The co-founder and CEO of Zoho Corp, Sridhar Vembu, is not one of those filthy-rich high-life lovers. It had always been in him to do something  which the masses of his motherland could benefit from. He is not new to us; We’ve had the privilege of featuring his exclusive interview. Here is more on his philanthropy; Zoho University.

This post is more about this very unorthodox software company that is rebelling against many conventions, than merely being a career guidance. It is also partly about a boy named Saran Babu who is a flagship developer at Zoho. The connection between the two stories? Saran never went to college. He went to Zoho University instead.

The success story of Saran Babu started when he was 17. And as most other success stories, this one too began with a risk. At that time, Saran was on the lookout for a part-time job so that he could take over the family burden from his retiring father. He did not have much to expect as he was just out of high school. It was that time when Zoho, formerly called AdventNet, came out with an initiative. It was to hand-pick deserving high-school students  who are on the verge of dropping-out, and train them on software development. There was no promise of being recruited because this was more of a test-drive for Zoho. It is said that 3000/- was all they initially offered to these students. After 18 months of real-time training and assessments, they would be placed as regular employees.

Saran being the very first chosen one, had a tough time taking the call between a conventional college education he could hardly afford, and trusting this then-never-heard-of company. Looking back, it might be one of the best decisions he has ever made. Five years later, Saran finds himself at the heart of Zoho Creator, a star service of Zoho, and now earns nearly 40,000/-. Never mind the money; He is adored by all for his simple ways and humble attitude; Even by those few who might envy him for his technical expertise. Saran stands tall and most of his successors turn to him for guidance. He is turning 23 next month.

Of the two sides to everything, the less-seen side need not always be the dark side. Education has always been thought of as graduation from a famous and costly college. The overlooked fact is that the other side too is changing lives. Zoho plays in a market ruled by Google and Microsoft. How could it afford to employ people who never went to high-school and college? Well, that is just what they are doing, and they are doing just fine. It is 10% already, and Sridhar would love to see around 40% of his proud followers to be graduates of Zoho University. He humbly says that it is not charity that they are doing; It is a win for the company too, because these employees are the ones with the greatest vigor and passion of a young and fresh mind. The most loyal ones too.

All this sensation comes from Zoho University which is now looking to recruit it’s 19th batch of students. Here is more on how to apply.

Kids who have completed their +2/diploma (in any stream) are eligible to apply to Zoho University at univ@zohocorp.com. They would then be given a written test, followed by a series of interviews. On successful selection, the candidates would be inducted into an 18 month training program at Zoho University.

With five full-time faculty members, a curriculum that finally has relevance to reality and 18 batches of successful high-school drop-outs, Zoho University is, without doubt, more  meaningful than conventional college education.

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GetSetGrow Editorial Team

Incidentally, sustainability is almost always associated with the impact of our actions on the environment. While that is true to a large extent, sustainability goes way beyond environmental issues alone. Environment, social and economic

factors constitute the three main pillars of sustainability. These pillars are referred to as the “triple bottom line” (TBL) and form the crux of sustainability. Stability of organizations can be measured using the TBL approach in addition to financial performance.

Business activities over the past several years have created many unfavorable and potentially damaging effects such as climate change, exploitation of human rights and unequal distribution of wealth to name a few. Numerous attempts have been made to study interdependence of human economies and the natural ecosystems. Studies have been conducted to incorporate sustainability in our daily lives through ecological footprint analysis and life cycle analysis. Efforts are being made by government, research bodies and organizations to increase public awareness on issues like recycling, renewable energy, energy efficient activities, waste reduction, conservation of natural resources and elimination or control of toxic substances all of which are sustainable practices. Various environmental laws have been passed in countries to curb carbon emissions (Euro 5, U.S. EPA Tier 3 and 4 emission standards), control waste disposal (WEEE Directive– Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) and eliminate or control toxic chemicals (REACH – Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals, RoHS Directive – Restriction of Hazardous Substances and GHS – Globally Harmonized System). Similarly, labor laws exist to protect the rights of workers, antitrust laws to prohibit unfair business practices and many related laws.

Based on the discussion above, it is apparent that there is a deliberate effort to integrate ethics into business and in every aspect of our daily life. After all life is about giving back to the society! This ideology has compelled many companies to incorporate “Corporate Social Responsibility” as an integral part of their business. Successful corporations are those that have looked beyond profits and adopted sustainable strategies in their business activities. During a World Economic Forum meeting in 2002, Bill Gates had commented that it was a healthy sign to have demonstrators on streets, as this was an indication of whether the rich was giving back enough to the world. With forecasts that highlight a population of 9 billion by 2050 and the earth’s resources just being able to support 1.8 billion people at the current levels of consumption it is imperative that we rethink the way we live.

