Looking For Strategy + Design Interns in Mumbai!

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Abeer

NOTE: You can reach me on my email address “abeer [dot] desai [at] gmail [dot] com”

Please share this opportunity with suitable candidates interested in getting hands on experience providing brand strategy and implementation services to startup clients around the world (I’ve copied my posting from letsintern.in–one of the best ways to find qualified interns in India).

Both internships are Rs. 6000/month, working out of Bombay Connect in Bandra West, and phase 1 will be from April 19th till May 24th.

Thanks!

Abeer

Strategy (1 person)

I create go-to-market strategies for startups.

Looking for an intern with a strong background and interest in strategy for technology startups.

We work with cutting edge clients from all over the world and require’s somebody who is sensitive to global business requirements.

You will also be involved in implementing your strategy by writing marketing collateral such as corporate profiles and pitch decks.

I require somebody who is able to seamlessly engage strategy, writing, and design requirements.

It would be helpful if you are keen on understanding more about technology startups, and are able to deliver high quality under a great deal of autonomy.

This is an extremely rare opportunity and the greatest benefit will be for those individuals who are crazy about startups, how to effectively market new ideas, and want to built an exciting international career within this field.

By the end of this internship you will understand:

1. How to translate your strategic instinct into a marketable service.

2. How to launch an international business.

3. The inner-workings of startups from around the world.

*NOTE: You must have your own Mac/PC with Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Ideal candidate will also have Photoshop.

Design (1 person)

Looking for a graphic design intern with a strong background or interest in UX design for cutting edge startup websites.

You will also be involved in designing marketing collateral such as corporate profiles and pitch decks.

I require somebody who is able to seamlessly engage design, writing, and strategy requirements.

You will need to be able to manage client requirements from all over the world.

It would be helpful if you are keen on understanding more about technology startups, and is able to deliver high quality under a great deal of autonomy.

This is an extremely rare opportunity and the greatest benefit will be for those individuals who are crazy about aesthetics and graphic design, and want to built an exciting international career within this field.

By the end of this internship you will understand:

1. How to translate your design instinct into a marketable service.

2. How to launch an international business.

3. The inner-workings of startups from around the world.

*NOTE: You must have your own Mac/PC with Adobe Photoshop.

Guest Post: Lessons From A Website

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Abeer

Kiran writes about our experience working together to launch an awesome brand for Socrates Learning.

Lessons From A Website

“Stories have wings…They fly from mountain top to mountain top”
– Romanian Proverb

Today’s story is about the creation of this website. It all started a year back. A one-month project that took twelve!

January 2012. Start of the website project with a web programmer in India. Many emails, conference calls and two months later, there was no progress. We parted ways; no money exchanged hands, no work had been done. First lesson? When starting a project, always ensure that the others with you feel as passionately about it as you do. Eyeball to eyeball conversations help people connect in ways that telephones and emails can never do.

Then client projects, speaking assignments, community work, etc. came in the way and the web site went on the back burner.

August 2012. We found Morgan Awyong. He came highly recommended and he was in Singapore. The project was kicked off again. We had a meeting and explained our needs; He understood it perfectly and we went to work. This time we made a down payment.
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Socrates Learning

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Abeer

Proud to unveil my latest corporate launch:
Socrates Learning is an appreciative inquiry corporate consultancy based in Singapore.

Zymr

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Abeer

Proud to unveil my latest work:
Zymr Inc is a startup offering cloud and media services under one roof. It synergizes a deep technical bench with high design to create functional media that is truly unique. Website

Newsfeed On Tumblr!

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Abeer

Hey everybody!

I’ll be posting a newsfeed on Revolver from now on–my Tumblr based blog. Really appreciate Tumblr’s short snippet format to capture all of the interesting things happening around the world at the cutting edge of business and how it has the power to shape society.

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Social Engineering: No Cell Phones at Dinner!

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Abeer

Here is an interesting example of incentivizing socially conducive behaviors.

Eva Restaurant in LA, a chic upscale “family style” restaurant in LA offers patrons a 5% discount for handing over their cellular device during the meal.

I think this is an awesome win-win-win situation where the restaurant generates interesting buzz for incentivizing their patrons to have a more intimate experience. In addition, patrons will be more focused on enjoying not just their company, but the food and decor that has been painstakingly arranged for them.

Another way to think about this set up is that patrons are earning 5% per meal to focus more on the product being offered and hopefully convert into fans who spread the message.

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Fashion and Culture of an American Mall in 1990

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Abeer

Came across this trove of 20 pictures from an American mall in 1990 like a time capsule showing us how culture has progressed.

Remember this was the prime of American dominance. The year the Berlin Wall fell.

Notice a society in transition from the rebellious 80s to the yuppie 90s. How clothes used to be layered. The hairstyles (the most glaring). The fashion sense. The length and material of shorts. The leather. The midriffs. The color palette of clothes. The kinds of socks. The colors and patterns. The cut of the jeans. The store fronts. Smoking indoors! Facial hair. Graphic design.

Next time you step in to a mall remember to pay careful attention to the things around you. What you take for granted as eternal is most likely idiosyncratic and will seem extremely strange and dated 20 years from now. The pace of change is speeding up.

Most interesting of all will be to notice the things that do not change…

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Romney Strategist Valiantly Battles on Against the Facts

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Abeer

It struck me just today morning just how biased MSNBC is towards the democratic cause. At first I was perturbed by the increasing polarization of the country until it struck bright as day that the United States along with the developed world is in the middle of a culture war right now.

A war between an older value system and a newer value system. Of course neither is objectively correct–it’s just a perspective based on your values–and that is why both sides must resort to propaganda and spin to fit new information and events into their existing narrative.

I choose to see the world as it is, not as I may wish it to be. Towards that end I’m always very interested in observing and the art of spin so that I too may deploy these tactics when I am called up to defend my values, or spread them to create what I believe to be a more equitable world. It’s not about spin being right or wrong, it’s just about being effective or not. That is the reality of society.

So how does one paint a smooth picture out of jagged edges?

Well, here is one way NOT to do it.

“Unstoppable” Beautiful Canadian Paralympic Ad

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Abeer

Came across this fantastic advertisement created by the Canadian Paralympic committee. The ad features a man running through scenes that symbolize each heart wrenching chapter in his struggle to overcome his affliction and get back to the race track.

He runs past wheelchairs, physical rehabilitation, hospital recovery, the operating theater, the wreckage of his car accident and back into the open track of who he was before it all.

This sequence is captured in one, beautifully realized shot without the aid of computer graphics.

Catch the accompanying print ad below.