Startup Leadership Program, so it is called. The program's approach is highly practical. It teaches some of the most important lessons that any startup CEO would need while running his/her business. These include raising capital, financial models, business ideas, leadership, negotiations, scaling up businesses etc.

The program currently has 12 chapters globally include four in India (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad). Its a 6 months 60 hours course delivered over weekends or weekday evenings. It costs Rs 4500/- (India) in program fees.

I spoke to an SLP fellow to get an insider perspective. The key take away from the discussion was that SLP looks at you rather than your idea/business. Absolute dedication and commitment to the program is also an important criteria for selection.

You can checkout the program details at Startup Leadership Program

In the past few months, Facebook has really picked up in terms of user base. With over 500 million users, its a community that no advertiser can ignore. So which advertising platform is better?

Two people in my family recently purchased a Blackberry torch and apple iPhone 4, so I had the opportunity to spend good time with these two phones. Here's my verdict.

The entire process of enrollment went pretty smooth. They take your picture, scan all 10 fingers and also do an Iris scan. An acknowledgement receipt is generated and given to the person enrolled. The whole process does not take more than 10 minutes.

What surprised me, however, was that the computer used for collecting all this information was running an unlicensed copy of windows. While its a different debate whether Windows OS was really required in the project, but having chosen Windows as the platform for collection of UID data, the government should spend some more money and procured licensed copies of the software.

How many Government institutions and corporate houses in India still use illegal softwares? There is more awareness about using genuine software today than it was 5 years back but given what I just saw today, India has a long way to go until we can truly call ourselves the super power of IT.

Google engineers created fake search results for nonsensical terms. Few weeks later, these results started appearing on Bing.

Interestingly Bing doesn't deny this. It says that their algorithm looks at more than 1000 signals to determine the search results. This includes analyzing the click-stream of its IE toolbar users on what they search and click on Google.

If you already own an iPad, this is still an excellent news. Now your iPad can be serviced in India. You can also extend your iPad warranty in India. Not to mention, the accessories are now officially available as well.

- cannot send/receive money for personal transactions.
- cannot receive amount greater than $500 USD.
- cannot send money using Paypal balance (only credit cards)
- must withdraw all the paypal balance within 7 days of receipt.

The move comes after the Indian regulators (viz RBI) objected to the use of these cards in India.

Payoneer offers prepaid Mastercard that can be used to withdraw money at ATMs or used in the shops (POS) throughout the world. These cards also work online. It is a popular method of remitting money from various freelancing websites like Elance, Odesk, Scriptlance.com etc.

I come from a tech background and will speak about tech startups in general.

In theory the idea looks excellent. You have a great product idea. You need money to get that idea to the market. You do consulting to generate some cash that pays for the development and other expenses. I wish it was that simple in practice.

1. Take some time off
2. Start another venture/business
3. Go back to school and learn new skills.

After much deliberation and discussion, I chose option 3.