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This answer is written with the assumption that the faculty of IIM Calcutta is oblivious of the Placement PracticesPlacements at IIM Calcutta are iterations of the Stanford Prison Experiment done with less physical abuse but ruthless psychological torture. And it is high time that CAT aspirants and the public at large is made aware of that. Also, it is an attempt to create awareness among the Institute Board of Governors, faculty and other stakeholders of the institute. It also reflects an utter disappointment with IIM-C Alumni who graduated in the past few years, who failed to take any action or stand up for what is right, even after knowing what goes in here. You owe us an explanation. We couldn't have imagined in our worst nightmares that scoring 99.99 percentile in CAT would enslave us for 2 years.As to the question, yes, the Placement Committee members were subjected to a Non Confidence Motion recently because a majority of final year MBAs finally took a stance against the oppressive regime. I'm attaching screenshots of the result.Even though the motion to impeach the Placement Committee failed, due to veiled threats to the first year students by the PlaceCom and partly due to the deliberate act to keep the impeachment window open for only 24 hours, 50% of the batch voted against 6/10 of the current PlaceReps.The issue is deep-rooted. Let me try to explain. Placement process at IIM Calcutta is the stuff that nightmares are made of. The torture begins the moment you enter the hallowed gates of IIM Calcutta. By the end of your second week, you are instructed to attend a 'crasher' as ordered by the PlaceReps. Failure to attend the crasher would result in a fine of ₹500; if you signNow a minute late, it would result in a fine of ₹500; if you have a day old stubble, it would result in a fine of ₹500; if you don't wear a collared t-shirt it would result in a fine of ₹500. Then, you're made to wait in a queue, intentionally, every single time, for an hour, where the PlaceReps check your beard, shoes and nails, before being 'herded' inside a room called L3. We are subjected to a first hand experience of a modern Nazi Prison Camp. A room which can accommodate a crowd of 250, is filled up with over 460 people. When there is no more room to sit, you are made to sit on the aisles, squeezed in with fellow sheep. The aisles, which don't have enough room to accomodate a standing person, are 'filled up' with 3 students sitting on each step. This ordeal goes on for 6 hours, beginning from 9 pm and ending at 3 am. Oh, and if you accidentally doze off, it would result in a fine of ₹500. You are not allowed bathroom breaks or drinking water.If you fail to attend company PPTs or a Wingmate doesn't attend the PPT because of an illness, your entire wing will be banned from atleast 3 companies. Unless of course, you're a friend or a lover. The PlaceCom is not accountable to anyone.Now comes the part where the humiliation starts. Students are treated to a live history lesson of black slavery in the United States of the 18th century. Students are singled out, made to stand up, and shouted at mercilessly in front of their batch mates for minor infractions. Of course, if you're a friend or girl-friend of the PlaceRep, you get a free pass. Networking pays off. If you thought well-educated women who work hard to get into the IIMs aren't capable of hurling verbal abuses that denigrate womankind, you are grossly mistaken, the female PlaceReps will make sure you regret having a mother and a sister. By the time the torture ends, it is 4 am, and you have to get ready to attend classes that begin at 8.30 am and end at 4 pm. There are also multiple CV review sessions where the PlaceReps verbally abuse you, your UG institute and your former employers. You go back to your room holding back the urge to pick a chair and smash it into the PlaceRep's face, but alas, they have your future tucked away nicely in their behinds, you are powerless.During the Lateral and Final Placements, the PlaceReps collude, game and abuse the entire placement process. I'll give you some examples of their blatant disregard for ethics and gross molestation of the trust that we place in the system. All these instances are of the current PlaceReps colluding with the ex-placereps to tip the process in their favor. As a rule of thumb, rules don't apply to the PlaceReps, ex-placereps, their boyfriends, girlfriends, close friends and wing-mates. I'll be attaching actual protests and complaints for the same wherever necessary-1. The signNow other of a PlaceRep was allowed to sit for a company even after she was reportedly signed out of the placement process, in clear violation of institute policy. Us peasants would be crucified for this.2. ‎An ex-placerep was given 2 days time to accept a spot job offer during lateral placements whereas us peasants are given no more than a few hours to compulsorily accept the job offer. 3. ‎During the Final Placement process, 3 Ex-placereps were proven to sit for more companies than they were allowed according to the placement policy. All of them got better Job offers.4. ‎An ex-placerep, after getting placed, went to moderate the process of another company, tore the CV of a prospective candidate from her own batch, to facilitate the placement of her friend.5. ‎The Ex-placereps had full control of the placement process even after resigning, becoming aware of confidential placement information communicated by the firms to current PlaceReps. The conflict of interest here is massive. 