TechI: LifeMojo Co-founder Unplugged

Today we have Namit Nangia, Co-Founder of LifeMojo in our TechI@Malliks. LifeMojo, a Bangalore based startup is basically a weight and lifestyle management tracking tool. The B2C version allows you to track you body weight online. In B2B model lifemojo sells their Pro version to the nutritionists as SaaS.

About Namit Nangia:

Namit Nangia is the CEO and co-founder of LifeMojo, a healthy lifestyle company. He is perusing a course in Dietetics and Nutrition from Bangalore University. Previously, he was a Technical Architect at Via, co-founder at MyDuniya and an Associate at Trilogy. He has a BE, Computer Engineering from NSIT, Delhi University.

Good morning Namit, Nice to have you on TechI@Malliks. Lets start
Mallik: Namit, you have earlier started MyDuniya but it was shut down soon, So what have you learnt from your MyDuniya experience?
Namit: My Duniya was my first startup so it was a life changing experience for me. Yes, I left the company in 4 months but the company shut down a year after that. MyDuniya was a great learning experience for me especially because I started it with an ex-VC. He had seen a lot of startups and so I got an exposure to a lot of things very early. One of the most crucial things that I learnt there was run as fast as you can and try as much things on the way as you can.

Mallik: How much did your earlier experience with startups helped you in building LifeMojo? What are major challenges faced while building LifeMojo?
Namit: LifeMojo was started because of my bad experience with a crash diet. I was 110Kg and after seeing Adnan Sami lose weight, I wanted to lose as quickly as possible. I followed a diet plan off net and successfully lost 11 Kgs in 45 days. But the entire weight came back. Infact I was 115Kgs by the 65th day. In the process I had screwed up my metabolism and it took months before it came back to normal.
This is how we started LifeMojo. My earlier experience taught me a lot of “what not to do” and “How to experiment faster”. That is what we have been following throughout. Major challenge for us was to decide what the customers want and to solve that, all we did was listened to user feedback. We regularly incorporate all our user’s feedback on LifeMojo.com and that how we have shaped up the product.

Mallik: LifeMojo started as a B2B product for dietitians but now you seem to concentrate more on B2C business, Is this a change of focus for company?
Namit: Yes, we did start as a B2B product for dietitians. In fact, even before we wrote the first line of code for the product, we had our first customer. We demoed the proposed functionality as HTML wireframe to our first client and she immediately signed up for the product.
By the time we had successfully made that product work for our first client, the recession came along. And after that, most of the client we contacted for the B2B product weren’t happy spending on operational efficiency.
That is when we switched our focus from B2B to B2C.

Mallik: How many clients are using your B2B product and what is traffic to your website (B2C)?
Namit: Only one customer is using the B2B product. We didn’t make much effort on selling the B2B product.
We launched B2C version of LifeMojo on 15th November 2008 and till now we have close to 4,500 registered users on LifeMojo, living a healthier life.
On 15th July 2009, we started Nutrition Consultation Services and till now we have more than 100 paying customers using our Nutrition Consultation services.

Mallik: Namit, Your Product is very much focused for dietitians, do you have any plans to make more generic product for Doctors, some kind of patient tracking?
Namit: As of now, our focus is on preventive healthcare. We think, consultation around preventive healthcare can be done on phone and online but consulting a doctor without the doctor physically examines you is kind of risky and we wouldn’t want to get into that.
Our focus right now is on helping people get fit and live a healthier life. We aren’t planning anything around patient management as of now.

Mallik: Many Indian startups don't have long term vision and end up in deadpool or get acquired by bigger companies. What is your vision for LifeMojo?
Namit: Our vision for LifeMojo is to make the right way to get fit and stay healthy affordable and accessible. There are a lot of wrong ways out there (mostly shortcuts that deliver short term results) and a lot of right ways (mostly expensive and inaccessible for common man). We just want do make this wrong, right. Acquisition or IPO is something that will come along the way. We do not have any specific plans as of now.

