Author Archives: Rakesh Agrawal

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About Rakesh Agrawal

Rakesh Agrawal is a 0-1 product leader. Ex-Amazon, Ex-Microsoft, as well as a number of startups. He tweets at @rakeshsfnyc

Google and the power of CDRs

Posted on July 8, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Google bought GrandCentral last week. GrandCentral is a provider of VOIP-based communications services. I’ve been using it for about six weeks; it’s a great service. One thing that really stands out about GrandCentral is its use of call detail records, … Continue reading →

Posted in google | Comments Off on Google and the power of CDRs

How do you launch a product? – Part two

Posted on July 8, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

In part one, I talked about the questions I ask when tackling a new product. Based on the answers to those questions, I’ll outline a path that includes some or all of these tasks: Write initial concept presentation. Work with … Continue reading →

Posted in product management | 1 Comment

Google Maps on jetBlue

Posted on July 7, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I recently had the chance to see the Google Maps on jetBlue that I wrote about earlier. The maps are pretty simple; no satellite views or other cool Google features. They rotate among zoom levels. (My photostream has other examples.) … Continue reading →

Posted in airlines, google, maps, travel | Comments Off on Google Maps on jetBlue

Getting out of your cell phone contract for free

Posted on July 7, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

For those of you drooling over the iPhone but not wanting to pay your carrier a $150-$200 cancellation fee, the Wall Street Journal offers a solution: annoy your carrier. The paper reports that Sprint is canceling the contracts of 1,000 … Continue reading →

Posted in customer service, wireless | Comments Off on Getting out of your cell phone contract for free

How do you launch a product?

Posted on July 7, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

When I’m talking to companies, one of the questions I get asked is “how do you launch a product?” There are so many variables that go in to launching products that the real answer is “it depends.” It depends on … Continue reading →

Posted in product management | 1 Comment

MeCasts coming to your TV

Posted on July 2, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’ve written before about the fragmentation of television. With cable and satellite, programmers can reach smaller and smaller audience segments. With content delivered over broadband, those segments become even smaller. Broadband distribution ultimately enables everyone to have his or her … Continue reading →

Posted in apple tv, personalization, social networking, television, video, YouTube | 7 Comments

The iPhone extravaganza

Posted on June 30, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I made my visit to the Temple of Jobs yesterday, reaching the Apple store on Stockton Street about 9:30 p.m. The live van for the local NBC affiliate was parked outside waiting for the 11 p.m. newscast. Inside, the store … Continue reading →

Posted in apple, consumer electronics, iphone, mobile, wireless, wireless data | 1 Comment

Facebook as the new Web OS

Posted on June 28, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I wrote a couple of pieces last year encouraging social networks to open up their networks and to let partners develop modules and applications around them. Facebook, with the new Facebook platform, is the first company that I’ve seen that … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, personalization, social networking, web 2, web 2.0 | Comments Off on Facebook as the new Web OS

I (heart) Facebook

Posted on June 27, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’m hooked on Facebook. In various ways, it replaces Twitter, Digg, Bluedot, plaxo and LinkedIn. And there’s a chance that it will replace my spam-laden email box, at least for messages from people I care about. I’m too invested in … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, social networking, web 2, web 2.0 | 2 Comments

On vacation

Posted on June 23, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’m on vacation in Santa Fe until Wednesday. If you have any suggestions for places to eat or visit in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, please leave them in comments.

Posted in rocky's travel | Comments Off on On vacation