Jeevan Padiyar's Link Blog

Lust for Gold - NYTimes.com

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 11:09:04 -0400

A gold bubble starting to show signs of deflating?

After all, historically, gold has been anything but a safe investment. Sometimes it yields big gains, as it did in the late 1970s and again between 2001 and 2011. But that 1970s run-up was followed by an epic plunge, with the real value of gold falling by more than two-thirds.

Food Delivery Tech Stays Hot, as EAT Club Raises $5M - Venture Capital Dispatch - WSJ

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:57:00 -0400

Food Delivery Tech Stays Hot, as EAT Club Raises $5M - Venture Capital Dispatch - WSJ:

An interesting model for a food delivery service

Taste test the product
Ask customers to pre-order their meals by 10:30 to guage demand.
Ask restaurants to prepare the orders during down periods.
Pre-negotiate rates and sell product through a retail model.
Track everything.
Provide customers with good data on where there food is in the process.

Playing with the tumblr mobile app for android.

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:49:43 -0400

Wow. This is really buggy. Crashed 4 times in a row on my phone.

Why Aren’t Students Using E-Books? | MindShift

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 09:54:01 -0500

Why Aren’t Students Using E-Books? | MindShift:

textbooks at least — are not always available in digital format.
it’s still not quite as easy to mark up a digital text as it is a printed one. And oftentimes the content in these books is “locked down,” so students can’t share their notes or share their books with another.
According to the eBrary survey, “the vast majority of students would choose electronic over print if it were available and if better tools along with fewer restrictions were offered.”
That sharing aspect is important. Students want to be able to utilize social media as they do their reading and research, and according to those surveyed by eBrary, they want their textbooks integrated with social tools.
But students also share their textbooks because they are so incredibly expensive. And as the digital rights management (DRM) restrictions on e-books makes lending someone your copy difficult if not impossible, students are likely steering away from e-books because they simply don’t work for them — practically or economically.

Effectively using amazon as a sales channel

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 15:45:45 -0500

Effectively using amazon as a sales channel:

A great overview on optimizing Amazon Marketplace

5 Ways to Cut Shopping Cart Abandonment

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 10:51:00 -0500

5 Ways to Cut Shopping Cart Abandonment :

I agree with 5 of the 7 which are:

Be sure the cost is clearly visible early and often to avoid surprises.
Create the opportunity to check out as a guest, while offering registration as an option for future coupons and promotions.
Include privacy and trust language next to any fields asking for personal data.
Clearly state return policies and provide several ways customers can reach you, including a phone number, email and postal address.
Provide multiple payment options

35 Useful Chrome Plugins or Extensions for Bloggers and Web Developers - Browser Plugin

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 16:40:08 -0500

35 Useful Chrome Plugins or Extensions for Bloggers and Web Developers - Browser Plugin:

Perhaps a little more useful than the last list. :)

15 Useful Google Chrome Plugins

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 16:19:57 -0500

15 Useful Google Chrome Plugins:

I finally got around to looking for chrome pluggins. Here is what I found.

The Psychology Behind Making Sales and Setting Price Points

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 19:45:04 -0500

The Psychology Behind Making Sales and Setting Price Points:

Stop “Selling”
make sure there’s a middle option available
Provide Package Deals
Make a Special Offer
Break Your Product Down into Components

Lessoned Learned from falling on your head.

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 14:23:00 -0500

Lessoned Learned from falling on your head.:

A few fun facts:

Spend every dollar like it is your last.

The CEO of a startup must, must, must be the product manager. He/she must own the functional user experience.

Stack rank your features. No two features are ever created equal. You can’t do everything all at once. Force prioritization.

The only thing that matters is how good your product is. All the rest is noise.

The only judge of how good your product is is how much your users use it.

Most people really only heavily use about 5 to 7 services. If you want to be an important product and a big business, you will need to figure out how to fit into one of those 5 to 7 services, which means capturing your user’s fascination, enthusiasm, and trust. You need to give your users a real reason to add you into their time.

Work with people who are smarter than you at certain things

Work with people who argue with you and tell you no.

You’re never as right as you think you are.

Choose your investors based on who you want to work with, be friends with, and get advice from.

Make sure your personal business goals are aligned with the goals of your investors. The business will only succeed if you are motivated. Investors can’t force the business to succeed. And they certainly can’t force a CEO to care.

Hang a lantern on your hangups.

Mature, but don’t grow up

Make mistakes, but learn from them. I’ve made hundreds.

An interactive map from O’reilley outlining the different...

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 13:13:30 -0400

An interactive map from O’reilley outlining the different domains (territories) of the web and the industry leaders of each fiefdom.

10 Minute MBA

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 20:43:11 -0400

10 Minute MBA:

A collegue pointed me to this post. It explains at a very high level what the reader took away from her MBA program. It’s a fun read.

Imagining 10 dimensions. This is the best explanation I have...

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:30:00 -0400

Imagining 10 dimensions. This is the best explanation I have seen so far.

An interesting article on linkbuiding

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:00:00 -0400

An interesting article on linkbuiding:

A list of 71 ways to build links that won’t get you in trouble. Great advice.