Mallik: Unlike, many web startups which solely depends on ads for revenue, you have better revenue model where you get commissions from Nutritionists. So how is LifeMojo doing in terms of revenue? By when do you expect to break even? Is LifeMojo looking for any funding?
Namit: We do not depend on ad revenue at all. In fact, we started displaying ads very recently. Our model is not about collecting commission from Nutritionists. We have hired Nutritionists who specialize in Weight Loss and we have our own Weight Loss Service.
We had set a goal of December 2009 to breakeven. Hopefully, we should get there in next 2 months. So just on target…
We would start the fund raising to grow LifeMojo in the first quarter of 2010.

Mallik: What is current headcount at LifeMojo? Is LifeMojo hiring?
Namit: We are 3 Nutritionists and 3 Founders as of now.

Mallik: Do you have any competitors in India? If yes, What is the one thing that distinguishes LifeMojo from Others?
Namit: One thing that distinguishes LifeMojo from the other services around preventive healthcare is that we deliver results at an affordable price and conveniently on phone and online.
And I think our users play a very crucial role in that by helping us figure out what they want and what they don’t.

Mallik: You may have left the fat pay-cheque at Trilogy before starting your startup journey. So how did your parents and friends react to your decision?
Namit: Leaving a fat pay-cheque was never a concern. I always wanted to start on my own since my 3rd year in college. In fact I chose Trilogy because I knew that the experience there would help me start a startup.
Reaction from my family has always been supportive. They have always blessed me and motivated me to try my heart out.
Both the companies I started were with few of my friends and the rest have always helped me get introductions and to validate ideas.

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TechI: MobiKwik CEO Unplugged

TechI is new initiative of Malliks where we will be interviewing the celebrities from technology world. Today we have Bipin Singh, CEO of MobiKwik (Review here). Bipin is IIT Delhi Alumni with around 7 years of work experience in semiconductors space before starting with his own venture.
Good Morning Bipin, Its pleasure to have you on TechI@Malliks.

Mallik: Bipin, you are from semiconductors background and why a sudden shift towards a startup in mobile/web space? How did the idea of mobikwik come to your mind?
Bipin: The idea of mobikwik came to me in 2008 when I had to run to retailer for recharging my mobile. I have always been a prepaid user since it helps me get the best out of my mobile. Though I am from semiconductors background, I am an avid web user. In my past roles, I have dealt with mobile phone architectures and got a sense of mobile web and mobile apps.

Mallik: Mobikwik is an interesting name that captures essence of your business. There is story behind every name, so how did you arrive at this name?
Bipin: Well, I recall I did go through many options to name this company/brand. Mobikwik , as you rightly said, captures the essence of our business. We want users to get their job done fast as far as mobiles are concerned. Mobikwik is the kwikest way to mobile freedom.

Mallik: How much did your earlier experience with helped you in building Mobikwik? What are major challenges faced while building MobiKwik?
Bipin: Frankly, my earlier technical experience did not help much since I had not worked on the web. However, you learn project management and people skills while working for a few years. These are sometimes more important than direct technical experience. I faced many challenges in building mobikwik, foremost being putting a team together. I now understand why VCs give so much emphasis on team and less on idea. An A-star team can accomplish anything. I also faced financial constraints but thankfully having worked a few years, it was less of a problem.

Mallik: While building the team, how did you convince the employees to join your startup?
Bipin: It was tough but I had done my analysis on market opportunity which I explained to them. Also, I explained how we were together a very good team. It took close to a week to convince on average.

Mallik: What is your role in Mobikwik and what is the role of Sunali aggarwal (Co-Founder)?
Bipin: I run the day to day mobikwik operations and I am the CEO/COO. Sunali is a co-founder and leads the design, usability and marketing aspects of mobikwik.

Mallik: What do you think is one thing that makes a startup successful and why?
Bipin: Well, we have just started so I cannot answer that question yet. Hope to answer it next time we talk :)

Mallik: Many Indian startups don't have long term vision and end up in deadpool or get acquired by bigger companies. What is your vision for Mobikwik?
Bipin: We have a really strong vision for mobikwik and we are prepared to slog it out. We aim to be India's number 1 web and mobile destination for buying mobile services across voice/data/apps for leading mobile operators in the country. We use technology to make technology simpler. We are not looking at getting acquired anytime soon.

Mallik: You said that you are not looking at getting acquired anytime soon. So is it still one of exit plans for MobiKwik?
Bipin:No, we have just started and want to build some traction in the market first. Acquisition is too far away.

