{"id":1111,"date":"2024-12-20T11:54:14","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T11:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bullseye.ac\/blog\/?p=1111"},"modified":"2025-01-04T06:31:14","modified_gmt":"2025-01-04T06:31:14","slug":"1111","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bullseye.ac\/blog\/entrepreneurs\/1111\/","title":{"rendered":"Money Games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p> <p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt\"><b><span lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;\">TiE talk by Roby John, Tap 2 learn, Oct 2013<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\"><\/span><\/b><\/p><p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt\"><\/p><ol style=\"margin-top:0cm\" start=\"1\" type=\"1\">  <li class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">Roby John is a mechanical engineer from COEP, batch of 1999. He      was the gold medalist in college \u2013 moved on to a higher education program, but did not like it and dropped out. He has a flair for teaching, and he has taught for more than 10 years at C DAC.<\/span><\/li>  <li class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">After passing out of COEP, he joined <span style=\"background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;\">Cognizant, as one of their first employees, when they were located      in a flat in Pune. He stayed on for about 2 years and then moved on to start a journey of serial entrepreneurship. Indigo Architects was his first start up. Roby has been interested in buildings and construction \u2013 hence the use of the word \u2013 architect. It has a nice concrete feel about it. Around that time 9\/11 happened \u2013 and business dried up. However, there  was a silver lining \u2013 in terms of there being a demand for IT services related to Corporate philanthropy. So the first code was written for CSR!\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/li>  <li class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;\">Roby soon moved on to his second company, &#8211; O2 software. This one was started in his spare bedroom at home. O2 also got sold \u2013 and Roby and his partner at O2, moved on to greener      pastures in the <st1:place w:st=\"on\"><st1:country-region w:st=\"on\">US<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place>. They joined <st1:placename w:st=\"on\">Amber<\/st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st=\"on\">Point<\/st1:placename>, a company staffed by veterans of <st1:place w:st=\"on\">Silicon valley<\/st1:place>, which included team members who      worked on Ingress, one of the first RDBMS softwares. The company was into      Anti spyware solutions. <st1:place w:st=\"on\">Silicon valley<\/st1:place>      was an eye opener \u2013 and as Roby says, there was a 10 x difference in being there. After working at Amberpoint for 5 years, Roby moved on to his third      entrepreneurial venture \u2013 June Software. They have a very cute logo \u2013 an  Ambigram \u2013 which means that it reads the same even when you turn it upside  down.<\/span><\/li> <li class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">As Roby puts it the company was founded by 3 men and a dog. Charlie the dog is the official mascot of the company. What Roby had done      was that he invested his life time savings in buying a bungalow in Viman Nagar. Enthralled by the <st1:place w:st=\"on\">Silicon valley<\/st1:place> culture, he decided that for his team to be creative and to have fun in coding, they needed their own space, which could only be found in such a setting. <\/span><\/li>  <li class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;\">Here is a story Roby shared as an introduction to tap2learn: &#8220;Among the tribes of <st1:place w:st=\"on\">Africa<\/st1:place>, few have warriors traditionally more fearsome or more cunning than the  Masai of Kenya. It is perhaps surprising, then, to learn the traditional greeting among Masai warriors. One warrior would always say to another, \u201cKasserian Ingera,\u201d which, in Swahili, means, \u201cAre the children well?\u201d<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\"> <span style=\"background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;\">It is still the traditional greeting among      the Masai, acknowledging the high value of the Masai for the well-being of      children. Even modern Masai with no children of their own always give the      traditional answer, \u201cAll the children are well,\u201d meaning, of course, that      peace and safety prevail \u2013 that the priorities of protecting the young and      powerless are in place, that Masai society has not forgotten its reason      for being and its responsibilities. \u201cAll the children are well\u201d means that      life is good. It means that the daily struggles of existence do not preclude proper care for the young. <\/span>Our societies do not seem to      value children as much. <\/span><\/li>  <li class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">In educating children we have problems which are mostly related      to: <span style=\"background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;\">Short attention spans and lack of practice. <\/span>Interestingly, by the time you are 21, <span style=\"background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;\">you have probably played games for more than ten      thousand\u00a0hours, a number which is quoted by Malcolm Gladwell as      making you an \u2018expert\u2019 in a field. <\/span><\/span><\/li>  <li class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;\">The best learning is always self-learning. <span class=\"apple-converted-space\">Most elearning software      today is busy replicating the classroom. There are pdfs, more evolved      software would have videos. It should not be about replicating the      classroom, but about engaging the student. Understanding the consumer is      very important. A lot of effort was expended in talking to students,      parents and teachers. The metrics and analytics are what is missing in      school education today. <\/span>Parents and teachers don&#8217;t know what      students don&#8217;t know! <span class=\"apple-converted-space\">The Ipad was seen      as an engagement tool, and with an average tap happening every 2 minutes      in a game \u2013 a good way of understanding the metrics of engagement. <\/span><\/span><span class=\"apple-converted-space\"><\/span><\/li>  <li class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">June software was so named because the deadline for the first      product roll-out was in June. 2 of Roby\u2019s CDAC students joined as      co-founders. The idea was to make learning apps for Ipads. The app names      were chosen based on an analysis of search key words \u2013 so Grammar \u2013 not      English. The content expert for the first app on Grammar was Roby\u2019s mom      who has been an English teacher. The design is very child centric, which      means that the child learns by playing a cartoon based game. <span class=\"apple-converted-space\"><span style=\"background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;\">In tap2learn\u2019s      second game \u2013 they introduced the character of the Tiny Chicken, and found      that engagement levels went up drastically after this, to almost 30      minutes per session. So it was decided to retain this mascot for future      games.