Google developing cancer and heart attack detector

SAN FRANCISCO: Google is exploring a way to search inside people's bodies for early signs of deadly illnesses such as cancer or heart disease.

A Life Sciences team at the special projects Google X Lab are experimenting with having "nanoparticles" hunt for signs of medical trouble in bloodstreams and then essentially report findings to sensors people could wear.

"This is still early-stage research, but we've done a number of promising experiments, so we're going to keep going," Google said in a description of the project made public on Tuesday.

Imagined applications include a test for enzymes given off by arterial plaques that are about to rupture and cause a heart attack or stroke, or a way to watch for cancer cells after surgery or chemo treatments.

Early detection is known to dramatically increase chances of successfully treating a number of life-threatening diseases.

Batches of specially crafted nanoparticles, each microscopic in size, could be swallowed in pills and then absorbed into bloodstreams where they would stick to targeted cells such as cancer.


In a description of the project, Google said that they have done a number of experiments.

Magnetic qualities designed into nanoparticles allow them to be drawn to worn devices and counted using non-invasive detection methods such as light or radio waves, according to Google.

If successful, the technology could "help physicians detect a disease that's starting to develop in the body," the California-based technology titan said.

Google said that it would license the technology to companies interested in using it for medically approved diagnostics.

Google Life Sciences team innovations include contact lenses that measure glucose levels in tears to allow people with diabetes to track blood sugar, and eating utensils that cancel out trembling hands caused by diseases such as Parkinsons.

Google also last year formed a company called Calico with a mission to address problems of health and aging by harnessing advanced technologies.
 

Who's moving where?

Global migration patterns, by the numbers

                    By GE Look ahead

EMERGING MARKETS / ASIA, AUSTRALIA, EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA & TURKEY, NORTH AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA

Global migration statistics, which keep tabs on who’s moving where, reveal interesting shifts in global migration patterns. According to the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital, the largest regional migration from 2005 to 2010 was from Southeast Asia to the Middle East while nine of the 10 largest country-to-country waves were in Asia. The face of migration has changed and emerging markets are its rising stars

 

 

Wipro takes baby steps into $6 bn world of 3D printing with lone printer

On August 14 this year, Maltesh Somasekarappa received a call from one of the largest hospital chains in Mumbai. The caller, a doctor, sounded impatient and demanded how soon Somasekarappa, who heads Wipro's 3D printing unit, could make a human skull.

The doctor explained that the hospital was looking to replace a portion of a patient's fractured skull after a car accident. The patient could slip into coma any moment if not operated upon immediately, the doctor stressed.

"How early can you do it?" the doctor asked again. The hospital then emailed skull scans and other specifications for Somasekarappa to "print it out". Somasekarappa, who had recently convinced the top bosses at WiproBSE -0.27 % to invest in an additive manufacturing unit with a 3D printer that cost around $1 million (Rs 6 crore), asked his four-member  team to assemble and being work so as to ensure that the titanium replacement skull was ready within hours.

"By lunch on Augus ..August 15, we were ready to ship the skull," he said, "but the patient slipped

into coma and is still not in a condition to be operated upon." Interestingly, printing skulls is not the core part of Wipro's fledgling 3D printing business,  which is now printing objects ranging from satellite antennas to parts of hydraulic pumps and even fuel nozzles for airline engines.

For Wipro, these early investments in additive manufacturing -next-generation manufacturing that involves 3D ..are aimed at transforming its traditional hydraulics business, and at the same time finding an alternative revenue stream.

Also known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing uses an automated process that can create the units in one metal piece through successive layering of materials. Globally, GE, Nike, Boeing, Siemens and Rolls-Royce are some of the early adopters of 3D printing, making it an over-$6 billion (Rs 36,000-crore) industry in three years, according to a report  according to a report by consulting company Wohlers Associates. According to research firm Gartner, over 14,000 units of 3D printers will be shipped across the markets of Asia Pacific by 2017.

The big driver for Wipro, according to Pratik Kumar who heads Wipro's infrastructure business, was

that most of his existing customers appeared interested in 3D."We were seeing at least 25-30 new product launches from our customers every year: they needed prototyping and iterations on the go," said Kumar. Most of these customers are in the aerospace, defence and healthcare segments where the stakes are high for each new product launch.

