Tag Archives: Education

Featured, Websites

Thinkvidya going the LinkedIn Way

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It has been 6 months since I first wrote about Thinkvidya  and honestly I could not get time (I am lazy :-) ) to visit that site in the meantime. When I visited Thinkvidya  again today,  I was impressed by many statistics presented and the milestones they have accomplished  in such a short term.

About ThinkVidya

It is an online network of Parents, Teachers and Students.  Truthfully, it is a network for 20000 learning providers with over 8000 regular teachers and trainers. No doubt, it is India’s largest Educational Network.

Why Should I Join it?

For those who fail to be impressed by the statistics; Thinkvidya acts as the missing link between Quality Tutors and the students. If you need a top-level Physics  tutor  in Bangalore,  jump to Thinkvidya, make a simple search and you are done. On opposite, if you are in search of students for your tution class or in free time, there is no better alternative than Thinkvidya.Other educational Institutes can easily find bulk number of students easily. So, if you are planning to start you Teaching business, Thinkvidya has lot to offer.   Presently it has a network  in most of the Tier-I and Tier- II cities of India including  Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad,  Pune , Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Coimbatore,Goa, Indore, Jaipur, Lucknow,Nagpur and Vadodara.

Who Should Join?

Honestly, it is not merely regular, curricular teaching  that Thinkvidya has to boast about. A majority of tutors come from co-curricular and extra-curricular domains like, Dancing, Singing, Musical Instruments, Cooking, Martial Arts, Drawing, Swimming  and Yoga. You can view the full list here.   It is very difficult to find such tutors in Indian cities, unless you are willing to pay a lofty sum to brokers.

Business Model

The Business model is simple. It is FREE for all, whether it is a student, a tutor or an institute. They can browse profiles of each other, post  Requirements or contact directly. You can contact 3 students each month for FREE, which is sufficient for a starter.

Teachers or Trainers can optionally subscribe to a paid Alert System,which provides them a regular  and targeted list of students every month. The Paid Members are also featured on the portal giving them a high visibility.

Areas of Improvement

No matter how much we achieve, there is always a better milestone. Thinkvidya also needs to innovate its user experience regularly.  The Individual user profile  design looks obsolete , something like dating  10 years back. It lacks the usual feel of Web 2.0 Design  and must be updated at earliest.

 

Lessons for Entrepreneurs

Well, it is not always that only  Software  Development for Clients pays off. Businesses must look for catering  the existing problems with technical solutions.  This is what Linkedin did, the same was done by SlideShare and of course Thinkvidya is doing the same. In fact I have no hesitation to say, Thinkvidya is India’s answer to LinkedIn. Though  these two cater different segments of people, there are several similarities among them.

 

 

 

 

Entrepreneurs, Featured

Was Rancho inspired by Steve Jobs ?

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Steve Jobs, the Father of Modern Computers has been well known for his innovation, creativity, attention to minute details and his spirit of struggle in the industry. Interestingly, his life story was cast on screens in a recent Hindi Movie 3 Idiots where the character of Rancho (played by Aamir Khan) immensely resembles to him.It appears that the makers of the movie were inspired by Steve for Rancho’s role.

Here are few apparent reasons which point to this conclusion:

1. Steve’s Childhood was spent in poverty.His biological parents deserted him when he was small. Rancho’s parents also died when he was small.He too was adopted by his master.Both of them were orphan in childhood.

2.Steve had great passion for making things live.He always believed in chasing his dreams and making possible what people considered impossible. Rancho was similar in character.Remember, he designed the Helicopter which was considered an impractical project by the Director of the College.

3. Rancho had 300 patents in his name while Steve Jobs has 338 American Patents in his name.

4. Steve always said- Stay Hungry,Stay Foolish; Rancho’s favorite statement(apart from All is Well!) was Never Chase Success, Chase Excellence, the Success will automatically follow you. Though Both these statements look different, both lead to the common aim of excellence.Both starved for excellence and Perfection.Both struggled a lot in life.

5. Steve Came to India in search of Enlightenment and became Buddhist.Rancho was from Laddakh were a significant portion of Buddhist population live.

6.Both could not have proper formal education.Steve dropped the college after first semester and kept on learning things from random sources or by self dedication. Rancho too never had proper elementary formal education.He used to learn from the old books of his master’s son.

7. Both dreamed of Changing the World.Rancho wanted to change the education system, while Jobs changed the way technology is used by common people in day to day activities.

Life repeats its stories and I am sure there are many who fit well in the context stated above, but Steve Jobs resembled the most. Rancho actually was the young Steve Jobs. People may come and people may go but the legend will keep on inspiring those who dream of changing the world.

 

NOTE: Steve  Jobs  has been a source of inspiration  to me . This post is my tribute to the Father of Modern Computers. Interestingly,  one of my first posts on this blog(one year back) was dedicated to him.