Business & Finance

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 29 sep 2014

The next-generation of social media analytics is moving beyond static engagements like followers & likes. Both digital marketing and customer care are converging on the social media platforms and the marketing strategy need to be based on accuracy and speed by using advanced real-time analytics tools. Futuristic social analytics should be able to highlight who, what and why of the brand's consumer engagement dynamics. This will provide real value to marketers as they are able to measure the campaign effectiveness based on data and ROI. Pernille Bruun-Jensen, Chief Marketing Officer at Netbase, provide examples of what next-generation of social analytics can do for brands - (1) Boost campaign performance in real-time (2) Discover what influences your customers purchases (3) Get an edge on the competition (4) Fix problems before they escalate (5) Learn about customers' interests outside your brand. Read on...

ADWEEK: Next-Gen Social Analytics Are Transforming Digital Marketing
Author: Pernille Bruun-Jensen

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 27 sep 2014

Market research, empowered by technology, is now within the reach of even small companies and startups as cost has come down considerably. There are numerous tools and services that are considerably within the budget to do essential marketing research to test ideas, collect data & perform analytics. Customer-centric approach helps companies provide better products & services. Use of right information assists to structure business model, shape marketing campaigns, design products and markets, in a way that efficiently serves customers and grows the business. Here are some of the ways in which market research helps businesses - How market research intersects with content & SEO: In the online world, analytics & traditional market research are converging to provide data-driven business decision making; Launching a market research initiative to support your digital marketing campaign: Two main focus (Decoding your audience's most urgent concern. Focusing your content). Important information gathering techniques (Keyword Research. Website analytics. PPC-based research. Auditing existing buyer data. A/B testing); What's the role of competitor research: Understand competition's positioning and unique selling proposition. In SEO, it is about understanding competitor's online presence, content strategy, target keywords, link porfolio, social media presence etc; Market research impacts your product or service mix: Concept testing the product ideas with public before investing in it. Determine purchase intent and market potential; Optimal use of data collection and analysis: Take a lean approach to data collection advocated by Eric Ries in 'The Lean Startup' to perform the right amount of data analytics based on the requirement. Read on...

Forbes: Why Knowing Your Audience Is The Key To Success
Author: Jayson DeMers

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 26 sep 2014

'Design Thinking' is being applied by professors at University of Michigan's Ross School of Management to develop and enhance leadership capabilities of participants in their Executive Education programs. The programs are developed by using design thinking approach to seek and understand perspectives of potential candidates and fulfill their expectations and aligning theory with practice. In today's business world innovation is a critical component of leadership and competitive advantage. According to Professor Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks of Ross School, 'The design thinking approach shrinks innovation to something that doesn't require a massive strategic change in an organization, but can be applied every day; from how might we better communicate within a team to how might we increase our ability to identify new market potentials and trends.' Professor D. Scott DeRue, associate dean of executive education at Ross, explains that, 'We had a program in place, and it was doing well, but we weren't sure it was the best we could offer. We went out and immersed ourselves to understand the needs of high potentials in today's world.' Read on...

Talent Management: Use Design Thinking to Develop Better Leaders
Author: Kate Everson

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 24 sep 2014

To be a better business leader, either of a small company or a big corporation, it is essential to have a positive influence, effectively manage human relationships and get the work done through exemplary behavior. Business leaders have to be clear about who they are and want to be, what they stand for and how they emotionally connect with people. They have to develop their 'personal brand' by using the right tools and methods. According to branding expert, Glen Campbell of Brandheart, 'Personal branding is not about the external manifestation, what you wear and your style and manner. Well before that it's about the internal drivers that increase self-awareness and self-control; that enable a leader to consistently respond as their best self.' The methods that he uses to build personal brand for clients is through asking the five basic questions and finding answers to discover their best self - (1) Who is your current real self? (2) Who is your ideal self? (3) Why do you need to change? (4) How do I become my best self? (5) Who can help? Read on...

