Welcome to my personal blog. I mostly write on entrepreneurship, economics, libertarianism, movies, and my travels.

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Apr 24, 2013

जुजुमानका साहसिक कार्यहरु - भाग ३ (साझा सम्पत्तीको बियोगान्त)


"जुन कुरा तपाईको हो, त्यसको तपाई हेरचाह गर्नुहुन्छ। जुन कुरा कसैको होइन् वा सबैको हो, त्यसको बेस्याहार हुन्छ।”

अर्थशार्त्री केन स्कुल्ल्यान्डद्वारा लिखित, नेपाली भाषा सहित गरेर विश्वका ४७ भाषामा अनुवाद भैसकेको "दि एड्भेन्चरस अफ जनाथन गलिबल : अ फ्री मार्केट ओडीसी" नामक पुस्तकको नेपाली अनुवादको पोड्कास्ट्को यस तेस्रो भागमा जुजुमानले एकजना माझीलाई भेट्छन जो एउटा साझा पोखरी (सरकारी कर्मचारीद्वारा व्यवस्थित ) मा माछा मारिरखेका हुन्छन ।

यस भागमा हामीले कसरी कुनै स्रोतको स्पष्ट स्वामित्व नभएको खन्डमा त्यस स्रोतको बेस्याहार हुन्छ भन्ने बारेमा सिक्छौ । पोड्कास्ट हरेक हप्ता बुधवार प्रकाशित हुन्छ । सुनेर प्रतिकृया दिनुहोला ।

पोड्कास्ट सुन्नका लागि तल क्लिक गर्नुहोला ।




पोड्कास्ट डाउनलोड गर्नका लागि तल क्लिक गर्नुहोला ।

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible (Nepali)- Episode 3

यस पोड्कास्टका अरु अङ्क सुन्नको लागि तल क्लिक गर्नु होला ।

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible (Nepali)

Apr 19, 2013

Youth Entrepreneurship in Nepal



In its April 2013 issue, Vibes Magazine has published my interview on youth entrepreneurship in Nepal. Below is an excerpt of the interview:

1. What intrigued you to come with the idea of helping young entrepreneurs of Nepal?

Samriddhi, The Prosperity Foundation was established with the vision of contributing towards creating a free and prosperous Nepal. Prosperity is always created by a vibrant private sector abuzz with creative and innovative entrepreneurs. In Nepal, however, entrepreneurship has rarely been looked upon as a viable means of solving our social and economic problems. Majority of our young people think of seeking a lucrative job or going abroad after their studies but very few think of starting their own enterprises. However, some of our major problems like unemployment, poverty, lower living standards can be solved in a sustainable way by promoting entrepreneurship. This prompted our organization to work on inspiring and supporting young entrepreneurs of Nepal.

2. How did you get started with something like Arthalaya?

Since, majority of our team members had worked on youth sector before, we had good experience of working with youth. If we were going to create a successful program for youth, it had to be youth friendly i.e.  it had to be interactive, interesting along with provide enough information and knowledge to the participants on the topic. And the first step towards promoting entrepreneurship is making young people aware about the concept of entrepreneurship and inspiring them to become entrepreneurs. Hence, the concept of arthalaya was born. It is a five day residential workshop where participants learn about economics and entrepreneurship. The participants not only get involved in theoretical sessions and group works but also have to run their own business during the course of the workshop. This helps them translate their learnings into a firsthand experience of running a business. We recently concluded 16th batch of arthalaya and now have 384 (16*24) graduates.

3. As a columnist writing on economic and financial issues, how do you see the status of young entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship as a whole?

It is inspiring to see more and more young people interested in entrepreneurship. It makes happy to see young people starting out new ventures in various fields, from agro-business to outsourcing. The importance of entrepreneurship is slowly being recognized. These entrepreneurs are going to be a vital force in bringing about the much needed progress and change, especially in economic frontiers, in the country. However, whether a nation generates significant amount of entrepreneurs in overall is largely determined by the environment it creates for its entrepreneurs.Strong and effective institutions that provide security to life and property, maintain rule of law, promote competition and innovation are needed for entrepreneurship development. Nepal lacks such institutions and our political economic process is , unfortunately is in reverse gear when it comes to creating entrepreneurial environment. However, we can be hopeful that the upcoming entrepreneurs will contribute significantly in creating and enhancing these institutions as well.

4. What are the crucial factors you see that needs to be worked upon to develop workshops like Arthalaya and organizations supporting such events have been doing?

While developing programs like arthalaya it is very necessary that they are designed in a youth friendly way. By this, I mean the program should be very interactive and participative without missing the information and knowledge of the related topic. If such programs are run in the traditional way (one-way lecture), participants are likely to get bored and find little value in the program. 

Mixture of practical activities along with the theoretical stuff is necessary. For example, in arthalaya we have a dual approach of teaching the participants about entrepreneurship and economic policies. They go through different theoretical sessions like lectures, presentations and group work on the topic. On the other hand, they are asked to run their own businesses throughout the workshop period. This helps to reinforce their learnings during the theoretical sessions. Diversity of participants is another crucial factor that determines the vibrancy and effectiveness of the workshop. In the context of Nepal, rigorous selection process for participants is also very necessary. one of the tendency among our young people is to apply for any workshop (even if they have little interest in the subject matter) if it means getting another certificate. Without a rigorous selection process, you might end up with disinterested participants.