Indeed, when WiproBSE -0.45 % incubated its 3D printing division last year, the idea was

to tap into a small but fast-growing market for printing machine parts used by aerospace and defence companies. Healthcare was not at all in the plan. The  possibilities, it now seems, are only limited by imagination, the challenge being not to dilute from the core areas.

"Initially, there was a temptation to get into the retail side of 3D printing, but we realised it could

be a distrac ..distraction," said Kumar. So far, the company has invested around $2 million (Rs 12 crore) in the 3D printing plant with just one printer, and the early results seem to be encouraging.

The early customers include Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, which is taking Wipro's help for 3D printing Vane Guides — machine parts that go into the combustion chamber of the engines, and even a two-wheeler maker that wants Wipro to help with manufacturing some parts as it  prepares to relocate its plants. Wipro declined to elaborate specific work being done for clients, including the engagement with old-time partner General Electric, which according to several people is already running pilots to print fuel nozzles. Globally, GE is looking for ways to manufacture around 85,000 fuel nozzles for its new leap jet engines. And 3D printing is at the core of this hunt. At a time Prime

Minister Narendra Modi is pushing to create more manufacturing jobs through "Make in India"

Wipro believes the country needs to embrace next-generation technologies, and not just compete on

low-end projects. "Any economy cannot leapfrog by missing the manufacturing bus — this (additive manufacturing) is our opportunity to catch up, especially given our design skills," said Kumar. Wipro's partner, Singaporebased EOS, which specialises in additive manufacturing and has even sold its 3D printer to Wipro, said India is best-positioned for this. "Some studies show that atleast 30% of the products designed in the world are designed by Indians; however this has not translated to manufacturing in India," said Terrence Oh, vice-president, EOS Asia Pacific Operations.

To be sure, 3D printing cannot match conventional manufacturing in scale, and most of the next generation  manufacturing is still focused on fewer units (in hundreds or thousands and not millions of units). But in the areas of defence, aviation and healthcare, companies such as Wipro are hoping to produce high-quality machines without having to wait for "economies of  scale" advantage. "Will this be a billion-dollar business someday? Of course, we would like it to be. But for now, the focus is on scaling what we currently have to 4-5-10 times," said Kumar.

Tata group’s Ramadorai to mentor tech entrepreneurs

S Ramadorai, a doyen of the Indian IT Industry, is eager to be a father figure to budding technology entrepreneurs. The former Vice-Chairman of Tata Consultancy Services says he is open to mentoring start-ups that have the potential to put India on the global map for indigenous software products through affordable technology.

 

“If a young entrepreneur comes to me with a good idea, I am more than happy to provide inputs and guidance. Hand-holding is always the first step. I have not invested in any start-ups till date, but I am open to it now,” Ramadorai told Business Line in an exclusive meeting. Recently, Tata Group’s Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata picked up stake in Snapdeal.com, India’s largest online marketplace, for an undisclosed amount.

 

Ramadorai, who recently retired from TCS after over 40 years of service, says he is more interested in start-ups focused on non-invasive health monitoring, digital learning, big data, analytics and skills augmentation.

 

“I would like to see an increase in the scale, size and number of companies that own intellectual property in India. Shared wealth and IP that can make a global impact is what we should aim for,” said Ramadorai.

 

He continues to hold key positions with various Tata institutions. Apart from being the Chairman of Air Asia India, a three-way joint venture between AirAsia, Tata Sons and Arun Bhatia’s Telestra TradePlace, he is the Chairperson of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences governing council and Chairman of the Bombay Stock Exchange.

 

Bridging skill gap

Software products that could help the cause of bridging the skill gap at the grassroot level are high on his agenda.

 

“From the point of view of corporate social responsibility, the Tata group is looking at skilling in addition to education and healthcare. We are trying to put together a strong programme on that front,” said Ramadorai, who also serves as the Chairman of the National Skill Development Corporation.

 

‘Try new things’

So what is Ramadorai’s advice to emerging entrepreneurs? “Be willing to try new things at a young age. Do not worry about success measured by revenue and do not be disheartened when people say you have failed. Don’t write off a particular product or concept just because it failed in the market at the first attempt,” he added.

 

Ramadorai was made TCS’ Vice-Chairman in October 2009, after serving as the company’s CEO and MD for 14 years. Between 1996 and 2009, TCS grew from a $160 million firm to a $6-billion behemoth

A quarry that produces organic fruits

Those who visited the laterite quarries near the industrial park at Ganjimath in Mangalore taluk three decades ago would not have imagined that they would see an organic farm in the years to come.

