Tech Startups in India are still a handful: GlobalLogic

With technology start-ups,the state of things in India,seem to be slightly different from the other countries in the world. Assuming that in today’s world technology is a common denominator all across the world now,the number of successful technology start-ups in India are still handful.

What is more important for a successful start-up? A technology enabled solution or a value proposition.

In comparison with the US start-ups,a large majority of Indian start-ups are driven by technologists. In their passion for the technology,Indian entrepreneurs have inherent weakness of not being able to properly formulate the end-user value proposition.

To what extent is an ‘idea’ critical for the success of a start up?

Majority of start-ups today are based on a value offering as compared to a new or ground-breaking intellectual property. Contrary to the popular belief,it is not the ‘idea’ of the start-up which is critical for the success.

An all-round focus on execution which includes building a strong advisory and organization team,partnerships,software engineering etc. is what matters.

Indian start-ups need to be sensitive to this aspect of achieving success. In the US,entrepreneurs put relatively low importance on IP and more on execution. Ideas are dime a dozen!

How important is the Marketing and Sales strategy for a start up?

In the initial stages of the start-ups,the entrepreneurs have to think from the perspective of the prospective customers.

Entrepreneurs may have invested a lot in building their product; however if they cannot invest in the Marketing & Sales effort their success may not be guaranteed. Start-ups in India need to increasingly focus on this aspect of their go-to-market plan. The order of product development should be Demo. Sell. Build.

This is a common mistake that entrepreneurs make on both sides,but it might be disproportionate in the Indian context.

In what way are the Indian and US start ups different in their focus on the target customers?

Compared to their US peers,Indian start-ups traditionally seem to have believed that their success is directly proportional to the wide range of customers they can attract at the start.

Start-ups are all about crisp and focused value proposition. Entrepreneurs should focus on the needs of early adopters of their value proposition.

In the Indian context how supportive is the ecosystem for the start ups?

In the US and especially in the Bay area,there is a very well developed ecosystem that helps nurture a new venture. The ecosystem is willing to work with entrepreneurs. The ecosystem consists of lawyers,strategy firms,advisors,design firms,strategy firms,marketing firms,sales teams who specialize in early stage product selling,this ecosystem is still missing in India.

How is the Indian funding scenario for the start ups different from that in the US?

In the US there is very well developed ecosystem of funding sources. They options for funding range from very formal sources like Venture Capitalist to customer paid development to friends and family money. There is a whole range of angel investors in the middle who do it for financial reasons,altruistic reasons,or even to help out a struggling entrepreneur.

On the contrary,venture money is still relatively new in India. We are of the view that start-ups/entrepreneurship in India is booming,however it is in its end success rate where India might be struggling.