Facebook IPO: What you need to be careful about?

With just over 10 odd days remaining for the Facebook IPO to open, there has been lots of news around the public offering like what would be the valuation, how advantageous would it be to invest in here, the company acquiring Instagram, employers asking for FB password of prospective employees, youngsters deactivating FB accounts after realizing that they are losing touch with “real life” etc. Each of these news hold tremendous influence on lots of things related to the IPO. However, no matter how interesting these might have been for reading, in my opinion, the most important thing that a prospective investor needs to learn about are the risk factors that Facebook itself has outlined in the IPO prospectus.

1) Despite its growth in recent years, the number of Internet users in the world is finite. The number of active monthly users on the social networking site is 845 million monthly, but FB warns that this growth rate will slide "as the size of our active user base increases, and as we achieve higher market penetration rates."

If Facebook can't retain users and their attention, then advertising could also peter out. Yes, remember Orkut? How hooked on you used to be? Now, do you even check your Orkut account?

2) Facebook is already restricted in China, Iran, North Korea and Syria. Other countries can follow suit; you never know. Remember, Kapil Sibal? No. Then, West Bengal Government involving the CID to investigate posting of allegedly controversial material against the Chief Minister on Facebook! Logic and rationality can vacate any “market” without any prior notice.  Hence, the company warns that in such a scenario their competitors can successfully penetrate those geographic markets that they cannot access.

3) Facebook is subject to laws governing a litany of issues including privacy, intellectual property, data protection and these laws are always evolving. Any slight change in these laws can hurt Facebook's business.

4) Zynga, the online gaming company behind the popular games on FB like Farmville, Cityville, etc, accounted for 12 percent of Facebook's revenue in 2011. It also generated considerable Web traffic for the social network. Facebook’s earning would take a hit if Zynga’s games became less popular, or if Zynga launches games on competing platforms. In fact, Zynga has launched its own platform earlier this year to decrease its dependence on Facebook.

5)  Facebook has become an integral part of our life and people believe in instant sharing of information than waiting to log in to our accounts after they have access to computers. Hence, users are increasingly opting to log onto Facebook through mobile phones, and many of these devices run Google's Android and Apple's iOS. These are the operating systems controlled by two of Facebook's competitors. So, any "changes in such systems that degrade our products' functionality or give preferential treatment to competitive products could adversely affect Facebook usage on mobile devices," Facebook warns.

6)  Before the IPO, CEO Mark Zuckerberg's shares give him 57 percent of the voting power. Even after the IPO, his stake is not likely to go down significantly because of Facebook's ownership structure. The company's success rests largely with Zuckerberg, but so much control in the hands of one man may be cause for concern to investors.

7)  As an Internet company, Facebook expects to be involved in "expensive and time consuming" patent lawsuits, often with "non-practicing entities" which sue Facebook to extract a settlement. "We presently are involved in many such lawsuits, and as we face increasing competition and gain an increasingly high profile, including in connection with our initial public offering, we expect the number of patent and other intellectual property claims against us to grow," Facebook says.

Investing in FB is not going to be any different from investing in any other company. You just need to keep a tab on what’s trending on the social networking front and what the dot.com (as well the tech) world is abuzz with.  

Behavior and Friendships at Workplace

I remember this quite well. At one of the organizations where I have worked, a colleague (now a friend) had shared the following gyaan or wisdom with this new entrant into the professional sphere:

Mark my words - bigger the organization, more complex and convoluted would be the behavior, culture and relations.

And then on, I have only been moving to bigger organizations and witnessing this gyaan first hand. But this post is not about cribbing about the suffocation I (and what you might relate to) have to deal with. Its about the window that brings (or rather say, used to bring) a breathe of fresh air to end the suffocation.

This post is dedicated to my soon to become ex-colleague cum friend, whom I fondly call MJ. We had joined the organization with a gap of 7 days, but we started interacting in real terms only after 4-5 months. Our interactions improved, so did our friendship, once we realized our shared interests and idiosyncrasies.

Though MJ is a year younger than me (I miss those days when I used to be the youngest in a team), but her maturity to understand certain situations and appropriately handling them impressed me. The complexities, as mentioned in the gyaan part, in our organization did not allow us to behave as buddies and her maturity helped us overcoming those obstacles (This is because I am the rebellious types and my response to such circumstances is 'f*** you', which can land us in trouble :P).

