Somebody once told me “always aspire to build a car factory not a car dealership”. This has stayed with me when I am advising people on business strategies or thinking about prioritizing things that I work on as well. Platforms are difficult if you are starting from scratch and the choice also depends on the…
Author: vatsal
Blue Ocean Strategy
VP of Strategy: “What do you want to achieve?” Me: “I want to hit $1M revenue as quickly as possible” I was a Product Manager for a Network Security device seeking guidance from our VP of Strategy. His response took me by surprise. He said “If your objective is to hit $1M revenue; you should buy a…
Medium raises another $50M | TechCrunch
Medium.com the online long form publishing platform for influencers to create and share content raises a $50M series C. Medium, the online publishing platform led by Twitter co-founder Ev Williams, just announced that it has raised $50 million in Series C funding. It’s been less than a year since Medium raised a… Source: Medium raises…
The Beauty Of React Native: Building Your First iOS App With JavaScript (Part 1) – Smashing Magazine
React Native is a great way to build apps that can easily be compiled to run on Android & iOS devices with single code base and minimal custom code for each platform. It’s open source technology and based on my first experience of creating an app without knowing much about ReactJS left me impressed. Check…
Building a new identity for Solutions Engineering
Recently heard somebody say “I’d rather be lucky than smart”. I feel extremely lucky to have joined Facebook when I did in May 2010. While there were a lot of unknowns; choosing Facebook over multiple job offers wasn’t an easy decision. My wife Sumana played an important role in helping make the decision and the rest…
LG OLED77G6P: G6 Signature OLED 4K Smart TV w/ webOS 3.0 | LG USA
After reviewing all the updates from CES 2016; the LG G6 TV one is my favorite new product announcement from the show. TV’s have failed to inspire in past few years but this one seems a real beauty. Couple of major things worth noticing: OLED – allows this to be super thin and “infinite” contrast….
Apple – September Event 2015 – YouTube
Apple’s September event where they typically announce the iPhone “s” series was a lot more this time around. Not only the iPhone 6S & 6S+ have major updates, the iPad Pro, Pencil and the Apple TV updates are very interesting as well. Recommend taking the time to watch this event:
Apple Store’s mobile traffic equals desktop for the first time – Mobile Commerce Daily – Multichannel retail support
It’s only a matter of time before commerce transactions through mobile surpass the web. Source: Apple Store’s mobile traffic equals desktop for the first time – Mobile Commerce Daily – Multichannel retail support
Apple’s Share of Smartphone Industry’s Profits Soars to 92% – WSJ
This is a subscriber only article; the headline says it all. While many companies make phones, it’s very hard to make significant profit from hardware manufacturing. Apple is one of the few companies that has figured out how to make significant profits from hardware as well as software. The PC industry and the television…
PC Sales Continue to Fall – Digits – WSJ
Worldwide PC sales saw their sharpest decline in nearly two years in the second quarter of 2015, dealing continued damage to retailers and makers of devices, chips and PC software. Source: PC Sales Continue to Fall – Digits – WSJ
Search for Ever Cheaper Garment Factories Leads to Africa – WSJ
Africa is seen as the final frontier in the global rag trade—and Ethiopia ranks high with apparel company executives who are looking for cheaper factories to sew Wrangler jeans, H&M T-shirts and Calvin Klein clothes. Hope this “race for cheapest labor” eventually uplifts wages and living standard for many different parts of the world. Source:…
Xiaomi Sees $1 Billion in Mobile Services Revenue This Year – WSJ
Xiaomi’s revenue from mobile services will more than triple this year to nearly $1 billion, the Chinese smartphone maker’s CEO predicted. Xiaomi has become the most valuable startup at approximately $45B, making the popular smart phones “Mi” and dabbling in other lines of business. Their founder has emulated Steve Jobs, and their phones are very…