Emergic: Rajesh Jain's Blog

April is a month that I find very interesting and different for many reasons. First, from a business standpoint, it marks the end of a financial year and the start of a new one. So, there is a time for some fresh thinking and big plans. There is also a bit of breather from the  [...]

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In India in the tech space, only a few companies end up getting funded. My guess is that out of every 100 companies that start off, less than 5 end up with adequate capital to build their business. So, what can be done to change this? What many of these early-stage companies need is a [...]

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I was talking to a friend recently on the problems of early-stage investing in tech companies India: lack of  serial/successful entrepreneurs whom investors can bet on limitations of the digital (Internet and mobile) marketspaces (in terms of revenue opportunity) in India dearth of risk capital (from angels and VCs) not enough mentors to guide early-stage [...]

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Here are my answers to the two questions I asked yesterday. If there was ONE thing you could Change about India, what would it be? Middle India Apathy towards the nation. It is almost as if most of us in Middle India (young, educated in urban India) have switched off from trying to make a [...]

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Here are two questions to think about and answer: If there was ONE thing you could Change about India, what would it be? What is India’s Greatest Asset? Leave your answers in the comments. I will give my answers tomorrow.

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This is from a post I wrote last June: A few days ago, Atanu and I spent a full day meeting with people who are in the education space. We discussed a diverse set of topics around education. What came out clearly was that there are two distinct approaches. One approach is to work within [...]

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This week’s links: Economist report on Innovation in Emerging Markets: “Developing countries are becoming hotbeds of business innovation in much the same way as Japan did from the 1950s onwards. They are coming up with new products and services that are dramatically cheaper than their Western equivalents: $3,000 cars, $300 computers and $30 mobile phones [...]

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While in Singapore, I also gave a presentation at the SP Jain Centre of Management to students doing their MBA: SP Jain (Singapore) Presentation – Emerging Technologies, Emerging Markets and Entrepreneurship View more presentations from rajeshjain.

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Here is the presentation I made as part of my keynote at the Mobile Marketing Association conference last week in Singapore: MMA Presentation: Mobile – One to One and One to a Billion View more presentations from rajeshjain.

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The correct answer to yesterday’s question is $5.84 million. Here is the calculation: Tranche 1: VC gets 50% for $5 million Tranche 2: VC gets 25% for $4 million Tranche 3: VC gets 16.7% for $4 million So, after Round 1, the VC owns 50%. After Round 2, the VC owns (50% * 25%) + [...]

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Here is a question for the mathematically inclined. Consider a company that is planning to raise money. A VC offers it $13 million in 3 tranches: Tranche 1: Pre-money of $5 million, VC invests $5 million Tranche 2: Pre-money of $12 million, VC invests $4 million Tranche 3: Pre-money of $20 million, VC invests $4 [...]

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Atanu Dey wrote a letter to Abhishek on his fifth birthday. Words of Wisdom like Atanu’s are perhaps the finest gift any child can receive. Here is the letter. It gives me great joy to write a letter to you which you will understand – although you may still have to ask your mom or [...]

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I wrote this about 18 months ago, and much of it still holds true: The future of VAS will be driven by many independent VAS operators who drive consumption of data services and thus drive up data revenue to more than compensate for the fall in voice revenues. Think of the multiplier monetisation that could [...]

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This week’s links: What Will Be the Next Big Thing in the Mobile Space? by James Kendrick. “What I mean by usage driven is the NBT is going to come from creating a new way to do things that people want to do. That may come from online activities, or handling daily tasks or a combination [...]

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The person who continues to remain at the centre of your life is your Mom. She is your Precious, and you hers. Looking at you both, I do feel envious at times! One of the things your Mom has instilled in you is a deep faith for Jainism. She is teaching you the scriptures, and [...]

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There are many memories which will stay with me from your fifth year. Perhaps, the best ones are the two days we spent together when we went to Pune in the Christmas vacation – without your Mom. So, it was just the two of us. We went by train and came back by bus. It [...]

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The most important change in your life over the past year has been School. You’ve blossomed in school – become more outgoing and talkative. You have also made any more friends. Your mom tells me you are a favourite with all the girls. One day, you have to share some tricks with me! Your life [...]

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We took a bus (No. 63) home. Today was thus a special one for you – two bus rides! At home, we had a longish bath. You played around transferring water from a variety of bottles and cups – “experiments” as we call them. Then, we read a few Thomas books. Your short attention span [...]

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Dear Abhishek. This letter continues my series of annual letters to you. I am writing this part a few weeks before actual birthday. I thought it would be a good idea to describe a typical recent Sunday in your life. Sunday is pretty much the only day I really get with you. On most other [...]

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Starting tomorrow, I will be writing my annual Letter to Abhishek as his birthday (April 19)  nears. This is from the letter I wrote last year: Your fourth year has been an absolute delight – for you and for us, your parents. You are now so full of life, questions and comments on everything.  Every [...]

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