My NASSCOM Talk: Made in India, Made for the World
Posted on 09. Jan, 2010 by gaurav in Events
Yesterday, I gave a talk at the NASSCOM Emerge Friday 2.0 event about how the time is ripe for Indian startups to target the global market: ‘Made in India, Made for the World‘.
So far, Indian startups have focused on tweaks for the local market, not inventions or tweaks for the global market, partly because Indian VCs have tended to fund me-too startups with a business model focused on enabling transactions for the local market (book a air/ rail/ bus/ movie ticket).
However, in the last one or two years, several Indian startups have dared to build products for the global market. On my list are enterprise collaboration players Zoho, Deskaway, Uhuroo, Remindo, Cyn.in and YouSuggest, consumer focused web 2.0 startups like LifeBlob, AuthorStream, GizaPage (and the now dead Fachak and Kwippy), widget company Tell-a-Friend/ SocialTwist, flash-maker Toufee and online tutoring company TutorVista. Do let me know if I have missed out startups that should be on this list. With a little luck, several of these startups can become global players, and some already have.
I think there are five trends that are enabling Indian startups to target the global market –
Mail Today on Why the Internet is the Perfect Hunting Ground for Entrepreneur
Posted on 13. Dec, 2009 by gaurav in Media, Trends
My article on why the internet is the perfect hunting ground for young entrepreneurs was published today in Mail Today. All entrepreneurship is about betting on the next big thing, and if you are a 20-something entrepreneur, your bet on the next big thing on the internet is as good as, or even better than, someone double your age and experience.
Mail Today published a slightly edited version of the article I had submitted. Here’s the original.
Almost two years back, a month after I turned 28, I was interviewed for a newspaper story on why IIM types were leaving behind their corporate careers and following their dreams, mixing work, pleasure and purpose, pursuing what the journalist called “lifestyle entrepreneurship”.
I wondered why I was quoted in the story. My blog about the intersection of business, society and technology was becoming prominent, both amongst bloggers and journalists. I hung out with entrepreneurs and sometimes wrote about startups. I had even blogged about launching my own internet startup before I turned thirty. Still, I hadn’t taken the plunge yet. In fact, I was on a fast track in the quintessential corporate career. I has joined the TAS cadre in the Tata Group from IIM Bangalore and stayed with them for almost six years. My friends believed that I had acquired the Tata gene, that I would never leave, that I would retire as the CEO of one of the iconic Tata companies.
DeskAway – Enterprise Collaboration tool review
Posted on 04. Dec, 2009 by Abha in Reviews
Synage is an Indian web company founded in 2007 that delivers software as a service (SaaS) solutions to the global market. DeskAway, a web-based on-demand project management and collaboration tool is their flagship product.
DeskAway offers varied pricing and plan options ranging from a free version (3 Projects and 5 users) to a fully packed version at $99 per month (unlimited projects and users, 25 GM storage, detailed reports, SSL security, backup, E-mail integration and more). All plans offer user rights options – you can see only what you are authorized to see.
We found the interface easy to use, clean and inviting. It was easy to get started without really digging deep into the How To tutorial /video and it was nice to see how tips and tutorials were generously placed on various pages but with the option of closing them all in one go in case you felt confident of finding your way around independently.
Always feel that a tabbed view makes an app largely clutter free and easy to navigate and at the same time allows a lot of features to be packaged in well. DeskAway scores high marks on this account and makes good use of a tabbed UI and frames.
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