My top 5 reasons for buying Bitcoin

sanadsuman1982@gmail.com  | 

Introduction

“The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of… We know the truth not only by the reason but by the heart.” – Blaise Pascal”

My heart wanted to own Bitcoin and then my mind found reasons why I would be right in doing so.

So allow me to present to you my top 5 reasons why I ended up buying some Bitcoin even though it is a highly volatile asset/currency, not authorized by any government body (not legally banned either), and intangible (you cannot touch it as it is just a ledger entry on a set of computers).

Reason 1: Curiosity and Learning

My interest in Bitcoin was piqued a few months back when Elon Musk started making news in this space by allowing Bitcoin for Tesla purchase and then started dipping his toes in the Dogecoin crypto. I wondered if Bitcoin was that big a deal. I had to dig deeper.

I started with the Youtube video and online articles. The AI behind these apps helped by feeding me more articles with a more diversified point of view which expanded my learning in the process. I could understand the insecurities of the governments, the faith of the technocrats, and the mistrust of the public in general.

The world’s second-oldest profession (finance) was undergoing another tectonic shift and I wanted my knowledge to be a little better than that of a layman.

Reason 2: Technology behind the application

I followed the videos and articles with a book called Blockchain Revolution by Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott. The book is a flag bearer of the underlying technology of Bitcoin which is Blockchain. It was not easy to understand the application without understanding the need which gave rise to the application and this is where the book came in handy.

Bitcoin is just one of the applications of the underlying technology called Blockchain. Ethereum which is another blockchain with its crypto currency is developing other applications called Dapps.

According to the book if the first wave of the internet-enabled the exchange of information the second wave of the internet lead by technologies like blockchain will enable the exchange of value on the internet. Just like you could exchange emails, pics, and information in the first wave, the next wave will allow you to transfer money, property, and assets without worrying about the intermediaries like government or banks.

Reason 3: Didn’t want to miss the bus

Well actually, I have already missed the bus. The first bus left somewhere in 2007 when Bitcoin was released. I just don’t want to be on the last bus. The Bitcoin value has appreciated from nothing to Rs 26 lacs approximately and it is expected to grow even faster as the word spreads and the adoption increases.

Yes, it is a highly volatile and risky asset. Yes, it doesn’t have the approval of government bodies. And yes there is nobody to watch your back as a regulator. But these are the exact reasons why it is a unique and high-risk high-return business.

My strategy which is adapted from what I learned online from really smart people like Elon Musk and Michael Saylor is to invest only that much money which you can afford to lose. Never make it more than 2-5% of your portfolio and sit tight. Period.

Reason 4: Community of shared beliefs

Do we trust people or machines? Do we trust banks with their greedy promoters who are ready to bet your life savings on risky loans? In poor and underdeveloped countries would the average Joe trust his government with his money, the government which will devalue the lifetime savings by printing an obscene amount of money at the drop of a hat?

I believe the value of money cannot be trusted by a single person or even a group of people. As long as these people are not God, they are bound to have biases and compulsions. Crypto currencies don’t. Why? Because they are computer codes on a machine and the Bitcoin supply is not controlled by one single person or even a group of people. It is fixed.

I also believe people should have the right to decide who they want to lend. Why would I give that authority to bankers? Well given a choice I would like to have partial if not complete control over who the money goes to. The subprime crisis and corruption in the banking industry have taught me that bankers cannot be blindly trusted with your money. Since Bitcoin can’t be “stolen” from you, why should I put the money in the bank, I wonder. Internet is going to be your new bank!!!

Reason 5: The Impact on the Future

When I was growing up in the 80s and 90s as a child, I remember using 5 paise coins to make purchases. Now there are Rs 10 coins sitting in my drawer which I haven’t touched for a couple of years. Why? Because I don’t need to. UPI and Digital wallets don’t require me to carry clunky coins in my pocket.

Fast forward 10 years from now or maybe more. International travel will not require you to carry any money at all. Bitcoin works seamlessly across borders and you don’t have to pay hefty commissions buying foreign currency.

A truly global currency is the only way to envision a global village and Bitcoin and Blockchain seem to be the key contenders towards achieving that dream.