6. ‎The current PlaceReps abandoned the Laterals process for a day when they were cornered with proof of their misdoings, leaving unplaced candidates in the lurch. Fellow batchmates had to assume placement responsibilities.screenshots of the above mentioned instances-During the current placements season, the PlaceReps got away with a lot of misdeeds. Every single instance mentioned in this answer can be confirmed from a non-placeprep from the 53rd Batch of IIM Calcutta. If I were asked to describe the characteristics of the IIM Calcutta Placement Process using three words; CORRUPTION, NEPOTISM AND ENSLAVEMENT I sincerely hope IIM Bangalore and Ahmedabad have better processes in place.Note-1. There will be an attempt by the External Relations Cell of IIM Calcutta to Downvote and report this answer to protect the 'sanctity and reputation' of the institute, just like an earlier anonymous answer exposing the vulgarities of the 'C-XL' meet. To my fellow Jokars, you know what I have written is true and without Malice. It is your future, which is left to the whims of a corrupted few. I'll leave the comments section open for debate and anonymous comments expressing displeasure are welcome. And before some of you use the 'spineless' argument for going anonymous, I have a spine and it is straighter than you. You have called me spineless multiple times before on Quora for standing up for what's right. It doesn't effect me anymore2. ‎By all means you can Downvote and report this answer, and hush up this issue, but I am also signNowing out to friends at InsideIIM and Pagalguy to make this more visible. My last resort would be to signNow out to mainstream media houses and MHRD with solid proof.3. ‎People on twitter and other Social Media, consider this an SOS from a fellow human being who values his dignity and ethics.4. ‎To the alums who are aware of this systematic misdeed and took no action, I pity you, you failed as upright ethical humans. Shame on you.5. ‎To the companies on Day 1 who insist on candidates being 'ethical' and screen them based on multiple psychometric character-evaluation tests, you all are being taken for a ride, the PlaceCom is making a mockery out of you. The 'best' candidates that you seek and served are friends of the PlaceComm. I would like to give you the benefit of doubt and believe that you aren't hand-in-glove with the PlaceCom. If I were you, I would be wary of some ex-placereps who are Going to work with you.6. ‎to CAT aspirants, think twice before coming here. If you can work hard to get into IIM Calcutta, trust me, you can work a little harder for IIM Ahmedabad, ISB, INSEAD or the Ivy League.7. ‎To the people who are going to try to sabotage/vandalise the question itself, grow up, please. You represent the best of India, accept the faults and emerge out of this as better human beings.8. ‎Unlike the PlaceReps who believe in threats and blackmail, I'm a believer of debate and free speech. But if this answer gets collapsed, I will be forced to upload photographic evidence of illegal activities that happen on campus. I'm sorry, we are truly desperate for change.Lastly, again I request you not to not to Downvote the answer for your own sake.

Günter Wächtershäuser might be the most important amateur scientist of our era. He made his living as a patent attorney. While doing that he got interested in the origin of life and developed an original and widely respected set of hypotheses about how living things came into being.[1]He had been trained in science, earning a Phd. in organic chemistry in 1965 at the University of Marburg, Germany, and was a postdoc there for more than a year. But then he decided to become an attorney, and began taking law classes while working on his dissertation.He maintained an interest in science and in 1972/3 he read a paper by one of his professors about the RNA world theory of the origin of life. Later on,he met, and became friends with, the famous philosopher of science, Karl Popper. Still later, he became friends with Carl Woese, one of the most important scientists studying the early history of life.Wächtershäuser was an expert in developing friendships with famous people in science. Those people, in turn, helped him get his early papers published in prominent journals, including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the most prestigious publication of all.Those early publications in 1988 and 1990 made him famous in his field, earning him several awards and, he was finally made an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2008. (Adjunct professors are the lowest level of professors in a university.) As of 2012, he continued to maintain his legal business.His early work was entirely theoretical, describing known chemistry and how that might lead to life. He didn’t have access to chemicals or a laboratory. He did have access to the scientific literature and relied on that heavily. Later on, he had collaborators who performed experiments for him.What did he accomplish?Everything in study of the origin of life is complicated. Here’s a simple account.Back then, the two leading hypotheses about the origin of life were:The primordial soup theory said that organic chemicals in lakes or oceans somehow reacted with each other to generate living things.The RNA World theory said that RNA molecules somehow came into being and somehow developed the ability to replicate, gradually evolving into living things.Wächtershäuser rejected those ideas and, instead, proposed that Iron, Sulphur, and various other minerals reacted with organic substances in the ocean, producing many of the biochemicals that exist in modern organisms. This diagram [2] gives an overview. Keep in mind that the original hypothesis included a great many more reactions.Pyrite, sometimes called fool’s gold, is crucial to this scheme:Iron