Content of the Project Report

Facebook is a privately owned website and social network founded in 2004 by Harvard university students Mark Zuckerberg with his fellow students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. It was operation in the limited area of Harvard in 2004 and become fully accessible in 2006. The main purpose for [...]]]>

Facebook is a privately owned website and social network founded in 2004 by Harvard university students Mark Zuckerberg with his fellow students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. It was operation in the limited area of Harvard in 2004 and become fully accessible in 2006. The main purpose for launching the website was bringing a connection between Harvard students, to know each other more and in better way but now the same purpose is being followed worldwide.

Product

• Facebook has launched number of products including friends, messages, games, groups, photos, links, videos, a marketing space, advertisements, products pages, uncountable applications and a lot more.
• Users can communicate so well with their far off friends by sending them virtual gifts according to the occasion for a minimum price of one dollar. This type of applications are visible on almost every user profile on the occasion like Christmas, Eid, Independence day celebrations, birthdays etc (Michelle, 2008).
• Facebook offers social plug-in, graph API, Social Channels, Authentications and the open graph protocols to the web developers.
• Proxy and private settings are provided to the users to settle up their profile availability along with the customization of the material being loaded up on their profiles.
• Users are now provided access to Facebook through their mobiles; this has rendered more clicks to Facebook by increasing the daily user percentage because of any time access.
• Facebook has provided an opportunity to Facebook users to register their complaints for the website access, while improving the services miles forward.

Price

• People that are lured into Facebook enjoys all services free of cost, while one controversial statement says that this is a virtual cost by means of using personal information of users but this actually is not the case, as one can put as much secrecy and privacy one can.
• Facebook earns most of the revenues by the commercial groups, online events that are organized by the company, advertisements that come on the side of logged on page.
• Facebook being a private company doesn’t opens up its revenue earning units but always welcomes Brand advertising, performances advertising. Virtual goods and Microsoft advertising and has earned up to 1.1 billion dollars from this, according to a rough estimate (Dempsey, 2006).

Place

• Almost 600 million users are registered with Facebook, being accessed mostly by U.S community.

• The network is most popular nowadays as it can be accessed anywhere, in schools, colleges, universities and homes throughout the world.
• Facebook has its availability along the globe and Egypt revolution is commendably associated with the promotions provided by Facebook.

Promotion

• Facebook had become partner with Microsoft, Pandora and Yelp according to a planned strategy, and has earned a lot of promotion by taking this step, by increasing user number along with ads promotion on Facebook by different companies (Rosmarin, 2006).
• The website is providing small businesses big blow opportunities to establish and this promotes face usage as well, by their product customers being Facebook users ultimately.

Extended Mix:

People:
Facebook employs about —- people

Process:
Systems used for the FB servers, the thousands of applications, games available to the public

Physical Evidence:
Nothing per se, but if we are to measure, we can measure the FB site and chat connectivity

• Strong execution track record on the back of the huge success of Mundra Port • The diversified nature of the Adani Group (especially its presence in ports and coal trading) augurs well for Adani Power • Stellar operational efficiency (FY10 average PLF was 85%+ compared with India’s national average of 78%) • Minimal exposure to merchant power [...]]]> Adani Power Ltd
Strengths

• Strong execution track record on the back of the huge success of Mundra Port
• The diversified nature of the Adani Group (especially its presence in ports and coal trading) augurs well for Adani Power
• Stellar operational efficiency (FY10 average PLF was 85%+ compared with India’s national average of 78%)
• Minimal exposure to merchant power (23% compared with JSW’s 56%)

Weakness

• All of Adani’s power plants use Chinese equipment
• Conflict of interest given that other promoter owned companies are also in power generation
• Limited bargaining power vis a vis delays in coal supplies from Adani Enterprises as it is Adani Power’s holding company

Opportunities

• private sector (this is equivalent to 10x Adani’s installed capacity) and Adani Power will be a relatively strong contender for these UMPPs
• Given group’s presence in coal mining and India’s rising coal imports, domestic coal mining offers a huge opportunity for Adani Enterprises This in turn will reduce
• Adani Power’s coal cost as currently Adani Enterprises is the biggest supplier of coal to Adani Power

Threats

• The 5x increase in private sector generation capacity by FY13 could result in merchant power rates getting compressed.
• The rising Maoist insurgency (with its greatest influence in states having the largest coal resources) could result in delays and higher costs.
• The improving trend in T&D losses due to rising investment in T&D could result in the fading of India’s power deficit at a quicker pace than expected.