Huffington Post: The Basics Of Personal Branding - Five Simple Questions Before You Start
Author: Brian Horn

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 23 sep 2014

Professor Brian Wansink of Cornell University, has been conducting research on eating habits and behaviors of consumers through his Food and Brand Lab, which he founded in 1997 while being at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His new book 'Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life' is just published and focuses on understanding surrounding and environment at five places - home, favorite restaurants, favorite grocery store, work-place, children's school - that influences eating behaviors and find solutions by designing them in such a way that encourages healthier eating habits. According to him, 'It's easier to become slim by design than slim by willpower.' Here are nine recommendations from him while doing a kitchen makeover - (1) Move healthier foods to visible spots (2) Make tempting foods invisible and inconvenient (3) Declutter your kitchen (4) Make your kitchen less friendly for lounging (5) Think twice before buying big packages of food (6) Use smaller serving bowls and spoons (7) Use smaller, narrower drinking glasses (8) Serve food from the counter or the stove (9) Avoid doing other activities while eating. Read on...

USA TODAY: 9 ways to lose weight by rearranging your kitchen
Author: Nanci Hellmich

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 23 sep 2014

Technology's potential to transform healthcare is accepted by all the stakeholders of the healthcare ecosystem. Stanford MedX is one of the conference where thought leaders, physicians, academics and entrepreneurs participate to discuss this technology facilitated transformation and the related issues and challenges. Dr. Robert Pearl, the CEO of The Permanente Medical Group & a Stanford University professor, shares his views on slow adoption of some healthcare technologies in American healthcare system - (1) Many New Technologies Don't Address The Real Problem: Entrepreneurs & innovators should focus on goals of the end-users; Few of the currently available wearable devices & apps have demonstrated that they solve major health problems (2) No One Wants To Pay For New Technologies: Financial difficulties are inherent in the currently used fee-for-service payment model. Doctors & hospitals will resist the adoption of technologies that lowers costs or reduce patient visits as they are rewarded for volume & cost of provided services; Pay-for-value model would be more conducive for faster technology adoption (3) Physicians Are Reluctant to Show Patients Their Medical Information: In past most doctors believed that sharing information with patients could be harmful. But this is changing with EHR (Electronic Health Records) and information technology. But most exam-rooms still don't have user-friendly computers to easily share information with patients; The solution could be tablet computers with fast data entry & mobility alongwith providing easy access to sharing data with patients (4) Technology Slows Down Many Physicians: Data entry in structured format of EHR is helpful in the long run as it prevents medical errors but at present it is adding to physician's time; Effective approach would be to reduce physician's data entry time by creating software applications that include macros & smart lists and medical errors can by reduced through apps with alerts (5) Many Physicians See Technology As Impersonal: Baby boomer physicians still consider 'human-touch' & 'personalized-care' as synonymous; Personalized-care' from a patient's perspective is about being able to decide how, when and where they obtain information and treatment and today's busy and working people seek healthcare through technology enabled alternatives that saves both time & money. Read on...

Forbes: 5 Things Preventing Technology Adoption In Health Care
Author: Robert Pearl

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 22 sep 2014

The recent study by Pitchbook Data, based on the funding data between 2009 to July 2014, number of startups and analysis of educational backgrounds of over 13000 founders globally, observed that IIT's (Indian Institute of Technology) are among the top 10 of world's most entrepreneurial universities, with 264 entrepreneurs, who have founded 205 companies and cumulatively raised US$3.15 billion. On the basis of total capital raised, at the top is Stanford University (US$ 3.51 billion) and at the 2nd spot is taken by Harvard University (US$ 3.23 billion). According to Sangeet Paul Choudary of Platform Thinking Labs, 'Less than 2 percent of the applicants get selected, and less than 0.1 percent make it to a top rated branch like computer science or electrical engineering, which is where most of tech-related entrepreneurship and VC activity takes place.' The study by Kauffman Foundation found that 33.2% of all companies founded by immigrants in the US had an Indian co-founder. But a different point that should also be mentioned here is that IIT's are not able to make a higher global mark on the academic basis with most of them being ranked between 351-400, according to The Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2013-14. Read on...