I will miss MJ for our impromptu g-talk, b-talk ('b' does not stand only for boy :P), life-talk...and yes, who would accommodate me (third person) in the best two-seater seat in a plane so that I too can see the rising sun - the sun rising from the land we call East (Thailand) while we are on board. I don't know if I will ever witness that ever in my life. Thanks MJ.

I don't believe in bidding farewell to people whom I know I will cross path with very often. So no formalities...except that I wish for the best for you. And now that the colleague tag is going to be dropped, all these days in this place looks worthy to have gained a friend like you, MJ.

Staff Hai and the Blue Line Buses

…which loosely translates as “I am part of the staff”. This is a common answer given by students in New Delhi (I am sure in other parts of the country as well) when asked for fares while traveling in blueline bus or shared auto rickshaw. This phrase holds the same stature amongst students as our fundamental right to freedom of speech. Any violation of this right, i.e. extracting money in the name of fare from a student who has already claimed to be a staff of some privileged educational institution which the bus or auto rickshaw has to pass by, might lead to epic battles between the staff of the bus (operator) and rightful staff of the educational institution – students.

(For guys, the ‘staff hai’ also works at all the local, roadside food stalls for free stuffs.)

During our college life, (usually) our canteen and movie budgets were funded by the savings made from the bus fares, especially at the end of month (and if you are a guy, then…its life-saver other than mom :) ).

I pity those who have studied in really privileged colleges (no pun intended) where they didn’t have strong student council or union, which can force the public transport of the city to bend rules to take care of the requirements of students. It is for such dedicated representatives that 40-50 per cent voting in the (Delhi) university election is reported and not for free movie tickets. Don’t know what happens to such promise fulfilling, budding politicians after they enter the mainstream. Such candidates should be given direct tickets for the Parliament or state assemblies instead of making them struggle as party worker in the name of getting proper training for the political career. Just like education, this political training only kills the innocent leader who only wants to serve people.

Apologies for digressing :)

This right was most used in now-thing-of-the-past, Blueline buses of Delhi. I happened to have studied in a college which allowed us to proudly avail the staff facility in a Blueline bus. God only knows, how many conductors got sound beating from the college’s barey bhaiyas (tough guys) for harassing students by asking for fares.

With Blueline buses being taken off the Delhi roads, it would be interesting to know what methods the students of the staff hai group of colleges, including mine, now resort to for a free ride. The fare money these days seem dearer given the call centre jobs no longer pay that well as they used to 7-8 years back. (Don’t start calculating my age. I didn’t go to college that long time ago :P)

Moment of Happiness

We all want to be happy... but what exactly is happiness? What is the exact moment of true happiness?

While watching Pursuit of Happyness recently, I started asking these questions. What led to the thought was that the protagonist was describing certain clinching moments from his life as "this part of my life is called..." Eventually, gloomy moments end with the part in his life which he describes as happiness or being happy. (Its an inspiring story...I enjoy watching it.) He enjoys the moment. He walks out of the building with tears of joy still in his eyes...not able to think of what to do next. But that is to the moment of happiness...the movie ends with the protagonist walking with his kid while making future plans to secure, to build more of this moment of happiness.

Then, what was the actual moment of 'happyness' and how long did it last? Can burden of expectations let happiness persist for long? (I wondered.)

Consider this. Announcement is being made that you stood first (or any rank till third) in your class for the academic year. (Remember the moment) You being in a different world - smiling ear to ear. You collect your report card from the principal. And the princi while congratulating you would definitely say that next year it has to be better. There ends your happy moment. You come down and mingle, everyone congratulates you with the rejoinder that try to do better next time (if you stood first, then it has to be better percentage next time, and if second, then strive to become first. So, the moment to rejoice is over or f**ked as expectation starts building.

Life is full of imperfections. The perfect moments are rare and brief. Its these moments, which I feel, are the moment of happiness. The state of true happiness is when you realize that you have achieved what you have expected, desired, striven for. Its that brief moment when you learn that you stood first in class or you have got your dream job or have finally made it to the place you have always wanted to travel to or when finally that BIG QUESTION is asked by your partner. Its that very moment, and a brief time period following it, when you might have been really happy - without thinking about what happened in the past or what would follow. You just cherish the news that you have achieved what you have been striving for. As the moment passes, expectations start building and your brain (automatically) starts working on ways to fulfill them.

