Silicon Valley pioneer and storage-networking guru Kumar Malavalli believes that the days of the so-called “cool” ideas getting funded are over. Now the idea should provide a real-life solution to a real-life customer problem to be worthy of investment. The man who built a business around data storage with Brocade Communications is now mentoring a bunch of his portfolio companies in the ecosystem. He exhorts entrepreneurs to use the downturn as a golden opportunity to come up with ideas that are disruptive. Excerpts from an interview with Brenda Christensen & Krishna Kumar

Neil Jesani is the President & CEO of BeamaLife.com. He is also a Certified Financial Planner and recognized by the Consumers’ Research Council of America as one of “America’s Top Financial Planners”. Mr. Jesani contributes articles and financial advice to the top publications within the financial and Indian communities. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

if you've been following the latest edition of IPL (Indian Premier League) cricket, you won't have been able to escape the exploits of the veterans – Shane Warne, Anil Kumble, and Matthew Hayden. They're making a statement to all those who believed that T- 20 was for 20-something players and to the critics who wrote them off even before a single ball was bowled, claiming veterans can't match up to the youngsters in this format of the sport.