A manifesto on why Indian social web startups should design applications for the global market. Nasscom Emerge Delhi January 2010 Startup Saturday StartingUp Mumbai November 2010

1. MADE IN INDIA, MADE FOR THE WORLD
Gaurav Mishra/ Gauravonomics
www.gauravonomics.com
gauravonomics@gmail.com
gauravonomics on your favorite
social network
06.29.2010 | P1
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2. Director of Digital and Social Media at MSLGROUP Asia
www.mslgroup.com/#practices/socialmedia
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3. Writer and speaker at Gauravonomics
www.gauravonomics.com
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4. Designer and changemaker at Ideasliver Labs
www.ideasliver.com
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5. SOCIAL WEB INNOVATIONS IN INDIA
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6. Invention
Type of
Innovation
Tweak
Local Global
Type of
Appeal
Four types of innovations
Innovations can be new-to-the-world inventions or mere tweaks. Similarly, innovations can have
local or global appeal. So, there are four types of innovations: local-inventions, global
inventions, local-tweaks and global-tweaks.
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7. Invention Voice Based Open Graph
Social Network? Social Network?
Type of
Innovation
Tweak SMSGupShup Zoho
Local Global
Type of
Appeal
Most innovations from Indian startups are local-tweaks
Most innovations from Indian startups are local-tweaks, although Zoho (and perhaps Slideshare)
have become global-tweaks. I have seen very few real inventions from Indian startups.
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8. Invention
Type of
Innovation
Tweak
Local Global
Type of
Appeal
Local-tweaks have been very successful in Asia
Local-tweaks have been very successful in Asia and startups in China, Japan and Korea have
created successful businesses based on local-tweaks.
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9. Social Professional Micro- Location Video-
Networking Networking Blogging Check-in Sharing
Service Service Service Service Service
United States Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Foursquare YouTube
Japan Mixi LinkedIn Ameba Now Foursquare Nico Nico
Douga
Japan’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube?
Japan’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube are Mixi, LinkedIn, Ameba Now,
Foursquare, Nico Nico Douga.
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10. Social Professional Micro- Location Video-
Networking Networking Blogging Check-in Sharing
Service Service Service Service Service
United States Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Foursquare YouTube
Korea Cyworld LinkedIn Me2Day Foursquare YouTube
Korea’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube?
Korea’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube are Cyworld, LinkedIn, Me2Day ,
Foursquare, YouTube.
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11. Social Professional Micro- Location Video-
Networking Networking Blogging Check-in Sharing
Service Service Service Service Service
United States Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Foursquare YouTube
China Renren Ushi Sina Weibo Jiepang Youku
China’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube?
China’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube are Renren, Ushi, Sina Weibo, Jiepang
and Youku.
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12. Social Professional Micro- Location Video-
Networking Networking Blogging Check-in Sharing
Service Service Service Service Service
United States Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Foursquare YouTube
India Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Foursquare YouTube
India’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube?
However, India’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube are Facebook, LinkedIn,
Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube.
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13. Infrastructure + Language + Aspiration =
Local-Tweaks #Fail
What ails Indian local-tweaks?
So, what ails Indian local-tweaks? The limited internet infrastructure, the lack of local language
content and the aspiration to use global English language platforms means that local-tweaks will
be less successful in India than the other Asian markets.
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14. With one exception: local content-community hybrids
With one exception: local content-community hybrids. Startups that create strong local content
and build a community around it might turn out to be an exception. For instance, iDubba
provides an entertainment discover and recommendation service focused on India.
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15. Invention
Type of
Innovation
Tweak
Local Global
Type of
Appeal
Opportunities for Indian product startups
So, the real opportunities for Indian product startups lie elsewhere: in global-tweaks, local-
inventions, and even global-inventions.
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16. MADE IN INDIA, MADE FOR THE WORLD
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17. Zoho
Zoho provides a portfolio of online business, collaboration and productivity applications for
businesses.
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18. Deskaway
Deskaway provides an online collaboration application for distributed teams.
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19. Uhuroo
Uhuroo provides an online file-sharing application for distributed teams.
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20. Cynapse
Cynapse provides online collaboration applications for distributed teams.
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21. Remindo
Remindo provides an online collaboration application for businesses.
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22. Qontext
Qontext provides an online social collaboration application for businesses.
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23. Practo
Practo is an online practice management application for doctors and clinics.
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24. Gizapage
Gizapage provides an online social media marketing hub for individuals and businesses.
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25. SocialTwist
SocialTwist provides social media marketing applications for individuals and brands.
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26. Beevolve
Beevolve is a social media monitoring application for businesses.
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27. RecruiterBox
RecruiterBox provides an online recruitment application for small businesses.
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28. Hover.in
Hover.in provides an in-text social content and ad distribution platform for publishers and
brands.
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29. Toufee
Toufee provides an online flash movie making application for non-technical users.
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30. AuthorStream
AuthorStream provides an online presentation-sharing application.
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31. WiZiQ
WiziQ provides an online education application for students, teachers and organizations.
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32. Lifeblob
Lifeblob provides an online photo-sharing application built around social timelines.
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33. Radbox
Radbox provides an online video bookmarking application.
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34. SIX REASONS WHY
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35. 1. Cloud infrastructure
Cloud infrastructure provided by Amazon Web Services and others make it possible for Indian
startups to start and scale a web service cost-effectively.
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36. 2. SaaS Delivery
The software-as-a-service delivery model pioneered by Salesforce and others makes it possible
for Indian startups to deliver their applications to a global market.
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37. 3. Application platforms
Application platforms developed by Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Android and RIM make it possible
for Indian developers to distribute their apps to a global market.
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38. 4. Access to influencers
Access to influencers like TechCrunch, Mashable, ReadWriteWeb and GigaOm makes it possible
for Indian startups to become visible to early adopters and the global technology media.
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39. 5. Viral loop
Social platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Digg, and aggregators like Techmeme and
Tweetmeme, create viral loops that can help a new application get serious attention.
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40. 6. Support infrastructure
Services like Skype, GetSatisfaction and ZenDesk make it possible for Indian startups to provide
customer support to global clients cost-effectively.
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41. A MILLION TRILLION REASONS WHY NOT
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42. WHAT ABOUT YOU?
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43. Invention
Type of
Innovation
Tweak
Local Global
Type of
Appeal
Made in India, made for the world?
Will you build a social web application that is made in India, made for the world?
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44. LET’S STAY IN TOUCH
www.gauravonomics.com
gauravonomics@gmail.com
gauravonomics on your favorite
social network
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