and sulphur react with each other to form pyite. This reaction provides energy and electrons (e in the diagram) that drives other biochemical reactions.In modern organisms, enzymes push (catalyze) biochemical reactions. It turns out that pyrite can catalyze many of the same reactions. So, the earliest living things could have relied on pyrite to avoid having to create complicated enzymes.All of these reactions can happen on the surfaces of rocks at the bottom of the ocean. That means the earliest living things didn’t have to start with membranes to enclose biochemicals.Eventually, reactions would some develop self-sustaining cycles that would form the basis of something like a living thing.So, is the hypothesis right?Parts of Wächtershäuser’s ideas are now widely accepted and other parts are likely wrong.His ideas about pyrite are now called the Iron–Sulfur World hypothesis. They are still widely cited and regarded as important by many people in that field[3] but some, like Mike Russell, think that they are completely wrong.[4]There is no evidence for self-sustaining cycles, which are absolutely essential for his full hypothesis. Some investigators think this concept can’t ever work.[5]His own evaluation is that:[6]Research into the origin of life is largely an immature science that lacks a pattern of progress, where a present advance is based on a previous advance and gives rise to a next advance, and where advancing empirical evidence becomes progressively integratable. Instead, origin-of-life proposals present frequently a pattern of groping for clues.Most ideas in this field turn out to be either wrong or not testable. Wächtershäuser has produced more interesting and viable ideas than most professionals.Another amateur:Early in the 20th Century, a patent clerk developed several physical theories, including one about the motions of bodies moving near the speed of light.[7] Nobody was paying him to develop these theories or publish them. In that sense, he qualified as an amateur scientist. We don’t usually think of him that way because his early work got him positions at universities.To read more:For great, non-technical overviews, try these. Unfortunately. the second one is behind a paywall.Amateur Shakes Up Ideas on Recipe for LifeBetween a Rock and a Hard PlaceHe speaks for himself in this interview, which provides a good sense of his distinctive personal style:Entrevista Gunter WachtershauserHis scientific publications are extremely challenging, especially the early ones. That’s always a bad sign. Good theorists write clearly; bad theorists write mud. If you are very brave, you can try this one:http://www.pnas.org/content/pnas...Footnotes[1] Günter Wächtershäuser - Wikipedia[2] N. Bishop. Part II: Replication First (Gene First) or RNA World Hypothesis CLAIM: The first molecule of life was RNA which can both store information. - ppt download[3] Iron–sulfur world hypothesis - Wikipedia[4] Between a Rock and a Hard Place[5] The Implausibility of Metabolic Cycles on the Prebiotic Earth[6] In Praise of Error.[7] Albert Einstein - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com

PEOPLES EXPECTATIONS FROM GIRLS IN ARRANGED MARRIAGES…So this incident took place recently.My Cousin Brother who is 23 years old, his family is looking for a girl for marriage.First let me tell you about their family. They are very big farmers with other bussiness also running. In short , they are rich and live in their village.So after looking few girls, they finalised a girl after meeting her, but what happened is that in that meeting , only the boy and his parents went but my Nani and other relatives didn't go as they were not available due to some reasons. They finalised the marriage but most of my relatives and Nani were still unaware of who the girl was but the Boy liked the girl. ( Both of them have studied in the same schools till 12th as she is also from a nearby village and he knows her quite well that's why he agreed )But the problem arose 2 days later ( i.e yesterday) when after doing the engagement everyone returned home , and my nani told everyone that she didn't like the girl, she said that she was not even asked once and all that emotional drama. Few of my relatives who attended the function also agreed with her. (All this is happening after the engagement)She didn't tell the reason for disapproval but most probably it would be looks or not very rich family.We couldn't attend it as we live far away so just saw the photos and in photos , the girl looks good with fair skin and average height that too in very simple clothes.So the question here is -Who is actually at fault? - Ofcourse my relatives as they didn't see the girl earlier and later complaining on the choice of the boy and his mother.And why do people expect very beautiful 'bahu' , when all she has to do are the household chores for her whole life. ( In this scenario)All these things have put my mother under pressure as she is in full support of the marriage as her point is that the boy liked the girl and that is the main aim of marriage. Now she is angry on 'her mother' as she started this by complaining about the girl.The thing which shocked me is - in arranged marriages , people expect the girl to be educated , beautiful and what not but all they let her do are kitchen work.They see marriages more as a social status and the more dowry the guys family gets , they get more respect from society.It's 21st century , where people are achieving great heights whereas others are worried about dowry and marriages.All this needs to change !!.Thank you....All suggestions are welcome.!..FOLLOW ME!!Edit : thanks for the 100+ upvotes. It means a lot to me and encourages me to write more.

