Dr. Amitabh Saran,Co- Founder & MD,Buzzintown talks to IndianExpress.com on the dynamics of sharing information in the modern era. How did you come up with the Idea of Buzzintown? Buzzintown was born with the idea of providing people rich information on all kinds of entertainment options,using all kinds of media available. We felt the need to create a platform where people can come and look at over 100 genres of entertainment choices and pick from them. Thats how the idea of Buzzintown was formulated. Was it the first name that struck to your mind or was it the result of detailed work and deliberation? We wanted to use a brand that communicated - excitement buzz was a natural choice of word. Since we are a very city centric offering (we cover happenings in 19 cities across India),we decided to have a three word name Buzzintown. What made you think that there was ever a need for a portal like Buzzintown? Picture this: It is another Friday evening,you have barely managed through a hard week,and you feel you just have to be something different this weekend away from the usual. Looking at newspapers will result in tons of movie listings,or coverage of events that you probably knew of already big stars,classy musicians,golf tournaments,art exhibitions and didn´t want to attend or were too pricey for the weekend spirit. They say that inspiration usually hits when you are scraping bottom. It did to us and Buzzintown was confirmed. Were you ever apprehensive about launching this kind of product? I dont think apprehension is the right word. Needless to say,whenever one is leaving their cushy jobs to pursue the unknown,there is initial apprehension. Who do you think are the major competitors of Buzzintown and what gives you a mileage over others? Each and every guy with 5 events with them is our competitor. On the contrary,no one today has the singular focus on becoming an entertainment hub as much as Buzzintown. An external audience does take Bookmyshow,Asklaila,Burrp in the same league as Buzzintown we feel each of them has their strengths. Buzzintown focuses on dynamic content,not just ticketed shows or static information. The value- add which we provide is in terms of being more local for which we created a network of over 40000 stakeholders of the entertainment industry across India. What is that one innovation which Buzzintown has introduced? I believe that the biggest innovation in our business is the depth of content we provide. Our content is not only user generated but also sourced from all stakeholders of the entertainment industry i.e. event managers,artistes,venue owners,theatre groups,production companies etc. We have recently started a new feature known as Buzzin TV which provides users with a complete online television experience. Do you think Indians are ready to use the services of a product like Buzzintown? Keeping in mind that the Indian economic growth and rising income levels in the country,we believe that there is indeed a market for a service like Buzzintown. Also the fact that we have over 1.3 million registered users,with over 10 million page views,only helps us in illustrating our point. How has your academic field been helpful in promoting this venture? I have a PhD in Computer Science with a focus on distributed consumer networks,so the concepts were not alien to me. I also have an experience of start-ups and its my observation that most start-ups dont fail because of starvation,they fail because of indigestion. Singular focus and flawless execution are the two ingredients for a successful venture. What in your opinion is the lifeline of Buzzintown? The lifeline of Buzzintown is undoubtedly the richness of the content. We get our information direct from the source,and provide details as early as possible. Unlike a newspaper which lists some events a day before or a day after,Buzzintown gives enough time for people to plan their week. The biggest advantage on our side you get all of this while you are on the go on the internet or your mobile 24 hrs a day! How do you see the success of Buzzintown? We are graduating from being just an events listing portal to an online entertainment hub,providing detailed and customized entertainment options across the country including events,venues,weekend getaways,artistes & original web-TV We also plan to expand our presence to 35 cities by end of 2010.
