Wouldn't Google Now at some point do all of this ? I think I guess Shifu makes it a little more mutually controlled. It would be good if this learns over time on what to remind and what not. A pebble app integration would be nice.

you get it right Shifu learn over time from your usage pattern . Pebble Integration in coming soon :)

It is digital and everything can be traced back - almost. But it is still the world of rich and famous. A similar & more severe penalty was lifted off the most popular Indian ecommerce site - flipkart. I remember meeting their head of marketing in 2011 who had no idea of the penalty which hit the site probably 2009-10.

As a user, yes I would like this site to rank up just so RG fans are saying they like RG result in google. But it is so unfair Google sends cryptic messages on webmaster for reconsideration requests but can entertain a direct call and lift off penalty. The least Google could do is to be transparent (fairness is hard)

Learning: Single Focus. Speed. We digressed a bit and we lost the game both ends a bit. Wish we had focused on one thing.

Happy Moment: We were 17 people and we went out for a trip from the company, stayed in a good resort, had a time-off. It made me happy to think back from where it started.

edit: going by what I said on the post - one liners. removed rest.

www.play-i.com would have been perfect. They just don't have it yet.

edit: From play-i => Using a tablet or other mobile device running compatible software, the child will be able to program his or her robot to perform certain actions. The bots are expected to cost under $100

This is a great initiative. But it might need way more customization and polishing and set rules before it can help founders with problems at hand or direction or anything that matters.

Good things where even VC meetings can't help:

1. Founders have better on the ground idea on petty things but important in a way and tedious to solve. eg. food in office or affordable monitors that are great, a specific case of an employee etc

2. Founders can relate to problems, help solve or collaborate in solving together. eg. technical issue in infrastructure or log processing say.

3. Boosts morale and can provide some light even after a week of bad sales or VC meetings. Some can even make you see the truth or accept it if the situation is truly negative

4. Business opportunities - VCs most always connect startups to pilot with portfolio companies and other startups. This can bring early clients and introductions

However I see some critical issues with this model:

1. People need many sittings to understand the product landscape, persona of the founder or the team to provide relevant suggestions or advise - which means either known people have to meet or it needs the same set of people to meet again and again

2. Moderation can be an issue. With known friends who are founders it is easy to converse & open up on issues - but with a random group it might become chaotic or a silent dinner.

3. The moment the meeting is unpredictable (not consistent week on week) in terms of value the zeal to attend would fade over time.

4. Given the unknown value of such a meeting you do not have a measure to value this time against a release you planned to do or an interview or even some mundane task at hand which has to be finished.

I am a startup founder in India. Given we lack the ecosystem even when VC/angels are involved it is only founder-networks to bank on here. These meet-ups have worked well only with founders who are friends/ex-colleagues.

i think you may be missing the rather casual, light-heartedness of what they're doing and instead you're taking it far too serious.

good thoughts for a discussion about seriousness, but maybe not applicable for this specifically.

Gates is finding a sample where (India) it is easy to implement solutions (knowledge of understanding, having a support system to solve the problems) and then take them to the larger audience. It is debatable if food & nutrition issue of India or Polio in India is comparable to problems in Mosambique or Brazil.

It seems like the basic problems of food, shelter, hygiene, health and education are basic needs and can be solved in similar ways across the nations without having to depend on govt policies.

I think this is a very sound approach. He should however pick a smaller geographical region than India.

For the benefit of people not from India: Aamir Khan is a super hero around here who is leveraging that popularity to spread a lot of influence on the society and predominantly accepted as the right thing. He has been part of many serious struggles here in India - He fought against raising a dam for River Narmada which would have displaced a lot of people and disturbed nature. - He supported an anti-corruption movement

His Satyameva Jayate was a very interesting TV show that brought to light many deep rooted flaws in our system - which were never discussed or taken seriously by the society. It would take many such runs to even get people to wake up and act.

Most of his recent movies (last 10 yrs) are strongly opinionated and have some social cause in them: national pride (lagaan, Rang de basanti), education & dyslexia (taare zameen par), corruption (sarfarosh)

So, here is a person who has been successful in waking up the Indian society and doing few things himself. I think Gates is meeting the right forces which are active here.

there is no best alternative as Google owns more than 80% of overall market. If you want scale you cannot ignore Google - hence the monopoly and inflation of bid rates.

the next best alternative which can bring 1/4th of google adwords traffic are bing adcenter, retargeting companies like adroll, vizury. Facebook & Linked Ads work for specific domains.

I think this is one of the simplest and powerful thought in building something. Just do something everyday.

oops. I need to check what is happening on the domain then. Thanks for the info