Thanks for the A2ALet's look at what's the key ability of the founders of a successful startup before we get to answer this question:Deep understanding of the domain : An understanding which doesn't come from google, which doesn't come from someone else giving you an idea or which doesn't come from " oh...this us Uber of X or X of India". It comes from getting first hand experience of the problem. By talking to various stake holders, as to why the problem is the way it is. Why has no one solved it so far. These experiences and curiosity leads to some insight, which is 'your' insight. This 'insight' is the foundation of your startup.Expertise needed to solve the problem : For example, If the problem requires building a hardware device to solve the problem, you must know how to build it, or you must get a co-founder (not employee) who knows/understands how to build the hardware device. Same applies, to s/w, biotech, medicine or for that matter anything else. Just having an idea, and hiring people to build the solution rarely succeed. Ability to market & sell : Don't mistake of believing that if the product is good it'd sell for it self. NOTHING EVER SELLS FOR ITSELF! Every product needs either marketing, or sales or (most of the time) both. If you don't know how to peddle your product, you have a huge hurdle to cross. Again, hiring is not a solution.There are many more key success criterion for a startup, like market dynamics, team etc, but let's focus on the above with respect to this question. Now, let's answer the original question, is it crucial to work for other startups before starting on your own? Yes & No. If you have what it takes (all of the above) - you are good to go. However, if you are still toying with an idea, then it is best to work for someone else in the meanwhile.Do yourself a favour, do a self assessment and find out if check all the 3 items, then approach an experienced entrepreneur or any other mentor that you trust, let him grill you - you'd know if you are ready to start.All the best

Official response from DirectiThere is some misinformation in this post that we would like to address. This is not to blame any of the posters. Things posted on social media are invariably more than what meets the eye. In many cases the opinions stated herein are hearsay and not direct facts and hence only represent one side of the story. Here are some facts that might help make this thread factual. Every statement below can be verified and corraborated:Facts on ground at Kanpur:Here are the facts of the incident that took place at kanpur, without any exaggeration5 people from Directi were at Kanpur for final placements. Infact 2 of them were IIT Kanpur alumsWe had shortlisted 21 candidates to interview at KanpurHowever only 9 of those were available for interviewing when we signNowed. MAJORITY of the candidates we would have liked to interview and would have made offers to were unavailable6 candidates went through only 1 round of an hour. 3 candidates  went through a second round. As you can see all candidates but one were released within 2 to 2.5 hours. Please check this with all the students who were interviewed at IIT Kanpur and you will find this to be trueThe last candidate did not get through the 3rd round but since the previous interviewers really liked him we tried to take him through a shorter 2nd final round to try and make him an offer.Eventually after 6 hours of hard work from all of our interviewers, none of the candidates passed our bar. The primary reason was that we were only given access to around 1/3rd of our shortlist. At most other IITs (check below) we were able to make offers because we had access to a larger portion of our shortlistThe final candidate (name hidden to protect identity) did not like the fact that he was not selected after 4 interview rounds and stated this to the counselor. We had no intention of upsetting him. Our behavior with him at all points in time was cordial. Our interviewers were always nice, offering asistance, encouragement etc. We pride ourselves on our processSometimes candidates may not take rejection well. We dont blame them, we understand many candidates are under a lot of pressure. We do a lot to keep them calm and composed throughoutWhen this student complained about being rejected after a long interview process, certain faculty (names kept private) came down to where our team was and began berating and yelling at our people, insulting our entire team, including the IIT Kanpur alums, in front of all students and other companies. They were alleging that we spent too much time with this student only to reject him. This yelling and shouting went on for over 30 minutes, all the while our team remained composed even though they were being openly insultedThen they called cops to escort our team out of there as if we were criminalsOur team there comprised of young coders, some of whom are your friends from your institutions. They had done nothing to deserve this treatment except carry out a structured interview process. Each candidate appeared for our interviews out of their choice. Noone was forced to sit for our interviewsThe fact that we did not recruit anyone is a disappointment for us, but in no way calls for insult and humiliation. And I sincerely do not understand how anyone can speculate that we would want to send large teams of people to various colleges to purposefully not recruit anyoneAnyways the above represents the exact series of events at Kanpur. We were disappointed with the way we were treated.-----Statement in this post: Directi does not really make any offers and rejects everyoneFacts:This year Directi has already extended 30+ offers to engineering students and we intend on extending 20+ more offersOf this a total of 15 offers of INR 26 Lakhs CTC and 12.5 lacs base have been extended to students from various IIT’s including one of the IITs where we made 4 offers Directi has been and continues to remain one of the most active recruiters and highest payees on every campus. Directi is now a 1200+ people strong company. And more than 70% -75% of our engineering staff comes from campus recruitments across the countryOver the last 5 years, we have extended 163 offers to students and 75+ offers to interns from our engineering campus recruitment drives---Statement in this post: Directi is wasting time and does not intend to recruit propleFacts:Each year Directi spends 50+ lacs on our campus recruitment drives. This is just direct cost. The actual time we spend on the recruitment activity costs us even more than thisThis year Directi had a team of 62 tech interviewers and 10 HR individuals who travelled to each of these campuses multiple times in a year - for presentations, online tests, interns, and final placementsRecruitment is one of the most expensive and serious activities Directi undertakes each year and we continue to add budgets and additional resources to further our goalsI personally sleep less than 3 hours for those 3 days of December when we are recruiting at every IIT campus because I personally take many of the final interviews. Again