Efforts by U Rajesh Naik, owner of this 100-acre Oddoor Farm, have made it an integrated self-sustaining organic farm.

Now most of the fruit-bearing trees such as mango, papaya, cashew, rambutan and commercial crops such as coconut and arecanut along with a man-made lake and a dairy are the main strengths of this farm.

 

Naik told BusinessLine that though he inherited family property, he wanted to do something on his ownand went ahead with buying dry land at Ganjimath 27 years ago. The quarries were levelled and a cultivation plan was made after that. He planted coconut, cashew, mango and arecanut.

Taking into consideration the immediate requirements such as irrigation and manure for farming, he began working on them simultaneously.

Water

Thankfully, there was a small well on the land he bought. Slowly and gradually he converted the water body into a lake. Now it is a 60-ft-deep two-acre water body. It sustains the entire operation of the farm and his house.

 

Even during the last summer, water level did not go below 25 ft, he said, adding that the water table has gone up in nearby areas in the recent years.

As he was determined to make the farm organic, he began rearing a few cows with an intention to provide manure to the farm.

Dairy

The total number of cows has crossed 200 now after 27 years. With pride, Naik said he is a major supplier of milk to the Karnataka Milk Federation’s dairy in Mangalore. His dairy supplies around 800-1,000 litres of milk a day to the federation.

 

Three veterinarians visit the dairy regularly to care of the health of cows. The green fodder for cows is grown in his farm only. Naik is getting multiple benefits from the water used in washing the cow sheds also. The slurry from the dairy, which contains cow dung and cow urine, is stored in a tank near the dairy. Fermentation in the tank leads to formation of methane, he said.

Power

One of the outlets from the tank collects the methane to run a 65-kv power generator. Power for farm operation and house is generated that way. The methane-free slurry is sent through two different outlets as liquid and semi-solid manure.

 

Naik claimed that he gets around one lakh litres of liquid manure a day. There is good demand for this in the nearby areas also. Semi-solid slurry is used for the production of solid manure through composting.

Learning from Alibaba

 

 

 

 

The most exciting event of last week was undoubtedly the listing of Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba Group Holding, on the New York Stock Exchange. The Alibaba share listed at $92.70, a whopping 36 per cent premium to the offer price, proving right analysts who felt that the IPO price was conservative.

 

The scale of Alibaba’s listing success should be evident from the following: the $21.8 billion it raised (could get close to $25 billion if the issue managers decide to accept the excess subscriptions) was the highest amount ever raised by an internet company in the U.S. It was much larger than Facebook’s $16 billion and Twitter’s $2 billion.

 

The valuation of $231 billion that it secured on listing day now makes it the 11{+t}{+h}most valuable listed company in the U.S. ahead of the bluest of blue chips such as Procter & Gamble, Pfizer, IBM and Coca Cola.

 

Jack Ma, who founded Alibaba with $60,000 in an apartment at Hangzhou, south-west of Shanghai, in 1999, is now the richest man in China with a net worth of close to $22 billion.

The 49-year old former school teacher has not only inspired a thriving start-up culture in China but has also created immense wealth for employees, a number of whom are vested with shares in the

company.

 

Scene in India

 

In the backdrop of Alibaba’s success, it is tempting to look at the scene in India. Admittedly, there is no comparison between China and India when you consider key numbers such as internet penetration, on-line buyers and e-commerce sales volumes.

 

Compared to China’s estimated $180 billion e-commerce market, India’s is a piffling $13 billion, according to a study by KPMG and Internet and Mobile Association of India. About 70 per cent of India’s market comes from online travel transactions.

 

India’s internet users number a little over 200 million: China has more than thrice that at 632 million and is projected to touch 850 million by 2015. India is projected to cross the 500-million mark by 2018. The number of on-line buyers in India is expected to cross the 39-million mark by end of this year; in contrast, Alibaba alone has 279 million active buyers in China!

 

There are two ways of looking at these numbers. The first is to fret over how far ahead China’s e-commerce market is and how Indian consumers are still in the brick-and-mortar shopping era. The other, more optimistic way, of looking at the comparative data is to realise the potential that India holds for growth in the e-commerce space. That is exactly the attitude and approach of those such as Flipkart, Jabong, Snapdeal, eBay and Amazon in India.