Mallik: Unlike, many web startups which solely depend on ads for revenue, you have better revenue model where you get commissions from mobile operators. Do you have any alternate revenue models as well? Is MobiKwik looking for any funding?
Bipin: Yes, we don’t depend on ads for revenue. However, we are constructing a unique model to I cannot disclose our business plan to you except saying that you will hear of us in the same breath as the Apple Store. :)

Mallik: Do you have any competitors in India? If yes, what is the one thing that distinguishes MobiKwik from Others?
Bipin: There have been attempts to do this (mobile recharge), but our core business is mobile services which is not limited to recharge. This is reflected in our approach to this problem. Our motto is kwikest way to mobile freedom.

Mallik: What is current headcount at MobiKwik? Is Mobikwik hiring?
Bipin: We are currently 5. And yes, we are hiring. Please email at bipin@mobikwik.com

Mallik: Are you looking for funding?
Bipin: Yes, we are looking at funding for our future products.

Mallik: You may have left stable high paying job for starting Mobikwik? So how did your family and friends react to your decision?
Bipin: I had been working on mobikwik while I was working on a day time job as well. Increasingly it became clear that my heart was not in the job, but in the money that came from it. :) So, I decided to do mobikwik full time. Now, my heart is in the work I do. And hopefully, the money will come too.

Mallik: Hard work, Fun, Night outs, Junk food all happens in a startup.. So how do you manage time between your personal life and Mobikwik?
Bipin: Our team (we are all of same age) enjoys going out together to have a drink, listen to rock music or fight over features. We do regular drinks nights every other Friday at our office in Kalkaji, New Delhi to meet new people, make friends. It is a lot of fun!

It was nice to talking to you Bipin and all the best!

Interview With James Bach

James Bach, Co-author of Lessons Learned in Software Testing, is a popular name in the world of testing because of his new and unconventional ideas. Hope that this Interview will be useful for all the testers.

Mallik: Did you have any formal training in software testing ? Were you a developer before moving to testing ? Tell us something about your background and experience.
James Bach: I'm not sure what formal training in software testing would mean. If you mean have I taken testing classes, then the answer is yes, but I didn't consider that to be training, because I already felt that I knew how to test. I've attended bits and pieces of testing training over the years, but mainly I stay away from a classroom setting, because I'm so disruptive. I started as a video game developer after dropping out of school. I moved to testing in 1987 because Apple Computer was hiring testers and I needed a job. Plus, I was intrigued by the idea of testing as a dedicated activity.

Mallik: What is the most interesting bug you have found?
James Bach: I can't say what is the most interesting, but one interesting bug I found was a piece of code X that overwrote part of a second piece of code Y, so that invoking Y sometimes mysteriously invoked the code Z that came right after Y in memory. It took me days to figure that one out, because all the evidence pointed to Z as somehow th culprit, even though it was totally innocent. It taught me how devious and non-linear software can be.

Mallik: Should testers have access to code (under test) or not ? Why ?
James Bach: Testers should have access to any resource that helps them do their job For some testers, in some situations, code can be a valuable resource. My experience is that code often does not help testers much, however, because it's a lot of work to understand.

Mallik: If an organization wants you to interview a candidate for testing position, How would you go about it ?
James Bach: My short answer is that I give them something to test and watch how they test it. Some people who can talk about testing can't do it. Some people who can't talk about testing CAN do it. So I just want to see them do it.

Mallik: Do you think that development/coding skills are essential for a testers ? If its a black box testing then where will they be using it.
James Bach: No I don't think those skills are necessary. But, they are useful. In any high performing test team, I would expect to find at least one programmer. There are three major ways that coding skills help:

• Interviewing programmers.
• Writing test tools.
• Drawing inferences about external behavior based on knowledge of internals.
  