candidates can vouch for this themselves. I interviewed several this year too---Statement in this post: Directi's offer does not compare to other companiesFacts: Directi is the only company that actually shows the entire breakup of each component of the salary in the presentation we make on each campus. We are 100% transparent about our package unlike any other firmOther Misc Facts:We will be the first to admit that we have amongst the highest recruitment bar in the country. We have built an outstanding team by virtue of this. Everyone in our team will vouch to this. Many of your friends and seniors work here and you can talk to them about the quality of talent at Directi versus any other name in the countryWe do not compromise on our bar. Believe me, I would love to hire more developers. Each year we spend crazy costs and time and we always end up with lesser developers than we would like. It would be stupid on our part to not hire someone who is capable so any statement from anyone made to that effect lacks foundation.We then continue our recruitment processes off campus to try and fill the remaining gaps.Each year we make between 40-55 offers on campuses and we will do so this year tooAll in all, other responses on this post lack foundation and are not based on true facts. If we have hurt anyones feelings or sentiments by rejecting them after a long interview we apologize for the same. However interviewing will result in rejection. Our recruitment ratio tends to be 1 out of 12-15 in general. This means the rest of the candidates will get rejected. This hasnt changed across the last few years. We nevertheless have made offers in every single campus (including 2 PPOs in Kanpur too).We respect all of you. I personally am a techie at heart and very passionate about coding and software development. The behavior we were exposed to in Kanpur suggests malicious intent on our part, but that suggestion itself is ridiculous. What do we stand to gain by spending 50 lacs to go to various campuses only to return empty handed without any offers. The notion that we purposefully waste time and dont make offers is incorrect. And there is hard evidence in terms of the offers we have made so far.Lastly I would like to state once again that we are respectful of the IIT process and privileged to be one of the choice employers for IIT grads in India.Feel free to write me directly at bhavin DOT t AT directi DOT com for any clarifications.Yours humblyBhavin TurakhiaCEO, Directi

Well, as someone who has (essentially) been a freelance web designer since 1998 (which as far back as I can recall actually coding and creating sites), run a web design business, worked for several agencies, and led freelancer support groups for years, I do have some informed opinions on this topic as you might’ve already gathered.Basically, today, websites are perceived as single “one and done” commodity items, as if you were ordering cheeseburgers or buying a box of business cards. The value of internet marketing as a whole has become drastically diluted due to the proliferation of do it yourself web template builder services and the ease of (initial) use for WordPress. So those two forces combined have made most people who aren’t programmers and developers see websites as single items with very minimal value. Things like SEO, return on investment marketing, content creation, user experience, are almost never touched on - and therefore almost never used by most business owners online.If my job were to fix every jacked-up site on the internet, adding relevant SEO terms and usability, directing actual marketing strategies, and making sure every site online could work on mobile easily I’d have more than enough work for many lifetimes.So since you asked for tips, I’ll provide a list of what comes to mind based on past experiences (and lessons learned):Have a budget and be honest about it. I could easily write out a list as long as my leg (and I’m around 6″2) of the potential clients I speak to regularly have “budgets” of $200 to $500 and refuse to budget on it, and then months later are angry and resentful when they realize their sites look like 20 year old PPT presentations, don’t work on mobile, have no SEO, can’t be found in Google searches for any terms, have no way to generate leads, and do nothing but undersell their representative “business owners.” Budget as you would (at least) if you were to pay to have an ad in your local yellow pages phone book, or to have repeated ads in a local newspaper or on a local radio station. Offer to pay for return on investment, enable the developer to provide those returns, and expect those returns. If you budget for an empty template, that’s what you’ll get.Only work with professionals. One of the reasons I started an official business was because I had heard countless horror stories from service providers and small business owners who would fixate on price, hire a freelancer based on lowest possible price, and then complain of horrific experiences (on both ends of the spectrum). In almost every case that I heard about (and see today) contracts are seldom if ever used, there are no boundaries set, no processes for dealing with revisions or explaining to the client how design decisions are signNowed, and never more than one or two conversations before work commences, if that. I’ve had potential clients flat out refuse to answer questions, demanding flat numbers; had one lawyer demand I train him in web design while creating his site for him in his office for $15 per hour and work during his stated hours (just deleted the e-mail); another lawyer ask me to train her in web design, social media marketing, content management, basically how to do her job but didn’t want to sign anything to commit…and on and on. Point? Expect there to be clear cut contracts with clearly defined roles and requirements on both ends.Have content or pay for it. The number one issue I hear about (and have experienced) in creating professional-level sites is for some reason clients do not (or cannot) create content for their sites.It just never seems to occur to internet marketing/web design clients that written words with direction must be created for a website. We press buttons, the sites appear within minutes, and then thousands of people find you on “the Google.” And of course, it doesn’t work that way at all. There’s actually a science to competent and professional-level web design and internet marketing - but since the public sees DIY commercials every three seconds, and the work itself is highly technical to say the least, it’s perceived that either “anyone” can create a site or that internet marketing the makes money for clients is random or magical (and I’ve heard both views from people). Having content written out for each page, having a menu of what pages you want used, having a knowledge of local and national competitors, have a realistic budget allocated…those factors will set you miles apart from most potential clients and make professional web developers such as moi eager to work with you and make you delighted by their efforts.

