Thursday, May 10, 2007

Entre Pray Noors

Howdy people!

While I am back in Mumbai after a brief London trip, and preparing notes on the trip as we speak, I also want to quickly drop in a post about two little startups that might interest you.

The first is a wonderful little coffeeshop/gaming joint type thingie that two dear friends have launched in Bangalore. Brewhaha has opened to rave reviews (google it) and Mansur and Frodo have done a cracking good job of it I hear.

They have a little website shaping up here.

Incidentally there is a little bit of a story behind the name Brewhaha. Frodo and I were both co-summer-interns at a company here in Mumbai all those years ago. In 2004 I think...

This was just after I had written that South Indian Men post. We were cabbing down Marine Drive one afternoon when Frodo and I got talking about alternate careers that we might be good at. Advertising and branding seemed interesting options and we started making names for imaginary things.

(At the time we had no great hopes of converting our internships into jobs. I really didn't see myself making a career selling Hernia meshes.

No, don't ask.)

Brewhaha was something I came up with for a stand-up comedy and beer place. Sitting in that cab.

We promptly forgot all about it and life took us separate ways.

And then years later they quit their jobs and decide to open a cafe. The rest is recent history.

So drop in at their place at Koramangala and say hi for me will you? I am sure they will drop in a little extra whipped cream in your affogato. Or something. And yes spend lots of money please.

The second website is an interesting customized T-shirt design company that does it all online. Click here for Dilsebol. Ravi Kumar will be glad for you to give it a shot and give him feedback as well.

Hmm. That is two good deeds in one day.

As for me I think I will crawl back into my cave and go back to my writing and things. It has been a pretty hectic few weeks and I am thoroughly exhausted.

See you guys over the weekend.

Ciao.

p.s. Both of the above didn't pay me to do this. I don't normally do this. And yes they are all IIMA alum. But please don't hate them for that. Now I will get back to wolfing down these wonderful cakes. After all I don't care if I gain weight. I have hundreds of tshirts in all sizes.

p.s.s. Yes I can do branding as well.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

First site to pop up while googling brewhaha is http://brewhaha.com/ (BREW Ha Ha! is a 13-store espresso cafĂ© chain based in the Delaware Valley. BREW Ha Ha! cafes combine the quality and style of a premier Italian coffee bar with the intangible things that make customers happy — a warm and relaxed atmosphere, friendly staff, and great food. The opposite of what many large specialty coffee chains offer today...)
Tell your friends to check for TM violations... might become an issue if they become big and successful and decide to open outlets in US. But nice concept, i must say...

Sidin said...

Egads! My ideas travel across not just space but time too apparently.

Hmm.

Will tell them. But googling for "brewhaha bangalore" does the trick in this case.

Anonymous said...

You know you could charge them for appearancing at Brewhaha...maybe in a customised T Shirt...triple branding wot! :p

Anonymous said...

Hey that dilsebol site is really well done.Havent seen one like this before... but why does it look so girlie? err why am i asking this to u? (mayb cause u r like a brand consultant to them, some thing that i try to be at ma pops biz)

Waiting fr brewhaha to come up with their games and will then come to know abt their exact concept.

PS: I have linked u at my blog :-)

S m i t h a said...

>>But please don't hate them for that.
u say it like u r not an alum!
please issue some standard sidin type posts..we've waited long enough.
btw - shouldnt it be p.p.s?

Anonymous said...

Umm..hope the Adam and Steve slogan in dilsebol wasn't intended to be homophobic..

Deepak Panigrahy said...

Hi Sid,
Thanks for Sharing the information on BrewHaHa and DilSeBol. I love both of them. Probably, I may not spent so much being a student but I loved the business concepts.
Hope to do something of my won in future soon as I also don't like much these cubicle-cage jobs.
Would love to see such posts in future too Sid.And Yes Sid, If you could write a small article on BrewHaHa nd DilSeBol for my blog; it would be great.
What I mean is a "GUEST POST".

Smith said...

MBAs doing meaninful things....my my.....what is going to happen to this world? pigs will fly (oh wait...air deccan's got that covered with their air-buses)....

Dewdrop said...

I had been to brewhaha and like that place a lot!!!

Duchess said...

hey Sidin

I have seen Brewhaha..with the purple big board..I must say it is really noticeable (it has to be ..guys its right next to Jyoti Nivas College..now does that motivate u ;) ..)
Will sure drop-in thr and say ur 'Hi' to them..(hope they will give me the coffee for free )
oops m I too doing a brand promotion thingie here :)))

Love ur blogs
Shilpa

Anonymous said...

Sidin the T-shirt one is interesting, think they r upto something there, done the right way. remember this is a potential 10X kind of thing.
the other one is just a potential profitable business.

- fo.unta.in

Scribbler said...

Two things: 1. Interns cabbing it down Marine Drive... rich interns, I must say!
2. Brewhaha also happens to be a major chain, it would seem, in the US (Google it!). Is this also part of that or is this standalone? I know how you came up with the name, but was that coincidence or plan?

AI said...

Hi Sidin,

been to brewhaha actually. I liked the concept but there is a tiny flaw in execution. Well see the board games require you to spend a lot of time in the place, but the place isn't stocked with comfy furniture. Really hard un-comfy chairs. They need to put a lot more bean bags/couches there to make people spend more time. Service is also comme si comme sa. Since you know the guys who run the place, thought I'd share my $.02

Love your blog, am a big fan :)

Anonymous said...

I find dilsebol is very interesting..I would like to design one for my own...
AA Breakdown Cover

AK said...

Hey Sidin,

Through a friend of mine I reached your blog ;o) I had visited the place Brew @ Ha Ha and had written in my blog :o)

If interested you can visit,
http://life-is-a-cool-breeze.blogspot.com/2007/04/brew-ha-ha.html

Convey my wishes to your friends, its a good job :o)

~Akshatha

Tony Sebastian said...

hello! my bro had sent me ur link long bk but never checked it out.. recently i happened to read the wife bleating story :D guess ill read ur whole blog now.. im doin my final yr in Btech metallurgy frm NIT Warangal btw...
was ur btech anythin like this?

http://notytony.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html

Anonymous said...

p.s. Both of the above didn't pay me to do this. I don't normally do this. And yes they are all IIMA alum. But please don't hate them for that. Now I will get back to wolfing down these wonderful cakes. After all I don't care if I gain weight. I have hundreds of tshirts in all sizes.

p.s.s. Yes I can do branding as well.

Sidin

You are contradicting your self here!!
And what you mean by they are IIMA alums and dont hate them for that...I couldn't classify this tone of writing, it is not sarcastic for sure..it is more on the hero worshiping side..

Adi Oso-Groot Finch said...

internship at ethicon?

now thats something i can relate to... i was selling sutures to gynics an year later :D

crumbs said...

hey,

i'd give brewhaha an awesome for the ambience, and i miss for their cold coffees...not inspiring at all :(
oh, and 5 brownie points to freindly staff. at least they smile :D