Communities will be based on shared values...

Another state being carved out is the big headlines, and as usual there are people of both sides of the argument, if it is the right thing to do or not. I do think it is good to have smaller states. It brings administrative efficiencies, especially in a country like India.
But what got me thinking is the concept of native place.. We are in this massive information age, social networks where there are no physical boundaries. I also believe that we in in an age of travel. I am not talking about the camera holding tourist, but migration of people in their constant pursuit of lively hood, love and peace. I am a Keralite, brought up in Karnataka and spend a good portion of my professional life in Andra Pradesh. I am not sure what my native place is, and I am not too worried about it either. My sense of culture, tradition, etc are very different from that of my parents for example. Mine is a potluck that I have picked up from my experiences from the places I have lived, things I have seen there and a little bit of my own being.
Globally, migrating people form a large chunck and it is increasing at a rapid pace. Communities  soon will be based on shared values. Our sense of home will not necessarily be defined by where we are born but more by where we chose to be. This freedom of choice is not about an isolation or withdrawal from our past, it is about a new integration of shared values born out of man's constant pursuit of finding perfection.

The call of the Himalayas

They say if you ever go to see the Himalayas, the mountains then tend to keep calling you back. I have spent the Sunday morning looks at the pictures from our trip to the great mountains. I  like to look at the hard copies of the photos as against viewing soft copies on the pad. It is not that I have anything against the use of technology, I invest in early stage tech companies as a part of my day job. But then, just call me old fashioned.

Ro and me made the trip in September 2010. Its been a while but the memories are so strong of the town of Leh , the Thiksey Monastery and the little Buddhas running around.

The drive to Nubra valley via the Kardunla pass and the mesmerising Pangong lake. We spent about 10 days there driving around along with Andus our local guide/driver.
Being in the midst of the mountains is an humbling experince. Vast expanses of cold desert, with no sign of human life. One could be this rock star person back home, but here one cannot stop from reflecting, it will dawn on you how insignificant one is in the overall scheme of things.
The people live simple yet happy lives threre holding on to the last straws of their culture under the fast approching roadroller of progress.
The most telling memory of the place is this. Ro and me were looking for the world famous Pashmina. Andus promissed to take us to this place where we were sure to get the most authentic pashmina. In the midlle of nowhere he stopped oneday, stopped the Jeep on the roadside and we went hiking to this small hamlet where there was this old lady doing her work. Brief converstaion between Andus and her, she returned with a basket of pure pashmina wool.
We did'nt need to know the language to see the shock on her face when we said we said we dont know how to make anything out of this wool. She was even more surprised when she learnt that we didnt know where we could get this done back home in the big city. The old woman was smiling and said god bless you folks as we walked back to our Jeep.  
It was an amazing experience for us. It is also a Sunday morning well spent looking at these pictures. The exercise has lifted my spirits and filled my heart with joy. As I close the album I hear that call again, without doubt it is the mountains calling.... time to plan another trip to the great moutains.....

Dr. Ashwin Mahesh- Good politics starts with you and me...

This world is full of critics..people who somehow seems to know exactly why something will not take off, how it will be tough to execute, etc. Yet the world functions, pushes forward largely thanks to a few men/women who are willing to take their chances and pursue what they believe.
I have tremendous respect for entrepreneurs for the simple reason that the odds they have taken on are massive. The odds of success are so stacked against them yet their tribe grows... in all fields  because they believe they can make a difference.
I happened to hear one such gentleman today. Now he has chosen a field that is not so common. Politics.. Dr. Ashwin Kumar, President, Loksatta Party, Karnataka. Here is a guy who has a lot going for him. Distinguished career in NASA, IIM, etc yet he has chosen the hard path to make a difference. His message is simple "Good politics starts with you and me"... Now it is not that you and me don't want to make a difference...but how many of us have the balls to go the full distance, to actually test our commitment to making that difference.My heart swells in pride as I stand in the crowd and hear him speak. He has a lot of youngsters who are volunteering in his campaign for good politics and governance (www.ashwin4mla.org). 

He lost the last elections by a 1,000 votes or so, but more importantly he is back again spreading a hope for change. We need more people like him, people with just not the conviction but also the courage to back that conviction. He has managed to attract a small gathering of people to hear him speak on the challenges we are facing as a city. As I walk back my only sincere hope is that the people in that gathering are all registered voters. Good politics starts with you and me and the least we can do is to get ourselves registered so that when someone courageous comes along we can all show our support.

My native town Ottapalam

How I wish I could communicate the strange but pleasant sounds that the birds are making as I type this..but then it is not all romantic...the heat is searing... very difficult to get out of the house in the day time and it is only early March. I have been complaining about the heat in Bangalore..this is something else all together.
I am in Ottapalam, my native town. Ottapalam  is in Palakkad district of Kerala state in India. It is situated on the banks of the Bharathappuzha river (also called the Nila). It used to be a major town of Nedunganad and later became part of Valluvanad Taluk during the reign of the Zamorins of Calicut.


Pulliara Kshetram Lamp

Kathakali in Progress

The sleepy town is changing fast like any other part in our country. But then it still has entrapments of the fast disappearing rural country side of Kerala. The local Pulliara Vishnu Temple is currently having its pooram(festival). It is the biggest event of the year for the local community. The day sees prayers held and the evening has cultural programs such as Kathakalli, Paadagam, a form of stand-up comedy incorporating mythological stories.

