user comments on Better (Travel Insurance, Air deccan, GDS airlines,cleartrip) dropdown menus in forms

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November 20, 2008

Hrush comments on The designer’s dilemma
ashish–unfortunately, most designers probably wouldn’t agree.The line of thinking we’ve outlined in the post is completely contrary to how most designers tend to think about their jobs and their craft. ‘Being invisible’ strikes most designers as anathema, maybe even an insult; but those who do manage to design and ‘be invisible’ have achieved the pinnacle of design.Design is *not* an art, it is a craft. Society, unfortunately, doesn’t hold craftsmen in the same romantic esteem as it holds artists, so everyone’s in a hurry to become an artist. Art is primarily about expression, while design is primarily about function. There’s too many designers out there pretending that they’re artists.That’s why there aren’t that many good designers and ever fewer great ones.
Source: blog.cleartrip.com

Accel India’s Prakash: ‘We Are Yet To See Slowdown In Business Plans We Receive’
Prashant Prakash, Partner, Accel India, says only very high quality biz plans will get funded now. Accel India, the new avtar of Erasmic Venture Fund, the Bangalore-based early and seed stage fund, recently closed their second fund with a corpus of $60 million. Erasmic earlier managed about $10 million and usually invested sub-$1 million in very eary stage companies. VCCircle’s Shrija Agrawal caught up with Prashanth Prakash, Partner, Accel India, in an email interview post the fund closing announcement. Your fund has swelled from $10 million or so earlier to $60 million now. What new can we expect from Accel Partners now? There will be a continued emphasis on the seed and early stage space as in our earlier fund. What will be new is our ability to leverage Accel’s global platform: e.g., Accel’s information network and worldwide network of relationships with key individuals, customers and market-leading companies. These networks and Accel’s global brand will give our portfolio companies superior credibility and attractiveness in the marketplace, resulting in recruiting advantages, accelerated sales cycles with key customers, and enhanced ability to strike strategic deals with industry-leading companies. What is the time horizon for investing this capital? Four years. Arent you happy that you raised the fund at the nick of time? By the time crisis became worse you were already home with fund. Accel enjoys association with some of the very best LPs around the world. More than timing it illustrates the strong backing Accel’s India initiative has received from our LPs in very turbulent financial times. In the current economic climate, what kind of deals do you expect in early and seed stage? We expect to see more startups that will target consumer and business opportunities for the domestic markets which at this point are relatively more stable and still growing. These will be across many high-growth sectors and not limited to tech products or services. Don’t you think an economic slowdown affects entrepreneurship or new ideas? People will usually be skeptical about leaving their secure job and starting up especially when you need staying power to tide over the crisis. Historically some of the best innovations and ideas have come during economic down cycles. We are yet to see any slowdown in the number of business plans that we receive. That said, the bar for funding in these times will definitely be higher, we can expect only the highest quality teams and ideas to attract venture funding. What is your advice to the startups you have funded so far on tiding over the current market slump? You have funded a few social media companies where the business models are not clear yet. They have a long, long way to go to see a revenue stream. While there is much talk today on cash conservation, we have always emphasised the need to be capital efficient sometimes even at the cost of growth. Most of our companies are close to cash breakeven and a few are already very profitable. More specifically, our internet companies have focused very sharply on building revenue models that work in the Indian context, and several of them are in sight of being cash breakeven. Do you see a shift in your investment strategy? We do not expect any significant shift in our investment strategy. What are your learnings from the Indian market in the last few years of your operation? We have worked with more than 20 seed and early stage companies over the last few years. Our experiences suggest the following: — Staged infusion of capital is the most efficient and beneficial to all parties in the long run — A number of founding teams do not have prior company building experience, and, thus far, it has been hard to acquire senior management talent from outside — Active involvement is required from us, particularly for the first 12-18 months post fundin — Companies need support for strategic & operational help; and key contacts for sales or partnerships This story has been provided by our content partner VCCircle Related Accel India Closes $60M Second Fund For Seed, Early Stage Check out the best business jobs in digital media. Go here for paidContent.org Job Board.
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Jerry Yang To Step Down As Soon As Yahoo Board Finds Replacement
Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) CEO Jerry Yang will step down from his post as soon as the board finds a suitable replacement, and BoomTown broke the story. The official release from Yahoo is out. Kara also has his full memo to the Yahoo team, in which Yang says he’ll participate in the search for his successor. Once the new CEO is in place, Yang will go back to his role as Chief Yahoo—and he will retain his seat on the board. Full story on paidContent.org… More coverage—including our poll—on Jerry Yang stepping down: — Poll: Who Should Be the Choice For Yahoo CEO Position? — Yahoo CEO Search: Some Possible Names: Miller, Chernin, Freston, Rosensweig and Others — Yahoo React: Analysts Expect Board To Get Aggressive On MSFT, AOL Deal — Yahoo CEO Search: Obama-Like Immediate Priorities — Yahoo And Yang’s Greatest Hits: History In Links Our streamlined mobile application for the BlackBerry and other smart devices brings you the latest headlines quickly on the go. Click here to download.
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Accel India Closes $60M Second Fund For Seed, Early Stage
There will be no significant shift in the investment strategy for the new fund. While there are almost all the funds targeting the late stage, growth capital investing and even PIPE ( private investments in public equity) investing, here is a VC fund which has raised capital to do seed and early stage investing. Accel India, formerly known as Erasmic Partners has closed a new $60 million seed and early stage fund. Accel believes that seed and early stage markets continue to be under served in India, attracting less than 5% of the total venture capital funds. There will not be a significant shift in the investment strategy of Accel, and it will continue with their highly engaged model to venture building. Accel India’s portfolio of companies includes DoveTail, HolidayIQ, Inbiopro, Kaati Zone, Kirusa, MuSigma, Myntra, Perfint, Sconce and Virident. “Accel India is pleased to have gained the support of our industry’s elite investors,” said Peter Wagner, Partner at Accel Partners. “The Accel India team is already functioning as a key element of our Accel global network, to the benefit of talented, passionate entrepreneurs in India and around the world.” “We have seen a significant increase in entrepreneurial activity in the last few years; many are first time entrepreneurs who find significant value in our team’s experience in hands-on company building beyond just the cash investment” said Subrata Mitra, Partner at Accel India. Accel India is managed by four partners: Mahendran Balachandran, Gagan Kumar, Subrata Mitra and Prashanth Prakash. This story has been provided by our content partner VCCircle Mark Logic Digital Publishing Summit, Thursday November 6, Westin Times Square. Insight and perspective from Outsell, Gilbane, Simon & Schuster, BusinessWeek.com, more. Evening cocktail reception. Cost is complimentary. Register now!
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