The Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), Beta –The Finance Club of IIM Ahmedabad and Leverage – The Private Equity andVenture Capital Club of IIM Ahmedabad bring to you the IIMA Finance Conclave2010 on the 8th – 9th January 2010.The central theme of this year’s conclave is “Challenging the New Normalâ€and it promises to […]
Why India needs more tech software companies?
We have seen lots and lots of startup companies coming up in our country since last few years. Companies ranging from matrimonial websites, job portals to even companies helping people sell their used online stuff. Now and then we keep getting portals which fall into larger categories of a specific list of online portals, some […]
B2B Internet Businesses
As we announced our investment in MotorExchange; I thought to bounce my views on broader B2B plays. In last couple of years, I have noticed two broad growth challenges in Indian internet start ups: 1.) Last mile penetration – This is function of internet penetration in the country and the growth is still incremental. We […]
MotorExchange raises Series A led by Canaan
I am happy to announce our latest investment in MotorExchange – a B2B auto exchange for Indian market. The B2B auto market in India is over $11Bn and expected to double over next five years. It is a very early stage investment for us, and the key driver in the decision has been the team […]
Angel Funding Framework – Structure
In my attempts to engage in angel financing, I have seen the typical concerns that potential angel investors have. Many of these have to do with the investment parameters, and figuring out how investors can get their money back (or returns) – especially given the inherent immaturity of these businesses in being able to outline […]
Building a startup in 30 mins (well 41ish) – Iqbal Gandham
Hi Guys During the Global Entrepreneur Week their were several great presentations made, where I was located. I thought they maybe helpful to some on this blog: 1. My video is about building a startup and can be found at http://www.iqbalgandham.com/ and the ppt deck can be found at http://www.slideshare.com/iqbalgandham 2. The rest of the […]
Solution for Angel drought in India?
Sarah has a good roundup of lack of angel investing activity in India. Lets get to the more interesting part – how to solve it? I ran into Vishal Gondal on a flight few weeks back and he had a model that is pretty interesting. And may be there are some other thoughts in the […]
What are you investing in Today?
Media has followed the boom and tone-down in venture capital over past 4 years. As much as last 12 months saw a dip in venture capital, I have a feeling that some of the enthusiasm from journalists declined as well. Only the most dedicated journalists have survived the theme fatigue! And as many of us […]
Funding for Real Innovation in India! UNAVAILABLE
If you look carefully at the blue fish in the water below, you can discern INDIA written faintly on the body. Well it is not a fish but India’s first indigenous designed Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). I have a story about it for you. I first met Ammar in Delhi after he reached me through […]
Software Architect
There is a partially VC funded start–up which has had a pilot going on for 2 years in Delhi which caught the personal attention of Bill Gates when he visited Delhi in Nov 2OO8 leading to partial funding by him to keep the fires burning. Bill Gates has a financial inclusion mission which is dear to […]
Barcamp Chandigarh @ 22 Nov
The startup ecosystem in Chandigarh, the city beautiful, is buzzing with activity. On 12 November the results of Business plan competition, Enterprize – organized by TIE Chandigarh & Chandigarh Administration, were announced. The winners got place in the EDC setup by the Chandigarh Administration, in the IT park. Continuing the good news for start-up folks, […]
Book Review – Getting to Plan B
Just finished reading this book by John Mullins and Randy Komisar. It outlines the importance of iterating on the business to evolve the plan continuously – in many cases, the initial plan that entrepreneurs start with doesn’t work as it is.