It's different this time:
International venture capital, having run out of options back home, is seeking yield in the next bubble, namely Indian e-commerce sites with a shaky business model (it helps if you have a mangled name; see above. Oh, and you have to have a FREE app. Those of you without one, please show yourself out. Thanks for your time).
If you're the sort who's willing to invest as large a sum of money as goes into a real estate deal just because you can book your flat online (gasp!) or take a virtual tour of the property, I have this amazing deal for you... oh wait, never mind.
Want to buy diamonds online? Check. Eyeglasses? We've got you covered. Try out ten sets of dresses at home and just keep the one you like best? You got it (pity those poor Myntra delivery guys carrying half the store on their backs, though). What about furniture? You bet.
But jokes aside, this is what is called a win-win situation by the jargon-mongers. On the one side you have a) savvy shoppers looking for and getting great bargains b) slick home-grown would-be entrepreneurs cutting their teeth on hoodwinking gullible investors c) app developers d) newspapers getting revenues from full-front-page ads and e) even folks like the aforementioned overworked delivery persons, while on the other side you have... what? Greedy investors who know very well what they're getting into ("What is this "due diligence" thing I keep hearing about? And so what if the caviar is empty? There's always room service...")? No contest.
Anupam Mittal, founder of People Group, which owns Internet ventures like Shaadi.com, Makaan.com and an early investor in Ola, agrees. “Of course valuations have skyrocketed in the last one month. Even for a start-up raising $1 million, it has now gone to $2-3 million. Valuations may look running ahead of fundamentals for Flipkart, Snapdeal or Ola. However, it will look justifiable in the coming 12 months given the growth rates these firms are witnessing,” he says.
That, dear reader (I accidentally typed 'readr' and corrected myself, but come to think of it, that's more appropriate in this age of quikr, fukr, and the like), is called "talking one's book". Intellectual property my ass.“If you look at Fortune 500 companies, 50 per cent of valuations are given for intellectual property. The same holds true for Internet ventures. It is the network effect. One has to pick and choose the right winners in the game,” he says.
International venture capital, having run out of options back home, is seeking yield in the next bubble, namely Indian e-commerce sites with a shaky business model (it helps if you have a mangled name; see above. Oh, and you have to have a FREE app. Those of you without one, please show yourself out. Thanks for your time).
If you're the sort who's willing to invest as large a sum of money as goes into a real estate deal just because you can book your flat online (gasp!) or take a virtual tour of the property, I have this amazing deal for you... oh wait, never mind.
Want to buy diamonds online? Check. Eyeglasses? We've got you covered. Try out ten sets of dresses at home and just keep the one you like best? You got it (pity those poor Myntra delivery guys carrying half the store on their backs, though). What about furniture? You bet.
But jokes aside, this is what is called a win-win situation by the jargon-mongers. On the one side you have a) savvy shoppers looking for and getting great bargains b) slick home-grown would-be entrepreneurs cutting their teeth on hoodwinking gullible investors c) app developers d) newspapers getting revenues from full-front-page ads and e) even folks like the aforementioned overworked delivery persons, while on the other side you have... what? Greedy investors who know very well what they're getting into ("What is this "due diligence" thing I keep hearing about? And so what if the caviar is empty? There's always room service...")? No contest.
