Archive for August, 2011

Do you want to be known as one of the Future IT Companies globally..? Here’s your chance to participate in the NASSCOM EMERGE 50 Awards for 2011.

Published by Avinash on August 26, 2011 in News/ Events.
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EMERGE 50Do your products/services have the potential to redefine benchmarks of excellence for the industry? Have you witnessed accelerated growth patterns over the last 2-3 years consistently using innovative business models? Have you successfully ventured and leveraged emerging/domestic markets for faster financial growth? Here’s your chance to ride the wave to fame, as INNOVATION, GROWTH and START-UPS are the 3 categories for the 3rd annual NASSCOM EMERGE 50 Awards.

In an endeavor to showcase the brightest stars in the emerging and start-up community and support their development, we invite fast-growing Indian IT companies to send nominations for recognizing their ground-breaking products/services in the IT sector. The NASSCOM EMERGE 50 awards for 2011 aims to highlight the next set of 50 emerging companies with the key objective of building the future companies for the country. NASSCOM EMERGE 50 aims to showcase the most promising product companies in the emerging and start-up community that are shaping the future of India. On request of participating companies, we are extending the last date to September 10th, 2011. You can apply here.

This year the “Top 50 Emerging Companies” and “League of Ten” will be recognized at the annual NASSCOM Product Conclave in Bangalore.

Recognition for winners at an awards ceremony at the NASSCOM Product Conclave, November 9-10th 2011, Bangalore attended by 1200+ delegates, 600+ companies from across the world

  • Top 10 companies will be provided FREE stalls space in the Premium Exhibit area at the Product Conclave
  • Top 10 companies will also get 2 FREE passes to the Product Conclave
  • Applying for EMERGE 50, 2011 is FREE for all companies
  • Register your Software Product FREE in the Marketplace – ProductsMade.in

Here’s how the EMERGE 50 2010 winners benefited from the visibility, mentorship, networking and growth opportunities provided through this platform.

  • “Top 50 Emerging Companies” and “League of Ten” duly recognized at the EMERGEOUT Conclave in Delhi, 2011
  • Company Listing in Dataquest – the leading IT magazine
  • Editorial coverage in the NASSCOM EMERGE Newsletter and NASSCOM Newsline
  • NASSCOM partner companies provided consulting support under the Mentorship Program  to most finalists
  • Showcase of EMERGE Top 50 product companies to the CIO community in the annual Product Conclave
  • 30 entrepreneurs from the EMERGE community featured on YourStory.in
  • Showcase of EMERGE 50 companies at other NASSCOM events
  • Partner search facilitated through the Global Trade Development initiatives

Read some of the testimonials from some of the members who got featured in the EMERGE 50 editions. Many more initiatives will be rolled out in the next few weeks. If you have any queries please feel free to reach out to us at emerge@nasscom.in. Like last year, we have partnered with Zinnov Consulting as a Process Partner for this initiative.

Due to popular demand, we have extended the nomination timeline for the prestigious NASSCOM EMERGE 50 Awards from 25th August to Saturday 10th September, 2011.

UnitedLex on Inc500 list

Published by Alok Mittal on August 26, 2011 in News/ Events.
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UnitedLex, a Canaan portfolio company, has been selected on Inc 500 list of fastest growing private companies. UnitedLex recorded an over 1000% growth in last three years. Congratulations to the team! Read on… UnitedLex on Inc500 list

ET – Indian Ecommerce – Accounting and Legal issues

Published by Alok Mittal on August 17, 2011 in Ideas & Companies.
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ET carries an article today on potential accounting and legal risks in the Indian ecommerce space. I doubt if entrepreneurs and investors would allow such subversions. People know well that this road doesn’t lead to heaven. Read on

On a business level, the lifetime value notion is well understood and used – and in my view is the appropriate way of looking at direct user acquisition costs. As an investor, that is the conversation I want to have with entrepreneurs to understand the health of the business at a nascent stage. Accounting is supposed to be, and should continue to be more conservative – I do not think investors are valuing early stage companies on basis of their accounting profits in any case.

The Startup Centre Resident Programme Batch 2. Application Deadline Soon Approaching.

Published by Vijay Anand on August 13, 2011 in Ecosystem.
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The Intent of the Resident programme is to help transform your vision into a viable product with Product-Market validation, over a 3 to 6 month period. The teams go through a cycle of Prototype Building, Customer Development, Product-Market Fit Process and to the beginnings of the Business Model Cycle

Here’s What You Can Expect to Get out of the Programme

3-6 Months
The Resident programme lasts for upto 6 months—enough time for your team to build the first version of the product and get the market validation done. By the end of the programme, you’ll be ready with a product that people want, and are willing to pay money for.

