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India has a drought – not of Investors, but Customers

vijayanand.name

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Re: India has a drought – not of Investors, but Customers

#21

Post by davidpayne11 »

playhard wrote: post #19
davidpayne11 wrote: post #18

Vijayanand is moderately infamous for sheepishly promoting his in50hrs event (it is a PAID event organized by him) under the guise of such shallow articles and also on twitter (EDIT: I've been his follower for ages, he sometimes misleads people into buying tickets for the event, falsely advertising that it's going to be 'sold out' even when no one has actually signed up).

Did he talk about in50hrs event in this article? He was talking about the Indian market because he understands it.Is it wrong to promote events on twitter? What is your problem? Sidenote: Vijay Anand has done so much to Indian entrepreneurs and Indian startup ecosystem.

This explains you haven't read the article in its entirety. Please read it again, he references it as the first link while citing examples about the superiority within the Indian Start-up eco-system.

That is a contradiction in a way that you cannot promote something as a valid citation while you stand to benefit from it.

>Sidenote: Vijay Anand has done so much to Indian entrepreneurs and Indian startup ecosystem.

There are many people who have done more than him (I personally know a handful) yet, don't advertise it explicitly as much as he does. He takes money for providing an office space in return. How does that contribute as doing 'much' to the Indian Startup Ecosystem? There are plenty of office spaces over here...

Re: India has a drought – not of Investors, but Customers

#22

Post by RaSoJo »

Do not look at the author's post from an internet product standpoint. India has an overall internet penetration of 11% and a the % of people who do actual commerce via the web would be about 2%. "Good" Internet products originating from India are extremely few..countable using your fingers. So yes, not an attractive market for the average HNer.

But if you are interested in hacking life...India is the place to be. The author goes on to point out the example of Amul (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amul) It is a co-operative firm (kinda like a non-profit) that generated $2.5 Billion in yearly revenues and has become one of India's most trusted brands. What is moot is the way that it has not only helped local farmers and lifted the living standards for millions of Indians but has also gone on to generate truck-loads of revenue. It is quite an innovative but a very simple idea at the end of it.

THAT is Hacking Life...and that India needs a lot more of. Customers guaranteed.

Re: India has a drought – not of Investors, but Customers

#23

Post by playhard »

davidpayne11 wrote: post #21
playhard wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did he talk about in50hrs event in this article? He was talking about the Indian market because he understands it.Is it wrong to promote events on twitter? What is your problem? Sidenote: Vijay Anand has done so much to Indian entrepreneurs and Indian startup ecosystem.

This explains you haven't read the article in its entirety. Please read it again, he references it as the first link while citing examples about the superiority within the Indian Start-up eco-system. That is a contradiction in a way that you cannot promote something as a valid citation while you stand to benefit from it. >Sidenote: Vijay Anand has done so much to Indian entrepreneurs and Indian startup ecosystem. The…

Well, I don't see any problem in plugging one's event in a blog post. If you don't like the idea of paid event, why bother following him in twitter and commenting on hacker news?

Where does he advertise about his contribution to the Indian startup ecosystem? It is entrepreneurs like us who say he does.

>He takes money for providing an office space in return

You want office space for free?

>How does that contribute as doing 'much' to the Indian Startup Ecosystem? There are plenty of office spaces over here...

He also runs accelerator which invests in startup. They have invested in 2 startups so far. He hosts free events like Chennai OCC, Chennai geeks at the startup centre. Also the space is free if you want to host any free event.

I graduated from college and worked from startup centre under Vijay for six months. I come from a small town and knew little about startups. It was Vijay who taught me lot about building a product and distributing it to users. The education i had at the startup centre was invaluable. You know how much he charged for the office space for the period of six months? ZERO(because he wanted me to succeed and i was a recent college grad)

Please understand what someone does before trying to bash them in public

Re: India has a drought – not of Investors, but Customers

#24

Post by namank »

I know little about the Indian systems but reading this article and comments makes me think that entrepreneurs there don't really know the customer yet. Talking about "educating the customer" does not bode well for startups with no IP, especially when the education is regarding the customer's online behaviour and not the product itself.

All in good time, I suppose. Good luck to you all. Meanwhile, I'll enjoy the show from the sidelines for another couple of years.

Also, whats up with all you guys on HN using the word 'shallow'? Someone explain that please...I don't get it. It's used 3 separate times in this thread.

Re: India has a drought – not of Investors, but Customers

#25

Post by senthilnayagam »

I agree with Vijay .

Read other comments, some don't understand the Indian context.

Indias biggest ecommerce site is operated by federal government owned , IRCTC, they sell train tickets which is the most popular form of long distance travel. you can hear lot of horror stories at https://twitter.com/search?q=irctc&src=typd

Then indian financial and banking regulator RBI, they limit online payment in every possible way

a) every online credit card payment needs multi factor authentication.

b) no recurring payments.

c) getting merchant account for online services is a long tedious process.

d) TDR as high as 7%.

now add the problem with logistics due to bad infrastructure.

add the news of people getting arrested for posting liking on online sites http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20576416

culturally Indians feel guilty for exuberance, so they would go for value for money propositions and take safer options.

you have people who go to stores and buy mostly in cash

now you have the context,now you can read the article again, it would make lot more sense

disclosures: I am friend of Vijay, I have been mentor at couple of in50hrs events along with fellow Chennai tech entrepreneur

