Failures
- Pre-IndiaWorld (1992-1994)
- Multimedia Database
- Electronic Parts Catalogue software
- Image WorkBench – image processing
- IndiaWorld (1997-1999; all these were portals)
- Dhan – India Investments
- Indialine – The Internet in India
- Nagar – Build your home (page)
- Man Pasand – Indian Favourites
- India Travelog – Destinations in India
- IndiaVotes – Opinion Polls
- Itihaas – 5,000 years of Indian History
- News Asia – Asian News
- Netcore early years (2001-2005)
- Blogstreet – blog search engine (one of the world’s first)
- RSS IMAP Aggregator – mailbox for RSS feeds
- Pragatee – one-stop software for small businesses
- Visual Biz-ic – enterprise software
- Digital Dashboard
- Emergic Freedom – Thin Client, Thick Server
- Netcore B2C (2005-2010)
- MyToday SMS – free subscriptions
- MyToday Mobs – SMS groups
- MyToday mobile portal
- NayaNaya – latest news
- MyToday Store – paid SMS subscriptions
- Phone.cc – dedicated portal for every mobile
- Politics (2009)
- Friends of BJP
- Free A Billion (2015-2018)
- New Constitution for India
- Swatantra Mumbai
- Nayi Disha and Dhan Vapasi
- Investing in Startups (2007-10)
- Seraja – Event Web
- Novatium – $100 Computer
- About 10 other companies
28 years. 30 failures. And 3 big successes.
- IndiaWorld (1995-99): sold for $115 million in 1999
- Niti Digital (2012-14): helped Narendra Modi get a majority in 2014 Lok Sabha
- Netcore (1998-): going strong; a “proficorn”
None of the successes were guaranteed. Success is inevitably built on top of failures. We forget our failures. But the failures are the stepping stones – the pathways that lead to the ultimate destination. If I had not had the courage to experiment as an entrepreneur (and accept repeated failures), there probably would have been no success.
There were long periods of serial failures. But I did not give up. I kept trying new things. That is how I live life even today. In every new idea that I am working on, I wake up every morning to work hard to reduce the risk of failure.
Tomorrow: Part 52