5. What would you suggest aspiring entrepreneurs as the three most required skills to begin their career as one?

Based on my observations team building, networking and selling are among the three most important skills for aspiring entrepreneurs.

6. How effective do you think are such events or workshops to develop oneself as an entrepreneur?

Such workshops can provide the needed inspiration and impetus for starting out one's venture. They also help in acquiring the needed skills and networking for the success of you venture. However, attending such workshop per se will not create an entrepreneur out of you. Entrepreneurship is something that is learnt through experience. To be an entrepreneur, one has to get his/her hands dirty (i.e. just do it)

7. Do you believe there is a formula and or pattern for becoming a successful entrepreneur?

No. There isn't. If there was such a formula, many people could have become entrepreneurs. But there are common traits I have found among successful entrepreneurs. Some of them are persistence, extreme dedication to one's work/cause, excellent networking and focus on value creation for consumers.

Apr 17, 2013

जुजुमानका साहसिक कार्यहरु - भाग २ (खतरा उत्पन्न गर्नेहरु)


 अर्थशार्त्री केन स्कुल्ल्यान्डद्वारा लिखित, नेपाली भाषा सहित गरेर विश्वका ४७ भाषामा अनुवाद भैसकेको "दि एड्भेन्चरस अफ जनाथन गलिबल : अ फ्री मार्केट ओडीसी" नामक पुस्तकको नेपाली अनुवादको पोड्कास्ट्को यस दोश्रो भागमा जुजुमानले  उक्त नयाँ टापूका मानिस हरुलाई प्रथम पटक भेट्छन  । यस भागमा हामीले रोजगारी कै निमित्त रोजगारी सृजना गर्न खोज्नु र रोजगारी बचाउने नाममा नयाँ आविष्कारलाई रोक्न खोज्नु  कत्तिको मुर्खता पूर्ण कुरा हो भनेर सिक्छौं ।

पोड्कास्ट हरेक हप्ता बुधवार प्रकाशित हुन्छ । सुनेर प्रतिकृया दिनुहोला ।

पोड्कास्ट सुन्नका लागि तल क्लिक गर्नुहोला ।


पोड्कास्ट डाउनलोड गर्नका लागि तल क्लिक गर्नुहोला ।

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible (Nepali)- Episode 2

यस पोड्कास्टका अरु अङ्क सुन्नको लागि तल क्लिक गर्नु होला ।

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible (Nepali)

Apr 10, 2013

जुजुमानका साहसिक कार्यहरु - भाग १ ( समुन्द्री आँधी )


"दि एड्भेन्चरस अफ जनाथन गलिबल : अ फ्री मार्केट ओडीसी", अर्थशार्त्री केन स्कुल्ल्यान्डद्वारा लिखित एउटा विश्वबिख्यात पुस्तक हो । यो पुस्तक नेपाली भाषा सहित गरेर विश्वका ४७ भाषामा अनुवाद भैसकेको छ ।

यस पुस्तकले जनाथन (नेपालीमा जुजुमान )भन्ने एक युवकको कथा भन्छ जो समुन्द्रमा जहाँज दुर्घटनामा परेर एउटा नयाँ टापूमा पुग्छ । एउटा स्वतन्त्र समाजमा हुर्के बढेका जुजुमान ले उक्त टापूमा अचम्मका निती- नियमहरु र परम्पराको सामना गर्छन । यस कथाले ति बेतुक नियम्हरुले कसरी त्यहाँका बसिन्दाको जिवन लाई नियन्तृत गरिराखेको छ र उनिहरुलाई समृद्ध हुन बाट रोकिराखेको छ भनेर उजागर गर्छ ।

सरल र रोचक शैलीमा प्रस्तुत गरिएको यस पुस्तका मार्फत पाठकले आर्थीक नितीनियम र तीनले जनजिवन र आर्थीक समृद्धिमा पार्ने अस रका बारेमा जान्न सक्छन ।

यस पुस्तकको नेपाली अनुवादको पोड्कास्ट यस ब्लगमा प्रस्तुत गर्न लागेको छु । सुनेर प्रतिकृया दिनुहोला । पोड्कास्ट हरेक हप्ता बुधवार प्रकाशित हुन्छ ।


यस पहिलो भागमा जनाथन अर्थत जुजुमान कसरी उक्त दुर्घटनामा परे भन्ने बारेमा छ ।

पोड्कास्ट सुन्नका लागि तल क्लिक गर्नुहोला ।  

पोड्कास्ट डाउनलोड गर्नका लागि तल क्लिक गर्नुहोला ।
The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible (Nepali)- Episode 1

यस पोड्कास्टका अरु अङ्क सुन्नको लागि तल क्लिक गर्नु होला ।

The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible (Nepali)
 

Apr 6, 2013

How institutions affect the economic performance of a society


Institutions are the rules of the game in a society that guide or shape human interactions in the society. Not only formal institutions like legal system, property rights, contract enforcement mechanism but also the informal institutions like code of conduct, customs and traditions play a vital role in determining whether an economy evolves or stagnates or how fast the economy evolves.

I stumbled upon this video in which Nobel Laureate Economist Douglass C. North and Prof. Timur Kuran, professor of Economics and Political Science at Duke University talk about the evolution of institutions, the role institutions played in stagnation of Islamic societies after 12th century, how lack of feedback mechanism towards institutions in Soviet society led to its downfall and how internet and the free flow of information it has brought, is transforming closed societies of Middle East and elsewhere into more open and thereby, more prosperous societies.



What do you think? Please share your opinions in the comments below!