This post is more of an open discussion on some events that I have been witnessing in our Industry for some time, and I think they cause some serious road blocks for our new startups to grow from a small startup into a larger entity.

Here is the typical scenario.

A new startup is founded the founders work day and night try to hire the best talent in what ever limited budget constraints that they have groom them, stay up at nights to see the business end while mentoring their young team in day time. After several sleepless nights and frustrating days, things finally start to fall in place, they don’t have to monitor every communication of their team can assign tasks and expect things delivered, repeat clients/projects/products start happening around, the startup starts making some profit, and the founders finally feel that the initial issues are done with, they start thinking about growth new areas to explore…. Then suddenly it starts happening, all their senior team, people who they have taught and built up with start leaving one by one, and the drainage is very rapid with in a couple of months the founding members find the with another group of young (and maybe senior developers if they had funds) who they need to start with all over again, and this cycle goes on and on.

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Over the last few years I have seen a tremendous rise in interest in entrepreneurship. Surprisingly, a large number of early stage entrepreneurs keep making expensive mistakes which are completely avoidable. One of the reason for such mistakes is the lack of access to seasoned entrepreneurs who can be a source of learning. I previously wrote about the startup guide written by Naeem Zafar. That guide laid out the necessary steps one needs before starting a new venture (you can get a free copy of the book by signing up at Startup-Advisor.com). As a followup to that, Naeem has recently published an eBook called The Definitive Entrepreneur’s Guide to Lawyers.

As any experienced business person and entrepreneur can tell, legal matters are extremely important. It so happens that law firms can be intimidating to many and legal matters also tend to be costly. Naeem’s book helps entrepreneurs to get educated about the whole process and to get the maximun value out of your legal spending. The book provides many little-known facts, secrets, techniques, and tricks which can make life easy for a startup team.

Some of the important points Naeem touches upon include:

• The different things lawyers can (and cannot) help you accomplish.
• The inner workings of a law firm, and how to use that knowledge to lower your legal bills.
• Choosing the right lawyer for you.
• When you should first contact a lawyer.
• Why you might want to choose a large law firm over a small one—or vice versa.
• When you may need to create a legal entity (incorporation), and what options you have.
• How to leave your current employer in a way that causes minimum trouble later.
• How to protect your ideas.

Naeem stresses the need to educate yourself and to start a relationship with attorney, even if you don’t hire them right away. This is what I have done and I can tell you that it is a very good strategy to get started. As you go along you educate yourself through books, online resources and from others. Then when you are ready and you need help with a particular legal document, you know what to do and where to go. So do your home work and read this book.

A version of this post appeared at TelecomPk.net

Ufone, always a first for innovative VAS services, starts another very interesting service for the Pakistani public.

Partnering with Rozee.pk, they’ve recently launched a mobile interface to the popular job portal. Ufone users can now get mobile alerts, and if they have GPRS enabled, even apply right there through the Rozee website.

How to use it is available on the Ufone website here. Read on after the jump on some views on how this service might be beneficial or distracting.

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I am a big proponent of effective management. Whether it be in your daily life, work or even relationships, effective management of any area will increase a person’s productivity and make them happier. At least that is how the theory goes. In most practical cases however, we have a tendency of becoming complacent and putting off for the future what could’ve been accomplished today. Its not our fault, i hear its something we get through genetics. A kind of self-serving mechanism developed over centuries of evolution arising from the flight or flee response. Some amongst us stay and fight, become revered in society and history while others flee to protect themselves or maybe to fight another day.

In his latest book, Strategy and the Fat Smoker, David Maister writes that just by knowing what is good for you or bad for you will not help people choose the better path. If that was so, he argues, everyone would be exercising and not indulging in the habits of smoking or drinking. After all, everyone knows that is the path to a healthy and better life. Humans are inherently self serving and looking out for number one, i.e. themselves. And they are not rational creatures, but creatures of emotion. At most, they create circles around themselves and include people whose needs they might also serve, but for many, that circle includes only one. When thinking about management, especially management of people, this is one of the basic truths or facts of life one must embrace if they want any chance at moving forward.

People management has always been a very interesting subject for experts around the world. They recognize the need for having a structured environment for people to work in, to have a schedule of tasks to complete and a clear and concise goal to achieve. The funny thing is, most people who have to be managed also recognize this need. Yet, often quite a big disconnect keeps on appearing in organizations around the country (and the world) and a lot of productivity (read: money) is lost in the process. In order to bridge this disconnect, we increasing find the need to satisfy a employee’s personal needs and align them to the company’s need in order for the big money to start rolling in.

So how do we bridge this gap? Any idea’s?

Its time of recession you hear a lot of people say, business is not well then there are others who have carved out opportunities  in these dark times.

I have been hearing two things lately from people I meet.  And largely you can divide them into two groups. First group is the people who are saying stay safe lie low, if you have a job thank your stars and stay put don’t make a move till 2009 is over.

Then there are the others, the more fearless ones who are feeling the change are seeing the half full glass.

You might have heard a lot of the negative side I would like to put in front of you the arguments of these crazy fearless people and let you be the judge of their sanity here are their arguments

They are saying since there are budget cuts every where, companies with smaller foot prints are getting a chance to present them selves. People who never considered smaller service providers or vendors are considering smaller companies who can offer competitive prices. They are saying companies who previously never even gave them audience are opening to doing business with them because they can provide competitive services at rates lower than bigger counterparts.

Second argument they have is that quality human resource is available at pays that smaller companies can afford. Because all the big ones are shedding of extra weight human resource is available to newer companies at packages which they can afford. And because the fact that bigger is secure no longer holds true, the employees are understanding the reality that at this time a smaller company has more chances to pass through this recession than bigger companies. This is helping these newer companies to start attracting good talent.

Another thing they say is cost of running has gone down a little, with rents going down with this recession. Landlords agreeing to offer their space at lesser security deposit and lesser advance makes it easier for some one to setup a shop.

I don’t know if you agree to these points or not but in last few weeks I have seen 3 people leave their secure jobs and start their businesses.  Have seen an exponential increase in head hunting efforts by companies who are deeply rooted here, and as of now know at least 3 companies who are hiring like crazy.

BNET blog has uploaded this video which is a must-watch for all the management guys.

What with the crisis in the economy, employees are especially concerned about their performance reviews. As a manager, you probably hate them, too. They’re a bureaucratic pain in the you-know-what, one that you would rather avoid. As a result, you wait until the last minute to prepare. Don’t do it, says management consultant Leila Bulling Towne in this new BNET video. Instead, plan your reviews carefully to put your employees, and yourself, at ease.

Here is the video: