Coffee With Sundar

Photos from Dewang Mehta Awards

Sundar Rajan G S — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:11:00 +0000

Here are some pics from Dewang Mehta Awards

Won Dewang Mehta Award for Best Student in Management

Sundar Rajan G S — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:55:05 +0000

Hi CWS Readers,

I am glad to inform you all that I was awarded the Dewang Mehta Award for Best Student in Management.

The contest took place in Mumbai and had around 20+ finalists from various colleges. It was an amazing experience.

Check the coverage about the event here:
http://www.yourstory.in/news/1072-latest-news/2773-b-school-affaire-a-dewang-mehta-business-school-awards-organized-the-annual-awards-for-b-school-students

Coffee With Mukesh Sharma – Automobile Engineer & Theatre Artist

Sundar Rajan G S — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:59:45 +0000

In the first video interview on CWS-2, I am glad to host Mr. Mukesh Sharma as a guest. A brief profile about Mr. Mukesh can be found below.

In this part 1 of the interview, Mukesh talks about his experience in Automobile Industry. In part 2 (which will follow this post), Mukesh speaks about his theatre interests & his newly formed theatre group etc.

Mukesh Sharma did his Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering in 1998. After a short stint at Tata Motor’s Engineering Research center , Pune , he joined Maruti Suzuki India Ltd in 1999.

Currently Mukesh is pursuing his one year full time executive MBA program from Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. His current areas of research are employee motivation , change management and building competitive strategies.

Before Joining IIM Bangalore , Mukesh was working as Manager ( Product development) in Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. He has spent more than two and half years in Suzuki Motor corporation , Japan on various vehicle development projects. He specializes in installing crash related equipments and facilities. He has worked on various product lines of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and carries vast experience in automotive product/process innovations

In a career spanning for more than ten years in automotive industry , Mukesh has written eleven technical papers in the area of occupant protection , vehicle crashworthiness and accident analysis , which have been published in SAE International USA and SAE India.He has also represented India’s automotive delegation in the area of vehicle accident and research to United Nation in year 2007 and 2008

He also runs a non profit theatre group in Delhi which has produced several plays since 2003. His recent production was covered and applauded by various media houses in Delhi ( NDTV , HT and Delhi events).He has conducted various workshops on Theater in Education for school children in Delhi.
His productions are : Hamlet (2003), Aadhi raat ka sach(2005) , Japani Gudiya(2007) , The siege within (2008)

Stay tuned for part 2 of the interview where Mukesh talks about his theatre exploits, exciting incidents in life & his EPGP program at IIMB.

Inspiration for Indian Youth – Sunil Robert

Sundar Rajan G S — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:14:11 +0000

The part 1 of the interview with Mr. Sunil Robert can be found here: http://coffeewithsundar.com/i-will-survive-sunil-robert/

Mr. Sunil Robert works for TCS Financial Solutions, where he runs the global Analyst Relations and Public Relations program. Sunil has also been the front end of the Marketing arm for i-flex in North & Latin America. Sunil holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and another Master’s degree in Communications & Journalism that helps him to bridge the gap between pure communicators who often miss the business landscape or Business strategists who have the know – why but don’t often have the know-how.

Me: What were some of the learnings you had in your career? Some things which you learnt the hard way?
SR: I was 18 years – a struggling immature kid when I joined the work force. I was too naive in transaction initially. My first learning was that the corporate world is a very competitive place. I was taking people at face value. You see, coming from a very mild & protected back ground, I was suddenly facing the hard realities of life.

As you keep going through life experiences, you realize that life in the corporate world is not very different from that of the personal life. Rules of relationship don’t change. My freshness, energy & innocence helped in my career. In my life I met a number of genuine, honest people with no politics. Those few good souls changed my life. 10 years ago, I had one of the nicest bosses in my life. Always polite, not angry, very humble and corrects your mistake with smile. Even I want to be like that for young. Even the people I don’t like also gave me deep, deep insights. In essence, my corporate experience was “An accelerated course in maturity.”