Conclusion

The top 5 reasons I have mentioned above are highly personal opinions and not investment advice. There are several challenges facing Bitcoin and Blockchain as a technology and the world’s best minds are working on it. I would put my Bitcoin (read-money) on them to solve them as we move along.

Blockchain is a subject as vast as the Internet itself and we are just seeing the birth of the technology. I would recommend wait and watch strategy rather than jumping in head-on especially if you are thinking of putting your money in it.

If you have invested in any of the crypto currencies or have an opinion about them do share in the comments below. Also if you haven’t registered for the Newsletter, you can do so at the bottom of the home page of https://sanadsuman.com.

high angle photo of robot

My Musings on Artificial Intelligence (AI)

sanadsuman1982@gmail.com  | 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere around us. It is there in the Google search, the Netflix movie suggestion, and even in your cars.

Recently I got interested in the subject and dug a little deeper. Well, that means I read a few articles, watched a few videos, and pondered aimlessly at the ideas and insights I had gathered.

It was fun.

In this article, I would like to share my learning and observations with you on the subject of AI. This blog is my musing on the subject and not an analysis or research on the topic.

Before we explore AI let us understand what it means to be human first.

Humans at the highest level are defined by their “consciousness” which means the power to know or the “knower”. To know the outside world or the “known”, we as a species have developed the 5 senses namely the sense of

  1. Sight with our eyes
  2. Hearing with our ears
  3. Smell with our nose
  4. Touch with our skin
  5. Sense of touch

Over millions of years of evolution with the help of these senses, humans have acquired the knowledge and skills which has helped them to survive. This information has been passed over from generation to generation in the form of myths, skills, books, communities, and now the internet.

It is said that “God made Man in His image”. It was but natural for man to build ‘things’ in his image. When Man built computers it was but a slave who did tedious and laborious number crunching and stored information in its memory. Overtime this slave got better at both these tasks which made the Man happy or did it?

Well, the Man by nature is never happy or satisfied. It always wants more. It wanted more out of its slave and was even ready to give up control. It not only wanted its slave to do more of its core job description but also take decisions on his behalf. This thought process leads to the birth of AI built on the foundation of the same two factors which were responsible for its birth, computing, and memory.

Intelligence can be defined as the “ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills”.  Isn’t it ironic that AI has developed on the same pattern as a human mind? A baby has very limited memory at birth and isn’t capable of processing a lot of information but as it grows it keeps getting better at both. It receives an infinite amount of information from its surroundings and over a period of time develops into a fully conscious human being capable of taking decisions by “applying his knowledge and skills” in the process.

 Our computers are being designed on the same pattern and are hence expected to behave in the same manner. They are being fed an enormous amount of data collected from various channels and are expected to first make sense out of them (read process) and then find actionable tasks out of them (read apply knowledge and skills).

Let us go back in history a little bit.

If we observe the abilities of our computers since the 1960’s it has exponentially grown as per Moore’s Law. This law states that the number of transistors per silicon chip doubles every year which in turn results in higher computing capacity. The number of transistors has grown from a few thousand to billions of transistors on a chip. With the advent of such phenomenal computing capacity, the real question that stared every techie in the face was “what to do with this high volume of computing capacity?”

It would be wrong to say that the birth of Artificial Intelligence followed the exponential rise in computing capacity. Artificial Intelligence ran parallel to the success of computing growth but now that it is all around us we are more aware of them.

But why do ‘WE’ as humans want computer programs to make decisions for us using their Artificial Intelligence?

To understand this we will have to go back to our history and find some pointers.

Humans were nearly at the bottom of the food chain in physical terms. On land, they were neither the fastest nor the largest animal. They didn’t have large claws or teeth. What they did have was some basic intelligence (read decision making) and power to network through language. They didn’t need stronger limbs to make them run faster because they could design a car with their intelligence. They didn’t need wings to fly so they developed airplanes and rockets. It was soon realized that the Man was limited only by his imagination.

The first moral of the story was Man could build tools and machines to do its bidding. But the story doesn’t end here. We have only reached the stage where Man has developed tools to compensate for its physical limitation. What about its mental limitation?