 

The optimism seems to have rubbed off on financiers as well — Flipkart bagged $1 billion in funding in July which valued the company at $7 billion. In barely three months since the previous funding round in May, Flipkart’s valuation had more than doubled prompting founder Sachin Bansal to dream of turning into a $100-billion company in the next five years.

 

Not just Flipkart, its much larger rival, Amazon, has also been stepping on the accelerator in India. Within a day of Flipkart announcing its $1 billion funding, the U.S. e-commerce giant said it would be investing $2 billion in India. Why this burst of optimism in the industry?

 

For one, the number of on-line buyers is projected to treble to 128 million by 2018 according to research firm Forrester. If the growth in mobile penetration is any indication, this is a conservative projection given that half of all internet users in India are based on mobile platforms. The competition is to grab as much of the new users as possible.

 

Yet, where the players could be going wrong in India is on their revenue-first strategy unmindful of profitability. While the likes of Amazon and eBay may have deep pockets, the same cannot be said about their domestic counterparts, the large funding rounds notwithstanding.

 

Alibaba was smart in its business strategy which ensured that it would be profitable. For instance, with millions of products vying for customer attention on its portal, Alibaba devised options for sellers to advertise on its site and also set up attractive online storefronts for a fee.

 

It also leveraged on its massive size in terms of registered customers by blocking search engines such as Baidu from trawling its e-commerce portals when users search for shopping options. Perforce, Alibaba forced buyers to approach it directly and thus made its portals attractive for advertisers. Alibaba thus captured the advertisement revenue that would have gone to Baidu otherwise.

 

While it is understandable that the Flipkarts and the Jabongs may be eyeing Alibaba’s success longingly the fact is that they need to devise similar innovative strategies to turn profitable. Flipkart already boasts of 27 million registered buyers — two-thirds of total online buyers in the country — which can be leveraged to attract advertisers in a bigger way. The Indian e-commerce industry is obviously beginning to take-off.

 

It will be interesting to watch whether it will eventually spawn a local Alibaba or will it be consumed by giants such as Amazon or eBay. Or who knows, even Alibaba.

Why India’s best tech schools produce more entrepreneurs than the Ivy League

If you need one more reason to justify why it’s so incredibly difficult to get into an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), then consider this—IITs are among the world’s most entrepreneurial undergraduate universities, even ahead of storied Ivy League institutions such as Princeton, Yale and Cornell.

 

IITs are ranked fourth (just ahead of Harvard) in a new ranking of the top 50 universities that have produced venture capital (VC)-backed founders. The study, compiled by PitchBook Data, a US-based private equity and VC research firm, took into account funding data between 2009 to July 2014, and sifted through educational backgrounds of over 13,000 founders globally.

 

Compared to their peers in US, Europe, and even China, Indian universities and colleges have never impressed academically. In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2013-2014—that takes into account teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook—IIT- Delhi, IIT-Kanpur, IIT- Kharagpur and IIT- Roorkee, are ranked between 351-400.

That’s where the PitchBook ranking methodology differs. The primary ranking criteria is the total number of founders, followed by number of startups and total capital raised. In the study, the IITs had a total of 264 entrepreneurs, who have founded 205 companies and cumulatively raised $3.15 billion.

In terms of total capital raised, they are just behind Stanford ($3.51 billion) and Harvard ($3.23 billion). Stanford, situated in the heart of Silicon Valley, tops the list. The others in the Top 10 include the usual suspects, like the University of California, Berkeley, MIT, Harvard University,    the University of Pennsylvania   and Cornell . Given Israel’s tech powerhouse status, the only other non-US college is Tel Aviv University, which comes in at number 9.

 

One big reason why the IITs have pipped their globally well-known peers is because the report views all 16 IITs as one university. “The study does not exactly compare apples to apples by clubbing all IITs together, helping them rank higher purely by virtue of the fact that they collectively cast a wider net than any other university mentioned,” says Sangeet Paul Choudary, an IIT-Kanpur and IIM- Bangalore alumnus and director of Singapore-based Platform Thinking Labs, a senior executive advisory firm.