Me: Who were your role models?
SR: Well a number of them have influenced my life. One of them was my school teacher, who inspired me to love public communication. I was no body then. The influence is unforgettable. When I was 18, I came across a person named Ravi Zacharias. He was one of the most persuasive communicator, whom I met. He was a great human being. He never let achievements to come in the way of relationship. Even I want to influence the lives of youngsters in India. Apart from them, there are business leaders who are my role models. I have spoken about them in my book – I will survive. They run organizations by the sheer strength of their persona. One of them is Ratan Tata. He has 350,000 employees working for him. We approached him with the manuscript and asked him if he could write the foreword. His office is inundated with such requests. But he was willing to spare time for it. They inspire me. Even I want to pass on such generosity to young people. If I don’t, I will be failing him. Some time back, I met a guy, who said his brother is a writer and wanted me to help him out. I spent some time with him and helped him out. We fail if we don’t pass on the generosity in spirit. Not only professional, but also in the personal life. The book – I will survive is also a guide to young people. It has all the lessons which I have learnt the hard way in life. It is in a narrative style which appeals to the young audience.

Me: Why is the book named – I will survive?
SR: A number of reasons.
1. Indians are a resilient lot. We look at the crisis at eyes & won’t blink. We are a great nation of survivors against the external imperials. Surviving is our national trait. Hence the name.
2. People need some support. Generally we tend to think that we might through a tough time, but we always have the belief – “I will survive”. This book is not catering to Celebrity & successful people. It is for marginalized. This is for people who are seeking inspiration to succeed in life.
3. I was in late 30s when I started this book. But not many people write autobiography at this age. I was wondering if I was too early. I thought “would you rather be little early or a little late”. I knew that this book was for youth and I wanted it to be relevant. I thought I will go in for it a little early and I knew “I will survive” with my decision.

Me: You have now been in the corporate world for more than a decade. Do you see India changing?
SR: Yes of course! I have only great news here. In the late 80s, we were over-whelmed and were always in awe with our counter parts in US. It has always been our culture of respecting others. Today, after being in the IT industry for 10 – 12 years, I can say that Indians are good or probably better in managing others. Our culture is very unique. We are not very combating and westerners are comfortable with that. We have shown that world that we are amazing in technology & engineering. Now, Indian managers & professors are also empowering. We are well poised to move into top management of some of the top companies.

Me: A good number of people are going abroad. A lot of them are working with international teams in their work place in India. What are your tips for working in this new international environment?
SR: Indians are well positioned to work in Global community. In our schools, we have friends who speak 2 or 3 different languages at home. Youngsters play cricket, where people come from different backgrounds. So, our kids are exposed to handle diversity very easily. It is a part of our skin. There are few areas where we need to fine tune ourselves. Things like etiquettes, differences in our cultures & theirs, where to bond, the social set up etc. This will help us to easily handle global communities.

Me: Sir, it has been amazing having you on this show. I am sure your book would go on to inspire many more Indians. What are your future plans?
SR: I will be taking up full time writing. Writing this book has been amazing, but it was a tiresome and quite an experience. So, I want to be doing this full time. The good news as far as the book – I will survive – is that it has gone for re-print in just 2 weeks. It has got a critical mass following.
My next book is also towards young executives, Indian professionals & managers. I want to help serve young professionals & managers.
A lot of people define success as “where you are now”. But for me it is important to add another parameter. Success is a measure of “Where you arrive, from where you started”. I am happy with where I have arrived from where I started. I want to go on to become an inspiration of many Indian youth & young professionals.

Me: Sir, Thank you so much for sparing your time. It was indeed a pleasure to have you on this show. Thanks once again. I am sure; this book would be a huge success. You are going to be an inspiration for many young Indians sir.
SR: Thanks a lot Sundar! I am also very happy to be a part of this show.

I will Survive – Sunil Robert

Sundar Rajan G S — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:26:49 +0000

Hello CWS-2 Readers,

I am happy to introduce you all to Mr. Sunil Robert – Head of Analyst Relations & Public Relations at Tata Consulting Services and author of the book “I will Survive”.

Here is the profile of Mr. Sunil Robert

Coffee With Sunil Robert – Author, “I will survive” & Head of AR & PR, TCS
Me: Sundar Rajan G S
SR: Sunil Robert

Me: Hello Sir, Welcome to this show on Coffee with Sundar – Season 2. It’s an honour to host you.
SR: Pleasure to be here! You have got a nice community out here!

