Paktive - Pakistan on the map

So this mornings coffee chai got a bit interesting with an article on GreenWhite about Paktive (what’s with the name?) 

Okay, so what is Paktive all about? Well this is what I found on their website:

“Paktive.com is an experiment to compile and present map locations of Pakistani places of interest like restaurants, parks, landmarks, services and businesses in major Pakistani cities. Currently, it uses satellite imagery from Google maps.”

Interesting eh? Well GreenWhite author Saad Khan has written them off today. According to him its a dead venture. And sadly I agree with him.

The problem with Paktive is that it is not designed for the masses. Nerds like to draw polygons, normal people (and we have a lot of those in Pakistan) do NOT like to draw polygons and identify places on the map. They would rather use the old method of dumping text based data into a database and query it. 

Think about it, how many of you have gone to Google Maps custom map section for Pakistan and drawn or identified any location? (did you even know that Google Maps had that feature?) 

We need to think about the business plan around it. I know community based contributions and web2.0 is all WOW but really this WOW can never become a real WOW without proper business model behind it.

In Paktive.com’s defense they do call it an “experiment” so I will let them go without a attack plan.

Alright this post is not to generalize a trend but it is my personal vent. (that’s what this blog is for isn’t it?) 

GreenWhite has been doing an excellent job of introducing us to a wealth of startups from Pakistan. I have been amazed at the passion of these startups and I know that the market is big enough for them to survive if they plan correctly. But one thing that has been bugging me for a while is the lack of proper User Interface design for these services. 

Seriously, here is a list of few startups recently mentioned on GreenWhite and check out their UI. 

• Nilaam
• TrixwidPix
• MyGoodiesShop
• Bolee
• Starz

If not then you better get started! Blogging is the easiest way to let your users know what your team is upto. This creates a small but very involved community around your startup. You will get to hear first hand reviews of your work instantly via your blog. You can also communicate updates, releases and much more to show how well organized your company is.

So what would it cost you to have a blog? Well apart from few hours per week to update the blog, it is important to get a professional look and feel for your blog. You can use WordPress to setup your blog. Its dead-simple. 

Having a professional looking blog is very critical. Its an image of  your company to the outside world. You want it to be as easy to use as your product. You want it to reflect the true image of your company. So an investment in  your blog is like investing in advertisement. It pays off! 

If you company is looking for a blog design or if you are wondering how you can use your blog to target your audience, get in touch with me. You can find out more about me via Deensoft’s website.

Over the recent years, I have been blogging on Deensoft’s platform. I have had a pleasure talking to very smart and talented people via that blog but I always found that I needed a personal space to write about my musings. 

I love talking about Pakistan and its potential. I have been reading up all the material that I can get my hands on about Pakistan — by material I mean blogs. GreenWhite being my main destination to read about startups in Pakistan. 

Hopefully in coming days, I will be posting a lot more about Pakistan, food, startups, programming and much more. 

If you want to get in touch with me you can always click on the “About” page (above) and leave a comment.