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>  <li class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;\">If you have a great product, nobody      can stop you, if not, nobody can save you. In 2010, immediately after its      launch, tap2learn\u2019s grammar app was the highest selling paid app in      education\u00a0in the Apple Store.<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">The company has a very interesting marketing strategy. The <span style=\"background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;\">total marketing spend of Tap2learn till date has      been $ 8000. Interestingly, there is no one employed for marketing!<\/span>      Tap2learn\u2019s apps are free for the first 15 days. To start using the app,      the child has to enter her parent\u2019s email address. After 15 days the      parent gets a mail from Tap2Learn. For a geography app., the mail asks      parents to quiz her child about where <st1:place w:st=\"on\"><st1:country-region w:st=\"on\">Vietnam<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place> is \u2013 and a few other      questions whose answers the child would have learnt while playing the      geography game. This is what Roby calls is the \u2018Holy Shit\u2019 moment \u2013 where      the parent is pleasantly surprised about her kid\u2019s learning. The mail then      requests parents that if they want to continue learning please purchase      this app for 99 cents and most parents immediately decide to make the      purchase. And this is just the beginning. By maintaining this      relationship, the parent is sold other apps \u2013 and now it is easier \u2013      because Tap2learn is a brand that she has started trusting now.<\/span><\/li>  <li class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\" style=\"background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;\">The company\u2019s focus has been on the <st1:place w:st=\"on\"><st1:country-region w:st=\"on\">US<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place>      market, because that is where all the IPads are. Revenues have been great      \u2013 so far they have crossed 1 m $ in sales.\u00a0      Initially all the capital invested was own capital \u2013 but the      company has since participated in Y combinator, an interesting      entrepreneur class \u2013 and seed funder. They have since got angel investors      coming in. The company is still only 30 strong, with 25 at the Viman Nagar      office and 5 in <st1:place w:st=\"on\"><st1:city w:st=\"on\">Menlo Park<\/st1:city>,       <st1:state w:st=\"on\">California<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>. The company      participates in MacWorld expos in the <st1:place w:st=\"on\"><st1:country-region w:st=\"on\">US<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place>, where Roby mentioned that      even Steve Job\u2019s wife Pauline acknowledged that their app is being used by      her kids.<\/span><\/li>  <li class=\"MsoNormal\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">One of Roby\u2019s first partners was a sardar, who was very fond of      this joke: <\/span><\/li> <span style=\"font-size: inherit; background-color: var(--base-3); color: var(--contrast);\">There&#8217;s a group of intelligent(!) sardars who plan to give an IQ test to their sardar fellowmates. Henceforth a meeting is arranged &amp; all the sardars in the community are invited.\u00a0 So first, they call Banta Singh and ask him what is 10+35? He thinks for quite sometime, and finally answers 55. All his friends shout ,&#8221;Give him one more chance !!&#8221;. So next, he&#8217;s asked what is 11+12? He says 25 &amp; again his friends shout ,&#8221;Give him one more chance!!&#8221;. This time he&#8217;s asked what is 2+2? This time he answers 4 &amp; all his sardar friends shout,&#8221;Give him one more chance!!&#8221;.<\/span><span style=\"font-size: inherit; background-color: var(--base-3); color: var(--contrast); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;\"> <\/span><\/ol><p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-left:36.0pt\"><\/p><p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-left:36.0pt\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">The culture at tap2learn is a very open one. The philosophy is to give everyone one more chance. The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. <span style=\"background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;\">You never work in a great co, you work with great people<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">.<\/span><\/span>12. One question &#8211; which I wanted to ask, but could not given the competition to ask questions: Most game companies have very steep, but short trajectories. Very few like Nintendo maybe, have managed to sustain interest for a relatively long time.<\/span><\/p> <p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-left: 36pt; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">Maybe it is a problem of the attention span again. Is there a vision to look at extending the franchise into other areas?<\/span><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TiE talk by Roby John, Tap 2 learn, Oct 2013 Roby John is a mechanical engineer from COEP, batch of 1999. He was the gold medalist in college \u2013 moved on to a higher education program, but did not like it and dropped out. He has a flair for teaching, and he has taught for &#8230; <a title=\"Money Games\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/bullseye.ac\/blog\/entrepreneurs\/1111\/\" aria-label=\"More on Money Games\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Money Games - BullsEye<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bullseye.ac\/blog\/entrepreneurs\/1111\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Money Games - BullsEye\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TiE talk by Roby John, Tap 2 learn, Oct 2013 Roby John is a mechanical engineer from COEP, batch of 1999. 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