The first step-Build an MVP.People start their business with an idea, however, only a few of them are winning.“Is the idea good just for me or for many people?” -  this is the key question that may keep you up in the middle of the night.Many entrepreneurs and individuals dream to establish a winning business with a great startup app idea. Even after spending months or even years, developing or improving their final product, they tend to fall short radically. The most common reason is that the founders do not communicate with their potential customers and tend to directly launch their final product thinking that the users will flock to use their product.It’s better to find out if the product you plan to launch is required by other people or not. The best way to do that is by launching a minimum viable product (MVP).Rather than releasing a full-fledged mobile app with all the features, you can go for building an MVP App, which will save you money and time and help identify the risks associated with your MVP App Development, at comparatively low cost. By adopting this strategy you may sleep well at night without distressing yourself with major product failure.What is a Minimum Viable Product?MVP – A minimum viable product is a technique used by startups and developers in which a new product is launched with just enough features that are core to the product.MVP product development incorporates only the core features set, good UI/UX and standards-based design. It is created to demonstrate the product idea, examine the key assumptions about interactions and determine customer reactions.MVP for startups is an adaptation of the final product that helps you validate your idea with your potential customers with the least amount of efforts. Launching a product based on your gut feeling about what the market might need can be disastrous both from time and money aspects.The MVP concept redefines this and ensures that you launch a thin product to get the feedback about the idea from potential consumers at an early stage, to follow their reaction and willingness to purchase a product.The concept of Launching the “Minimum Viable Product” (MVP) has become popular in the business and startup community over the last few years.MVP – the term was coined by Eric Ries. He is the author ‘The Lean Startup’ and one of the founders of ‘Lean Technologies’.Why it is necessary to build an MVP app?An MVP App is the quickest way from an idea to a business. It provides quick market entry and therefore real user experience that gives an opportunity to assess the potential of a project.An MVP App is the quickest way from an idea to a business. It provides quick market entry and therefore real user experience that gives an opportunity to assess the potential of a project.MVP is the crux of an appAn MVP app doesn’t include secondary functions it concentrates only on one idea. MVP is an app that has a single feature (or very less number of features) yet provides enough value to give it a spin and you start getting the customers with minimum risks.MVP helps you guess less and win moreIt’s not reasonable to spend months developing an app with a bunch of features just to find out that people do not need it. If you ask people the question: What do you want? They will say… Actually, people literally don’t know what they want and won’t be able to give you a clear answer. So only offer a few features, variants, options and then measure the data on which of those features are appealing to the users.The advantages of MVP app DevelopmentRaise funds when you need themMVP App allows you to show a reflection of your final-product to your potential users. MVP helps you to provide the innovative features initially and bring more features in the future. It is affordable to launch a thin version of your Full-Featured Mobile App in the form of an MVP and test the market traction and feasibility. Once you have the required traction it becomes much easier to raise the funds.Evolutionary Product Life-CycleSince the MVP Mobile App only incorporates the core features of your product, it becomes much easier to pivot your product roadmap based on customer requirements. Mobile App Founders can modify their product roadmap or change it completely to ensure that the users get the product they need based on the actual data that is gathered with the MVP.ROI-Driven InvestmentThe development of a full-fledged mobile app can take several months. In some cases, it might take a year or more. The cost of such a development is also very high. The MVP, on the other hand, reduces the upfront cost signNowly. Mobile App MVPs are built on the incremental value-add model. You can polish the design and features with each update.The Second step- Start with a product roadmap.A product roadmap is a powerful tool which shows the likely direction of the product and the vision of the key stakeholders. It helps steer the engineering efforts, win and retain customers, and help in strategic planning at the company level.In a startup environment, it’s about striking a balance between the product’s vision and customer requirements. In an established environment, the product roadmap helps get the buy-in of all stakeholders, get partners on-board and get the budget for the product.Challenges while Creating a Product RoadmapCreating a product roadmap is not an easy task, especially in the agile setting, where:things change rapidlythere are lots of new feature requestsevery feature request looks like a top prioritylast minute requests by the sales team &pressure by the management for new changesBecause of all these constraints and roadblocks, the product roadmap loses its essence and often bites-back with the added weight.What your Product Roadmap should do?The product roadmap tool is extremely important and it should be so compelling that it:drives the company strategy towards one goalgives the direction to the development effortscreates noise in the market with PR effortsgive a sense of confidence to the partners &clearly shows the customers where we are headedSince the product roadmap directs critical aspects of the business, it’s important to spend a good amount of time to show the high-level direction of the product to both internal and external stakeholders.Roadmapping