• The integrated player in India across the entire value chain –generation, transmission and distribution • The only successful player in the private distribution franchisee business • The only power utility company with positive FCFF in FY10 • Zero reliance on Chinese equipment • Stellar operational efficiency (FY10 average PLF was 90%+ and T&D losses were sub-10% compared to [...]]]> Strengths:

• The integrated player in India across the entire value chain –generation, transmission and distribution
• The only successful player in the private distribution franchisee business
• The only power utility company with positive FCFF in FY10
• Zero reliance on Chinese equipment
• Stellar operational efficiency (FY10 average PLF was 90%+ and T&D losses were sub-10% compared to the national average of 78% and 25%+ respectively)
• One of the strongest balance sheets in the sector with FY10net debt: equity of 0.6x compared with ~1.5x for peers
• Strong Board of Directors with a high profile of independent directors such as Keki Mistry and Kiran Karnik

Weakness:

• Lack of disclosure in the annual report on key items. For example, there is no break up of revenues between generation, transmission and distribution
• The Kanpur franchisee has still not started functioning as the local state electricity board is creating issues in the light of
• Torrent having won the distribution contract Fuel tie up and financial closure for the near-term pipeline(1.5GW or ~96% of current installed capacity) is yet to take place

Opportunities:

• There is a huge opportunity for private sector power utilities in India (particularly for those utilities that have Torrent’s battle hardened execution capabilities)
• Private distribution franchisees is a big (and relatively untapped) opportunity in India given the poor financial position of the state electricity boards
• Given Torrent’s presence in the T&D segment, the growing scope for private sector participation in this space offers a huge opportunity particularly as the Government’s focus switches from power generation to power T&D

Threats:

• The 5x increase in private sector generation capacity by FY13 could result in merchant power rates getting compressed.
• Difficult to replicate the success of Bhiwandi in other private distribution franchisees as opposition from the local SEBs (who do not want to see private sector distributors in their area) is very strong
• Given that the KG Basin gas does not seem to be ramping up and infrastructure bottlenecks in the transportation of imported LNG (and the resultant crunch in the supply of gas) can be a negative for Torrent as 75% of its incremental capacity is gas based, which does not have fuel tie-up.
• Any delays in the construction of the Dahej SEZ will also delay the upcoming 1.2GW project in Dahej (will account for 37% of Torrent’s total capacity)

Introduction It was incorporated in 2006, as Reliance Technology Ventures Ltd. On March 3, 2010, company changed its name from Reliance Technology Ventures Ltd to Reliance Venture Asset Management Ltd. As the worlds of finance, technology, markets and people expand and converge, Reliance Group’s horizons [...]]]> Reliance Venture Capital
Reliance Venture Asset Management Limited

Introduction
It was incorporated in 2006, as Reliance Technology Ventures Ltd. On March 3, 2010, company changed its name from Reliance Technology Ventures Ltd to Reliance Venture Asset Management Ltd.
As the worlds of finance, technology, markets and people expand and converge, Reliance Group’s horizons are constantly expanding. Reliance Venture Asset Management Limited (RVAM) has been promoted by the Reliance Group to leverage emerging and high growth potential technologies, business models, world class management teams and markets to look ahead at future opportunities that can be enriched and enhanced by taking advantage of the group and its ecosystem. The company was ranked 30th in the Red Herring Top 100 Global Venture Capital Firms in 2009-2010 and was the only India based corporate venture capital company to feature in the ranking.
The venture capital industry is hotting up, with opportunities opening up in new sectors. To be part of this new growth story, Reliance Venture Asset Management is looking at investments in sectors such as microfinance, education and clean tech but it want to direct their funds into ancillary businesses as compared to those that directly comprise these sectors. The VC firm has already invested in a number of growth stage startups such as Yatra.com, Dhama Innovations, Suvidhaa Infoserve and Reverse Logistics and is now keen to invest another $50 million this year in startups.
Recently on 24th March 2011 the company announced that it will Exit from Dhama Innovations and some other portfolios. The CEO stated that it had recorded more than triple-digit IRRs on Dhama, similar is the case with other portfolios, and at present it is looking for an exit option.
Reliance and other VC companies mostly look for the businesses which are directly or indirectly related to their own business which helps to earn good return.
To sum up, it can be seen that the need of Venture Capital is growing in the Indian Economy with more and more people obtaining to start their own Business, there is high potential of Venture Capital Companies to grow in such a pace. Aerospace and defense sectors, both of which have typically been considered as government domains have a lot to gain with private sector involvement, given the kind of demand enjoyed by these sectors. Education, micro finance and clean tech are already enjoying a lot of investor interest.

