I met with Dhiraj Rajaram, Founder & CEO, Mu Sigma, recently. Mu Sigma calls itself variously as an applied math factory, world’s leading pure-play decision sciences company and so on. Simply put, Mu Sigma is in the business of analyzing the growing information of its customers and making sense out of it- asking the why question as much as the what and how- and offering meaningful interpretations on the business for its management.

Set up in 2005, the company has grown at a fast clip- not only has the company scaled an important milestone of a $100 M run rate but they have also obtained a significant funding to secure future growth.

Talking with Dhiraj, it is not hard to see why the company has been as successful as it is. The first thing that struck me was the aspiration combined with quiet confidence- Dhiraj clearly has his goals set on a bigger dream, and is systematically charting the course. When I say quiet, let it not be thought that Dhiraj is a man of few words J On the contrary, he is articulate and passionate about his company and ideas – but sports the air of someone who feels his journey has just begun. And so does not think that they have achieved much yet!  Dhiraj’s clarity of purpose is also evident when he explains the way they went about building the business- the choices they made and the philosophies they abide by.

I walked out of my meeting with Dhiraj ( who incidentally is a fellow alumnus of College of Engineering, Guindy) convinced that Mu Sigma is definitely a company to watch out for!

Cracking the exponential growth formula?

Popularity: 24% [?]

Why this kolaveri di? A” bordering on the inane” song from a soon to be released tamil movie with music composed by a young 21 year old debutant has opened a whole new debate on the power of viral marketing.
This is why- as I sit down to write this blog, the song has been downloaded over 2 million times on youtube within a week of its release, it has been trending on twitter for the last six days and has over a million shares on facebook- the song has not only become popular in India, but also across the globe.
I first heard this song on the day it was released officially as a single- I found it was strangely appealing and showed the video to my teenaged daughter and she loved it. She has it on her ipod and has promptly marketed it to her friends! In the next few hours I saw many of my facebook friends, including one or two of Prayag clients, sharing the video. I said, alright, this song is really making an impact. Before I know it, it is everywhere.
Of course, there are some detractors, but there is no doubt that it has become a huge rage. I see some comments on facebook saying- oh, all this is the power of viral marketing. Being in the business, I thought to myself- I wish it were so simple!
For any content to go viral, it needs to appeal to a wide cross section of audience. And to achieve that is not as easy as it seems, believe me! The interesting thing about kolaveri is that it did not set out to impress this huge audience. It is a simple, unpretentious attempt to create a fun song that would appeal to tamil youth- what it has ended up doing is catch the imagination of youth all across, as the lyrics are in “a version of English”,  and also win over older people because of its honest and fresh approach.
The team behind the song has been clearly taken by surprise, but is now going all out to make the most of it- online chats, prime time interviews, exclusive video interviews, front page on mainstream and business dailies- you name it and they are there.
To me the biggest takeaway as a marketer is that content should be honest, and be right for the audience. Also don’t try too hard. But, be ready to cash in if the viral effect does kick in.
PS: My writing was interrupted by a call from my mother- she said, what is that song, kolaveri, I pestered your sister to play it for me. And, on twitter Junior Bachchan follows his father in acknowledging the song.
Is there a need to say more? Instead, go watch the video if you haven’t already

Popularity: 36% [?]

Today, the 27th Sept, Google turns 13. It’s been an incredible childhood and tweenhood for this “precocious” new age kid that has captured the imagination of netizens all over the world.

It is hard to imagine a life without google today. And this is not just for businesses. My daughter runs to google to find the meaning of a word and my mom uses google to find a “home remedy”. Even my not very net savvy dad asks me every now and then, but have you tried Googling? Google has become all pervasive and indispensable to all of us, across all walks of life.

So, here is wishing google many happy returns of the day. And to all of us, many more hours of happy googling

Popularity: 33% [?]

I am writing this post  a few days before  Prayag’s 10th anniversary. On Sept 1, two days from now, Prayag turns 10.  When I stop to savour the moment, a multitude of emotions descend upon me – quiet pride at the milestones we have reached- clients and assignments won, new verticals entered into, new markets, new offices and lines of business, especially the most recent one- the launch of ParentEdge; happiness and a smile when I think of the Prayag team- we have made our share of mistakes but the people we have now are quite special; and a tinge of regret at some of the lost opportunities.

Net, net, as we like to say, it has been a great ten years without doubt. It has been liberating, enriching and taught me about how to look at a cup as half full rather than half empty.

So many people have made these ten years possible-  family, clients, prospects, employees- current and past, partners and well wishers. Here is hoping that they extend the same support as we continue on our journey, and that we can reciprocate along the way.

Popularity: 34% [?]

As a leader this is your constant challenge- how much do I focus on getting things right in my company’s context and how much do I need to keep looking outside and benchmarking? At Prayag, we do a lot of market and competition assessment studies, and we meet a range of clients- some who spend a lot of time in minutely analysing the external factors and others who dismiss the outside and focus entirely on getting their story right!

If I sit back and think, I believe, like with most good things, the answer lies in blending a bit of both approaches. For, any amount of competition and market watching is futile, if we do not apply it to our own context; another danger of looking outside too much is that it can overwhelm you at times. At the same time, having a blinkered approach and not learning from the outside can also be counter productive. I also find that in the latter case, companies and management sometimes become so cut off from the outside world that they lose touch with reality.

Great leaders are those who are able to keep a laser focus on their context while being able to assimilate the goings on around effortlessly, and for their benefit.

What is your view?

Popularity: 18% [?]

With Cognizant announcing its results a couple of days back, the results of the biggest 4 offshore based IT companies- TCS, Infosys, Wipro and CTS – have been announced for this quarter. Infosys disappointed with the way it finished off the year and Wipro did not impress with its guidance. TCS and Cognizant though have yet again outperformed their peer group. Cognizant is slated to outgrow Wipro and has overtaken Infosys’ revenues in NA. Now, all this has the analysts going wild with their short term analysis and quotes. But to me, there is a deeper significance. It tells me that there are no guarantees, not even for the best in class. Infosys was not so long ago the industry’s poster boy, but TCS and Cognizant have shown that relentless focus can help change the equation. This also shows that Infosys can rebound with some smart thinking and execution and so can Wipro.

The learning of course is more generic, in my view- there is no time for complacency and past success is no indicator of how your future would be. Looking at it another way, this of course means that there is no permanent first among equals. The position is up for grabs all the time. It is up to us to aspire and pursue that goal with laser focus. If that cannot be a motivator, what can?

Any thoughts?

Popularity: 22% [?]