Thoughts @ Amit Gupta » Real estate

Logging out from makaan.com

Amit Gupta — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:32:47 +0000

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

Makaan.com property survey on CNBC

Amit Gupta — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:59:17 +0000

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.

Makaan Mobile

Amit Gupta — Thu, 29 May 2008 10:33:45 +0000

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 :

Makaan.com TV Commercial

Amit Gupta — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:43:18 +0000

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 :

Google Street Map

Amit Gupta — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:00:56 +0000

Jinke ghar sheeshe ke hote hain, unhe kapde parde daal kar badalne chahiye (One who have glass windows, should put curtains before changing the cloths.). Now you have all the more reason to fear. Google has ventured into street map and to what precision.

I was just exploring trulia (A real estate portal) who have implemented the Google street Maps. I clicked on the sample map provided on the homepage for San Fransisco. I was amazed to see the details of the streets. I can actually read the number plate of the car standing outside the apartment.

Now that’s taking property to your desktop literally. Though I am a staunch follower and devotee of Google but this feature has put me in thinking mode. You can put image of your house on site for sale but how can we allow anyone to peep into neighbors house. Say in the ad below the house no. 510 on sale is and we can zoom to the balcony of House No 511.

To me that is a bit too much. There need to be limit to this invasion of privacy.