At least that is the case with mere mortals. We end up internalizing those expectations as our goals. With great human beings, it might be a different story.

Editor's Block

(This post was the result of straight two years' of editorial experience. It deals with the main reason for not able to post more often. The new name for the blog is, to some extent, influenced by this post as well.)

"Journalism is literature in hurry." That's one of the reasons why I had always considered it as my first step towards becoming a writer. However, circumstances beyond my control had landed me in the seat of an editor, which now prevents me from writing a single page without thinking about the subject and language.

My job requires me to act as the prism through which an author's creativity has to pass through to get the ooolalalas of the audience. In other words, I interrupt the communication between the author and muse so that we can position the product that ensures maximum return for the company. And I must add this that I am quite good at it (that's what my boss says...seldom you hear such things from boss...don't you ;) ).

While I rejoice over this, I also mourn the fact that my editorial experience stands between me and my dream to become a writer. Writing has no longer remained simple working around the idea...or questions pertaining to developing that idea... As soon as the idea dawns, the mind gets divided in two halves. The writer's half wants to see its workings on paper, while the editor's is editing it at the same time. This results in repetitive modifications and deletions happening simultaneously leaving my mind worked up and a sense of failure seeps in. Its very difficult to be working as TS Eliot and Ezra Pound on Wasteland at the same time. (Pound had edited the draft of Eliot's Wasteland.)

Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. In this case, there is no scarcity of idea or communication problem between the muse and the soul invoking her or lack of motivation. Its the intervention of editorial experience that results in zero output or one rambling in ten days.

Ain't She Good??

(These lines are dedicated to Amy Winehouse. Originally written on Aug 4, 2011)

When she was alive,

the quills declared her bad.

Wasting her genius in ways they thought bad.

Now that she is dead,

why is the quill composing a different note?

Reading 'Almost Single'

Recently I finished reading 'Almost Single' by Advaita Kala. And yet again I discovered that it is another book by a young generation Indian author who has been able to show the life of young India through the borrowed bioscope of bollywood.

Honestly, I have never been into the habit of reading of contemporary literature (Rushdie, Naipaul, Amitabh Ghosh, Jhumpa Lahiri, etc. were always ‘must read’). Most of the time I was occupied with reading those books which were on reference list (being a literature student and one of those nerd ones, who liked to read other works of the prescribed author to understand his/her perspective or style better, I was left with no time to read anything else).

But for quite sometime now, I have taken to reading pop-fiction, chick-lit and contemporary fiction written by Indian authors, like Chetan Bhagat, Advaita Kala, Karan Bajaj, etc., and yes I liked reading it.

Yes the jokes are pretty well cracked; drinks are also quite easily available; going to pubs is as easy going to temple; getting laid is as easy as having butter-chicken in Delhi and there are many things, which the protagonists of these books happen to experience, are pretty to easy to have. Reading through these books are as pleasant as watching our hindi movies. (Please don’t get me wrong; I am not demeaning anything)

As it is said of our hindi movies, especially the songs, they are the concrete, palpable expression of our fleeting dreams, a side of our personality which we often try to ignore or suppress. These books are also doing the same. As it has become quite common in bollywood movies to have Christian wedding of people with ‘Sharma’, ‘Verma’ as surnames, school kids going to prom, etc., so is bunking classes, going to pubs (the entry ticket may cost you fortune in real life) and getting laid at early age have become common topics in the modern Indian fiction.

The question that arises in my mind is: is this is a wish fulfillment that we Indian audience are looking for, or is this an experience of few that the majority wants to live, or indeed these incidences have become a reality for many ( hence we are more interested in knowing if I have behaved the same way as others have) and is this what has kept us all of hooked on to these books?

‘Jai Ho’ reduced to what…..

( Images: courtsey google images)

And this one due for a longtime..have been discussing with friends and colleagues for ages:

There were numerous kinds of controversies that surrounded the song from the movie ' Slumdog Millionaire'. First, was it rehman's best composition ever? Then a spokesperson of a certain political party claims that its becoz of governance of his party in the country, the movie and the song won oscars and the same party buys the rights of the song to use it for their campaign in the General Election and the Gujarat CM Narendra Modi taking a dig at the claim. All these developments were quite a fun to follow.

