Category: General

Web3 and India: A Wrong Turn (Part 3)

Now

Internet access remained a challenge in India for more than 20 years. We never really made it to the wired broadband era. High costs and limited access to desktop connectivity meant that the user base in India stayed low (compared to potential) through the first two Web cycles. It was only with Jio’s launch and the availability of cheap smartphones that Internet usage exploded in India. Today, thanks to competition, wired and wireless connectivity is easily available and at very affordable prices. This is what has spurred the Internet startups even as the absolute number of transacting users is limited by income. Capital is available in plenty as even a 50-100 million consumer base puts India among the larger Internet markets globally.

There are three types of startups blossoming in India: the B2C/D2C companies which seeks to deliver everything to us from anywhere in the country, B2B SaaS companies riding the shift to the cloud, and others solving problems in various verticals from agriculture to education to health (what I call the *tech – “startech” – companies). 90% or more of the companies will fail as is the nature of entrepreneurship. But the innovators who succeed will transform industries and individual lives, and create enough wealth to keep the investment cycle going.

Having seen the early days of the Internet, I sense a similar excitement with Web3. The crypto foundations are enabling a decentralised future built on the blockchain. Even as much of the attention is focused on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies (and more recently, the sharp fall in their value), there are many other applications being built. This is the “whole wide world” of Web3. From land records to loyalty programs, from financial inclusion to fashion provenance – the applications of the “chain” are many. It is in the world that for the first time India-domiciled companies and entrepreneurs have an opportunity to get in at ground zero and compete on a level playing field. It is this world that the Indian government policies, taxation and regulation is hurting. Entrepreneurs and investors don’t like uncertainty and that is exactly what is happening in India’s Web3 space. Given a history of “retrospective” actions and taxation by Indian governments, it is the rare brave entrepreneur who will create a Web3 company based in India. And when capital moves, so do people – and so does eventual wealth creation.

This is the fork in the road: the 1995 moment in India’s Web3 future. No bureaucrat or government policy maker whose tenure is measured in months will be bold enough to create a welcoming framework for Web3 startups. And so Indian entrepreneurs will simply go to Dubai or Switzerland or whichever country welcomes them. For once, can India’s government do the right thing – which is to simply promise freedom to entrepreneurs, and a freedom that no future retro policy will take away? Because Web3 promises to remake our tomorrow in ways we cannot even imagine.

Web3 and India: A Wrong Turn (Part 2)

1995

I was an entrepreneur during the early days of the Internet. After having returned to India from the US in mid-1992 to fulfil a promise I made to my father, I had experienced over two-and-a-half years of failure with my various startup ideas. It was in late 1994 that I realised that the World Wide Web (as it was then called) had the potential to bridge distance and connect people into an electronic marketplace. My big idea was to build an Indian information service (portal) for Indians globally – offering news, stock quotes, cricket scores, recipes and more. I launched IndiaWorld, India’s first Internet portal, in March 1995 – just around the time Yahoo and eBay went live with their services.

It wasn’t an easy launch. Commercial Internet services were not available in India at that time. The government had a monopoly on telecommunications in India. I hosted the content on a server outside India. Initially, I used a connection to ERNET (education and research network) to upload the content on the US server. When a bureaucrat disconnected my connection (ostensibly on the grounds that I was using it for “commercial purposes”), I tried to argue that many other Indian “commercial” organisations were also using the service. When I called up a Secretary in the Indian government, he refused to speak because he was “watching TV and didn’t want to be disturbed.” When I brought up the issue at an Indian business conference in the Bay Area after my connection was cut to a senior Indian Cabinet Minister, I was chastised by the organisers for “spoiling India’s name.” This was the (un)ease of doing business in India in mid-1995.

But entrepreneurs always find a way. In India, we call it ‘jugaad.’ For entrepreneurs, it is a matter of survival. With my dial-up connection to ERNET cut and no other alternatives available, I had to make international dial-up calls to a Web service provider in the US to upload the data daily. The time and money needed to do this increased manifold, but updates were never delayed.

In August 1995, VSNL (the government-owned PSU which had a monopoly on international communications) launched dial-up Internet access in India. It cost Rs 100 an hour – a big relief when regular international dialling cost about the same for a minute. That helped solve my data upload problem. Had I given up a few months ago when my dial-up connection was cut, the story of my life would have been very different.

Short-sighted policies by India’s government and regulators delayed the growth of India’s Internet through the Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 eras. Indian entrepreneurs could have created the Googles and Facebooks but for that they needed to move outside India. India lost a huge wealth creation opportunity with bad Internet policies in the late 1990s and the subsequent years.

