Following up to the previous post, ETNOW aired the program this week. I was pretty skeptical on what Prashanth Choskey of Mumbai Angels had to say about the pitch. Radhika (Producer) had not seen the final video and so she couldn’t tell me what the VC had to say about this. So i had to directly check it on the television. Was pretty tensed when the show started. The last time I had been through this tensed moments was when I was waiting for my semester results. Prashanth says skechme.com is not a defensible idea and is not yet ready to invest…. hmmm okeez. But he had some very good points to make. Point(s) taken. Our B-plan would need some fine tuning now. Thanks Prashanth.

Thanks for starting skechme.com, got to experience what it takes to be on TV. The ET now crew (just 2 of them) had dropped in to skechme.com to shoot for the section “Elevator pitch” of the program “Startingup Now” which is aired on Tuesdays and saturdays. I had to do an elevator pitch for skechme.com. Thanks to Radhika, the producer and Nilesh, the cameraman. They had their patience intact as the retakes  increased with each shot. But once I got a hold of it, it was pretty OK . The team had close to 10 huge bags which had a range of gadgets from tripod stands, lights, reflectors to the camera itself. Carrying it to the 4th floor required some effort. Thanks to ET now, this is skechme.com’s first PR. Now lets wait and watch what the investors have to say. Should be aired on TV in the next 2 weeks. Here is the link on youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/startinguponetnow

“not yet huh?”

me: “ya not yet…”

“still not yet huh…”

“yes man..not yet”

“when are you guys planning to?”

me: “don’t see it happening in the near future…”.

Though i don’t see breaking even with skechme.com in the near future, would like to share with you a paan- wala who proabably may break records by breaking-even in a month. This paan shop had a grand opening last week and from then whenever I have passed this shop, I see a mob  surrounding this shop (I really donno whether they buy or not). If he goes at this rate, he is sure to break even in a month.

Alas broke the silence!

More of works of the legend Mr. RK Laxman are here and here

Now how about implementing the same concept to educate the motorists and the pedestrians. Makes sense? That is the whole idea. Its about showcasing a social message , could be on air pollition, saving water, treating the pedestrians with dignity, etc. Just any social message for that matter. The idea is to get these cartoons printed on a flex board and to be displayed at each and every signal in Bangalore (to start with). A motorist who halts at the signal for a few seconds would have something to learn and also have a lighter moment (if possible). The best thing is that anyone (educated or uneducated) turns around to check what is this all about and would have a hint of smile on his/her lips. Looks promising, but is it possible? Well my answer is Yes. If we can have more hands to add some much needed muscle power, we could make this happen. Now lets break up the things to be done. The three major action items would be to

• get cartoons drawn from various cartoonists.
• Get permission from the Police department.
• Get sponsorship.

How simple na? Actually it is. I have spoken to the officials of the Indian Cartoon Gallery, Bangalore and they were only obliged to share the cartoons they had in their archives. Check out some of the cartoons that they were ready to share. VRC Shekar, Vice-president of Karnataka Cartoon assocaiation helped us in showcasing the cartoons. Thanks to him.

The Kempe Gowda statue (founder of Bangalore) completely polluted.

More cartoons.

The association’s VP was ready to share the cartoons with us. The next remaining steps are to get in touch with the police department to get the legal work done and then to get some sponsors to print these cartoons in the flex board. Sounds simple now? If this thrills you, do send in a mail to gitu.krish@gmail.com. Together we can make this a better place to live in. Thanks for the support.

1. Bookmark this portal – http://mca.gov.in/. This is the portal of the ministry of company affairs. Things are better off now compared to the olden days where you need to walk down to the registrar office to submit all your applications. With this you can submit all your applications online.
2. To become a Director you need to have a DIN. To get one for yourself, download the DIN form from the above website and apply for the same. Address proof and ID proof of the respective persons are required. A private limited company should have a minimum of two directors.Fees is around Rs.500. Take utmost precautions while applying for the same, as your application may go to resubmission mode resulting in loss of your valuable time.
3. Apply for a digital signature. You would need this to sign all your application forms. Costs you around Rs 2500 and is valid for 2years.
4. Next you need to check for the name availability for your company. Form 1A is the answer. You need to provide three options for the same and a detailed description on what your company does. You can’t say like we are in to software and name the company like “xxx chemical laboratires private limited”. Common sense pravails.
5. Next you need to prepare the Memorandum of Articles, Association of Articles and Power of Attorney documents. Fill in Form 1 for registration.A Chatered Accountant is the best person to do the same.
6. On completion you need to get the documents attested from the Taluk/Reg office in your locality. Check with your CA for denominations. Bribe starts here.
7. On completion of review of all documents, submit the documents online. Keep your credit card ready, as MCA is gonna charge you around Rs.19000 on your card.
8. Download Form 18, fill in the details and along with the MoA, AoA, PoA and Form 1 submit the documents for review at the registrar office in your jurisdiction.
9. On submission of all the documents, your CA would sit with the MCA officials and would review the docs for further processing. Bribe continues.
10. You are done now. Incase everything goes fine without resubmission, you would get a mail from the Ministry of Company affairs stating that your company has been incorporated.

All newbie entrepreneurs, Good luck for your incorporation and also your venture. Do comment, incase I have missed any and about your expreineces while incorporating your startups. More leads are here and here. Thanks!

Skechme.com opened its first ever office at BTM layout, Bangalore during the early hours of 29th March 2009 at BTM layout, Bangalore and started functioning from the first week of April 2009. It has been close to 3 months now that I quit my day job and I have to say this that I have two employees working for me now or with a grudge should I say, I am providing employment opportunities to two real people.The period where you have just quit your job and your are in this jobless traumatic syndrome is real fun. This is the time you need to take a break and may be have a kitkat. To put it plain, nowadays I am not stuck up in this Bangalore traffic every other day and my travel time betwen my office and home is close to 2.0003 seconds, coz that is the how much time it takes to hop in between the two bedrooms at my office cum home.

So people who just stumble upon BTM layout 1st stage, do drop in at our office.  Would only be happy to have a coffee with you. You simply can’t miss our office for the landlord of this flat has spent some real bucks buying barrells of green fluorescent and yellow fluorescent paint. Goes well with skechme.com log.