Re: India has a drought – not of Investors, but Customers

#26

Post by [deleted] »

playhard wrote: post #23
davidpayne11 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This explains you haven't read the article in its entirety. Please read it again, he references it as the first link while citing examples about the superiority within the Indian Start-up eco-system. That is a contradiction in a way that you cannot promote something as a valid citation while you stand to benefit from it. >Sidenote: Vijay Anand has done so much to Indian entrepreneurs and Indian startup ecosystem. The…

Well, I don't see any problem in plugging one's event in a blog post. If you don't like the idea of paid event, why bother following him in twitter and commenting on hacker news? Where does he advertise about his contribution to the Indian startup ecosystem? It is entrepreneurs like us who say he does. >He takes money for providing an office space in return You want office space for free? >How does that contribute as…

[deleted]

Re: India has a drought – not of Investors, but Customers

#27

Post by senthilnayagam »

davidpayne11 wrote: post #17
monsterix wrote: post #6

This article is very shallow. I would say it wrong to assume that there is ever going to be a drought of customers. Investors with risk appetite? - may be, but there can never be a drought of customers. Here is the real picture: there are over a billion customers in India. They need something. All you have to do is open your eyes and ears and figure out what they want the most. Solve a pain that people currently have…

It is important to note that the author is from Canada and spent a significant portion of his life there, before trying to do something in India. So, his views are fairly biased about India - like trying to compare a Developed vs a Developing country.

Biased is a too strong a word

I can give more info about him as I am his friend, he grew up in middle east, moved back to India, went to canada for graduation, did a startup, sold it, back in India, worked with RTBI in chennai for couple of years before starting StartupCentre.

so he spent about 3 years in Canada, yeah he is exposed to developed countries

Re: India has a drought – not of Investors, but Customers

#28

Post by fakeer »

senthilnayagam wrote: post #25

I agree with Vijay . Read other comments, some don't understand the Indian context. Indias biggest ecommerce site is operated by federal government owned , IRCTC, they sell train tickets which is the most popular form of long distance travel. you can hear lot of horror stories at https://twitter.com/search?q=irctc&src=typd Then indian financial and banking regulator RBI, they limit online payment in every possible wa…

>>a) every online credit card payment needs multi factor authentication.

I am not sure you stated this as a seller, customer or as a payment-gateway guy; but I, myself, as a customer find this feature to be one of the best things to have happened to Indian banking scene and I feel (and am) many times more secure having this feature around.

>>culturally Indians feel guilty for exuberance, so they would go for value for money propositions and take safer options.

Do you mean the lack of a population that braves the fire, ice, rain and storm to line-up for next iDevice release, not because it's the best (at the best price), but because it's costliest and does exactly the same things many other half-the-price mobile devices do too? And because everyone else with more than enough money is buying it because GrubIegler wrote volumes in reviews mostly comprising - "it's just the right size" and "just the right balance"?

>>you have people who go to stores and buy mostly in cash

I have lazily switched to ordering groceries from on-line grocery sites in Bangalore. There's a friend of mine who earns almost 1.5+ of my earnings and visits a nearby store to buy one 1L milk tetra pack (among many other things) which costs him around INR 35-40 there and INR 50-55 elsewhere (55 online). No, it's not a duplicate/fake product. And I appreciate this so much. This is called intelligence. Smart decision. Simple.

>>now you have the context,now you can read the article again, it would make lot more sense

I will sure read it again and share my feedback here, iff it made more sense or very much different from what it actually does.

Re: India has a drought – not of Investors, but Customers

#29

Post by fakeer »

davidpayne11 wrote: post #18

Vijayanand is moderately infamous for sheepishly promoting his in50hrs event (it is a PAID event organized by him) under the guise of such shallow articles and also on twitter (EDIT: I've been his follower for ages, he sometimes misleads people into buying tickets for the event, falsely advertising that it's going to be 'sold out' even when no one has actually signed up).

I agree with the shallow part. Though cannot state the same about other allegations :-)

However, I think I've come across some blog spot detailing how some event portal do this - opening the sale of tickets with "sold out" page :-\

Re: India has a drought – not of Investors, but Customers

#30

Post by fakeer »

pretoriusB wrote: post #9
monsterix wrote: post #6

This article is very shallow. I would say it wrong to assume that there is ever going to be a drought of customers. Investors with risk appetite? - may be, but there can never be a drought of customers. Here is the real picture: there are over a billion customers in India. They need something. All you have to do is open your eyes and ears and figure out what they want the most. Solve a pain that people currently have…

> This article is very shallow. I would say it wrong to assume that there is ever going to be a drought of customers. Investors with risk appetite? - may be, but there can never be a drought of customers. Oh, there can easily be a drought of customers. The article covers specifically the Indian market for one, but even in the US, with the squeezed out middle class, there can very well be a drought of customers. > Her…

>>actual internet ready audience for what an internet startup

It's really hard for me to grasp why people want to pin startup/business/entrepreneurship to Internet/website and iOS apps. It doesn't work everywhere and till it starts working you have the option of sitting out or start giving them Internet connectivity (not to mention device and training) or make something that they need now and will buy at a price they can safely afford, of course via a medium they use or have access too.

>>Well, most of their problems have nothing to do with what an internet startup can offer. Hence a "drought of customers" for internet startups.

Internet startups, many a times, start with a problem that doesn't exist here but they start it anyway because people in the USA had it and when last time someone in Germany had copied sth (or sth similar) from the USA it did actually work (as in got sold). Now, in the end you have narrowed down your opinion to a smaller subset.

There is a large population in India that accesses Internet through means that other part of world hardly shall ever recognise as Internet connectivity. That's an untapped one and many startups are taking small but significant startups towards it.

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