Me: Sir, Can you talk about your childhood days, your background etc. You have mentioned about the difficulties you faced when you were in 7th standard when you were not able to pay the fees for examination. (http://sunilrobert.com/bookexcerpts.htm). You also wanted to become a CA, but you ended up taking up a job as a sales person because of your family commitments. Can you talk about how you reacted to your tough times?

SR: I had a normal childhood. It was around late 1980s. My family had moved from a village (Nalagunda) to Hyderabad city. Both my parents were working. My family faced a crisis when my father had lost his job. I didn’t know how to react. I was feeling humiliated in schools. There was negative energy all around me. It was a difficult phase when we couldn’t even pay the fees. After my 10th, I had to join a polytechnic. As I grew older, my response to the situation was different. Instead of just feeling helpless, I was feeling more energetic. Unfortunately my energies were negative energies. I got into wrong company of friends & gangs. It was against all odds and such situation that I have been able to survive & succeed.

My life is an example of second chance. It’s an example of faith, hope & belief that I can overcome. This is what is covered in the book.

I had relationship with primary school teachers. I had a few great friends. I met outstanding people who helped me over come my problems. I stood up and faced the reality. I decided to take up responsibility at home. I had a choice of either blaming what was happening around me or to accept the reality and chance what I don’t like. I did the latter. That’s how I am where I am today.

Me: From government polytechnic to head of PR at TCS? Can you talk about your journey?
SR: During my polytechnic days, I was never good at diode or technical stuff that I was studying there. I was more interested in Shakespeare or arts or Lincoln. I enjoyed these much more than the studies in classes.

I got a government job after my studies. But I decided not to take the regular jobs. Instead I joined Eureka Forbes as a sales person.
The training that I received in Eureka Forbes was probably the magic potion which I badly needed. There were lessons on how to bounce back after failure, how not to lose confidence when the doors are slammed on you etc. The training helped me to walk with confidence, speak by looking into the eyes of the people, shake hands confidently. I really enjoyed it. Even if nothing was going my way, I was still confident. Suddenly, this “dark completion”-ed small scraggy fellow in me started to see things differently. I was battling the situation with confidence.

I discovered that I had communication skills. I loved public speaking & debating. Even when I was getting trashed, I loved taking part in conversations & discussions. This helped me to get a job as a radio jockey. I liked this as well, the whole new space to talk to young people & build relationships with people whom you don’t know. I used to get letters from the listeners etc. That was really a exciting phase. I also did a bit of sports commentary. I was grabbing whatever opportunities that came my way. I slowly realized that there was a method in the madness that was happening all around me.

Me: You decided not to take up a government job, when you were facing so many difficulties. How easy was it? What did people think about you?
SR: Yes! People called me a crazy guy!! Everyone told me that I have “lost it” in life.
As Voltaire said, “Most men live lives of quiet desperation”. I looked around me and realized that the “intelligent” are actually stuck with a government job for life. I asked myself – “would you be stuck in a single job? Or will you do an interesting job?”
I chose the latter. In fact, one wrong career choice of my father ruined the whole family. People were actually wondering if it was genetic when I chose to leave that job. But when I started doing well and started getting good sales, they were reassured that I am not all that crazy.
Then I jumped many jobs after that before finally heading the PR & AR of TCS.

Readers, hope you enjoyed this part 1 of the interview with Mr. Sunil Robert.

The interview will be continued in part 2 where Mr. Sunil talks about his learnings, his book, role models and the changing face of India.

So stay tuned!

Thanks Nanditha Iyer

Sundar Rajan G S — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:19:30 +0000

Hi All..

Special thanks to Nanditha Iyer for introducing Mr. Anil Menon to the show. Nanditha, an avid reader of CWS, was a student at PESIT college & is now working in DEESHAW in Hyderabad as a software engineer.

Check out the Anil Menon’s interview on an overview about the treasury department in a bank here:

http://coffeewithsundar.com/anil-menon-on-treasury-department/

@CWS-2 readers, if you know someone whom you think can be interviewed for CWS-2, please recommend them here

http://coffeewithsundar.com/contact/

Regards

Sundar Rajan G S

Anil Menon on Treasury department

Sundar Rajan G S — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 17:07:05 +0000

Hi all,

I take immense pleasure to invite a special guest – Anil Menon R, to Coffee With Sundar – Season 2. Welcome Sir!

