Entrepreneurs: Optimism Abounds
The past year has seen at least a few private companies like Flipkart and InMobi with valuations rising to the magical billion-dollar mark. eCommerce companies of all shapes and sizes have been at the receiving end of dollops of dollars. That is good. While there will be many failures, there will be a large array of entrepreneurs who will learn a lot from this process. Multiple models will be tried and morphed, and good always comes out of such experimentation.
A decade ago, there was a similar optimism but that window was too short and the user base was simply not there on the Internet. This time around, it is for real. There is a much better pipeline of funding available for entrepreneurs now – from individuals, angel networks to VCs. All we need to keep this pipeline running is a continuous flow of exists through M&As and IPOs.
What we need in India now is more investments into localised content and services. This will help drive more usage and advertising. The ad spends on the Indian Internet at Rs 1,500 crore annually are still now large enough to sustain a vibrant content ecosystem. Local languages and content will be critical in the next phase of the Indian Internet.
Continued tomorrow.