Information processing and memory are the realms of mental activity in a human being. Man started by outsourcing small and noncritical decision points to computers with encouraging results. Gmail uses Artificial Intelligence to classify an email as spam or not spam. This is a noncritical decision-making process because a failure to make a correct decision will not cause much harm to life and property. Also, the fact that employing humans to decide for billions of emails is impossible. Such applications of Artificial Intelligence were driven more by necessity than by choice.

As with humans, the more skilled a person gets more critical responsibility he starts getting to shoulder. The same happened with AI. Over the last few decades, this has reached to point where Artificial Intelligence is driving our cars and performing our surgeries which are highly critical tasks involving several critical decisions in a short time.

So coming back to the question “why do ‘WE’ as humans want computer programs to make decisions for us using their AI? my answer would be the following 3 reasons.

  1. Computer programs can process more data in a shorter time thereby giving a better chance of making a correct prediction.
  2. Computer programs can learn faster than humans as they are connected to a large number of computers and their data. This gives them a phenomenal advantage over humans in terms of networking.
  3. Computer programs will not come under stress in the face of adversity like a driver of a taxi or a doctor performing surgery may do thereby reducing the chance of making a wrong decision.

Going forward it is but natural to expect that more and more of our daily lives will be influenced by AI than by our intelligence.

Humans have started letting go. Humans have started relying on machines more and more. The implications are deep and far-reaching. This article was written by a human. An AI-enabled content writer may give a more detailed and readable blog on the same subject because it would have the knowledge of the world along with the knowledge of you and who can compete with that?

Let me know what you think of this blog in the comment section and register yourself in my mailing list to get regular updates.

SaaS Sales and Marketing – An Overview

sanadsuman1982@gmail.com  | 

Have you ever wondered what a SaaS company is?

Do you want to know how they finds customers?

And also what does a sales role in SaaS company looks like?

I am a Business Development Executive at SaaS company which makes legal software. Today I am going to give you a sneak peak into what goes inside a sales and marketing function of a SaaS company.

Watch on Youtube

Let us start with understanding what SaaS company means?

SaaS stands for Software as a Service. Google, Facebook Salesforce are all SaaS companies. In earlier days like the 1990s and early 2000s software was installed on individual desktops or company servers. SaaS companies like Google and Yahoo were there at that time but it was Amazon Web Services which grew the number of SaaS companies by making IT infrastructure affordable for developers.

Remember installing VLC Media player to watch your favorite movie? Well that was mostly before Netflix which is also a SaaS company. To watch a movie on VLC you downloaded the movie and the VLC media player on your system, installed the player on your system and then played the movie on it. Not any more. Netflix can be accessed over the internet just like your gmail and the movie can be directly played on it. No downloading of the software or the movie is required. Any software service offered over the internet is called Software as a Service or SaaS.

Cab services like Uber and OLA are SaaS companies.Amazon and Flipkart which deliver utility items are also SaaS companies. Even the Google maps that you use to get from point A to point B is a SaaS company.

Let us now understand how these SaaS companies find customers?

It is actually very simple. They go where the customers are. And where are their customers? On the Internet. Simple. The Internet has reached billions of people around the world and most of them spend from a few hours to almost their entire working hours on the internet. On the internet they are doing either of these two things.

  1. Finding solution to their problem
  2. Entertainment

If they are finding a solution to their problem and your company or you as an individual freelancer have a solution to their problem then all you have to do is to present yourself or your services in front of them. Majority of the people search solution to their problems by searching them on Google Search. If you are listed in the search result and the customer connects with you then you have prospective customer. This is called INBOUND Marketing because the customer is searching for your product or service and they are coming IN towards you. You can do INBOUND marketing on the internet through Google Ads, Search Engine Optimization etc.

On the other hand if you have a list email ids and you think some of them might become your customers then you might consider sending them an email. Remember at this point the customer is not looking for a solution to their problem. They might not even know they have a problem. You are connecting to them to trigger a thought in their mind about your product and service. This is called OUTBOUND marketing. This can be done by email marketing, social media and advertisement etc

Now let us look what a Salesperson does in a SaaS company?

Gone are the days when increase in sales was directly related to increase in the number of salespeople. In fact most of the SaaS companies have very few Sales people compared to the revenue they generated if you compare them to non tech or non SaaS company. The sales function has been highly automated like any other business function.

