Challenging the status quo ….

Today was the conclusion of the barcamp 3.0 in bangalore. About 350 people attended the first day, 150 in the 2nd day. The organizers claimed it to be a huge success and the topics also seem to have matured. Perhaps we had more diverse people from across the technology & social context.

I attended the ones on innovation, a few product & business idea demos which was interesting. I conducted a session on the question which has bothered me since I have come back from the US after 10 years, which is ‘Are we ready to move from services to products’ ?. The session was quite well attended and had quite a few opinionated people. I had a tough time keeping the discussion moving forward and fortunately, we came out with some decent take aways.

The barcamp was a great experience for both my & my husband Subbu. After spending such a long time in the US especially in an environment where technology, products, innovation is nurtured very well and I must say smartly as well, I have been now exploring what is really happening in this country.

A lot has changed in the last 10 yrs since I left to study/do my M.S. I am happy to see the younger generation taking some interesting risks. Interesting because I am afriad that they seem to be ignoring the fact that one can learn from the failures of the others and don’t need to commit the mistakes. But lets see. Whatever experience I can share and help these young upstarts, it becomes a learning experience for me as well. At the moment, I haven’t decided if I want to start something maybe other than a seed fund, but it also will have to wait for sometime.

I will write more on the blog as I go along. My interest ranges from - gender & social issues, sustainable enterprises, technology with a purpose, indian entrepreneurship, venture capital.