogue, content & debate (as well as humour at times). Such was the case for the last meet of 2008 - the one at the new venue ZOE. We had 12 folks as new comers and for few others it was their second meet.

Well Arjun has helped us with his sketch of the meet: http://arjunram.com/2008/12/31/open-coffee-club-bangalore-december-event/

At times I get amazed to see frequently new faces, time and again people come after few months and talk about their absence and most importantly nothing sounds better than people sharing - I heard about OCC just 30 - 60 minutes ago and here I am.

Well the above has been the reason of some cheer and smiles in 2008.

TiE Entrepreneurial Summit (TES 08)

We at Open Coffee Club Bangalore are proud to announce our close association with TiE for TiE Entrepreneurial Summit (TES 08) to be held at Hotel Grand Ashok, Bangalore on 16, 17 & 18 Dec 08.

We request you to spare some time on http://www.tiesummit.org/ and make yourself familiar with the upcoming event. The short of it is - TES is Asia's largest Summit that will be bringing together a galaxy of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, policy makers, academia, industry, thought leaders and other major stake holders. TES 2008 will focus on retail, real estate, hospitality, healthcare, education, aerospace, manufacturing, fashion, social entrepreneurship, cleantech, mobile and financial services.

The registration for the event is now open and there are early bird offers as well. "OCC B’lore Members" get to avail same rates as TiE members which are lower than that for non-members.

Till the run-down to the above event, OCC Members will get more updates / mailers on the OCC mailing list and do feel free to contact OCC facilitators in case you need more information.

OCC Members are welcome to connect with Shashi Kiran, key official at TiE Bangalore. You can write to Shashi on shashikiran@tiebangalore.org or buzz him at 98450 18124.

Some of you may recall that Shashi was present in the 3rd Aug 08 OCC Hooeey Meet and shared with you more about TiE activities. Starting with this event, we hope going forward OCC B’lore will have more synergies with TiE.

Hope TES 08 and TiE-OCC partnership really helps some of you. Do make some use of it.

Upcoming OCC meet on 3rd August

Folks

Well we are already looking forward to an interesting OCC meet on 3^rd Aug 08 and it just seems to get bigger.

Vijay Anand of Proto.in, Sameer Gulgani of Morpheus Venture Partners, Anjana Vivek of VentureBean, Anjana Kaul of Footprint ventures, Ganesh Rengaswamy (Ex-Greylock) are all likely to be there (and maybe one more surprise guest).

Note: Sameer Gulgani and Anjana Vivek have also been our previous guests at OCC.

Post our interactive session with Rajeev (as outlined in the mail attached below), the above mentioned folks will be all ears to whatever you have to share, ask, inquire. They will help you with your mixed bag of queries across topics, do some creative problem solving and nurture cross-pollination of ideas.

On an another note: We are also likely to have Amit Pande – one of the key organizer for Dcamp 2.0 and hopefully Shashi Kiran from TiE Bangalore.

Request you to make most of the opportunity and contribute as well. Given that we have more on our plate we will increase the duration of the gathering: 10:30 AM – 01:00 PM.

For everyone’s convenience: Please be on time and do mark: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/936234

Regards

Amarinder

93431 71420

From: Amarinder Gurdev Singh
Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2008 2:37 PM
To: Bangalore OCC
Subject: Next OCC Meet - 3rd Aug 08: Interaction with Second Time Entrepreneur

Folks

For the first time in OCC Bangalore we have an interesting situation – where our featured guest is also keen to be our host. Cheers!

Ladies & Gentlemen – this coming Sunday we will be meeting with Rajeev K Purnaiya. Rajeev had most of his higher education in US (a B.S. in Industrial & Systems Engineering from the University of Alabama and an M.S. in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University).

Rajeev was the Founder and Managing Director of CyberBazaar, India's first and largest conferencing company. After selling CyberBazaar to WebEx, Inc., he was the Managing Director of WebEx India until mid-2005.

Subsequently, Rajeev has gone back to entrepreneurship and has recently launched – “hooeey” – which helps you manage your browsing productivity. You may learn more at: http://www.hooeey.com/

We will interact with Rajeev on the following points:

- Rajeev’s initial days and the first ideas / plans / thoughts on wanting to be an entrepreneur

- Experience of launching & building CyberBazaar. It’s acquisition by WebEx

- Ideas behind “hooeey” and the product launch. More discussion on the product as well.

- Transition from a Telecom Venture to a Web Based Product.

- Experiences, lessons and other points which the group may want to learn from Rajeev

Folks you are welcome to register and actually use http://www.hooeey.com/ for a while before the meet. This will enable you to give feedback to Rajeev and his team. Though we are not keen to do a hooeey’s demo but couple of members from product team will be available to help you - in case you want to look at the product and talk more tech, usability and other points. As the meet is in their office – we will have access to some desktops, internet.

Here are the Logistics:

Date: 3^rd Aug 08

Day: Sunday

Time: 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Venue: Principal Axis, 34/1 Crescent Road, Bangalore, 560 001.

Office Board Line: 4126 6279/80/81 (request you to call the front desk in this week and make sure you get the directions correct so as to avoid delays on Sunday)

Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=en&geocode=&q=principal+axis&near=&sll=13.007446,77.594504&sspn=0.070582,0.139732&ie=UTF8&ll=12.985354,77.582327&spn=0.004412,0.008733&z=17&msa=0&msid=112483427501919922239.0004347cc48271e494021

Beverages & Cookies: Hospitality from Hooeey’s team.

Please mark your confirmations on this link (this is a must, thanks): http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/936234

Cheers

Vaibhav

Words of Wisdom from Ram Shriram

Cross posted from Technofriends.

Ram Shriram, Founding board member of Google and also the founder of Sherpalo Ventures is always a pleasure to listen to. Ram was one of the early investors in Google and therefore is also termed as the Warren Buffet of Internet Business.

In one of the recent interviews to CNBC-TV18, Ram Shriram had the following advice for budding entrepreneurs.

• Come up with an idea which sounds Value.
• Get a great team to work with you on this Value rich idea.
• Follow up with great execution. He says this is the point wherein many teams FAIL.
• Spice it up with a good business model. Ram also goes on to says that this is secondary.

So in short what Ram says is “Happy End Users lead to Happy Advertisers which in turn directly refers to Revenues and Profits “.

Thanks Ram Shriram for sharing that with us.

Cheers

Vaibhav