QUARTZ: Why India's best tech schools produce more entrepreneurs than the Ivy League
Author: Nelson Vinod Moses

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 20 sep 2014

Entrepreneurship requires diverse sets of inherent talents and acquired skills in individuals to successfully navigate through a journey of developing ideas & concepts into practical and workable solutions for the betterment of society. And sometimes entrepreneurs fail in their uncharted endeavors for myriad of reasons that might or might not be in their control. These failures often become their learning experiences that finally better equip them to pursue another idea and launch another startup. But entrepreneurs can also hedge their risks by knowing and understanding what others in the field have been through. They can interact with founders, VCs and CEOs, if they have a chance and access to them. But if not, then there are a number of books written by these experts that new or even experienced entrepreneurs can read to better navigate their entrepreneurial voyage - (1) Business Adventures (John Brooks) (2) Business Model Generation (Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur) (3) The Start-Up of You (Reid Hoffman & Ben Casnocha) (4) Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell) (5) The Four Steps To The Epiphany (Steven Gary Blank) (6) #GIRLBOSS (Sophia Amoruso) (7) From Resource Allocation To Strategy (Joseph L. Bower & Clark G. Gilbert) (8) Rework (Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson) (9) My Years With General Motors (Alfred P. Sloan) (10) The Practice Of Management (Peter F. Drucker) (11) Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, And Made A Fortune Doing Business My Way (Richard Branson) (12) Founders At Work (Jessica Livingston) (13) How To Win Friends & Influence People (Dale Carnegie) (14) The Zigzag Principle (Rich Christiansen) (15) Predictably Irrational (Dan Ariely) (16) Good To Great (Jim Collins) (17) How To Win At The Sport Of Business (Mark Cuban) (18) Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises (Timothy F. Geithner) (19) The Smartest Guys In The Room: The Amazing Rise And Scandalous Fall Of Enron (Bethany McLean & Peter Elkind) (20) The Startup Game (William H. Draper) (21) Playing to Win (Alan G. Lafley & Roger Martin) (22) Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Peter F. Drucker) (23) The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World (Niall Ferguson) (24) The Lean Startup (Eric Ries) (25) The Signal And The Noise (Nate Silver) (26) So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love (Cal Newport) (27) All Marketers Are Liars (Seth Godin) (28) The 48 Laws of Power (Robert Greene) (29) The Innovator's Dilemma (Clayton Christensen) (30) Delivering Happiness (Tony Hsieh) (31) Steal Like an Artist (Austin Kleon) (32) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert Pirsig) (33) Start With Why (Simon Sinek). Read on...

Business Insider: 33 Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read
Authors: Aimee Groth, Emmie Martin, Max Nisen

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 18 sep 2014

Public relations (PR) is an effective marketing tool that creates and manages perception and reputation of companies, organizations, governments and individuals through the use of various media. Over the years PR has evolved as a result of technological advancements and other socio-economic drivers. So it becomes imperative for both startups and established companies to understand and effectively face & manage this ever changing PR landscape. Rebekah Iliff, Chief Strategy Officer of AirPR, identifies 7 important shifts that have transfromed PR and continue to impact PR industry - (1) Every aspect of PR is driven by data: Big data to craft a compelling narrative (2) The evolution of pitching: No more mass emailing pitches (3) The numbers rule: Measurement & analytics driven PR (4) The definition of "influence": Use of digital influencers & well-trusted & connected people on social media (5) PR's trans-functional role: Publicity is only one aspect of PR (6) Reading remains fundamentally important: Reading & research for intelligent & informed recommendations (7) Strategic content targeting is mandatory: Understand the significance of great writing and visually compelling & engaging content alongwith right placement. Read on...

Entrepreneur: 7 Big Changes in the PR Landscape Every Business Should Know About
Author: Rebekah Iliff

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 16 sep 2014

Majority of the emails that users receive in their inbox are spam emails. Service providers use technologies to filter and restrict these unwanted and annoying emails and internet security is still struggling to effectively tackle the menace of spam. Professor Andrew B. Whinston of University of Texas at Austin, pioneer in the field of ecommerce and consumer behaviors, and his team has been tracking from where spam originates since 2011 and reporting the results on their spam-shaming website SpamRankings.net. According to Professor Whinston, 'Most spam is sent from computers compromised by botnets or phishing. The same security problems that let those problems in could be used for worse things, ranging from denial of service attacks to identity theft to blackmail to alteration of financial records.' The approach that SpamRanking.net applies is that of putting reputational pressure on those companies that are source of spam and affect their economic activities because most customers don't want to do business with spammers. This forces these organizations to enhance their internet security technologies and practices. Read on...

The University of Texas at Austin: He Fights Spam So You Don't Have To
Author: Chad Schneider

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