Sakura, around Chidorigafuchi

I was back in Tokyo this week - and coincidentally, it turned out, at the peak of the cherry blossom season (fortunately for me, since it is earlier than normal - and yesterday was "full bloom day" as declared by local horticulture society). I say season, but this is typically a week at best, some years only a few days (high winds / rain shortens it further). Naturally the highly ephemeral nature of the blossoms make the event as symbolic as it has become in Japan. The city was strikingly beautiful - feels like there are hundred thousands of cherry trees, all of them blooming exactly at the same time, each just ablaze with flowers and little to no leaves, the total sight is just truly moving. But beyond the physical beauty, there is something else - an underlying sense of community and festivity that is binding across both locals and visitors alike. There's a Christmas-like feel here, not unlike the tulip season in Amsterdam, or grape harvesting season in Burgundy - except it is much shorter and thus, perhaps more intense. "You are honored to enjoy sakura", I was told by a senior executive at a client (soon, hopefully customer). I think he was right. I wish I had brought my wife and kids and we could have spent the weekend here. (this photo is from a quiet neighborhood street in Akasaka)

Software startups in India

I have been looking at software startups in India over the past weeks, and came to some interesting conclusions.  India surprisingly, has not produced good domestic focused startup companies.  I wasn't expecting this.  The Indian software industry, at some $40B or so is widely recognized as a leader the world over, and indeed talent originating from India dominate key positions in the US software industry.  And with the 8 to 11% economic growth of recent years, domestic IT spend is dramatically accelerating.  So given all this innovation and momentum, why such poor showing for Indian companies in the domestic markets ?  I found two reasons.  One the corporate tax structures have all but killed any distribution innovation for domestic markets.  In essence, domestic revenue based earnings are subjected to the 33% corporate tax rates, but export oriented earnings get away free.  Second, despite the world class showing on development methodology, product management as a discipline is scaringly underdeveloped in India.  It makes sense that in the offshore development business, all product management and design got held back and never left the shore.  This has left the average startup in India short of key leadership talent around product innovation to apply around domestic markets.  Naturally this will change as the STPI tax heaven gets phased out starting next year, and differential growth in domestic over worldwide IT spend drives better capital allocation behavior, but meanwhile there are no interesting assets ....

Dinner in SFO's top pizzeria

We ended up at Delfina's Pizzeria last night for dinner with some dear friends that were celebrating a birthday (Don't ask why there, its a long story). The food was brilliant, albeit the wait very long, understandably its rated best pizzeria in SFO. I thought there are two things different about this place. One the ambiance. Very unlike most pizza restaurants in the US where you would stand out like a sore thumb if you made the mistake of having a jacket on (most places actually appear to encourage frumpiness). This felt more Cinque Terra-esque, had at least twenty glasses of wine on the menu - all modestly decent and quite varied, and the cashier/sommelier could make intelligent recommendations while balancing the till with the other hand. Second, the food. Contrary to the current rage in American pizzerias (with loaded pizzas like "double cheese", "supreme meat lover", and other popular menu favorites), this was simplicity at its most elegant. Thin crust, fresh tomato sauce, good cheese, small unique toppings, oregano/olive oil seasoning. Brilliant. I would recommend this if you are in the mood for pizza any day, though hopefully you don't have to wait as long as we did.

Classmates for life ....

Over the past few weeks there has been a real coming together of our middle school class. I have managed to reconnect with some twenty of our closest classmates spread around the world that I hadn't spoken with in as many years. Personally I found, and universally everyone reports, this reconnecting to be a uniquely warm, pleasant and exciting experience. And in all cases its almost as if the friendships never missed a beat. Why ? Naturally part of it is the urge to go back to relationships that weren't tinged with other agendas. And part of it is the broader association of these friends to a more uncomplicated, carefree and consistently happy time in our lives. But perhaps there is more. Its the what if ... Our lives happened to be shaped by chance as much by strategy. Any one of us could have ended up somewhere different if they had followed a different path, and at one stage in our lives, all paths were just as open. So as we reconnect with these early friends, we find ourselves thinking, what if - what if we had married or had kids early or late, what if gone to school here or there, or pursued that passion in art or music ... and then being able to instantly see how that path would have felt all the way through.

Kingfisher flight to Bangalore

I flew Kingfisher from Pune to Bangalore today. My experience was very disappointing and totally different from the flights I had remembered last fall (Delhi -> Mumbai). Then there were scores of ground personnel that literally escorted you out of your arriving vehicles at curbside; this time there were none. Last time, the check in agents were cheerful, energetic and equipped with hand held PCs that they used to check us in to our flights as we were alighting from our cars; this time I had to queue up at the counter. The seats in coach felt distinctly smaller and much more cramped than last time. The in seat entertainment was still good (Hindi masala that I don't normally get to watch) but the cheap headphones hurt my ears this time. Finally, their Chairman on the welcome video appeared so different than an international executive you could relate to - whats up with the open collar, large waist and gold chains ?

Whats going on at Parathe Wali Gali ?

So after many trips to Delhi where we end up doing what the rest of the family enjoys doing, this time we did what my Mom has been wanting to do. We took the metro up to Chandni Chowk and walked over to the Parathe Wali Gali. First, the metro is a definite improvement over other modes of transport in Delhi. Its clean, faster and very convenient if you are and need to get to someplace close to one of the two lines. Personally I thought it could be faster, but hey I am not complaining, given alternatives. What was mystifying though was the (limited) number of parathe shops on the eponymous lane. I counted all of three ! I don't know if this was always the case of if its a matter of the shifting economics of retail real estate. In either case it was a pity, how can the lane even be called that ? My mother though had a great time, and the trip seemed well worth the half day it took.