He is a Production Engineer with a Masters in Management from Bajaj. Subsequently he worked for SBICAPS for 6 years in the areas of Treasury, Project Finance and OTC. He then switched over to SP Jain and he is currently an international faculty for the Dubai and Singapore campus. He is also associated with Confederation Of Indian Industry, BSE, HDFC, Wartsila, Deustche Bank as a consultant/ trainer. His areas of interest are Financial Restructuring Valuation and Financial Markets.

Coffee With Anil Menon

Me: Hello Anil! Welcome to the Coffee with Sundar – Season 2!
AM: Hello Sundar! Glad to be on the show.

Me: You have mentioned that you passed out of Jamnalal Bajaj and joined SBICAPS where you worked for 6 years in the area of Treasury, Project Finance & OTC. Can you speak in brief about treasury? What is treasury all about? Can you explain in detail about treasury’s role in an organization?

AM: Treasury role is to invest surplus funds at good returns. Also if an organization is short of funds they have to raise funds at lowest possible rates. It is an important role as it has a bearing on the profitability of the firm.

Me: Where in the organization structure would treasury come? Does it typically report to CFO etc? How is the performance measured for a treasury?

AM: Treasury typically reports to CFO. However it may vary with each organization. The performance of Treasury managers is on basis of risk adjusted returns. It is to be noted that highest returns need not be the best it has to be viewed in light of the risks taken by the treasurer.

Me: What is the role of new joinee? How does his career grow in the field of treasury?
AM: A new joinee may start with MIS or as a part of the deal team. They are given mandates only after they gather sufficient experience. He may grow to head treasury and finally the Company.

Me: How does treasury department identify risks?
AM: The normal techniques of VAR (Value AT Risk), ETL (Expected Tail Loss) is used. Though there are standard models, nowadays Corporate are increasingly turning to customized models.

Me: What are the characteristics of a high performing treasury team?
AM: As explained above the characteristics of high performing treasury team is to give consistent returns with optimal risk.

Me: From your experience, can you share some of the most exciting experiences or anecdotes as a part of treasury team?
AM: Handling Resurgent Bond Issue of SBI was the most challenging experience. The issue was in response to the sanctions imposed on India after the Pokran nuclear tests. India’s credit rating was downgraded and fund raising became difficult. We pulled off an intense fund gathering exercise successfully in 20 odd days. SBI gathered a huge corpus from NRI subscription. Needless to say the credit rating of India was restored after this successful issue.

Me: What do you find the most frustrating and biggest challenges about your role?
AM: The market sentiments change overnight. This is the most frustrating part of the job. However this is what makes the role very dynamic and challenging.

Me: What do you see as the emerging issues for treasury in the near future? How has this changed in the past 1 year or so?
AM: The coming times are going to see more volatility for sure. Treasurers have to fully appreciate the uncertain environment under which we function. Indian markets being increasingly globally integrated will witness intense competition. This is where young treasurers can make the mark. Apart from good analytical skills, networking and working long hours under pressure is an absolute necessity.

Thank you Sir. This was indeed useful to understand treasury functions.

The Most Popular Entrepreneur Challenge 2009

Sundar Rajan G S — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:02:52 +0000

Please find the Invitation from Yourstory!

Moving forward with its endeavour of building a strong Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem, YourStory launches The Most Popular Entrepreneur Challenge 2009, lead sponsored by Sun Startup Essentials.

Entrepreneurs are unique human beings, as creators and shapers of ideas, they have changed the world. Every Entrepreneur who has ventured forth has done so knowingly that their future is a gamble. Braving the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” they emerged victorious each time. This has been the trait of their race. From endless planning to business models and team building, a modern Entrepreneur chooses to do it all. Statistics, research, facts, and market knowledge are the new tools of an old trade.

However, we seem to have forgotten that the entrepreneur is more than just the sum of his or her parts. As the legacy of our past stirs us post Independence Day, we have looked deep and hard at what makes an entrepreneur. YourStory seeks to rediscover the charisma, leadership, and foresight of the Great Indian Entrepreneur.

For the first time in India, YourStory is conducting a Challenge for Entrepreneurs which will be 100 percent community driven. With all the contests in India primarily being ‘judged’ by experts and panelists, who form ‘their’ opinions on ‘your’ business model, we think that’s its time to change the rule of the game as celebrate entrepreneurship for its spirit purely. No conjecture, posturing and punditry can hope to judge the worth of an Entrepreneur.