Web3 and India: A Wrong Turn (Part 1)

Hit or Miss

A recent headline in the Economic Times read: “Web3: Will India miss the bus to the Internet’s future?” Here are a few excerpts from the story:

Of the dozen Web3 startups ET Prime spoke with, over half of them have moved out of India. According to experts, as more such companies move overseas, India will not only miss the Web3 bus but also lose millions in tax dollars.

…It’s not a new phenomenon since India’s earliest unicorns such as Flipkart and InMobi are registered in Singapore. But with Web3, the scale is probably much higher. Over the last one year, many startups have shifted their base to Dubai, which is becoming a major centre for crypto innovation…The reason behind all of them moving out of India is the same — lack of regulatory clarity.

…Regulatory issues apart, there is another reason why founders are registering their companies overseas — funding…The lack of regulatory clarity in India has made it tough for investors to fund Web3 companies with ease in the country.

…Rashmi R Padhy, vice president – business operations, WazirX, a cryptocurrency exchange, agrees. He says that during the first two stages of the Internet’s evolution, companies like Facebook and Google emerged. Meanwhile, India could only become a service provider to these companies. Even with the mobile revolution, India was late into the game, he adds. “I think we are seeing another cycle come up now in Web3. My fear is that with the current approach, India is again going to get left out and will become the service provider for Web3. By the time we understand it, we will be late, and India will have missed the bus again,” Padhy says.

After attending a crypto/blockchain conference in the US a couple months ago, this is what I had written: “My starting belief was that there is a fundamentally new Internet being built, bringing back memories of the mid-1990s. I was not wrong; the excitement among the speakers brought back the heady days of the early Internet era, one which I saw and participated in first hand…My view, reinforced after the conference, is that these are early days in the creation of the next generation Internet infrastructure – decentralised, permissionless, ownership, built on cryptography, enabled by blockchain. It is up to entrepreneurs to ask the question: what is centralised today that can be decentralised? And from there will sprout a range of businesses…A new future is coming with the collision of Web3/blockchain, gamification, the creator economy and the metaverse. It will take many years to play out. Just like the Internet…If you are an entrepreneur or a CEO of a big business, pay attention to the Web3 world that is emerging. Plenty of capital and an awesome array of talent is leading the way in creating new ways for us to live, work, entertain and socialise.”

Just like Web 1.0 and Web 2.0, Web3 is going to become the foundation for a new wave of technological innovations. Entrepreneurs and investors are working together to bring new things to life. With India having both a critical mass of consumers and the tech talent, for the first time there is an opportunity to play on a level playing field with global companies. But uncertainty and excessive regulation are business killers. Will India’s government do the right thing and take a hands-off approach like it did with IT services and let businesses thrive? Or will it limit economic freedom with its short-sighted politics and let another trillion-dollar wealth creation opportunity pass by?

Hindu Business Line on Netcore

Kurmanath interviewed me about Netcore’s future plans. Here’s his story. An excerpt below:

“We are planning to acquire a company that can give us a good customer footprint (in the US) or a company that can complement our products,” Rajesh Jain, Founder and Managing Director of Netcore Cloud, told BusinessLine.

Describing his company as a ‘proficorn’, a company that never raised funds yet profitable, he said the company would use accumulated profits to acquire a company with a ticket size of $50-100 million to give it an edge in the US market.

…Unlike most of the cloud firms that target the Western markets, Netcore Cloud has a strong base in India. About 85-90 per cent of its revenues come from India, with the Emerging markets of West Asia and Africa chipping in 12 per cent and 3 per cent from the US.

“We are going to change this (revenue break-up) in the next two-three years. We would like to see the Emerging markets and the US contributing 20 per cent each to our revenues, with India contributing 60 per cent,” he said.

Looking Back, Looking Forward (Part 3)

Memories and Writings

As the year ends and a new one is ready to begin, a mix of blurred memories flash by. My first flight in almost 19 months was in late August when I went to Delhi. Being featured in The Economist (in successive issues) for the Prashnam survey on Covid deaths. The many hippoBrain and MartechBrain conversations – until the first half of the year. The talk on Nayi Disha at Manthan. The joy of meeting friends in person. Reconnecting with a classmate from my MS program at Columbia University after 32 years and seeing how smoothly we picked up the threads. Completing the writing for my Proficorn book. Reading many good thrillers throughout the year. An Asimov immersion: reading the Foundation series, and watching the Apple TV series.

My blogging has continued. I started a “Thinks” series with 3 links daily. 365 posts through the year. Most of my writing this year was focused on marketing, especially after April. At times, when I re-read what I have written, I am surprised (in a positive way) and wonder: “Did I really write that?!” Most of the writing is done early in the morning – it is the time when the day has not yet brought forth its distractions, when everything is still quiet, when my mind is fresh and uncluttered. This is for the “flow” zone when the ideas and words just pour forth. Here are all my essays organised chronologically by section.