 

So, does the matter of size take anything away from the fact that the IITians are a potent force in the world of entrepreneurship? Clearly not. “Less than 2 percent of the applicants get selected, and less than 0.1 percent make it to a top rated branch like computer science or electrical engineering, which is where most of tech-related entrepreneurship and VC activity takes place,” adds Choudary.

 

Last year, IITs came in at number 10, when only companies that were founded in the US were taken into account. They have jumped six places this year as companies founded in India are also taken into account. These include e-commerce superstars such as Flipkart and Snapdeal. This reflects the fact that Indian startups now have the maturity to attract large amounts of capital.

 

The reasons IIT undergrads are so successful in securing institutional investment are not hard to gauge. They have one of the toughest entrances exams in the world and possess a close alumni network. Their top tech talent has been emigrating to the US for over three decades, they have a globally recognised brand name, and their students are entrepreneurial and risk-takers.

 

The difficulty of the joint entrance exam (JEE) , which replaced the IIT-JEE in 2013, ensures only the cream get in. This means that only the brightest of the 1.4 million who took the test in 2014 snagged the 10,000-odd seats available.

 

“JEE picks some of the best who are willing to work hard on one specific problem—JEE itself—for many years. We are looking at a special segment that aligns with entrepreneurship. In addition the folks from IIT frequently come from middle class families and are keen to succeed,” says Ashish Gupta, managing director of India-based VC firm, Helion Advisors.

 

33.2 percent of all companies founded by immigrants in the US had an Indian co-founder, according to a study by Kauffman Foundation  with Indians founding more technology and engineering firms than the next nine immigrant groups combined.

 

IITian founders include the likes of Vinod Khosla (Sun Microsystems), Bharat Desai (Syntel) and Gururaj Deshpande (Sycamore Networks). Some have become VC investors themselves, including Khosla (SKS Microfinance and Square) and Mayfield’s Naveen Chadha (Akamai, Makemytrip and Persistent Systems).

 

Andy White, lead research analyst for PitchBook, says one reason India has become a hot-bed of entrepreneurship is international companies moving jobs to India. “Large corporations such as Microsoft and Google hire a larger number of employees from India. After building a resume at one of these major companies, employees are connected enough to make a foray into the world of startups,” says White.

  

Sharad Sharma, co-founder of iSPIRT, a think-tank that champions the causes of startups, thinks the strong IIT alumni network is key. “This helps the entrepreneur be better prepared for VC fund raising. I think the better preparation makes a big difference.”

From Kerala to France: Brainwaves emailed

Here's a story that sounds like science fiction but actually happened. A man in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, thought the words `hola' and `ciao' (hello or goodbye in Italian) and another man in Strasbourg, France, received the two greetings in his brain. No hands, no speaking, no typing, no gestures -just mind-tomind communication.

Researchers from the University of Barcelona, Harvard Medical School and three companies making brain stimulation equipment and robotics, carried out these experiments in March and April this year.Their findings are detailed in a paper published last week in the online journal PLOS-ONE.

This is how it worked. The person in Kerala was connected to a wearable EEG system plugged into a laptop. An EEG (electro-encephalograph) measures tiny electric currents in the brain. To do so, small electrodes are put on the scalp, much like wearing a tight cap. This set up is called the Brain Computer Interface (BCI).

"Setting up the BCI system is very easy and can be set up anywhere," Giulio Ruffini, lead researcher and CEO of Starlabs, Barcelona, said.After training in imagining certain movements that are associated with specific words, the sender thinks `hola' or `ciao'. This gets translated into an electronic signal that is sent through the internet to Strasbourg, nearly 8,000 kilometres away .

In Strasbourg, another person is wearing the reverse system in which electronic signals are transmitted to the brain from a machine. The electronic `hola' and `ciao' get translated back and flash in the receiver's brain. So, how did our man in Kerala figure in all this? The company Neuroelectrics that supplied the BCI has a representative there and they thought a distant location would be good "to show that distance was irrelevant". A similar experiment was done between Barcelona and Strasbourg with similar results.

Last year, scientists at Harvard had made a rat's tail twitch while its brain was connected electronically to a man who merely thought it. In August, scientists at the University of Washington established the first human brain-to-brain interface when a man moved another man's hand simply by thinking about it.Both were connected electronically .