TechniquesThere are certain techniques to create a product roadmap. These help you break-down your feature backlog and make more sense out of it. Here are a few road mapping techniques:Goal Oriented Product RoadmapOpportunity AssessmentScoring Framework to PrioritizeImpact MappingStory TellingTheme AlignmentSteps to Create a Product RoadmapThe agile product roadmap should align with the business goals. Based on different stakeholders, it can capture any or all of the aspects below:Product VisionRelease Plan for Internal & External StakeholdersStrategic InitiativesTarget Market & Growth StrategyNew Technology AdoptionMaintenance & Bug FixesStep 1 – CaptureCapture the feature requirements from multiple stakeholders like customers, sales, partners, management, support, engineering and others that are involved with the product in one way or the other.Step 2 – AlignAlign the requests with the product vision and business goals. Identify the strategic initiatives that you will take in order to signNow the business goals.Step 3 – SplitEither use the monthly or quarterly approach to display the release plan or split your list into these goals:short-termmiddle-termlong-termStep 4 – PrioritizeScore each point with some scoring framework and create a prioritized list, which tells a coherent story.Step 5 – ShareGet the buy-in from the key stakeholders, iterate and share the final roadmap with all.Above mentioned steps are the basic and necessary steps that any new app idea should go through. An MVP development will prove the concept validation of the idea and its viability in the first place. And a roadmap will guide deadline/targets/time allocation in which every process will occur. There’s is more that comes after above-mentioned steps: like app launch strategies/marketing etc. Developing an app is not sprint its marathon that needs continuous and steady growth over the years.“Over the last decade, I’ve launched many apps and SaaS platforms for entrepreneurs and early-stage startups who’ve gone ahead and made hundreds and millions of dollars using these platforms. If you have an app idea and not sure where to start, I can help. Feel free to connect with contact details in my profile.”

Today was my German Student Visa Interview, i.e. 01/07/2019.My appointment was at 10:45 A.M. at German Consulate, Mumbai. I had left home early at around 7:15 A.M., but alas, heavy rains made me a bit late, as I had planned that I would be signNowing the consulate by 10:00 A.M. in the worst case, but that didn’t happen, I signNowed just 2–3 minutes prior to my appointment and was about to miss the timing. So, please during heavy rains start extra half an hour early if you stay far away, like me, as I stay in Navi Mumbai.After the security checks, I handed over the asked documents at the counter, They were:1.Visa Interview Receipt2.Passport3.Demand Draft4.2 duly filled demand draft forms5.1 PhotoAfter submiting these required documents, I was given a token along with the guidelines about how to arrange the documents. I was also returned the documents except for photo, if I remember. I was also told to write my name, mobile number and passport number behind the demand draft. Please do not stick your photos on the application form. They will tell you when to do it.Then, I had to arrange the entire documents according to their guidelines at the waiting area. I was a bit nervous though, as I was alone and a single mistake in missing the document would affect my visa approval. So, anyways I was told to arrange the documents in order.First was Demand Draft, then 2 duly filled demand draft forms, then additional legal and contact information form.Then I had to make 2 copies of all the documents which I had carried with me. ‘I am just mentioning the documents, which they had asked for (they are not in order).They had asked for Application Form, Declaration on True and Correct Information Form, Admission Letter, Confirmation of payment of fees, Admission Contract, Embassy Letters, Health Insurance, Class 10 Marksheet, Class 12 Marksheet, Diploma Certificate (If applicable), Bachelor’s degree certificates (if applicable), Blocked Account information (if applicable), Bank Statements, Identity copies of sponsorers with their signs (Passport and PAN Card only), affidavit of sponsorship, cover letter (signed), motivation letter, IELTS/TOEFL certificate if applicable, German proficiency certificate and your passport copies. Make sure you sign all the copies of your passport.After arranging the above documents in the order as mentioned by them, you need to wait for sometime until you are called. Then you need to go to a counter for submitting your documents. The Visa Officer will first ask you to submit the passport with token, application form and photos. Then the Visa Officer will ask you to submit all the documents which are in 2 sets. Then that person will go through each and every document. Meanwhile, they will ask some general questions as well.The following questions were asked to me:What will you be studying in Germany? Which university?Where do you stay?What is your highest education qualification, how much did you score?Where is your university?Do you have a blocked account?What is the medium of instruction for your course?Tell me your motivation in one line.What is the duration of your stay in Germany? (If you are going for foundation course (Studeinkolleg), which I would be doing, you should also include the period you would spend in Germany after your foundation course. Like for me, one year is studeinkolleg, then 3 years of bachelor's, so it's a total of 4 years. This is vital as it will decide whether you are going there for a long period of time or not and this will decide you will come under which category, for long term visa it is category-D.Where would you be studying after Studeinkolleg?Do you know any German?After these questions, the visa officer was done with seeing the documents. The visa officer had not asked for my parent's bank statements, Income Tax Returns, Affidavit of sponsorship as I had already paid the fees well in advance, so my process was quite fastracked.They just asked 3 original certificates, viz. Class 10 mark sheet, Class 12 mark sheet and IELTS certificate in my case.After all these