We believe that if it is about You then the people closest to you would be your best judge. After all an Entrepreneur is what an Entrepreneur Does. We believe a great entrepreneur is one who can inspire and lead people around him/her. We think it’s time to test your entrepreneurial zeal and popularity among your peers, clients, vendors, friends and relatives – a litmus test that tests your ‘Appeal Quotient’ and brings to fore a biz mastermind, a consummate entrepreneur and a deserving winner.

Besides building a strong profile and testimonial page of every participant, the winner of the contest will walk away with a bouquet of prizes that include a cash prize of Rs 50,000, mentoring by Mumbai Angel Network, Times Private Treaties (part of the Bennett Coleman Group), Planet Aikon and Morpheus Venture Partners, nation-wide coverage and publicity by Yuva magazine, a two month search engine optimization programme by Clearpath Technology worth Rs 25,000, free web development by LS Solutions and a 6 month long software and application support by Startup Garage.

Registrations open @ www.yourstory.in

Watch Eximius ‘09 at CWS-2

Sundar Rajan G S — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:48:37 +0000

Did you guys miss out on the exciting Eximius ‘09 over the weekend?

Didnt get a chance to make it to IIM Bangalore on August 15th & 16th?

No issues.. Nothing to worry!!

Coffee With Sundar season 2 has recorded all the action..

So sit back & enjoy!!

1. You can find the press release of the 2 days at Eximius ‘09 at the bottom.

2. Watch the Key Note speech by Kiran Mazumdar Shaw & Sudhir Sethi
http://coffeewithsundar.com/kiran-mazumdar-shaw-sudhir-sethi-keynote/

3. Watch the Venture Capital Workshop by Samir Kumar, Managing Director at Inventus Capital
http://coffeewithsundar.com/v-c-workshop-by-samir-kumar-md-inventus-capital-partners/
http://coffeewithsundar.com/samir-kumar-from-inventus-capital/

4. Watch the Entrepreneurial Motivation talk by Sanjay Anandram from Jumpstartup
http://coffeewithsundar.com/entrepreneurial-motivation-by-sanjay-anandaram/

5. Watch the Panel Discussion on “Decoding the MBA Entrepreneur”, moderated by Rashmi Bansal, Author, Stay Hungry Stay Foolish
http://coffeewithsundar.com/panel-discussion-decoding-the-mba-entrepreneur/

6. Watch the WATPanel on Ecommerce
http://coffeewithsundar.com/panel-discussion-on-e-commerce/

EXIMIUS ’09 – THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT OF IIMB

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Cell of IIM Bangalore, in association with Qualcomm, organized Eximius ’09 – The Entrepreneurship Summit of IIMB on August 15^th& 16^th, 2009.

Eximius hosted Dr. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (CMD, Biocon) and Mr. Sudhir Sethi (Founder and CMD, IDG Ventures India) as keynote speakers. “Failure is temporary, but giving up is permanent” – These were the motivating words of Dr. Shaw, who addressed the gathering and gave an insight into the setting up of Biocon and the numerous difficulties that she faced in the process. Mr. Sethi gave the perspective of a venture capitalist and what the venture capitalists look for in startups, while addressing the 300+ audience which included VCs, Entrepreneurs, Professors, participants and students from IIM Bangalore.

Eximius, in its second year since inception in 2008, had participation from over 150 colleges across India. The flagship events were Genesis & Ingen. Genesis – The VC Speed Date provided a platform for all budding entrepreneurs to pitch their business ventures to venture capitalists, in a one-on-one session to get real time feedback. INGEN – Business Plan contest for the business school students, was based on the theme “Small is Big”. The team from SP Jain Institute of Management & Research won INGEN. The two events together saw more than 400+ B Plan entries from over 150 colleges and budding entrepreneurs. Total Cash prize of INR 150,000 was given to the winners.