The Kerala-France experiment is the first time that communication of words has been accomplished. The experiment is still rudimentary and requires training for the sender. Ruffini said that the Kerala man had to concentrate so hard that he needed breaks to relax. The system is still a far cry from seamless telepathic communication often seen in sci-fi movies.But it's a big step forward.

The war between Uber and India’s taxi operators is hotting up

Uber is stepping on the pedal in India and home-grown taxi rental companies, some backed by American private equity companies, are trying to push back.

 

Uber today rolled out in four more Indian cities—Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Kolkata—taking its presence to 10 cities. In terms of the number of operating cities, India is now Uber’s largest market outside the United States.

 

And in Bangalore, the first city it had launched in, Uber has slashed prices by 25% potentially sparking off a price war. The company claims that its UberX service in the city is now almost as cheap as riding an auto rickshaw.

India’s taxi rental companies are not sitting back and watching Uber eat their lunch

 

While homegrown cab companies such as Meru Cabs, Easy Cabs and Ola have built apps similar to Uber to make the booking process easier, they can’t do one thing that Uber can—store the customer’s credit card details on their databases and charge it at the end of the ride.

 

So while Uber riders can walk away at the end of the ride, while the app charges the credit card, customers of other services have to remember to carry cash. This is because India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), does not allow Indian companies to charge credit cards without a two-step authentication process. Uber, which uses an overseas payments gateway, is exempt from this problem.

 

We have reported earlier how this is a serious problem for India’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies, which bills customers each month. Due to this, some startups choose to incorporate overseas.

 

Indian car rental companies first wrote to the RBI accusing it of violating foreign exchange laws. Now, apparently, some are planning to set up collection offices overseas to be able to do the same. Some operators are planning to introduce payments through mobile wallet services as well.

The complaint of Indian taxi companies to the RBI about Uber questioned how the company paid its drivers as well.

 

The Association of Radio Taxis (ART) alleged recently that Uber violates the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and the central bank’s rules on credit card transactions. The ART had pointed out that Uber accepts payments in Indian rupees, and then transfers it to a Dutch Bank. The payment to the Indian cabbie is then sent from a US bank. In its letter, the ART had argued: “Collection of fares by Uber on behalf of a taxi driver in India should qualify as a capital account transaction under FEMA, and since such a transaction is not specifically permitted under the regulations, it is our understanding that the transaction is in gross contravention of the Indian exchange control regulations.”

 

It’s not just the payments mechanism of Uber that has got other cab rental companies smarting. Ola Cabs launched its Ola Luxury service earlier this year allowing customers to hire BMW and Mercedes cars for their ride.

 

While Uber is riding high currently on a wave of buzz and popularity, if the RBI finds merit in the taxi association’s complaint, it could jeopardise the company’s operations overnight.

Uber raised $1.2 billion earlier this year in the largest funding round for any startup.

How Design Thinking Transformed Airbnb from a Failing Startup to a Billion Dollar Business

In 2009, Airbnb was close to going bust. Like so many startups, they had launched but barely anyone noticed. The company’s revenue was flatlined at $200 per week. Split between three young founders living in San Francisco, this meant near indefinite losses on zero growth. As everyone knows, venture investors look for companies that show hockey stick graphs, and according to co-founder Joe Gebbia, his company had a horizontal drumstick graph. The team was forced to max out their credit cards.

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It's Okay to Do Things That Don’t Scale

At the time, Airbnb was part of Y Combinator.  One afternoon, the team was poring over their search results for New York City listings with Paul Graham, trying to figure out what wasn’t working, why they weren’t growing. After spending time on the site using the product, Gebbia had a realization. “We noticed a pattern. There's some similarity between all these 40 listings. The similarity is that the photos sucked. The photos were not great photos. People were using their camera phones or using their images from classified sites. It actually wasn't a surprise that people weren't booking rooms because you couldn't even really see what it is that you were paying for.”

Graham tossed out a completely non-scalable and non-technical solution to the problem: travel to New York, rent a camera, spend some time with customers listing properties, and replace the amateur photography with beautiful high-resolution pictures. The three-man team grabbed the next flight to New York and upgraded all the amateur photos to beautiful images. There wasn’t any data to back this decision originally. They just went and did it. A week later, the results were in: improving the pictures doubled the weekly revenue to $400 per week. This was the first financial improvement that the company had seen in over eight months. They knew they were onto something.