Written by our GSG Sustainability Knowledge Manager : Shobhitha Unikkat
Shobhitha is a Research Analyst with Solaron Ventures in the Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) space. She analyzes companies and industry sectors based on ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) principles to determine risks, opportunities and trends.

Spam generates 17mn tons of CO² : Steps to reduce spams and reduce your carbon footprint.

Spam is not just an irritant to receivers, it is also a threat to the environment with a huge carbon footprint, say researchers. A study into spam has blamed it for the production of more than 33bn kilowatthours of energy every year, enough to power more than 2.4m homes. The ‘Carbon Footprint of email Spam Report’ estimated that 62 trillion spam emails are sent globally every year, the BBC News portal reported on Thursday.   This amounted to emissions of more than 17 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO ² ), the research by climate consultants ICF International and anti-virus firm McAfee found. Searching for legitimate emails and deleting spam used some 80% of energy.

The study found that the average business user generates 131kg of CO ² every year, of which 22% is related to spam.  ICF say that spam filtering would reduce unwanted spam by 75%, the equivalent to taking 2.3 million cars off the road. However, the ICF goes on to say that while spam filtering is effective in reducing energy waste, fighting it at the source is far better.   The report highlights the case of McColo, a US web hosting firm that had ties to spammers. The day after it was taken offline by its two internet service providers, global spam volume fell by 70%. Although the respite was only temporary, McAfee said that the “day without spam amounted to taking 2.2 million cars off the road” and that tackling spam should be part of the campaign to reduce our carbon footprint and save our planet.

How can you prevent spamming ?

1. Firstly make sure you never publish your email ids in unknown sites , better not to register. Its better to check the site in sites like http://www1.k9webprotection.com/support/check-site-rating.php , http://www.siteadvisor.com/
2. Be selective in sharing your id with unknown persons.
3. In social networking sites it is not recommended to share your email id to everyone, but to friends or focused groups only. Refer to the site http://www.saferinternet.org/ww/en/pub/insafe/safety_issues/faqs.htm for more guidelines.
4. Make sure your system has the latest antivirus patches, malware, adwarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adware, spyware protection and a personal firewall configured for port preventing port attacks.
5. Whenever in doubt of any internet activity ask your friends or post questions in forum.
6. Don’t get too much attracted for free offers , cheap offers – your security maybe compromised.

While volunteering has been a very common activity in the west, not many of us Indians participate in volunteering activities. Donating money to a charity should not be confused as volunteerism. Apart from the Socio-Economic benefits of volunteering, there are a whole lot of benefits to the volunteers too. Many of these improve our employability since these aspects are part of the soft skills that employers seek.

1)      Team work – Volunteering gives us an opportunity to work with people from different walks of lives and teaches us a lot about team work. This can be a valuable learning experience which can later be applied at our jobs.

2)      Management and Leadership Skills – While there might be some who may not be interested in leadership roles at volunteering, there definitely are opportunities where one can lead a team of volunteers. President of United States – Barrack Obama, is a living example of one who started his career in non-profit and volunteering services.

3)      Communication Skills – Volunteers often have to respond to their clients, participate in rallies, and prepare presentations of their volunteering organization to the donors. All these provide excellent opportunities to enhance one’s communication skills.

4)      Building or improving technical skills – Many of my friends always wonder what can they do with their programming skills and I have encouraged them to use it towards volunteer services. This helps to hone our technical skills else we might forget what we have learnt.

5)      You may get an opportunity to have international exposure and experience cross culture diversity by signing up for a volunteer in foreign countries by one of the sponsors.

6)      Helping Others – A Priceless Benefit! A satisfaction of helping the needy is second to none.

Some avenues available to us for volunteering are

1)      During school and college – National Cadet Corps, Scouts and Guides

2)      At work – Corporate social responsibility wings under HR

3)      Indian Red Cross Society

4)      CRY. Child Rights and You (formerly Child Relief and You)

5)      PLAN

6)      Rotary/Rotaract/Lions Clubs

7)      http://www.undp.org.in/unv/

8)      http://www.volunteeringinindia.org/

9)      http://www.abroaderview.org/chennai.php

“I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
Mahatma Gandhi

Article by : Supreeth Kini, GSG, US Correspondent.