How And When To Think Global

Small Desi Startups Go Big

- Dr. Yasho V Verma

Startup ecosystem is thriving and there is proof enough. Just observe some trending words in the IoTs – mobile ecommerce, edu-tech, clean-tech, Fin-tech, Data Analytics, Artificial intelligence, Drones, Wearable technologies, Cloud computing etc. There is little scope left to wonder that it is advancement of technology that has fuelled the startup ecosystem and with government efforts’ of easing the business milieu, things should only become better for startup entrepreneurs and enriching for users to experience.

There are Indian startups and there are billion dollar Indian startups. Names like Flipkart, Snapdeal, Zomato, Make My Trip, Ola, Practo, Pepperfry, Urbanladder have been heard many a times over, largely owing to their relatively early entry and perhaps also to do with reasons namely high valuations, marketing spends, mergers, acquisitions or variable share prices. Most of them already hold omni-channel presence and few have turned international or global within the first few years of operations. Technology and its advanced application has clearly been a winner for these startups whether they started with an ecommerce, marketplace, aggregator or listings model. The readiness and willingness of the founders or core management team went beyond the thought of limiting the use of their products or services in India’s particular geography or city of origin, their relevance was felt even in countries abroad. Even if it was a decade ago, logistics ceased to act as a barrier and these companies had bolt and run to the global shores.