Mallik: Many organizations associate QA with Process While process is important for everything why is it associated mostly with QA . And do you think that testers are missing out on the primary job of testing and spending too much time on documentation because of process ?
James Bach: First you have to be clear on what you mean by process. Process is a danger word, because it can mean many different things. If you mean, "the way thing happen", then we all are involved in process, even if we don't understand most of the processes by which we work. The aspects of process QA is associated with are process instructions (methods and procedures) or process descriptions (documentation). They are associated with that partly because our craft suffers from terrible ignorance about how highly cognitive processes work. In fact, process instructions and descriptions play a relatively small role, and sometimes no role at
all, in the actual process by which software is created and tested. QA can manipulate the paperwork all they want, but typically they have little impact on the true capability and reliability of the system to produce a good product. QA can however interfere with the process, to make it harder to produce good work. I've seen a lot of that. True QA is project management, project coordination, company management, maintaining close communication with stakeholders, craft-by-craft mentoring, and personal commitment and skill. That true QA because those are the activities that genuinely result in a quality product. But that's not what most QA groups think they are doing, it seems.

Mallik: A tester's main role usually comes into picture too late in the SDLC, and thus, he is expected to compensate for all the slippage that has occured in design as well as development(since the product release deadlines are fixed). Under such constraints, should a tester signoff a product which he himself might not be satisfied with the testing of ?
James Bach: It is not the role of testing to signoff on a product release. The most I would be willing to sign for is that I believe I have provided the necessary information for my clients to make good decisions about the product. If that didn't seem true, then I would not sign.

Mallik: What are your suggestions to the people who wants to come into testing field/budding testers ?
James Bach: I suggest that you test something and try to describe the problems you found and the process you followed. Also, I suggest reading the articles on my site, and viewing Cem Kaner's videos on Google Video.

Mallik: Should a tester restrict to one particular technological domain, and try to achieve expertise or its better to be diverse in testing ?
James Bach: I prefer variety.

Mallik: What must be a tester's approach over the years in order to improve his testing skills ?
James Bach: Pay attention to what happens when you test. Don't just believe what you are told about testing, but rather reinvent and construct the skill for
yourself.

Mallik: How can a fresh college graduate identify, if "testing" is the right profession for him ? I mean, what kind of attitude suits to this profession ?
James Bach:The kind of testing I do rewards people who like to solve puzzles and figure out how machines work. Fast learners. It's the same thing that draws people to programming, but programming requires a longer attention span. I'd rather have a more social activity that involves a lot of short assignments. Testing is like that, for me.

Mallik: How will you differentiate the skills of a tester from that of a programmer ?
James Bach: A tester is a skeptic, a programmer must have faith. Skepticism requires a bigger imagination for what is possible, whereas the programmer must be more able to figure out how to go from what is plausible to what is actual. The programmer must think algorithmically, but for the tester, lateral and logical thinking dominate. Programmers have to focus, but testers need the ability to de-focus. Programmers can be laser-like, whereas testers must shed light in all directions. Programmers and testers both create and use models. Both benefit from technical knowledge, although it is more important for programmers to have that than testers. A tester could be useful even without much technical knowledge, if he has domain knowledge, or quick learning ability. A tester is an applied epistemologist. Epistemology is optional knowledge for programmers.

Mallik: Should a tester also be involved in suggesting solutions for the bugs he has discovered ?
James Bach: Be careful with that. If the tester presumes to act like a designer, that can bruise and confuse the programmer. Having said that, offering ideas is okay, as long as you do so with respect. The testers job is to reveal important information about the product, not to design the product.

Mallik:I believe you have delivered some courses in India too, what is your experience of indian testers ?
James Bach: The 60 testers I had the pleasure of teaching were mostly younger than the ones I teach in the U.S. Once I convinced them that I wanted them to speak up and show me their thinking, I got a very positive and impressive response. I had come to India thinking that your culture is possibly not amenable to independent thinking, but I believe I was wrong about that. I came away with the sense that the testers I was teaching shared a culture of trying to please their clients. You can think independently, even though you wish to please your customers. Pradeep Soundararajan and Shrini Kulkarni are two Indian testers who are becoming well known in America with their original and incisive ideas. They are making a good showing on behalf of the Indian testing community, but Ihope that others also share their thoughts.

Mallik: Some books you would like to recommend to sharpen thinking in general, in order to be a better tester ?
James Bach:

Introduction to General Systems Thinking, by Weinberg
Lateral Thinking, by de Bono
Tools for Critical Thinking, by Levy
Godel, Escher, Bach, by Hofstaedter

Mallik: Amidst the sheer lack of good books of testing, can we expect some more good books from you ?
James Bach:I'm working on a book on Exploratory Testing.

