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Saturday, November 8, 2008

WATBlog Update There are 2 new posts in "WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India"

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There are 2 new posts in "WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India"

Saturday Startup Review II - Mentorsquare.com - A Mentoring Platform

This is the second startup we are reviewing in the day and its probably the most interesting ones that we’ve reviewed till date. Reason? Well thats because a lot of times entrepreneurs have turned VC but rarely does a VC turn into an entrepreneur! Yes MentorSquare is a startup that comes from the Mentor Partners stable a pretty well know Venture firm in the Indian space.

mentorsquare

One sentence description: A platform for connection and conversation between mentors and entrepreneurs

About the startup: The startup is focussing on democratizing the mentoring process by bringing all the mentors and the entrepreneurs on one platform. The revenue model is ofcourse via subscription through entrepreneurs.

About Founder: As stated earlier the founder is Ravi Narayan who is also a MD at Mentor Partners a VC firm.

WAT’s HOT: Well for starters this is a completely vacant space! Mentorsquare has no direct competition except for maybe GENportal which is an initiative by IIT ECell Mumbai. But even that can’t match what these guys can do as Ravi is a known space in the venture space and has closely worked with startups as he was on the board of Proto.in the startup event.

But besides for being an innovative initiative from an idea perspective there is also a dying need for such a networking platform because there are too many raw entrepreneurs i.e. first time entrepreneurs that are around across the board in the Indian business space and given the reserved culture in India no one seem to be wanting to part with equity for mentorship. This platform provides a solution to a very strong need.

WAT’s NOT: Well what’s a little grey area is the interest of mentors and their availability and response times. I spoke to Ravi and he stated that there were already 35 mentors on board and they were working on keeping the response times lower than 48 hours. Well so far so good is all I will say. It isnt easy to manage this kind of platform where demand far exceeds supply i.e. number of entrepreneurs over mentors. Also the other issue is what if a college student and aspiring entrepreneur poses really basic questions? To which Ravi stated that their plan was to recruit a set of baseline mentors who would take care of basic questions.

Well all I can say is it wont be easy to maintain quality and thats something the mentorsquare team would have to watch for. But all in all this is surely an impressive startup idea. Also given that a VC has turned entrepreneur there shouldn’t be any problem of funding and scaling Im guessing and also for a change it would be nice to see VC’s walk the talk!

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Saturday Startup Review I - Bandhan.com

Well this saturday we have two startups to review. Both from the web space but looking at very diverse audiences. So we have divided our reviews in two parts. Lets look at the first startup.

bandhan.com

One Sentence Description: Vertical Search Engine focussed on Matrimony

About the startup: This a pune based startup and is owned by a company by the name of Discrete Technologies.

About the founder: Shashikant Kore is the founder who is an ex IITian from Kanpur and was earlier the Principal Software Engineer at Webaroo.

WAT’s HOT: Well its the approach thats hot! The best part about the site is that it reflects the search engine look. The reason I say this is because this isn’t the first matrimony search engine we are reviewing. We have reviewed Sapne.com but one look at sapne and one look at bandhan and you know that bandhan is way more serious about being a ‘real’ search engine for matrimony.

Also Matrimony is a fast growing space and even in the downturn it is likely to be one space that remains unaffected as far as the online classified space is concerned. The reason? Well people dont stop getting married in India! or around the world as a matter of fact.

On the search front Bandhan does a phenomenal job with the volume of results that have been indexed. It does seem that the relevant matrimony sites were contacted and proper tie up has been established to form this kind of data. Also the refine search option on the left is amazing for users to filter their search results.

WAT’s NOT: Well a few things that are challenging for a platform like bandhan is the relevancy of search results that show up on the first page. Google which is in general search ranks pages according to profiles. It would be great if the profiles are listed according to their last visit to the original matrimony site (which means that the users are active). Im not sure this is how Bandhan is currently listing its profiles.

Also the revenue model is big question mark if you ask me. The only two models i see is advertising and maybe matrimony sites paying to be listed but that will kick in only when it gets sizable traction. The other possible model could be that matrimony sites pay them for each paid user that is created due to a redirect from their search engine but again thats dependant upon the negotiation with the matrimony guys.

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Thursday, November 6, 2008

WATBlog Update "�Inch Wide and Mile Deep are the kind of properties we will look to build� - Asheesh Gupta, Co-Founder 9.9 Mediaworx" from "WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India"

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"“Inch Wide and Mile Deep are the kind of properties we will look to build” - Asheesh Gupta, Co-Founder 9.9 Mediaworx" from "WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India"

“Inch Wide and Mile Deep are the kind of properties we will look to build” - Asheesh Gupta, Co-Founder 9.9 Mediaworx

asheesh guptaWe had promised in our earlier post that we would get in touch with 9.9 Mediaworx which got funded recently for 7 odd million dollars. Well we did catch up with Asheesh Gupta of 9.9 Mediaworx who also leads digital and got more than we asked for. So here is an exclusive interview with Asheesh on 9.9 Mediaworx’s business, investment and vertical strategies.

