Sunday, September 30, 2007

Creating New Ventures in India: Experiences, Opportunities and Challenges

"Creating New Ventures in India: Experiences, Opportunities and Challenges," is part of a technology entrepreneurship lecture series sponsored by Princeton's Center for Innovation in Engineering Education (CIEE) and the Jumpstart New Jersey Angel Network, a venture capitalist group.

The panel will be moderated by entrepreneur Ed Zschau, a faculty member in electrical engineering and in operations research and financial engineering. Panelists will be:



Randolph Altschuler and Joseph Sigelman, members of Princeton's class of 1993 and co-presidents of Office Tiger, a company specializing in business process outsourcing services;
Sumir Chadha, also a 1993 Princeton graduate and senior managing director of Sequoia Capital India; and
Bharat Desai, co-founder of Syntel, a global information technology services company.

"We would like to get beyond the clichés about outsourcing and bring an understanding of what's really happening from entrepreneurs who are directly involved," said Bob Monsour, associate director for external affairs for CIEE. "The panel discussion will cover all facets of the entrepreneurial experience in India."

The next event in the lecture series will be an Innovation Forum in early 2007 featuring Princeton scientists and engineers discussing their early-stage entrepreneurial ventures.
CONTACT:http://engineering.princeton.edu/ciee/

FoundREAD

What Company is Offering:
FoundREAD is where you can share resource, where anyone can contribute, either through their posts, or experiences or comments. You can choose to contribute freely or anonymously. Just like a GPS system helps us drive through a maze of freeways, the founders and entrepreneurs help their peers navigate the twisted, confusing roads of company building.
How It Works:
The site takes the blog approach, but readers may participate by commenting and posting, anonymously or not. The content is divided into seven sections: Aces in which successful entrepreneurs are discussed, Fables which features tales of Job-like trials and tribulations and lessons learned, Edge the place to get tips and advice, Learn where you can learn from others, Om, this is the section for getting bits of wisdom and trivia from Mr. Malik himself, and finally there are Questions and Answers. Check it all out to get informed and keep up with the collective smarts of the biz tribe.
More at:http://foundread.com/

Justroutes.com allows users to find all the public transport routes to a specific destination

What Company is Offering:
Justroutes.com allows users to find all the public transport routes to a specific destination.

The site currently only covers Dublin routes, but the site’s founders, Vincent Glennon and David Rooney, are planning to expand the service in the coming weeks to include mapping of the nationwide public transportation network.
Hoe It Works:
The end result for the user is that with three simple mouse clicks on our map, you can find all the routes from your starting point to your destination for free. If there is no direct route between your locations, we will tell you how to get there using connections among all the different types of transport. At the moment, we have over 2,500 stops recorded, including all the Luas, Dart and suburban links for Dublin,” he said.

The site is currently offering a free service, but Glennon said a corporate version would be introduced in the coming weeks. He said that companies would be able to use an embedded map on their website for €100 per month.
They Invited:
The duo will attend the Future of Web Apps conference in London this week. Glennon said that 15,000 people were expected to attend the event, which runs from October 3 to 5.
More at:www.Justroutes.com

Third Generation Entrepreneurs

Only three short years ago, Justin Kling and Michael Pottern were 25 years old, in between jobs and unsure of their future. Having worked for others, they decided it was time to work for themselves. In 2004, they opened an apartment locating service in the heart of Chicago in an already well-established marketplace. Today, Apartment Savvy is a multi-million dollar business and the fastest growing company in the rental industry. With a wealth of entrepreneurial lessons passed down from their grandfathers and fathers, Pottern and Kling are building the next generation of entrepreneurs in each of their respective families.

Apartment Savvy is a premier apartment locating service headquartered at 2835 North Clark, on the border of Chicago's Lincoln Park and Lakeview neighborhoods. At no cost to the tenant, Apartment Savvy is dedicated to providing consumers with the best rental housing options in the Chicago area. Apartment Savvy customizes each search to best fit the needs of the prospective resident in the most efficient and stress-free manner. Experienced agents personally accompany and guide each Apartment Savvy customer free of charge to every property being considered.

For more information, visit http://www.apartmentsavvy.com

Google buys start-up Zingku

Google's quest for devotees in the booming world of mobile online services continues with its purchase of a startup company that streamlines sharing pictures, messages and more via smart phones.

The news comes as the leading Internet search firm vies with Yahoo, Microsoft and America Online to win the loyalty of people accessing the Internet on the move.

"Google has acquired certain assets and technology of Zingku," the California-based firm said Friday in reply to an AFP inquiry.

Google added that it expects the acquisition to help it "provide people worldwide with direct access to Google applications, and ultimately the information they want and need, right from their mobile devices."

Zingku's website says it launched in 2005 after its founders "noticed that teenage/twenty something's and their friends were engaging in rich media conversations drawing upon the full reach of mobile text messaging."

Zingku says its technology makes it easy to share messages, pictures, "mobile flyers," or other creations using mobile devices, according to the firm.

"Our service integrates your mobile phone with a personalized web site so that you can easily move (zing) things back and forth between the web and your mobile as well as...connect with friends," Zingku's website says.

Zingku will not register new members while the deal is pending and informed existing users that they can cancel their accounts or have them transferred to Google.

"Xoom" The Smartest Way To Send Money Worldwide

What Company is Offering:
Xoom offers fast, reliable money transfers at a great price! Send money from the convenience of your computer to friends and family worldwide and in the US.
How It Works:
Enter your contact information, your recipient's information, and the amount you want to send.
We protect your personal information, and share it with our partners only for the purposes of completing your money transfer.
2. Select a delivery method.
Your recipient can pick up the money, have it delivered, or have it deposited directly into their bank account. Available delivery methods vary by country.
3. Select a payment method.
To fund your money transfer, enter your bank account, credit card, or PayPal information. We use state-of-the-art technology to keep your financial information secure.
4. Let your recipient know their money is on the way!
We will email you a receipt containing your unique Xoom Tracking Number. You can use this number to check the status of your money transfer at any time.
More at:https://www.xoom.com/

GameXa is releasing a gamer to gamer marketplace for trading virtual currency

What Company Is Saying:
"We are gamers, playing PCs, consoles and MMORPGs.

It was obvious to us that the trade of in-game currencies was not transparent and is dominated by a few large Gold traders. This doesn’t only have a negative effect on the pricing, but also the delivery time and the level of service. Anyway, the gamer always feels that someone is taking advantage of him/her."
What Its Purpose:
They aim to conquer all of these problems by providing a gamer to gamer platform, where you can trade your excess Gold, without the middle man. This ensures a fair price, a transparent structure and trustworthy trade as you can check the reliability of the trading partner with the revolutionary rating system.

Buying and selling WoW Gold at GameXa – the gamers’ marketplace!
How It Will Benifit:
GameXa is releasing a gamer to gamer marketplace for trading virtual currency. MMOG currencies are currently dominated by a small group of traders, creating an adverse effect on both pricing and customer service. GameXa hopes to remove this problem by allowing excess currency to be transferred without a middle man. Fair prices, a standardized platform, user rankings and other benefits of online marketplaces will hopefully migrate to the gaming economy.
More at:http://www.gamexa.com/