I would like to thank James Bach for taking time and answering the questions. I would also like to thank Abhishek Rajpurohit for helping me out in framing the questions.

Burrp!! to Launch TV Related Product

Burrp!! is recently in news for being one of the best non US Web 2.0 companies. Today we have CEO of Burrp!!, Mr.Deap Ubhi talking about the emergence of Burrp, its future plans, Enterpreneurship and challenges faced by startups in India. Here goes the interview:

Mallik: How did you get the idea of creating burrp!?
Deap Ubhi: On a trip to Mumbai one Christmas, I found it very difficult to get around in the city. The only way to extract this sort of information was by asking a hotel concierge or some acquaintances. That information too was varied and could not be confirmed. That’s when I started to muse over the idea of developing burrp! It was meant to act as a go-to site where locals could share their experiences.
The idea was initially born out of a real-world problem. It certainly drew inspiration from similar models that existed in the U.S., such as Judy’s Book, InsiderPages.com and Yelp.com.
Mallik: What is the current team size of burrp!?
Deap Ubhi:We are currently a team of 11. Anand Jain and I are the co-founders of the business. Of the 11, 6 make up the engineering and technology team, the others are on the business side. On the business side, we have a sales practice, a marketing practice, and a communications/community practice. Since it’s so hard to find quality people here, we’re very proud of the small team we’ve built.

Mallik: What is the major challenge that you faced while creating burrp!?
Deap Ubhi:The greatest challenge in India is hiring. Finding talented, passionate people is not as easy as I had assumed it would be. There is certainly a different image of India that is perpetuated abroad. I think a lot of people are under the impression that India is a burgeoning bank of engineering talent and that simply is not the case. Theoretical knowledge is all well, but finding self-motivated, bright engineers is still a challenge. Building a quality team will continually be our largest challenge

Mallik: Is burrp! looking for funding? Or is burrp! looking for acquisition by a few big players as most startups in India do?
Deap Ubhi: burrp! has raised a significant chunk of angel money when it started out last year. We are approaching self-sustenance; yet at the current pace, we want to move faster, both with product development and with city-expansion. We are opportunistically in the market for a true series-A.

Mallik: Does burrp! have any competitors?
Deap Ubhi: It would be naïve for any company to say that they do not have any competition - everyone does. Some of the prominent players in the market are Yahoo and Google.

Mallik: What are future plans of burrp! and where do you see yourselves 2-3 years down the line?
Deap Ubhi: In the very near future, burrp! is launching in 4 more cities. Also, we are launching a TV-related product very soon.
The ultimate goal is for burrp! to become an all encompassing lifestyle-focused social media company. We’re not just about food, and we’re not just about the Internet. We will be expanding our content offering across other lifestyle-related categories, both local and city-agnostic.

Mallik: What are your major accomplishments with regards to burrp!?
Deap Ubhi: The single most amazing accomplishment I believe is the passionate community behind burrp! Very few social media companies in India can make that claim, and it makes us very proud.

Mallik: What do you think is the difference between the startup scene in India and the US? What are major challenges for budding entrepreneurs in India?
Deap Ubhi: A few major differences. First, the ecosystem is not only in place, but it is thriving in the United States. Entrepreneurs lean on each other for advice, guidance and inspiration. The process is encouraged and there are plenty of outlets for entrepreneurs that will help them along the way. Secondly, the startup scene is much more mature and competitive in the US. The bar of innovation is much, much higher. It is part of the reason you see so much concept arbitrage going on in the Indian startup scene. The bar for innovation here is very low.
In my mind, logistics and hiring are the two major hurdles a startup could face. Simple things like getting an Internet connection could take weeks. Finding the right people and building the right team, as I mentioned earlier is another major challenge for budding entrepreneurs in India.