On Their Digital Strategy

Asheesh feels that earlier the online media was the media for broad needs and hence horizontals flourished but with times and better content coming to the fore the power of niche and narrow casting i.e. targetting a focussed audience is becoming more and more important and fruitful as well.

He gave the example of their tech portal thinkdigit.com and stated that ‘We focus very hard on what is of interest to our community and only offer that and excel in those offerings’. When we questioned him about the scale in niches he stated that ‘..scale isn’t only about breadth it can also be depth. In media its important to be No1 and more important to be No1 in a niche that is small today so that you can conquer it and can grow big tomorrrow.

On Investments & acquisitions via 9.9 Ventures

On the point of acquiring or investing in niche content startups or even bloggers Asheesh stated that ‘Yes we are actively looking at investments and acquisitions but we don’t believe that our strength as a investor/partner is capital. Our core strength is the operational expertise we bring in and our ability to get involved and therefore we come in with a majority stake in the business and to the extent that it makes sense the entrepreneur continues to be on board’

On CreateOnlineBuzz.com and its strategy

‘Createonlinebuzz is another platform that connects influential publishers i.e. bloggers community to advertisers and vice versa. As a company we wanted to focus on certain areas and CreateOnlinebuzz is one of those niche community ideas that we are pursuing. Right now we are really small and have started some test campaigns and currently have sub 100 bloggers in our database but like I mentioned earlier its  small niche in India and we are probably the only player around right now so we will continue to build this out.

On vertical focus and events strategy

Beyond technology which is our core focus right now we are keenly looking at Manufacturing, Logistics and functional communities of CFO’s and CEO’s from SME’s.

On the point of events and its significance he stated that Events would form 1/3rd our revenue in the long run and our philosophy is look at each community and then create multiple touchpoints inorder to interact and add value to that community and grow and nurture it and hence events forms a key piece of this philosophy.

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WATBlog Update There are 3 new posts in "WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India"

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There are 3 new posts in "WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India"

At TIE-ISB Connect - How Can Startups Differentiate Themselves - Sandeep Singhal - Nexus India Capital

Sandeep Singhal spoke on differentiation as a marketing strategy for startups at the TIE-ISB Connect happening in Hyderabad. Here are the points he mentioned.

Sources of Differentiation

The main sources of differentiation for startups which cause a competitive edge:

1) Tech - Patents or New technology that your competition doesn’t have.

2) Process - Process patents or way of doing things is cheaper, better faster.

3) Business Model - A model that changes the game at markets. For example Saas (Software as a service) business

4) Marketing & Marketing communication - Your positioning of your product is key.

How to differentiate?

1) Team - Build the right team! That is if you have figured out that technology is where you want to differentiate your offering then hire the best technology people in your company and surround yourself with the best talent.

2) Market - Develop a deep understanding of the target market. Your perception of your business doesn’t matter as much as the market perception and needs.

3) Execute - In the end execution is the biggest differentiator. Execute flawlessly which ever differentator you choose be it tech, process business model or marketing.

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At TIE-ISB Connect - ‘Reverse the Fund Raising Process’ - DD Ganguly - Founder Dimdim.com

We are at the TIE-ISB Connect happening at ISB, Hyderabad and yesterday was day 1 of the conference where in workshops were conduction on raising funding and marketing strategy for startups.

One of the sessions was on fund raising by startups and DD ganguly of dimdim.com was the speaker.

DD Ganguly of Dimdim.com on How to raise funding?

DD made the following points..

1)  Angels should like you - An angel investor will fund you not only because he know’s you will make money but primarily because he likes you. You are more likely to raise money at the angel stage due to the connection or rapport you strike with the investor rather than your huge revenue opportunity.

2) Reverse the fund raising process - We got funded at dimdim.com when we were not actively looking for funding. We by accident went to a seminar and got blogged about and that in turn got investors talking to us. We learnt that reversing the funding process by attracting those people (journalist and bloggers) who can attract the VC to ask you whether you need funding is the right way to raise money. Dont try to get the foot in the VC’s door instead get the VC’s to come to you. Its a VC’s  to fund companies so they are also looking out for you. Make them find you you first!

