DesiCrunch - reviews for Indian consulting companies in US
For anyone aspiring to get a tech job in the US, you would know that getting a H1-B visa from a Indian consulting company is one of the easiest means of getting a work visa. The recent reduction of the H1-B quota to mere 65000 has seen the rapid proliferation of these Indian consulting companies. The way these companies operate is to place the H1-B applicants on consulting projects at other US based companies. In return, they keep a percentage cut of the consulting fees (generally around 20-35%) and pass on the rest to the applicant.
While several of these companies are genuine and sincere, several others exploit the H1-B applicant and thrive at the applicants expense. DesiCrunch aims to address this issue by providing a place where users can review these consulting companies and share their experiences - good or bad. The goal is that other H1-b aspirants can refer to these reviews before deciding to opt for a particular consulting company. They already have a decent number of listings for consulting companies and reviews. The site was started 8 months ago by a three member team who work as consultants by day.
Considering that I have several friends who’ve had bad experiences with consultants, I can see a great potential in the concept. As the number of Indian consulting companies keeps growing, there needs to be some means to weed out the bad, fake ones from the others. One possible issue with the site is that a competitor can trash another by writing a really bad review. I’m not sure what, if any measures the founders are taking to avoid such a scenario.
I also dont like the name DesiCrunch - obviously, derived from TechCrunch.
Fostering entrepreneurship in India - the missing links in the ecosystem
BusinessWeek has a story on the successful entrepreneurial journey of Sai Gundavelli, an Indian immigrant entrepreneur in the USA. In the interview, Sai says
There is no way it is possible to break the entrenched social system and the cultural barriers over there (in India). When an immigrant comes here and sees that so many opportunities exist, he becomes quite ambitious.
There are countless other stories of Indian immigrants becoming very successful entrepreneurs in the US. And almost all of them attribute the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the US as a significant factor in helping them to get where they are today.
Well, the Indian entrepreneurship ecosystem, which was nonexistent for a long time is finally coming together. The various pieces that constitute the ecosystem are slowly falling in place. The early stage VC funds, the angel investors have emerged. Proto, the showcase event for emerging Indian startups, is getting widespread acceptance in its first year of existence. Mentors, incubators, b-plan competitions are all germinating.
However, in my opinion, there are a few major impediments to this ecosystem transforming into a dynamic, vibrant entity.
Read more
Go Team India
Honestly, I’ve always been biased about tennis. And so team India - I dont really care. I dont care if you win or lose. I dont care if advertisers bear heaps of losses. I dont care if the thousands of Indian fans will be disappointed.
The one thing I care about - an early dismissal will deprive me of sexy Mandira Bedi’s charms.
And so for her sake alone, I cheer you on - Go team India. Stick it out till the end.
Indian Minister for Commerce Kamal Nath GRILLED
Ok, this is off topic but I just had to post it. Kamal Nath gets grilled to the point that he drops off mid way during the interview.
A friend forwarded me the link to this video. Boy, never have I seen an interviewer getting their point across so vehemently. Kudos to this host. Anyone know who he is ?
Daily dose of India Tech news
Google looking for acquisitions in India
The world’s largest search engine Google Inc’s decision to invest in two early-stage venture capital funds in India, appears to have wetted its appetite for a more active buy-out strategy in the country. The $10.7 billion giant now says it is open to acquisition of Indian companies that have ‘interesting technologies’ to offer.
via ET
Indian Internet companies take to marketing on rickshaws
Gone are the days of corny couplets and patriotic slogans three-wheelers used to flaunt. These are the days of mouthshut.com, stickiewicket.com, buyselloldbooks.com, farmsandvillas.com and a host of other websites splashing their names behind auto-rickshaws as a low-cost, yet effective, marketing vehicle.
via ET
India Rural 2.0 - marketing to Rural India
Critics of the booming Indian economy argue that companies in India are targeting just the urban population - and in the process, the rural market - the biggest Indian demographic - is left behind. Well, they might be in need for some enlightenment. As the urban markets saturate, Indian corporates are realizing that they need to reach out and tap into rural India. Just look at the sheer statistics:
As per a research report by Hansa Research - Guide to Indian Markets 2006 - the percentage rise of consumer goods in rural India is just mind boggling. Color TV sales are up 200%, motorcycle sales are up by 77% and refrigerator sales are up by 31%.
Hello Indian Rural 2.0 !!!
Entrepreneurship #1 - When is the right time to plunge into entrepreneurship ?
Is this the right time for me to delve full time into entrepreneurship ? Should I wait ? Will there be a better time (lesser risks) ?
These questions germinate from the fact that its not easy breaking off from the shackles of your 9-5 secure job and all the associated benefits. The transition from having a regular paycheck to not knowing where and when your next paycheck will come from is a difficult pill to swallow for most of us. The uncertainties associated with being an entrepreneur make it a risk friendly and consequently a very difficult decision to make. And considering how difficult a decision it is, very few have the balls to actually take the next step. In my opinion, this is the single biggest attribute that distinguishes entrepreneurs from the rest of the world - and thats exactly why not every one is an entrepreneur.
I am pretty sure several of you wannabe entrepreneurs out there are trying to seek answers to similar questions. There may be a possibility that those of you who’ve crossed this chasm may have also pondered about such questions. Congratulations on taking the big step. Now you’ve a different battle to wage.
Instablogs - a case of identity crisis ?
Some time back, I received a request to review Instablogs. I didnt get around to finishing the review at that time. But with some time to spare today, I decided to revisit Instablogs and finish the review.
The first impression that I got from the site is that they are a network of blogs in niche categories such as politics, entertainment, technology, food, sports etc. Something along the lines of Weblogs Inc or Gawker Media. On closer inspection, though, I found that new users can sign up and start their own blogs. So, then they are a blog network (similar to Blogger).
But wait - then what’s this ‘Newsroom‘ and why are all posts resonating like news stories ?
Team India gets smacked, lot riding on shoulders
The Indian team was smacked today by Bangladesh in their first match of the tournament. This not only shocked the Indian fans but cricket aficionados everywhere. So, why am I writing this as part of my blog ? Well, team India is not only shouldering the expectations of the millions of Indian fans but also of the huge marketing campaigns and the several cricket based tech startups and tech initiatives.
Another loss would not only send team India packing but put a major dent to all the cricket based initiatives in the online world.
Feeds screwing up the comparison table
I just noticed that the Feeds seem to screw up the comparison table formatting to some extent. For better viewing, I’d suggest viewing the table on the blog directly.
-
Ads
-
Polls
What do you think about Morpheus Venture Partners ?
-
Subscribe
Subscribe by Email -
Most Popular Posts
- Herd mentality and Indian startups
- Comparison of online travel portals in India
- Bangalore gets residential WiMAX from Reliance, enterprise WiMAX from VSNL
- Comparison of online travel portals in India - few observations
- IndyaRocks really rocks
- Web hosting reviews for India
- What is your biggest fear about becoming an entrepreneur ?
- Moser Baer stirs up the Hindi movie DVD - VCD industry
- Somebody buy MouthShut already
- Instablogs - a case of identity crisis ?