However, the recent Pussycat Doll song on the same tune (using the catch phrase 'jai ho') is quite bad in taste. The vocals and the video are giving quite different vibes than the song in movie had intended to.

The song in the movie was an expression of exhilaration, but the one by pussycat dolls is celebration/call of a different nature ( to which the hindi song also moves to; however, it gives prominence to triumphant human will, which has won a battle against circumstances that were trying to take dignity out of human existence) altogether. I can't call the Pussycat Doll song other than cheap. It is another addition to the list of examples, where people try to cash in on somthing that has already created a sensation. Instead of being creative they are being calculative.

Hunger and Dieting

This is pertual thought that does not leave me, ever...( oh yes i havent got the barbie doll stats..though the right BMR) and reports of scarce rainfall makes situaton worse. Here is another blog which i am reviving here:

On the onehand I see all the reports about the drought situation and the tough times that lies ahead of the farmers; how difficult it has become for them to make both ends meet; skipping meals as there is nothing to cook..going hungry; a bare skin covering a a skeleton and rugged rags worn as clothes...

and on the other I see ( including me and those around me) a section worrying about too much oil/fat in the food; deliberately starving, so-called dieting, in name of eating healthy to get skinny to get into those skinny outfits......

which arguement should I buy: i have earned it, and have got the skill and opportunities to have a good income, then why not be choosy and demanding for the best, or that if I have all the that is required to lead a dignified life with all the essential commodities, should I start doing something with the extra-left for the have-nots?

have been asking this for long....still haven't got an answer........

Victory for Politics of Aspiration

After the results of General Elections '09 were declared, again twitter came to my rescue in preserving my thought regarding the development. And here it goes:

UPA being voted back to power and Indian National Congress winning more than 200 seats in the General Election of 2009 is being dubbed as victory for the politics of aspiration rather than of grievance. Lots of people and editors think so...

Is it so? What are people aspiring to? And are those aspirations being fulfilled? Is the aspiration confined to the jump of the sensex or something else? Even though claims are, aam admi ke barte kadam...will ever those barte kadam reach the destination or reach somewhere? Lets see what is in store in the next five years.....

Rejoicing at 50 percent voter turnout…!!!

Around the polls this was what going through my mind, which i happened to capture in 140 character sentence on Twitter and its developed form is here as follows:

This year, there has been massive campaigning for making the indian voter come out of their homes and cast their votes on the polling dates. Important people from different walks of life came out to campaign for this noble cause; but what was the result. Just above fifty per cent voting has been recorded in most of the parts of the country, though the rurals areas had fared better.

But the celebration or rather euphoria surrounding this 50% voter turnout has been so, as if there has been a 100% turnout ( especially the farce played out by television anchors to radio jocketys regarding the higher turnout in Delhi than in Mumbai or Bangalore). The elections will be successful only when the left out percent of voters also come out and cast their vote. Because it may be the chance that those fifty or forty percent don't want the person/party elected by these sixty/fifty percent. So their vote can actually bring someone from majority to minority. Celebrations should be saved for those times when we have a 70-90% voter turnout and in the meant time efforts should be in place to bring those absentee voters to the polling booth.

Return to blogging

Loads of things made news and yet I stayed awayed from from blogging..thoughts were bursting in my head, yet I could not gather any of them.... I guess this is what's called 'professional pressure taking toll on you.' But its been quite sometime, now I need to channel my thought and put them in words... and learn to make time out for things I love to do instead of acting lazy...

So here I promise to revive my blog and my enthusiasm to speak out my mind....

TERRORISTS: STILL FINE AND KICKING

Post 9/11 leaders of the US (and the rest of developed world), had been busy waging war against terrorism, mainly the Taliban. In name of finishing terrorism, a nation, which probably had little to do with terrorism, was attacked and destroyed. Lots of public money and human resource of the country( of which the leaders belonged to) had been squandered to nab those who were behind the 9/11 tragedy, but even after eight years no concrete result has come out as of yet.