Cost and Criteria
We take only teams which are very early on with their idea into this Programme. Ideally Founding teams, which are 1-3 member in size is what the focus is on. Teams are expected to pay a nominal sum for the duration of the Programme (Rs.7500 per month for Single Founder, Rs.10,000 for Two founder teams and Rs. 12,000 for Three founder Teams) to show seriousness and commitment towards the building out of their idea/concept.

Note: We do have partners who will be open to sponsoring teams which do not have the financial means to back this requirement.

The Space
We provide the furnished office space and bandwidth (internet and guidance) for the duration of the programme. This is a collaborative space for all Teams in the program, providing a forum for mutual support, idea sharing and tech talks. We expect all the teams to be in Chennai during this time. [ Tour of The Startup Centre, Chennai ]

Skills Training
All the Teams will have access to the Startup Centre Classes. This program covers all business topics relevant to an emerging business, from business model definition to market segmentation and pricing strategies. The sessions will take place on a rolling basis and Teams can participate in all modules or only those areas where they would like to build up more skills specific to the stage of their product development and enterprise.

The Mentor Base
For the duration of the Programme, members of The Startup Centre will be available to interact with on a regular basis to guide you. Teams will have regular access to our extensive network of business and technology experts, many of whom are rather experienced entrepreneurs in the Indian Landscape. Our Mentor Base is extensive, so we are confident that we can connect you with an expert for any coaching needs, be it marketing, finance or product development-related.

The Stack
An Average Product Startup goes through 2.5 iterations before they get their product right. How do we cut down on that iteration as much as possible? The right tools. Through our partnerships we are able to provide the teams in the Resident and Accelerator Programme, the best stack that is out there, to ensure that they are equipped to the best in churning out the first product. Some of the partners mentioned are here (Announcements on some major partners soon)

Visibility
All great stories need a platform for advertising their success. Association with the Startup Centre and resulting awareness at our networking events, blog posts, and press releases will provide Teams with reach to the next level.

Accelerator Programme
The Resident Programme becomes a means for both The Startup Centre and the Teams to engage to try out the support that is provided for High potential Entrepreneurs. The Accelerator Programme that is due to launch in November, and subsequent rounds will have first preference for selected candidates of the Resident Programme, given the experience of having worked together.

The Resident Grant
The Startup Centre has Partnered with Lightspeed Venture Partners to give one of the Outstanding teams, Starting from the Batch of September 2011, a Grant of Rs. 5,00,000 (Approx $10,000). The Criteria for selecting the company will align with the goals of the Resident Programme – a team, which can build out their product and have that initial customer development process done, to move into the next stage of Enterprise building. No Strings attached. Seriously.

Deadline: August 31st. Have you Applied Yet?

Give me an idea and I will make you POOR

Published by vikasshah on August 11, 2011 in Ideas & Companies.
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Standard and Poor says America is getting POOR.

Economists ,capitalists,governments and people are discussing the fallout of such a situation.

But what does it mean for an entrepreneur.In case somebody has misssed recent article by Jug Suraiya in TOI ,here it is http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/jugglebandhi/entry/debt-do-us-part .Wherein the associate writer mentions that in this knowledge economy ,US started producing everying except goods and articles.And these goods and articles US started importing in majority from China.US is now majorly producing ideas.

Are we ready for Kindles and the like.

No , we don’t want Kindles as of now.As an entrepreneur there are hundreds of subjects one can pick and choose.But Indian entrpreneurs rotate their minds where the moolah is without thinking that this moolah(VC money) too can evaporate any time.

First things first.An entrepreneur needs to create Value first .Value for the common Indians .

Organic Entrepreneurship – Article in Inc

Published by Alok Mittal on August 11, 2011 in General.
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Latest issue of Inc carries an article on Organic Entrepreneurship – the opportunities and challenges of supporting entrepreneurship beyond metros in India. Read on.

Inc – organic entrepreneurship

View more documents from Alok Mittal.

How iYogi Got Its First Funding

Published by Alok Mittal on August 9, 2011 in General.
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Vishal from iYogi shares his perspective on what worked for them while raising their first round of financing from Canaan. Read on…

Recent interview with TheDeal.com

Published by Alok Mittal on August 5, 2011 in General.
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I spoke recently to George White at TheDeal.com regarding the investment opportunities and exit expectations in the Indian market. See here.

Indian tech companies head to public markets from The Deal on Vimeo.