formalities, I was handed over the documents which were not needed by the visa officer. I was then told to fill a questionnaire and write a motivation letter on the back of the questionnaire. The motivation letter was supposed to include Why Germany as your study destination?, About your course and your future plans after your course. The questionnaire was quite simple and had just general questions. Only, 1 thing I would recommend you is that learn some names of few scientists of your field of study as that was asked on the questionnaire.After this, I was handed over the receipt of payment of Visa Fees, the passport was stamped with the date of visa interview and the type of visa category which in my case is a category-D and was told to get my passport stamped at the nearest VFS Centre, once I get my visa approved. It was also told that I should not contact the consulate for upto 90 days regarding my visa decision and that they will take up to 90 days for getting my visa approved. However, don’t get scared that they will take so many days, they give it usually within 3 weeks as well, as it was the case with some people.After that, I was told that all my documents have been accepted.Looking forward to getting a positive response and get my visa approved. But, I have a gut feeling that it would be accepted as I have already paid the fees and have not left any documentation incomplete.Tip: Don't staple any document, just use office pins/U-pins for distinguishing one document from one another. However while submitting the documents, remove all the pins. Carry 2 photocopies of all the documents and take extra copies of demand draft forms, declaration of true and complete information form, additional contact, and legal representation form as if there are any errors you can get them rectified over there. Do check the visa fees properly as I saw many people had committed this mistake and bought the DD of incorrect amounts, leading them to go back. Also bring as many documents as possible, as you never know what they may ask. They had not asked for air tickets, though I had booked it. So, it's your choice whether you want to book the air tickets before the visa interview or not.If you have any queries, do ask me.P.S. I am going to Germany for a bachelor’s, hence the one-year foundation course (Studeinkolleg).All the best for your Visa Interview.Edit: My visa got accepted on 04/07/2019, which is unbelievable.Do watch my YouTube videos related to German student visa as I have given the enitre process of obtaining the visa in detail.Please subscribe to my channel.

Breathtaking, exhilarating, frustrating, heartbreaking : This can happen all in a matter of a few  weeks. The time in the first year before summer internship qualifies as a true  rollercoaster.Improvizing : One learns never to underestimate one's own creativity while producing a presentation or a well structured answer from literally nowhere, and with literally no idea sometimes. These bursts of genius happen especially when you are cold called (which takes the cake as the most terrifying and memorable experience) in class.Meeting a diverse set of crazy achievers : Contrary to what most people say, two engineers are two different human beings and I would say that an electrical engineer knows as much as metallurgy as he/she knows about economics. So much for saying IIMs are full of "engineers"You work hard : You work really hard. You work really really hard.You party harder : IIM A is the place to be after the end terms/summers/placements/virtually any time in the second year. Steep learning curve : Fantastic professors, peers, seniors and the general environment makes you learn a lot, and very quickly. This is not only academics, but also becoming a better professional. There's something about this place that teaches you much more than just the books.And, it's also the books : I have never learned so much in such less time ever. Before arriving, I knew nothing about strategy, operations, finance and marketing. After one year, I still know nothing about marketing, but am doing much better at the others.  Managing time : I never had to make a schedule ever. I now see the point, and managing time is proably the single most important skill that helps us managing our single most valuable resource. You'll be playing football, writing an assignment, participating in a case competition, chilling, playing the guitar and then preparing for the next day all in one day.Pushing your limits : You get into a habit of being able to get the best out of yourself, even if you're on 4 hours of sleep.Experiencing different cultures: Exchange semester is the term when people experience the different cultures, more so for the ones who stay back.Dreaming : All of us want to do something big, and the opportunities that are given here are humbling. We are very lucky to be able to dream big, and we dream a lot. Some of those dreamers become Raghuram Rajan, while the others become Harsha Bhogle.  Chilling at LKP : Louis Kahn Plaza is breathtaking. It's quiet, quaint, active all at once. When one needs a break, wants time off, or just wants to sit in a beautiful place, this is it.Lifelong Relationships : You end up being with some people 24x7. People care, wake you up before class (or wake up with you, at the same time I mean). A lot of people get married to their IIM A "sweethearts". There's actually some element of truth to 2 States. (The rest of the movie, is well. No offense to the actress in the movie, but girls here are ridiculously smart. They know where Ahmedabad is, and that Gujarat is a dry state. Also Sunsilk doesn't recruit. A small company that calls itself Unilever actually recruits) My favorite summary of life at IIM (Ahmedabad) is that it is a two year condensed simulation of life. It's crazy. And it's worth it. And Murakami says it quite succinctlyAnd once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all aboutI wouldn't say IIM A is a "storm". It gets worse. Just kidding. Maybe I am not. Come here and experience it :)EDIT: On requests from people for other thoughts on the IIMs and on an MBA in India, I write extensively on my blog The Indian MBA. Please do PM or A2A if you have other questions that I have not addressed. Will try to answer them :)