I see the temple committee running around managing the whole show. It starts months before with pirive (fund raising). The local community contributes to the annual event. It is interesting to be a part of this event, and join some conversations with the village elders in the evening. Local politics still is the biggest draw, I was not surprised to hear discussions on the latest drubbing AC Milan got at the hands of Barcelona. There was no mention of the ongoing test match between India and Australia.,
Like I said earlier , I don't want to romanticize everything, it is not like they don't have problems and issues here. But, life goes by at a much slower pace, gives you time to sit and have conversations with people about nothing, enjoy the sounds and sights of the beautiful countryside.
I do look forward to coming here only on short breaks.It could be unsettling if one is used to the fast pace of the city, but it can also give you a chance to discover yourself as you stand in a place where life moves slowly giving you time and more importantly the world is not pushing you to run at its speed.
What would you want to do if you were not constantly pushed by pace the known world sets for you? Would you be a different person?? What frightens me is that I do not have answers to these questions.. that is when I pack my bags and leave back to Bangalore, to work, to traffic, to familiar but unknown faces, most importantly to "no time" to think....

The danger of a single story

I must confess the title is borrowed. Two interesting things happened this weekend. One planned and the other not so much. One I watched this Hindi movie called Kai Po Che... and the other watched this TED talk by Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story .
She has been called "the most prominent" of a "procession of critically acclaimed young anglophone authors that is succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African literature" (Wiki). She also happens to be one of Rohini's favourite authors, explains how I discovered her in the first place.
The talk is about how we are all prey to the stereotype definition of people, cultures, countries, etc. And how, fed on this one single view, it becomes a kind of reality, even when it is rather far from the truth.

Danielle Lee – Studies in Culture & Society
On the movie, we are, in my view witnessing a "breaking away" from a single reality that Bollywood has picturized for us over many years. Movies like Kahani, Barfi, Special26, Vicky Donor and the latest Kai Po Che are in a sort of way moving away from the stereotype of glamourous life, swiss alps to the more real world of India's small towns. Also stories have moved to West Bengal, Gujarat, Bihar, Ludhiana, etc. People live here too and their life is not about just falling in love and singing songs. Stories about their aspirations, insecurities, struggles and life in general. The success of these movies also reflect people's ability to connect to these stories. The movie makers are opening to the acceptance of such realities. Like Ms Adichie says there has to be a balance that one must try to achieve when telling stories.
Vulture capitalists is another single story that is dangerous, but then that is a discussion for another time :-)

Zen and venture capital

Once upon a time, a great Zen Master was asked to tell his experiences on the path to enlightenment. He said "When I was young and I didn't know what Zen was, the mountains were mountains, rivers were rivers and clouds clouds. Then I started to practice Zen, and after some time of studying the mountains weren't mountains any more, rivers were not rivers, and the clouds were not clouds."
"Now that I am enlightened mountains are mountains, rivers are rivers and clouds clouds."

This is another one of those things I read that has stayed with me. When I look back at the last 6 years at the fund, there are parallels that I can draw. The first thing that any one will tell you is that investing in early stage companies is all about the team and so it was part of my manual too. I would, as enthusiastic analyst repeat this every where, It is all about the team.

                                                                                                  Dr.Seuss

Fast forward six years and guess what... I still say the same...but then today I definitely believe it. Also the definition of a good team has gained a lot more clarity. Apart from passion, drive, domain, etc three characteristics that I have noticed in the successful entrepreneurs are

Ability to attract talent:Nobody has achieved anything alone. The more one gets smarter people around you, the better the chances of the collective effort seeing success

Ability to attract capital- Everybody has seen challenges, made mistakes. Having enough capital backing you allows one to make a few more mistakes learn and still survive.

Frugality- It is easy to get carried away if there is cash in the bank. The successful ones have been very prudent in spending.

I have been fortunate to be around a few smart people working really hard to build organizations. Each of them have seen varied levels of success. It is also a very humbling experience. Like Zen, venture capital is also a journey of self discovery.

 

The long road to FDA clearance

The holy grail for medical devices in to clear US FDA.  Perfint healthcare and Forus healthcare are working on the process on getting the clearance to expand into the US market. Both of them are at different stages of the clearance process.

Both the companies are working on the 510(k) route. It is based on medical devices similar to yours that have already received 510(k) clearance from the FDA, called “Predicate Devices. The 510(k) process applies to most Class II medical devices sold in the US and a small number of Class I and Class III devices as well.

The Emergo Group performed an analysis of publicly available FDA 510(k) data pulled from the FDA website.

• The analysis has shown that 95-97% of all 510(k) applications cleared by the FDA occur within one year of initial submission date.
• The number of 510(k) submissions submitted in 2011 which cleared within 3 months increased to 42% from 40% and the average number of days decreased to 138 days.

The average time for approval for various devices is as follows.

One important factor to keep in mind is that the FDA does not "approve" medical devices; they "clear" them for sale in the US. One could have a product that has been sold across the world, with doctors using them regularly, but for the product to be sold in the US it has to be cleared first by the US FDA. Given the size of the US market and their focus on reducing the overall cost of healthcare, it is an opportunity that is very difficult to ignore dispite the pain.