With automation you can reach billions of people with a single click or pinpoint an exact customer across the globe using Google Ads and Google Analytics. Most of the information about the customer can be collected online through search trends, social media profiles or other internet activities. With online payment gateways like Paytm and Google Pay you can purchase any product without ever seeing the face of a salesman.

Does it mean salespeople are not required in a Saas company ? The answer is Yes and No

Yes because anything that can be automated or can be done by computers will be done by computers because they don’t make mistakes, they don’t get tired and they cost less. Computers are already displaying the product in search results and social media advertisements, sharing the benefits through brochures and videos and taking payments through online money transaction software.

No because there are still certain things a sales person does better than computers. Good sales people help customers articulate the requirement better so that they can give better solutions. Computers are learning this skill through Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning but they yet have to reach human level. Secondly humans can generate a requirement for a product or a service which the customers never knew existed in them. People still crave human relationships and hence they would always prefer talking to a person than talk to a computer. Finally most of the software automation has a sales and marketing person behind the computer. So NO it’s too early to say that Sales people are not required in SaaS company.

SaaS companies are here to stay until the next disruptive technology like the Internet comes along. More and more government, professional and personal services will be added to the SaaS list of services.

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How to get B2B SaaS release right the first time

sanadsuman1982@gmail.com  | 

Introduction

SaaS, Software as a Service, is everywhere. Enterprises have followed the individuals in the adoption of this software modal which gives them Off The Shelf (OTS) solutions with a small starting up cost. Needless to say, the competition has crowded the market, making it all the more important to get it right the very first time you take it to the market. Stay with me and gain insights into how we can put the best foot forward and bedazzle the market.

The article takes inspiration from many product launches and subsequent customer feedback to help you prepare for such an event. You can never plan enough but keeping the following pointers in mind will help you avoid costly mistakes and lose customers.

  1. Plan or get left behind.
  2. Product is not everything but it certainly is the most important aspect.
  3. Communication is a two-way street
    1. Right Message
    2. Right Audience
    3. Right Time
  4. Conclusion

Plan or get left behind.

Start with a plan. We have all heard if you want to make God laugh then tell him your plans but then God never told you not to plan. God lies in the details. So go ahead and put your thoughts on paper or excel whichever is handy.

Any documentation which is more than one page means you have failed to gather your thoughts. Start with a ‘dhobi list’ (washerman’s list) and pour everything in it. Give it a structure based on stages of the project, product module wise or even priority wise. Keep chiseling at it till you have a beautiful plan that you are now ready to share.

Tasks, deadlines, and responsibilities are good but don’t forget to mention the impact each stage of implementation carries. Drill the importance of each team in the execution and how they are interconnected. It is important to influence your senior management and team leads but don’t forget the role of foot soldiers (no disrespect meant here) the actual people who will face the prospects and customers. Motivate them with not only what the company hopes to achieve with the result but also what’s in it for them individually.

Don’t broadcast the plan on email but bring all stakeholders together on a single platform. Address them individually and show them how critical each aspect of the plan is. Take their feedback. Run a success visualization (this can be done before the meeting) exercise where champagne is popped and speeches are made. But before that happens what are the big and small details that need to be taken care of. Note each feedback or have them mailed. You will be surprised what gems can come to you. An involved team member is any day better than a disengaged one.

Product is not everything but it certainly is the most important aspect.

Imagine yourself on your first date with a girl of your dreams. The date is decided and flames are towering high on either side. You know you can be nothing but the best version of yourself. But what is your best version, you ask? Certainly borrowing a jacket from your friend or dad isn’t the only thing you want to do preparing for the big day. Now replace yourself with the product. What are the things you are going to do to not only look your best but also BE your best? Let us see.

This is the step where the rubber hits the road (clichéd, I know) and your plan needs to be put in action. If the scope of the product is very wide then focus on the main modules, functionalities, and benefits. Remember we are in the Information Age which only means it is everywhere. Your job is to filter that information and bring forward only that which matters the most to your audience. Rest can be left to their basic intelligence. Resist the temptation to go all Commando and start firing all information cylinders.