3) Spreadsheets or Spreadshits? - At the angel stage look in the eye of the investor and tell him that you think that financial spreadsheets with 5 year projections are more like spreashits! Incase he still insists on details financials then walk out of the deal. This is because everyone knows that such financials are at based vague projections what the investor needs to be sold on is the large opportunity and you ability to execute and grab that opportunity.

DD also gave some insights on how to choose a brand name for a dot com company giving example on how they chose theirs at Dimdim.com

Choosing a brand name:

  • Dot com is available
  • Should have repetition as it sticks and people remember by repeating
  • Pronounciation and spelling should match as dimdim is pronounced as well as spelt in the same way.

Finally he concluded saying that the end goal of business is making money and an entrepreneur shouldn’t forget that. Fund raising just just a step toward making that money in a big way. His last quote was ‘I love my money & the only thing I love more than my money is other people’s money!’

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Carwale.com recieves 7 Million $ in Funding From Sierra Ventures

Carwale.com the standalone auto classifieds portal that raised seed funding from SeedFund in 2006. Now Carwale has raised their A series funding from Sierra Ventures (which also are one of the limited partners in seed fund) of about 7 million dollars. With is funding Tim Guleri and Vispi Daver of Sierra Ventures will join the company’s Board of Directors.

carwale

Carwale operates in a market with fewer strong players as its competing with the likes of Autoindia.com, Carazoo.comGaadi.com, and Indiaautomobile.com which is by consim info (bharatmatrimony.com)

carwale funding

This funding will surely give Carwale a shot in the arm with respect to expansions and will also enable it to get ahead of its competition. What this funding also points towards is the fact that transaction based companies are in vogue as far as the VC’s are concerned. As just recently myntra.com another transaction based online company which raised 5 million $.

I guess investors have still not built enough confidence in advertising based models. What do you think?

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Wednesday, November 5, 2008

WATBlog Update There are 3 new posts in "WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India"

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There are 3 new posts in "WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India"

Rediff Launches Mobile Application ‘MobileRediff’

Its taken a long time coming.. Considering that rediff has been around since almost the birth of the internet in India and mobile users have been growing phenomenally since the last couple of years a mobile application by rediff should have been launched atleast a year ago!

But as they say better late than never and also the fact that mobile gprs numbers are still in the nascent stage. Estimates peg gprs users at 15 million.

So Rediff has finally launched its mobile client application 'MobileRediff'. This basically is  a downloadable app which allows you a rich mobile experience with the rediff web services.

redif mobile

This application also allows users to send and receive Hindi language email and SMS messages. Users can also access and download SMS based content services like ringtones, wallpapers, caller back tones and jokes.

MobileRediff application is compatible with all leading GPRS enabled mobile handsets and can be accessed at mobile.rediff.com. Users can also download the client directly onto their mobile devices by SMSing to 57333. Also users can logon to http://mr.rediff.com for a demo of the application and its functionality.

Do test out the app and let us know the feedback! We shall do a review soon as well.

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Naaptol.com Launches Social Shopping Features.. Not Impressed..

naaptol.com a comparison based shopping portal in which BCCL Private Treaties recently picked up a stake has announced some interesting features which add a social element to shopping aka social shopping.

naaptol

This service is for registered users only and allows them to interact directly with the other registered customers who have similar shopping interests. According to this release one can supposedly chat live with other users who are online at the same time though I didn’t find any such feature even after registration. All I could find is a discuss which was nothing but a comment page. Though I have to admit the site now has a social networking touch as the profile, upload your picture and tell others about your interests through social shopping.

On the whole this was a pretty lame or lets say safe attempt at social shopping as maybe naaptol didn’t want to scare away users as social shopping in India maybe percieved as someone’s watching what im buying. Hence it seems they have deliberately kept it very one point oh for the use of a cliched term.

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Zoomtra ties up with RouteGuru For Driving Directions In Delhi

Well Maps and travel seem to go hand in hand. Recently we had blogged about a start up entrip which claimed to be a visual travel blog and integrated the map experience to travel planning. Well that is something even zoomtra seems to be attempting.

According to this release zoomtra has tied up with routeguru to power driving directions in delhi. The service is an addon to the travel search that zoomtra provides is auto-prompted when a user searches a flight or a train ‘from or to’ Delhi region on Zoomtra.com. I tried giving it a spin on zoomtra but it did not work for me. I guess a case of press release first launch later :)

zoomtra routeguru

Just yesterday I was in conversation with guys at Live Maps and I felt there was huge opportunity for travel services like bus train and flights to integrate with maps and provide a complete travel planning tool. Unfortunately giving the condition of the OTA’s with the current travel scenario its unlikely any of them will build a map based interface. Though tying up could be an appropriate solution especially if the partner is of the stature of  a Live Maps, Mapmyindia or google maps if possible.

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