The Tribal Way

10 Businesses VCs are Dying to Fund

So we launched techTribe on September 14th in Delhi, and the response has been fabulous.  Some of the news is posted on the website, and more will follow.  We also launched a campaign called connect2Develop to reward innovation.

The few weeks leading up to the launch, and the few after were incredibly busy as one would imagine.  I haven’t been blogging much over the last several weeks, and that needs to change.  So I’m hoping to get back into it now.  There – that’s off my chest now – there should never be a place for much guilt in our lives.

Anyway, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the air lately, and I read a great article a week ago called “10 Businesses VCs are Dying to Fund”.  It was in Business Today, an indian business weekly.  The article talks about the record venture capital pouring into India, and which sectors this money was chasing.

Per the article, the sectors are IT enabled services, InfoTech, Mobile, Internet, Media and Entertainment, Education, Hospitality, Healthcare, Microfinance/Financial Services, and Clean Energy.  While the article did an awesome job of showcasing examples of innovation that VCs are looking for in these sectors, the 10 sectors weren’t a surprise.  I mean – what did we leave out – Agriculture and Manufacturing?  I am being a little sarcastic I know ☺.

It’s interesting how we’re seeing a flurry of venture capital announcements about funds being formed, and the lack of real investments - early and seed stage investments in the technology sector.  I guess some of it is to be expected.  The eco-system of technology innovation in India is just getting started, and if we looked at where Silicon Valley was 10 years from the formation of Apple or HP, there wasn’t much early stage activity either.  But the times are different, and the VCs are willing to take much bigger risks.  I’m confident that we’ll see quite a few new startups in India, because the capital is available now, there’s always been bright entrepreneurs, and there seems to be mentorship that is beginning to take shape with the movement of Indians back from the West.

Back to Innovation in technology, looking at the Internet sector, India has 50 million or so Internet users today, and the number is growing.  Consumer services, based on the open platform of the Internet is ripe for the making, and the article also points out that VCs believe that are several successful businesses in the West that aren’t yet present in India.  It’s reasonable to expect there’s a market for them.  BUT, there are cultural differences which may make it very different for these companies to succeed in the Indian market. 

I can’t help but think about ORIGINALITY.  Are we to expect that most new internet ventures in India will be based on the American successes or extensions of them?  Will this be similar to the Bollywood theme where most mainstream movies are based on a storyline “inspired by a Hollywood script”.  They have a shot at being moderate successes.  OR, Is it likely that we see some originals that will be runaway hits, and those will take into account the state of the affairs in India – like “Lage Raho Munnabhai” and “Rang De Basanti”.  I think we all know what the answer needs to be, and what’s possible if one were to focus on the needs of the Indian market. 

We have a couple of million technology professionals in India.  We have a real estate market, a hospitality market, a financial services market, a media and entertainment market – you get the idea.  8 out of the 10 sectors mentioned in the article open up IMMENSE POSSIBILITIES for the use of technology that needs to be SOMEWHAT UNIQUE to the Indian market.  Imagine the possibilities if we tried to innovate for the need of the Indian community, rather than only thinking of exports ☺.

I’ll end on that thought for today.  I’m on a long flight tomorrow, so I’ll try and write some more then.

Find out more about connect2Develop at http://www.techtribe.com

Can a National Change be Driven by a Tribal Action?

It’s 2 AM and I just got back from an Indian movie I’d been wanting to see since I got here. It’s called “Rang de Basanti”, which translates to Color Me Yellow…. amazing how the concept of color keeps popping up once I write about it ☺. Anyway, I found the film to be a brilliant example of “one must look back in order to be able to look ahead.”

The film is about a British documentary filmmaker who comes to India to make a film about 6 historic figures in India’s freedom struggle. She finds college kids to play the role of these legends, who initially didn’t know and couldn’t care much for the history of the nation or the characters they were to play. However, as they begin to take interest in the production, they feel the emotions felt by the characters, and recognize that the challenges faced by these characters in India’s freedom struggle are the exact same ones faced by the country today.

They realize that India faces another Independence struggle today – that from a corrupt system of government and society in general, and if it is to meet the expected growth rates, it needs to free itself from corruption. And like the freedom movement 70-80 years ago, they realize that the revolution needs to start with a small mutiny. I won’t give away the entire story, but it’s a must see for anyone familiar or interested in India’s history and how it applies to modern day India.

Most people I spoke to after the film related to the issue of corruption and spoke of many other examples where the corruption and unfairness of the government significantly hurt the ability of the nation to grow. Not many got what I considered to be focal point of the movie– a group of 6 college kids decided to PUT THEIR THOUGHTS INTO ACTION and attempt to bring about change.

In a country of 1.2 billion people, most if not all would agree that in order for this country to grow and mature, a drastic change is needed – a change in the way the country is governed, is managed, is operated, and is served. Almost all have an opinion on why Bangalore should’ve built the infrastructure to support the IT growth 5 years ago, how Delhi should’ve planned for the roads to match the growth in vehicles., and many, many others.

The people with the opinions almost unanimously declare that the government needs do something about it, and also outline the 17.5 reasons why they don’t have hope that the government can or will.

In a country of 1.2 billion people, I haven’t met more than a handful that try and influence change by their own actions.

The question is … Can we drive a change in a nations behavior by changing things within our own tribe?

I’m an optimist. Thanks to Google, it took me all of a few minutes to find examples in my own hometown – San Francisco. Apparently, a small group of 50 people in the San Francisco bay area have made a vow to not buy anything new in 2006 – because they believed that the consumer culture is destroying the world. They call themselves the Compact. They have a blog, a Yahoo group and monthly meetings to reaffirm their commitment to the rule, which is to never buy anything new.

They've been joined by denizens of sparsely populated Pacific islands where recycling is a necessity rather than an option, high school students and one person in Kansas who said, "I thought I was the only one. Now I've found my tribe." They have found themselves in the middle of an international furor over consumerism, ecology and middle-class hypocrisy that has spread around the world in just days – because the local newspaper covered the story and it grew from there.

Links to Articles
http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/02/17/BAG9UHAEM71.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/02/13/BAGH3H7DH71.DTL

So, regarding the situation in India that needs drastic change – the corruption across all levels of government and organizations. Is there a way to form a tribe that would attract others who believe in the same action? I’m not sure but I am willing to try. I FOR ONE WILL NOT BE PARTY TO CORRUPTION FOR THE REST OF 2006. I will not offer money to get someone to confirm a travel reservation, to bypass the 300 people at the DMV or the passport office, or for any other task that I could get done by spending time or planning better. I call it my anti-corruption tribe 2006 and others are welcome to join.

I know it won’t change the country, but I feel a little better already. I'm doing my little part. I know there will be many who will say that's a drop in the ocean, but at least I am taking a step. I’d love to hear from people who have other IDEAS they are WILLING TO ACT ON.