Quality is no more a differentiator in any line of business. It is not something which customer expects but is a given in today’s day and age. Have the product tested on real data. To get a real sense of the response a Beta run of the product can be done on a real audience. Incorporate their feedback and you will be more confident when you are facing a bigger and more diverse audience.

The real differentiator in today’s world is the intuitiveness of the software. If a particular functionality can be completed with two clicks can you reduce it to one click? Is your system capable of talking to other systems? How easy is it upload and download data? Do whatever it takes to overcome these challenges. Remember the customer is paying you for the time and effort you are saving him to accomplish a task. Simple. Period.

The fact that you got a date means your partner already thinks you have what it takes. The next step is to show them that you CARE for them. To show them how you can be valuable to them and how you will do whatever it takes to keep them satisfied. Did I take the dating metaphor too far? Maybe I did but I hope you got the point.

Communication is a two-way street

In a B2B SaaS product, the communication is between two incorporated entities and not two different individuals. The dynamics of this communication, needless to say, are different but the objective is the same. The objective is to carry the right message to the right audience at the right time so that they can take the right action.

Let us break it down to understand in simpler terms.

Right Message: There will be multiple touchpoints to every customer and prospect. List them down. Map applicable messages. Circulate widely internally. I am taking a risk here by using the term widely. A question can be raised what does a development team have to do with a marketing email? Actually, it does because a small technical input on how to have the hyperlink reach the registration page may save a lot of cold sweat at a critical stage later. To avoid information overload selected drafts and team members of different teams may be involved.

Right Audience: Unless it is your first product launch, businesses usually have a good idea of their target audience. You have been interacting with them earlier or they have come to you through a certain tie-up or association. A small heads up about the planned event is good to create some buzz. Also in B2B space, having official email ids and contacts helps better in the regular interaction.

Right Time: Timing has to be perfect. In my experience, this gets influenced by other commitments and external factors. Launch only when you are 100% certain. Certain of what, you might ask? Certain that the product is ready to use. Nobody will register now and be expected to wait for a month to start using the software. B2C purchase might be highly impulse driven but in my opinion, B2B purchase and implementation are also getting there. Along with the product your sales and support team also need to be trained and aligned. Having common dial-in numbers and dedicated support email ids are some of the ways to convert customer journeys into conversions.

Right Channels: It is extremely important for older B2B players to review each and every customer and prospect touchpoints currently in existence. A new product launch may have a different audience, registration process, onboarding, and finally implementation and support. All these services might overlap with each other if even one channel fails in its objective. Design different marketing campaigns, forms, landing pages and direct the targeted audience on the right path. This is the reason for my emphasis on sharing plans early with all teams and incorporating their feedback. Currently, there are at least 10 Channels that an average SaaS company uses like Google Adwords, Social Media, Blogs, Videos, Webinars, etc so it is important to avoid mistakes and keep the communication clear.

Since it is a product launch, it is expected that the bulk of the message will be sent from your side but it is important to keep a tab on what is being said from the other side. Take care to record email communication, blog and social media comments, incoming calls, and emails and quickly incorporate them in your communication before the next touchpoint.

Conclusion

The importance of planning cannot be overemphasized nor can the criticality of perfect implementation.  A SaaS product is an evolving organism. It will have periodic version upgrades and spin-offs for different markets and audiences. The challenge is to keep getting better in all aspects of the game by learning from previous mistakes.

SaaS products are easy to get out of as they are easy to get in. Take focused steps in helping customers onboard, implement with continuous support, and finally help them realize their objectives. Keep refining the product and communication by keeping ears to the ground and hearts open.

Finally, at this point, I would like to use a cricketing analogy. It’s not only about impact but also the follow-through which is equally important. People who have witnessed Sachin Tendulkar’s cover drive or Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s helicopter shot will admit that what made their shots perfect could equally be credited to the bat swing after the ball has hit their bat’s sweet spot. They knew exactly whether they have to look for a quick single or stand at the crease and admire the ball run past the boundary line. The different teams in the product launch need to be on their toes to respond to their queries and challenges.

Writing is one way to clarify your thoughts and give them structure. Hope this has added value to your perspective or at least refreshed your memory of the basics of software marketing. Please share your likes and dislikes about the article and also share any information related to the subject so that others benefit from your insights.