Social Media is a term widely used today. Everyone around only seems to be speaking of the various social networking sites. It’s not uncommon to see children of age 5 and 7 facebooking and tweeting today. Social media has become part of our daily lives and it is widely used [...]]]>

Social Media is a term widely used today. Everyone around only seems to be speaking of the various social networking sites. It’s not uncommon to see children of age 5 and 7 facebooking and tweeting today. Social media has become part of our daily lives and it is widely used like any other media such as newspapers, radio and television. Social media today is however used much more than just sharing information. Today, social media is used for creating and exchanging ideas much quickly and widely than the conventional media. With the invasion of social media the power has been transferred from corporations and institutions to individuals and communities. Today it’s all about creativity, communication, connection, creation of new ideas, community, collaboration and competition.
Facebook, twitter, flickr and blogs have made the world a smaller place. It is now possible to stay connected to anyone across the globe.
The biggest news today is of the Japan earthquake and the tsunami. While the news channels tried to cover the latest updates the initial news of the earthquake had flashed all over twitter and facebook. Locals from Japan used social media to share images and videos and also constant updates of the tremors felt and the impact of the earthquake along with added individual emotions. These constant updates left a deeper impact on people as they heard of the news and saw images shared first hand through people who are actually undergoing this devastating calamity. Within minutes of the earthquake people had expressed their sympathy and support for Japan through twitter and facebook status updates. Barack Obama president of the United States updated his status constantly to inform citizens of the measures taken by the US Govt. to ensure the safety of Hawaii another island which was under immediate threat after the tsunami hit Japan.
The impact of social media is evident from people’s reaction to such calamities. Probably a decade ago when such calamities occurred in another part of the world people did not feel close enough or could not express their empathy towards the victims or feel their pain. However today with the help of social media the world has truly become a smaller place. We are now able to connect to the victims and share their emotions irrespective of not personally knowing them. We are also able to now express what we feel and communicate with people living in areas that are affected by such disasters. Similarly in such situations, friends and relatives use this medium to connect with their loved ones.
Another striking use of social media today is by communities. People with common interests make groups on facebook and twitter and use this as a medium of communicating and updating group members of events etc. These group members might be sitting in different continents but are still operating as a team and ensuring their certain goals are met. This is the level of connectivity today. You don’t have to be living or working on the same continent as your colleagues but you are still an integral part of a team that helps in achieving group goals.
We see politicians using social media to reach out to the laymen in the country. Barack Obama constantly updates his twitter messages and tries very well to stay connected to his people. Similarly, Narendra Modi uses this medium to give updates of his campaigns and rally’s. We also see journalists like Barkha Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai give updates and their views on the current affairs of the nation. This helps us stay connected to the world even without a news paper or a television box.
Similarly a lot of celebrities today use twitter as a platform to connect to their fans. Hence, the classic myth of celebrities living in a far off land and not being ordinary people has been contradicted and it’s now easy to understand their whereabouts and their day to day lifestyle through social media even if they are situated continents away.
But the true question is, is social media like facebook and twitter only used for communication and exchange of ideas and to increase connectivity? The answer to this is obviously No! This is evident from the high stakes and investments in social media today. Goldman Sach a leading bank has invested $450 million in facebook, as a part of a transaction that implies the social network has a valuation of around $50billion. Facebook and twitter is way beyond just a networking website. It is now also a platform for companies and institutions to connect to the common man. We see big companies investing high funds in social media and social advertising. Tata Sky had a big campaign in 2009 on twitter where they had a TV set as a puppet with constant tweets.
A lot of businesses are using social media to get in front of their Target Audience. By doing this companies are now able to understand what people ad consumers view their Brand as. This is commonly known as Brand Monitoring. Marketers are seeing a significant increase in web traffic with only a few hours invested per week. Through facebook and twitter B2C networking is increasing while linkedin is used to strengthen the B2B network.
I would like to speak about the Social Media changing the business world in my next artivle however today I will conclude with a statement that is rightly said that social media is a revolution and is changing our lives and our understanding of connectivity and networking.

Namrata Kumblekar – namrata@managementfunda.com
Media Analyst