Eximius ’09 also organized a Start-up Fair where selected start ups are given a chance to showcase their venture to a discerning audience. Students of IIM Bangalore were offered consulting projects & given opportunities to work with start ups and get exposed to the exciting world of entrepreneurship. As a part of the Speaker Series, Prof. Narayandas from Harvard Business School gave a special talk on “Search Funds” – which are vehicles for entrepreneurs to raise funds from investors interested in making private equity investments. A Panel Discussion on “Decoding the MBA Entrepreneur” was organized with Panelists from various IIMs. This panel was moderated by Rashmi Bansal, the author of best seller – Stay Hungry Stay Foolish. The panelists included Satya Narayanan, the founder & chairman of Career Launcher, Sanjay Anandaram, Partner at JumpStartUp Venture Fund, Saumil Mazumdar, Founder & CEO at SportzVillage and Krishnan Ganesh, Founder, Chairman and CEO at TutorVista.com, who shared their experiences & lessons from their entrepreneurial careers.

Other events included a panel discussion on E-commerce, with panelists representing Intel Capital, eBay India & Ojas Ventures. Sameer Kumar, MD, Inventus Capital organized a VC workshop which enriched the audience on how to approach a VC. Sanjay Anandaram’s motivational talk on entrepreneurship was thoroughly inspiring and entertaining to the audience. Karthee, Director, Qualcomm Ventures gave a talk on role of Corporate VCs. Eximius ‘09 closed with an exhortation to the attendees to “be unreasonable, and to change the world”.

Senior Co-ordinator of EnI Cell, Sundar Rajan said, “Eximius ’09 provided a great opportunity to network with VCs, Entrepreneurs, Students & Alumni of IIM Bangalore to the 1500+ unique registered users. This is exactly what we set out to achieve.” “With such an enthusiastic participation from both external and on-campus participants, EnI is looking forward to conducting much more events over the year particularly aimed towards increasing Venture Capitalist – Entrepreneur Interaction”, said Sumit Sarda, the EnI Cell Secretary.

=============

Panel Discussion on E Commerce

Sundar Rajan G S — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:26:00 +0000

The following are the panelists for the Panel D

KV: Kashyap Vadapalli, Director – Marketing & Ops, eBay India
Kashyap Vadapalli, is Director – Marketing & Operations at eBay India. In this role, he is responsible for leading teams that drive all the buy-side business channels at eBay India. A member of eBay’s International Marketing Leadership team, Kashyap is responsible for building the eBay India Brand, Pop Culture, Customer Acquisition, Engagement and Retention as well as PaisaPay. Prior to joining eBay India, Kashyap was at Google India where he led account teams responsible for revenue generation from US advertisers. Before Google, he was at Tata Interactive Systems – where he handled multiple roles, including – Head – Marketing, Corporate Line of Business and Director – Sales & Business Development, USA. Kashyap started his career with Cadbury India – he worked as a Sales Manager initially and then as Brand Manager. Kashyap is an electronics engineer from the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra and an MBA from IIM-Calcutta.

SS: Sarayu Srinivasan – Director – Intel Capital
Sarayu joined Intel Capital in 2006. Prior to Intel, she founded a technology consultancy focused on strategy, tech transfer, commercialization and valuation acceleration projects for early and growth stage science, technology & consumer businesses. Before her consultancy, Sarayu headed marketing for uReach Technologies, a converged communications service provider. Prior to uReach, Sarayu was a brand manager at the Pepsi-Cola company where she ran a $300MM business. Earlier, Sarayu conducted research at the Harvard Business School in the areas of Valuation, Finance, and Competition & Strategy. She authored case studies and papers, and contributed to the award winning textbook Business Analysis & Valuation Using Financial Statements. Sarayu also worked for Satyam Computers in India and the U.S. Sarayu serves on Intel India’s Social Entrepreneurship/CSR steering management committee. Outside of Intel, she serves on the Boards of Young Inventors International, Milldam Public Affairs, and the Advisory Board of Questionbox. As an analyst and author, she has published a range of academic and practitioner’s literature on business issues. Sarayu earned a BA in Architecture from Barnard College/Columbia University, an MBA from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees and held a research fellowship at Harvard Business School.

GB: Gautam Balijepalli, Principal – Ojas Ventures
Gautam has more than 12 years of experience in the technology sector in venture investing, business development and software development. Prior to Ojas, he was with the venture capital team at Nomura, Japan’s largest investment bank, based in London. During his time at Nomura, he has syndicated investments of around $60m. He led and managed investments in Compellent, Revivio (Symantec) and NetForensics, as part of a team. Prior to Nomura, he gained experience in Business Development at Sun Microsystems and had significant senior management exposure while working on marketing initiatives for Sun’s software products. Gautam has experience in creating sales & marketing strategies targeted at CIOs as well as consulting to them on strategic IT initiatives. He has also held roles in consulting at PricewaterhouseCoopers (IBM) and software development at Infosys. Gautam has a Bachelor’s degree in Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and an MBA from London Business School.