Marketing

Entrepreneurship

India

General

At about 500 words a day, this comes to 180,000 words of writing in a year.

I also did many interviews and talks through the year. Here is a list:

And finally, here are the top viewed pages in 2021:

Looking Back, Looking Forward (Part 2)

Martech and Netcore

In the past few months, I have been able to put a very good story around our vision and solutions. The “coming martech era” and the shift from adtech to martech 1.0 to martech 2.0 has been the focus of much of my recent writing on the blog. With each essay, I have developed greater clarity on how Netcore can help enterprises enrich the lives of their customers.

I have started speaking publicly a lot more on the transformations in martech. I have always sought out ideas for the future, and over the past few months these have come together very well. It is this virtuous cycle of thinking-writing-speaking-reading that I like very much. Every talk I give brings new questions which push me to make the story sharper. The writing also drives more reading. I am also excited about bringing the microns idea to life in a bigger way in the coming year.

Netcore is in the thick of the action. We have had a good year of growth. I marvel every time I see demos of our products and what’s coming. For Netcore, growth going forward will need to combine BAU (business as usual), buys (acquisitions) and breakthroughs. I hope we can script our own version of “exponential forever profitable growth”. We have the scale to look at an IPO in the near future, and lay the foundation to becoming an “enduring great company.” It has been a 25-year journey for us. For the first 10 years, we did not grow much; that changed once I replaced myself at the top. With each passing year, we are pushing for greater growth while maintaining the profitability that has made us a “proficorn”.

Looking ahead, I want us to learn from titans like Danaher and build a “Netcore Business System” that helps drive continuous improvements and an acquisitions factory that helps us accelerate growth and provide the full stack solutions that marketers need. Competition is increasing and I constantly think about how we can create a moat in our business to ensure the NRR (Net Revenue Retention) keeps rising. I have always believed that business is the equivalent of modern day warfare, albeit without the violence. Strategy is critical for success, and it needs to be matched with flawless execution. Getting the big decisions right is what will determine whether we can maintain and increase our 25% CAGR on price per share for another decade.

Looking Back, Looking Forward (Part 1)

Around Us

Happy New Year!

As 2022 begins, it is time to look back at the year that was and look ahead to the year that is coming. There is always something about the turning of the year and late December holidays that makes us a bit more reflective than usual. I had done a similar series last year and had written: “Life has always been about unknowns. Whether in business or in life, the future is yet to happen and therefore unknowable. We can speak of broad trends but we cannot say for certain what will happen. The best we can do is to make the most of the time that we are alive and in good health.”

2021 began with optimism on the Covid front in India; the first few months of the year brought the mirage of normalcy and optimism on the vaccine front. I had even gone sailing with a few friends. Lunches and dinners in restaurants were being looked forward to. And then came the second wave with the delta variant which hit all of us hard in April and May. The horror stories of oxygen shortages and deaths came much closer. In Netcore, we lost one of our senior executives. It was time to hunker down at home once again even as I got the vaccine doses in April and May. The virus first, and then the vaccines, provided immunity to most Indians as time passed. As the year ends, things are almost back to the pre-Covid normal. In December, I did two business trips to Pune and Goa. Masks are coming off, handshakes are back, in-person meetings are welcomed. Almost two years after it all began, the end of the pandemic seems to be near.

On the personal front, I am going to the office 3-4 times a week. Meeting people face to face rather than on Zoom is so much better. We have learnt to make the best of both worlds – in-person and virtual. I have watched four movies in theatres (No Time to Die, Dune, Spiderman and 83). Abhishek and I have resumed our fortnightly visits to Kitab Khana, followed by long walks around the bylanes of Mumbai. Life seems to be normal again, even as the spectre of Omicron rises.

And yet, the India of 2021-22 is very different from that of 2019-20. Even though the economic output has reached what it was, the income skew towards the top 10% has increased. For many of us, the bottom 90% and their pain is invisible. The digital lives of the top 10% have led to an Internet boom with an average of $100 million coming into India as VC/PE investment daily. Entrepreneurship is flourishing and so are solutions that are now working to address many of the challenges that were long unsolved. Globally too, industry by industry, risk capital is birthing innovations. From consumer tech to B2B SaaS, from Web3 (blockchain and the promise of decentralisation) to clean and green energy, from robotics to the metaverse, from deep tech to space, we are now living through exponential change across many aspects of our lives.