This was the turning point for the company. Gebbia shared that the team initially believed that everything they did had to be ‘scalable.’ It was only when they gave themselves permission to experiment with non-scalable changes to the business that they climbed out of what they called the ‘trough of sorrow.’

“We had this Silicon Valley mentality that you had to solve problems in a scalable way because that's the beauty of code. Right? You can write one line of code that can solve a problem for one customer, 10,000 or 10 million. For the first year of the business, we sat behind our computer screens trying to code our way through problems. We believed this was the dogma of how you're supposed to solve problems in Silicon Valley. It wasn't until our first session with Paul Graham at Y Combinator where we basically… the first time someone gave us permission to do things that don't scale, and it was in that moment, and I'll never forget it because it changed the trajectory of the business”

 

Why Designers Need to ‘Become the Patient’ to Build Better Products

 

Gebbia’s experience with upgrading photographs proved that code alone can’t solve every problem that customers have. While computers are powerful, there’s only so much that software alone can achieve. Silicon Valley entrepreneurs tend to become comfortable in their roles as keyboard jockeys. However, going out to meet customers in the real world is almost always the best way to wrangle their problems and come up with clever solutions.

Gebbia went on to share how an early design school experience also shaped his thinking about customer development, “If we were working on a medical device, we would go out into the world. We would go talk with all of the stakeholders, all of the users of that product, doctors, nurses, patients and then we would have that epiphany moment where we would lay down in the bed in the hospital. We'd have the device applied to us, and we would sit there and feel exactly what it felt like to be the patient, and it was in that moment where you start to go aha, that's really uncomfortable. There's probably a better way to do this.” This experience pushed Gebbia to make ‘being a patient’ a core value of their design team.

The desire to always be the patient is immediately felt by all new team members. “Everybody takes a trip in their first or second week in the company and then they document it. We have some structured questions that they answer and then they actually share back to the entire company. It's incredibly important that everyone in the company knows that we believe in this so much, we're going to pay for you to go take a trip on your first week.”

 

 

Let People Be Pirates

While Airbnb is data driven, they don’t let data push them around. Instead of developing reactively to metrics, the team often starts with a creative hypothesis, implements a change, reviews how it impacts the business and then repeats that process.

Gebbia shares, "I'm not sure how useful data is if you don't have meaningful scale to test it against. It may be misleading. The way that we do things is that if we have an idea for something, we now kind of build it into the culture of this idea that it is okay to do something that doesn't scale. You go be a pirate, venture into the world and get a little test nugget, and come back and tell us the story that you found."

Individual team members at Airbnb make small bets on new features, and then measure if there’s a meaningful return on the bet. If there’s a payoff, they send more pirates in that direction. This structure encourages employees to take measured, productive risks on behalf of the company that can lead to the development of major new features. It allows Airbnb to move quickly and continually find new opportunities.

“We’re trying to create an environment where people can see a glimmer of something and basically throw dynamite on it and blow it up to become something bigger than anyone could have ever imagined.” Tweet

 

Everyone Learns to Ship On Day One

As part of the onboarding process at Airbnb, the company encourages new employees to ship new features on their first day at the company. It earns them their sea legs and shows that great ideas can come from anywhere. This approach yields results in unexpected ways. For example, one Airbnb designer was assigned what seemed like the small task of reevaluating the “star” function. In the original Airbnb product, users could ‘star’ properties to add them to a wish list — a basic feature. Gebbia recounts the story:

“Our new designer comes back and says I have it. I go what do you mean you have it? You only spent the day on it. He goes, well, I think the stars are the kinds of things you see in utility-driven experiences. He explained our service is so aspirational. Why don't we tap into that? He goes I'm going to change that to a heart. I go, wow, okay. It's interesting, and we can ship it so we did. When we ship it, we put code in it so we can track it and see how behavior changed.”

Sure enough, the simple change from a star to a heart increased engagement by over 30%. In short, let people be pirates, ship stuff and try new things.

Parting Words

When you’re building product at a startup you’re always moving a million miles an hour. It’s tough. You need to ship. Gebbia tries to balance this reality with the need to think in new ways by constantly pushing his team to think bigger. He notes, “Anytime somebody comes to me with something, my first instinct when I look at it is to think bigger. That's my instinctual piece of advice. Think bigger. Whatever it is, blow it out of proportion and see where that takes you. Come back to me when you've thought about that times 100. Show me what that looks like."