RD: Rajiv Dingra – Founder & CEO of WAT Media Pvt Ltd.

The Transcript was prepared by Sadanand (Saddy)

RD: What are the panelist what opportunities in digital commerce?
KV: I’d like to put opportunities in the context of the broader internet environment. Total internet users = 50-80 m. Daily users = 40 m. broadband penetration increasing – single digits to close to 20%. All increasing numbers = opportunities in e-commerce in exchange of products goods and services. Product searches = people searching online = close to 90% of online people. This opens up various opportunities. Specific opportunities – time right for people with a unique idea or provide service digitally- right time. Offline retailers with user base to get online given behavior of people. Using their own site or ebay kind of thing. Opportunities in kinds of payments. Number of people on the internet is one tenth that of mobile. Transfer e-commerce to m-commerce scales business ten times. For digital commerce to be-commerce complete online and offline – logistics. Development in that also there is scope and is up for grabs.

SARAYU: Intel capital – VC arm of Intel 1998. They have made 60 investments here – Sharekhan, Subex etc. 51 mil 9 invests – Indiamart, Yatra etc. There are a lot of inefficiencies and opportunities to exploit in India. Driver with 2 cells chatting. Awareness at lowest level. Pay bills in queues and records on papers. Lot of things to solve using mobile example rural supply chain farmer etc. This is good news for India = opportunities. Bad news infrastructure, regulations. Computing and communication. Something that will make money with usage of technology. Indiamart solving huge inefficiencies, connecting SMEs who don’t have other voice in the world. Lot of hard work to go and target the SMEs esp in rural areas.

GB: Ojas – early stage venture fund. Invested in about 6 companies. Opportunities in e-commerce unlike western markets convenience and cheaper products. In India convenience won’t apply. Too closely packed – I can walk and buy groceries. Pick niche to provide products at cheaper rates. Flipkart – online bookstore, beautiful exp to user. If primary thing is convenience .But not sure people will use it. Cheaper than traditional retail = opportunity. Most successes in e-commerce= no delivery of goods. Coz logistics very nacent. In US specific logistic providers for e-commerce. Op in India. Research online and buy offline coz of touch and feel. India you don’t find too many services to compare and contrast products via retailers – missing in India. Payment infra is big opportunity but it has its own challenges.

What is opportunity in these above segments but still low growth?

GB: Lack of payment channels. Culturally – shopping is an entertainment exp. Going to mall on weekend. Substitute will take back seat. Also we don’t trust sellers even in retail. That behavior won’t change. Last few years, service not good enough . box of chocolates in inventories for failed delivery.

How do you deal with inefficiency service delivery?

KV: Ebay – no inventory. But rules and regulations. Reputation of sellers and buyers. Meet certain quality levels. There has been learning. Possible feedback from people who have transacted with them. There are players who deliver well but key is to figure out if more and more people are bringing it out.

E-commerce not so serious earlier and now they are more serious? All above things problems that are there. What are the solutions to these challenges?

Does demand exist. Are all people ready for internet today? No, small fraction, but growing. Access increasing. Conversation and trust. Online comparison shopping. Online shopping also increasing. Value proposition of ebay is lots of goods. Hard to find goods. Safe easy goods. Deals – am I getting better price. Automatic coz overhead, showroom cost inventory is lower. Value proposition many ecommerce guys are exploring. More deals coming up. Opportunity in infrastructure. Payment methods challenge. Trust fundamental and keep working on. Net promoter score metric. How many people who re-commerce mend us after using us. Captures everything. Everything growing. Journey with challenges but everything in the right direction.

SARAYU: Very low pc penetration. Particularly suitable for non materialistic competition = tickets. Mobile phone important. Coz u can do everything on mobile. Highly segmented market. Affordability and access, regulatory methods, expense. Tremendous respect for entrepreneurs entering coz of huge challenges.

First of august onwards credit card to have pin numbers. Online more secured. International create net safe card. For international card it works everywhere.

