Thoughts @ Amit Gupta

Logging out from makaan.com

Now when i am logging off as a product manager for makaan.com after two and a half year, i am tempted to peep into the past and relive some of the moments that i’ll cherish for life. My session with makaan begins with an email request (typical web 2.0 style) to aditya verma (business head & vp, makaan.com ) and i got the invite to join in the core team to build a real estate portal.

First day @ makaan                         My Laapy

We started out with a small team in a makeshift office in south extn before moving to beautiful building in gurgaon.  We started in a typical start-up environment with a daunting task of going commercial in the least possible time. But this gave me a rare opportunity to work and understand every aspect of setting up a new business and felt like an entrepreneur.

The proud moment arrived on August 15, 2007 when we formally launched makaan.  I lived so many sweet and sour experiences during  my stay with makaan. Few of them become part of my blog and can be read below and rest will stay etched in my memory for ever.

- Offsite visit with makaan tech team (& family) to Chamba, Tehri dam and Mussorie.

- Endless wait in aircrafts for takeoff.
- I become a jealous economy class traveler (I pass it of as austerity).
- Been an alien in my own country.
- I spend a night at airport terminal.
- Completes 1 year @ Makaan
- Offsite to daman with software team
- Launch of makaan mobile application
- Launch of makaan 2.0
- Offsite to karjat with product team

Some more unforgettable moments captured on camera

Team makaan on second anniversary

What next ????

I’ll be logging into the domain of social bookmarking. To know more details keep watching this space or add this page to your favorite (web 1.0 style) or better bookmark this page

Tags: Amit, India property, internet, Job, karjat, life, Makaan, Makaan.com, Property Show, Real estate, Travel

Makaan.com property survey on CNBC

Makaan.com conducted a National survey ‘My Vote. My Makaan’ in leading Metros and Tier II cities of India. The survey was conducted on the portal between 22nd to 30th April 2009 and saw participation from over 3563 property seekers nationally.

The survey results can be found at http://makaan.com/electionsurvey. The survey findings were also covered on CNBC Awaaz.

Tags: Internet & Mobile, Makaan, Real estate, survey

Product offsite at Karjat (Mumbai)

Off-sites trainings are fun and this is my second off-site training camp in People Interactive within six months. Now this is advantage of managing multiple portfolios and slogging.  I got to go out with both software and product offsite to take break from work at makaan.

My last visit to Daman with software team was close to sea and this one at beautiful Karjat near Mumbai. The weather was awesome and it almost rained for our entire stay at karjat.

We had a training, presentations, Jam session, treasure hunt all squeezed within two short days. We were literally awake for two days.

This is a very memorable trip for me to Mumbai itself also. After so long I really got the chance to out and see mumbai city. Before this mumbai to me was only our office and road to airport. This time round Me and my team decided to extend our stay in city for a day more.

Our city tour in taxi include visit to Sidhivinayak, Hazi Ali, Gateway of India, Marine drive and Nariman point.

Waiting at airport for the flight back to Delhi. The guy with lappy is me tring to finish this post

Tags: Daman, fun, Gateway of India, Job, karjat, Mumbai, Product, Rivergate resort, Travel

Makaan Chowdhary

My fond childhood memories of Chacha chowdhary , Sabu , rocket (Chacha’s pet dog) are back. Chachaji can solve all the problms in the world cauz ”Chacha ka dimaag computer se bhi tez chalta hai” . Watch him in new avtaar making Rajnikant and Mithun da the superstar.

[Amit Gupta]5F3QoOqdf1o[/Amit Gupta]

Tags: chacha chowdhary, comics, Makaan, Mithun, rajnikant, sabu, superstars

Makaan Mobile

 Know your customers and the environment in which they operate.  At Makaan we found out that our customers (property providers) are not very tech-savvy and don’t have regular internet access, infact only little fraction of our total customer universe are internet friendly. But the irony is that thier customers (Property seekers) are more and more depends on new age mediums for the needs.

So the challange was to build a product which will bridge this gap and property seeker & providers can be brought closer. The answer was in mobile phone which is a integral business requirement of people in property business. So through Makaan Mobile benefits internet is brought to people with no access of Internet.

Makaan Mobile application is a First SMS based application which enable property provider to advertise for the property and recieve responses directly to his mobile. The application also manages all the listings and the responses of the advertiser.

To know more about Makaan Mobile visit  www.makaan.com/mobile . This application is supported on all GSM networks in India. You can also download the application from the link below :

Tags: Download Makaan, Internet & Mobile, Makaan, Mobile, Product, Property, Real estate

Makaan Property Show

Hey Last week was very busy. Makaan.com is organizing the first property show in North India. After successful shows in Hyderabad and Pune , saddi Dilli seems to be the best choice. In couple of months there are many more to come across nation.

Today was the day one of Delhi Property show. And it was quite a show as the show was simultaneously held at Noida and Gurgaon. I covered both the centers though it become a bit too tiring … So See ya Gud Night  

Tags: Delhi, India property, Makaan.com, Properties, Property, Property Show, Pune

Makaan.com TV Commercial

After 7 months of launch makaan.com has come out with a TVC.  And as an associated sponsor to the Extra Innings during IPL. I hope Makaan will generate loads of brand recall.

 

There are various factors what make this commercial stand out including a very well executed and co-ordinated performance of animated Mouse Character and human actor.  This commercial has a very peppy and hummable background score.

 

Catch this throughout the telecast of IPL. As of now check this out :

Tags: Cricket, IPL, Makaan.com, Makaan.com TVC, Property, Real estate, Television

Fun @ work – Offsite to Daman

Fun @ work takes a new dimension when People Group engineering team has strolled out for the picnic last week. The gyaan sessions seemed to be the coolest thing around. Day one: We headed for resort in Virar (Suburb of Mumbai) for tech presentation to be made by engineering teams.  The event gave opportunity to everyone to come on stage and speak up about the work they’ve been doing and their learning’s. We achieved the very purpose of the get-together KNOWLEGE SHARING. And we end the day with jump in the pool and late night cricket. 

 Day 2: We headed for Daman after a light breakfast. The three and a half hour long journey seemed nothing with everyone having fun on board. Many of us were singing and dancing while quite a few catch up with Ajay Devgan’s flick “Halla Bol”. After having a filling lunch at the beachside in Daman we all rushed to the water park. It was amazing to soak our self and enjoy in thrilling rides of the park. The evening attraction was the wave pool and the rain dance. The day ended with dinner against the vast Arabian ocean as a backdrop with live orchestra playing the hit numbers. We shook our leg till we drop.  

 

Day 3 : It was the day to relax and chill out. After a lazy morning breakfast everyone wanted to take maximum of the last day of our trip. We headed back to Mumbai after the lunch. The spirit doesn’t seem to die though all of us were dead tired. We reached Mumbai late in the evening and everyone carried sweet memories of the trip with them.        

Tags: Daman, Makaan.com, Mumbai, offsite, Travel