Instead the bad news is that the terrorists have just shifted their base. Earlier they were illegally operating from parts of India's immediate neighbour in the west, Pakistan; now they have, sort of, legally occupied a part of that country- the Swat Valley- to carry on their missions and operation. This is bad news for India which had terrorists moving one more inch closer to its backyard.

The billion dollar question is, what happened to 'mission infinite justice' of the US, which was meant to nab the masterminds of 9/11 and destroy the roots of terrorism from the world? May be it has prevented another terrorist assault on its soil, but it has made the rest of the world vulnerable to the attacks of the terrorists. Will the US administration care to answer this; whether Democrats or Republicans doesn't matter, as terrorism is still a reality. The terrorists are still fine and kicking (while we are facing bad time with recession); probably laughing while listening to the rhetorics of the world leaders in the past.

The term called 'net-take home salary'

Well, these are times of recession and being a fresher it is difficult to get a job. And even if you manage to get one, the companies are duping people in giving them the agreed upon salary. Certain technical terms are suddenly propping up when they are handing you over the pay- check which was not discussed when you were recruited.

This is the first time i'm using the blog to talk about a personal grievance, because i'm clueless about what to do, how to deal with the situation, how to register my protest, because given the situation in the market i just cannot resign. Currently, i'm working in a MNC as copy- editor. Before this fraud, i just loved my job. I was happy editing the manuscripts. But everything changed with the arrival of the paycheck. the take-home what was agreed upon, suddenly isn't what i was supposed to take home, but less than that ( some sudden deductions have been made). I'm being told that i should have clearly asked what is my ' net take-home', which according to them means what i'm getting in-hand. ( I have worked earlier, though for brief periods only, as well but have never encountered such duplicity from the employer. But publishing industry, is new to me)

Moral of the story is that if you are a fresher in the field in these times of recession, be careful. If a fresher chance to read this blog please be careful while negotiating your salary and if someone experience in the job market happen to read this blog, please give some adivce.

Pakistani connection to the healing touch

Yesterday, the Trident hotel re-opened after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. It had made the point clear that they are also towing the Government line and won't entertain any pakistani guest in their hotel. Meanwhile, during the week BCCI canceled India's tour to Pakistan to play cricket tournament next month. The Government of India continued to build pressure on Pakistan to act tough against the terror.

In the back drop of all these important developments, watching the second test match between India and england was a breather. Kevin Pieterson was entertaining, as the english team continued to score runs at a quick pace. The cricket test series between the two teams turns out to be 'healing touch' kind of experience. We Indians are thankful to the English side that even after the tragic incidences in Mumbai, they have not only come back to play in india but also giving a good competition (as a test team they are performing better) to the home team.

However, if the sad memories Mumbai attacks had a Pakistani hand, so does the healing touch of cricket have a Pakistani hand in it. If you are watching the match carefully, then you will notice Umpire Asad Rauf who is also a Pakistani national,is helping in the proceedings of the match. His presence in the field is a reminder that while chasing the bad people,we should not forget the good ones.. Not all of Pakistan is an international migrane, its a just a few of them who are posing threat. And the world should seperate those weeds only.

Fair & Handsome

It is the women who are often criticized for putting on make-up or relying too much on cosmetic products. The usual charges that one comes to hear of, is that they don't understand the need of the hour or undermine the value of time by wasting time on looking fair.

This will be Breaking-news for those critics. Guess who would care more for looking fair when they are on a serious mission (though the mission was mass murder)? It's the bunch of terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008.

It could not be more surprising to discover that the terrorists along with carrying the other essential commodities to survive on the trawler Kuber on high sea, were also carrying tubes of fairness cream. The security agencies have found along with tooth brushes, tooth paste, dairy whiteners, clothes, soap detergent, namaz caps, instructions to operate arms in urdu and satchets of fairness cream shipped from Dubai.

Cold cream would have made more sense than fairness cream given the dry season that has already set-in, in the region.Though the guys were going to launch a killing spree in a city at the end of their voyage, they could not care less to look fair. And the cream certainly have worked wonders, as the eyewitness who saw these men getting off a dingy in Macchimar colony described them as "gore-chikne ladke" ( fair and handsome men).