Ebay has projected drop in online transactions after regulations.

KV: not be able to confirm drop. IRCTC uses multiple gateways. Data publicly available. Attempted and going through. Drop there. Should govt reduce laws to reduce friction or puts constraints. Should everything have done this? Yes, security. Others cards can’t be used. Offline transactions by credit card more so more fraud offline. International speeds are slow in India. Extremely high chances of drop off between transactions actions to bank. Trade off but will be plugged.

Who has onus of regulation?

KV: ebay chooses to interact with IMAI. Onus on merchants and banks. Cost of transactions cheaper online so they make money and have responsibility to communicate users at large. Not easy to use credit card nowadays. Now we have introduced an additional layer. But people will get used to it.

How do you look at e-commerce now? Circumspect?

SARAYU: Nowhere to go but up. Smart people that figure it out. Nothing goes to waste. Greenest culture we have going.

GB: Same kind optimism. Short run there will be a drop but long run will be good.

Alternative payments – mobile, E-wallets , m-wallets, cash cards etc. role of these in digital transactions in India.

KV: Not been possible in the current regulatory environment. Credit card used online – 6-9 m people. Visa and mastercard 50 million people. Is it easy to use debit card online coz lot many people use it. Make sure e-commerce accept as many payment methods as possible. Merchants should do that. Govt should free up these regulations. If you want growth remove barriers. Virtual cash on mobile phone and be able to use it online or offline.

Prepaid regulations by everything. Oncard details doesn’t affect them – m-commerce.

KV: Accept virtual money from m-commerce.

What opportunity in m-commerce?

SARAYU: ITC cash. Huge opportunity. Depends on ecosystem of who is accepting and adv of one over the other.

GB: Anything that will enable Indians to do things online will be great.

Online transactions when be single click. Will e-commerce be lucrative?

GB: Not sure about lucrative. But lot more people will use it.

B-BE model. Global hence which countries legal body applies.

SARAYU: Alibaba collecting SMEs in India and putting them online. It only takes one global buyer to come to website and not be able to buy once.

How do you make money?

SARAYU: Indiamart makes money in subscription and trust seal – business pays.

KV: Govt responsibility in initial discussions was very draconian. What u can sell cant etc. With more sellers that thing is getting eased out. In US seller and buyer to abide with the laws of the land. If people post something then in India you are responsible but in US you are intermediary and not resp. As govt eases things will be better.

Rediff won case against child porn search. Change in misuse of online.

Some services charge premium and some give discount. Why? Online tickets and IRCTC.

GB: most daily services you have to wait. Those services amenable for online. Products might be hard to find in Indian contest.

Pagalguy selling online forms for MBA.

SARAYU: Initially charge. At one point scale and hence no charge.

Book my show. Largest num of theaters. So barrier – to charge

Aren’t we allowing tele-commerce people to create a new parallel banking sector.

KV: EVERYTHING concerns. But in long run benefits. Are u going to scrap it or regulate it.

KV: Transaction is happening with credit card by bank but mobile is just an enabler. This might be right way? Or prepaid currency of mobile to make purchase.

Everything wants any transactions to go thru bank. Nobody knows who is responsibility if anything goes bad.

GB: if operator is enabler of fin then everything will pose restrict. Coz banks know how to do banking. I can change my operator.

Innovation in way people buy stuff. Social shopping concept online. Other thing is how to improve payment shopping. U can save cash by getting credits. Are innovators looking at these innovations?

SARAYU: As an investor how am I making money? Would like to see the company but need to see the exit.

What parameters that set u apart from imitations?

GB: simple business deliver prod to customer. But simple doesn’t mean easy. People want to sell everything online but there is no inventory or there is damage to products by the time u reach it. Stick to the niche.

What makes a great investment?

SARAYU: Don’t bother with operations. If u have great team ill invest. Facebook satisfies the contingency of telling people your status via phone.

What advice for getting into e-commerce?

KV: E-commerce growing in India and multiple opportunities. Find your niche and go after it. Developer platform to build apps for competitors. Complex – what kind of things can you build for buyers. Total infra area.

SARAYU: Don’t let history encumber you. Go out and do what you got to do.

GB: Pick your niche, go and execute.

Digital media adv will sell only if e-commerce grows selling products online.