Mallik: What is the best way to create buzz about any new Web 2.0 startup?
Deap Ubhi: Unlike most startups, we’ve made a strategic choice to focus less on marketing and advertising but build one of the strongest communication practice in the country. Besides, we’re a poor startup, so we can’t afford the elaborate marketing campaigns that aren’t measurable anyways. Our communications practice includes Internal Community Relations, Web Community Relations as well as traditional Public Relations.
Having all this said, the best way to create buzz around any product is to let the product speak for itself. Good products will always market themselves; no amount of flashy marketing will save a shitty product. I am a big believer of word-of-mouth marketing. If your user has a pleasant experience, he/she will spread the word. Thus, it’s important to build a product that speaks for itself.

Mallik: Congratulations for burrp! being selected as one of 30 Top Non-US Web 2.0 startups. How do you feel about it?
Deap Ubhi: It’s a great honour. We are truly humbled. As I mentioned earlier, if feels good being appreciated for our work while we are still only a year old. Of course, this is nowhere close to what our ultimate aim is, we still have a long way to go. This recognition has added fuel to our aspirations.

Mallik: What is your personal advice to budding Indian Web entrepreneurs?
Deap Ubhi: Firstly, from my experience, I feel that the most important part to building a successful company is to build a successful team. Hire the right people and do not lower your bar when it comes to the expectations you have from your colleagues.
Secondly, it is very important for a startup to be capital-efficient. Spend where the biggest impact can be made; be stingy when the expense is avoidable.

Read Full article on Tech Persona.

Interview with CEO of Yaari

Prerna Gupta, founder and CEO of Yaari.com - a new social networking site that claims to be “created by Indian youth, for Indian youth”. Prerna was working in venture capital, when she had a vision of a social networking site that would change the face of Internet usage in India. So she decided to quit her job and go for it. And here she is today without a penny to spare but loving her new life as CEO of Yaari. Prerna graduated from Stanford University with a BA in economics and then worked restlessly in management consulting and venture capital until she finally discovered her true passion (bossing people around at Yaari). She also loves bananas, Cuban salsa dancing, yoga and other esoteric things. Prerna has talked to us about Yaari, its future and enterprenial scene in India.

Mallik: What made you become an enterpreneur ?
Prerna: I had an idea that I couldn’t stop thinking about, and I believed I would be able to successfully implement it. I like to work on things that I’ve created myself.

Mallik: Why you wanted to come up with social networking site specifically for India ?
Prerna:I saw more opportunity in India at the time, and I’ve always wanted to start a business in India.

Mallik: Is Yaari looking for any funding ?
Prerna:Not at the moment.

Mallik: What is your current user base and how is the growth rate ?
Prerna: That’s confidential info.

Mallik:What are your plans for Yaari in the future ?
Prerna:To become India’s largest social networking site.

Mallik:How do you plan to compete with newly upcoming companies like MIH (Cafe Ibibo) ?
Prerna:By offering a better product. I believe we have a better understanding of social networking than anyone else in India, and we will use that understanding to keep improving our product and stay ahead of the competition. Competitors may initially get more traffic because they’ll pour in loads of money into expensive marketing campaigns. but when their advertising budget runs dry, their traffic will die. In the mean time, we will succeed because we’re building a solid userbase, based on organic growth.

Mallik:Being an enterpreneur, do you think it’s difficult to set up a startup in India compared to Silicon Valley ? What is the reason?
Prerna:Yes, it is definitely more difficult to start an internet company in India, but that’s obvious. A lack of infrastructure is a huge issue, but it’s also a lack of a large network of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and etc. These things are beginning to develop, like Alok Mittal’s venturewoods.org, but it is no where near the support network in the valley. However, this is not surprising. This is just the beginning for India. I think we should appreciate how much entrepreneurship is happening in India, despite the challenges. Also, the lowered costs of operation certainly make things easier.

Mallik:Why do you think India does not have any good brand name in Internet or Webspace ? Do you think Yaari will be the one to grab that brand name recognition ?
Prerna:Because Indian internet usage is still very low. As internet usage in India increases, we will certainly see solid internet brands develop. And yes, Yaari will definitely be one of them!

Mallik:What’s your advice for budding enterpreneurs ?
Prerna:Go for it!!! Don’t just sit around and day-dream, do it! Every minute of it is worthwhile.

Thanks Prerna, for the interview. Wishing you and Yaari all the best.

Read Original article at Tech Persona.