Stoicism for a Better Life (Part 9)

Books

“No person has the power to have everything they want, but it is in their power not to want what they don’t have, and to cheerfully put to good use what they do have.” – Seneca

For those interested to explore further, here is a summary of books on Stoicism, starting with the original writings:

Discourses and Selected Writings, by Epictetus: “Epictetus, a Greek Stoic and freed slave, ran a thriving philosophy school in Nicopolis in the early second century AD. His animated discussions were celebrated for their rhetorical wizardry and were written down by Arrian, his most famous pupil. The Discourses argue that happiness lies in learning to perceive exactly what is in our power to change and what is not, and in embracing our fate to live in harmony with god and nature. In this personal, practical guide to the ethics of Stoicism and moral self-improvement, Epictetus tackles questions of freedom and imprisonment, illness and fear, family, friendship and love.”

Letters from a Stoic, by Seneca: “For several years of his turbulent life, in which he was dogged by ill health, exile and danger, Seneca was the guiding hand of the Roman Empire. This selection of Seneca’s letters shows him upholding the ideals of Stoicism – the wisdom of the self-possessed person immune to life’s setbacks – while valuing friendship and courage, and criticizing the harsh treatment of slaves and the cruelties in the gladiatorial arena. The humanity and wit revealed in Seneca’s interpretation of Stoicism is a moving and inspiring declaration of the dignity of the individual mind.

Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius: “Written in Greek by the only Roman emperor who was also a philosopher, without any intention of publication, the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius offer a remarkable series of challenging spiritual reflections and exercises developed as the emperor struggled to understand himself and make sense of the universe. While the Meditations were composed to provide personal consolation and encouragement, Marcus Aurelius also created one of the greatest of all works of philosophy: a timeless collection that has been consulted and admired by statesmen, thinkers and readers throughout the centuries.”

There have been many modern writings about Stoicism. A selection:

A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy, by William Irvine: “Irvine plumbs the wisdom of Stoic philosophy, one of the most popular and successful schools of thought in ancient Rome, and shows how its insight and advice are still remarkably applicable to modern lives. [He] offers a refreshing presentation of Stoicism, showing how this ancient philosophy can still direct us toward a better life. Using the psychological insights and the practical techniques of the Stoics, Irvine offers a roadmap for anyone seeking to avoid the feelings of chronic dissatisfaction that plague so many of us. Irvine looks at various Stoic techniques for attaining tranquility and shows how to put these techniques to work in our own life.”

How To Be A Stoic: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living, by Massimo Pigliucci: “Stoicism teaches us to acknowledge our emotions, reflect on what causes them and redirect them for our own good. Whenever we worry about how to be happy, we are worrying about how to lead a good life. No goal seems more elusive. Massimo Pigliucci explores this remarkable philosophy and how its wisdom can be applied to our everyday lives in the quest for meaning. He shows how stoicism teaches us the importance of a person’s character, integrity and compassion. Whoever we are, we can take something away from stoicism and, in How to be a Stoic, with its practical tips and exercises, meditations and mindfulness, he also explains how relevant it is to every part of our modern lives.”

The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living, by Ryan Holiday: “[It] is a wise, calming, page-a-day guide to living a good life, offering inspirational daily doses of classic wisdom. Each page features a powerful quotation from the likes of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the playwright Seneca, or philosopher Epictetus, as well as historical anecdotes and thought-provoking commentary to help you tackle any problem, approach any goal and find the serenity, self-knowledge and resilience you need to live well.”

How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius, by Donald Robertson. “Cognitive psychotherapist Donald Robertson weaves the life and philosophy of Marcus Aurelius together seamlessly to provide a compelling modern-day guide to the Stoic wisdom followed by countless individuals throughout the centuries as a path to achieving greater fulfillment and emotional resilience. [The book] takes readers on a transformative journey along with Marcus, following his progress from a young noble at the court of Hadrian—taken under the wing of some of the finest philosophers of his day—through to his reign as emperor of Rome at the height of its power. Robertson shows how Marcus used philosophical doctrines and therapeutic practices to build emotional resilience and endure tremendous adversity, and guides readers through applying the same methods to their own lives.”

Being Better: Stoicism for a World Worth Living In, by Kai Whiting and Leonidas Konstantakos: “Twenty-three centuries ago, in a marketplace in Athens, Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism, built his philosophy on powerful ideas that still resonate today: all human beings can become citizens of the world, regardless of their nationality, gender, or social class; happiness comes from living in harmony with nature; and, most important, humans always have the freedom to choose their attitude, even when they cannot control external circumstances. In our age of political polarization and environmental destruction, Stoicism’s empowering message has taken on new relevance. [The authors] apply Stoic principles to contemporary issues such as social justice, climate breakdown, and the excesses of global capitalism. They show that Stoicism is not an ivory-tower philosophy or a collection of Silicon Valley life hacks but a vital way of life that helps us live simply, improve our communities, and find peace in a turbulent world.”

May Stoicism guide you in your personal quest for a better life!