Living with terror

It was not long that I experienced a terrorist attack at the heart of the capital Delhi-- the Connaught Place--popularly called C.P. Was recuperating from the terror that the blasts caused. Everyday passing by the Regal Cinema (from where a live bomb was recovered) and Barakhamba road bus stop (a bomb went off there in the September blasts), I have this Goosebumpy feeling. Yes, I was not there, nor any of my friends. Though, most of us have to pass by those places everyday.

Most of the time, I tell myself that a criminal does not strike a place that has already been struck. But such logic stands defied when I watch the city of Mumbai attacked once again by terrorists. Well this time the terrorists were roaming around the city shooting people in cafes, train terminal, hospital, innocent bystanders on road and then taking hostages in the luxurious, prestigious and landmark hotels in the city. Our security forces did a great job in record time. Their bravery installs the faith that somebody is there who can protect us from these anti-humanity elements.

But the other scary fact remains that now you cannot live without the thought that you can die any moment. The larger fact remains that the terrorists have been striking at their own will. Whether our policy makers are at fault or the intelligence sources or both, I refrain from commenting on that but the larger fact remains. As it was said in the movie, ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ that “its easier to get killed by a militant than getting married/a decent husband” (not sure of the part said after ‘than’, but the first part about being getting killed by terrorist I remember pretty well) is indeed becoming true.

TINY LONG LOST PRIMATE REDISCOVERED

Photo courtsey: Reuters

For the first time in more than eight decades, scientists have observed a living pygmy tarsier, which is one of the planet's smallest and rarest primates. It was discovered on a misty mountaintop on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

The scientists were successful in trapping three furry, mouse-sized pygmy tarsiers -- two males and one female -- on Mt. Rore Katimbo in Lore Lindu National Park in central Sulawesi, the researchers said on Tuesday. They spotted a fourth one which was successful in getting away.

Some scientists believed the tarsiers to have become extinct. They may not have been overly thrilled by this redicovery.

The tarsirer is a nocturnal primate found in an area with lower vegetative species diversity. Its found in central Sulawesi, Indonesia.The Pygmy Tarsiers were believed by some to be extinct until 2000, when Indonesian scientists accidentally killed one while trapping rats. Tarsiers, in general, are insectivorous. They are the only primates that are completely carnivorous as well.

WORSENING DRIVING SKILL, BLAME IT ON VIDEO GAMES

According to Australian experts, Video games which allow teenagers to indulge in driving stunts are actually encouraging bad road habits.

Acting Superintendent of New South Wales, Dave Evans said that videogames make adolescents think of themselves as invincible.

It's been revealed that 104 P-platers are losing their licences each day.Over 2000 P-platers lost their licences for drink driving, speeding over 45km/h over the limit and other serious offences, while 1674 were caught breaking the speed limit by more than 30km/hr. While German researchers pointed out that it is the men who tend to take more risks on the road than women after racing in video games.

This study sounded very interesting to me, as few days back a fellow blogger, Human Observer, had notified in his blog, about how a nine year old kid in Japan actually learnt driving by playing video games and used his driving skills to steal the family car to visit his grandma.

Chandrayaan was necessary

India's maiden Moon mission blasted off on October 22, 2008. It is going to map the moon(which is considered as the book that contains all the records about the emergence of the Solar system) for the next two years to help the scientific community to understand the Moon and our Universe better.
Critics of the mission find it as waste of money. Some comics are going to the extent of poking fun by saying, Chandrayaan is only going to probe estabhlished facts. This was not what the Indian scientists were expecting from a nation (even though the number of the cricts are few) which has gained freedom barely more than over 60 years ago. One of the crucial reasons why we lost the battle agianst the British and became a victim of imperialism was that we chose to ignore a scientific attitude, an attidude to look forward. Are we going to repeat the same mistakes, just because of some critics?
Probably not. The community of scientists and our leadership won't let that happen. They will probably be able to make the critics understand the significance of the mission. For that, some clear talking needs to be done .
All geo-political significances needs to be made clear--India cann't ignore the fact that most of the powerful nations in Asia are making their move into space technology. Why should our scientists remain dependent on the researches of other nations, they too should get the opportunity to do it on their own which will attract more young minds towards this field and may curb the brain drain.
The critics need to understand that if as a nation we are dreaming of becoming a superpower, we will have to make suitable efforts to become one and keep up with the times. It will require money, but it is for the development of the country. Somebody definitely made the payments for Copernicus to let his discovery of route to India possible.