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Valley-returned entrepreneur community doesn't mean anything in terms of innovation. App-powered logistics companies are no longer innovative; the wave was in t

by jasim 10y ago

Valley-returned entrepreneur community doesn't mean anything in terms of innovation. App-powered logistics companies are no longer innovative; the wave was in the realization that commerce can be driven through smartphones and the internet, and that logistics can be massively improved by a combination of location-aware devices with abundant cheap labour from under-privileged population (not a value judgement). We are still a long way from doing ground-breaking scientific research. Innovative business models can only take us so far; fundamental progress has always been driven by the courage to think new thoughts, and that typically comes from the scientific community, not the business world.

sandGorgon 10y ago
That is where you are wrong. There is already fundamental work happening around vernacular linguistics, robotics (especially Grey Orange) and fintech. People misunderstand how much technology needs to be built to be able to reconcile something like cash on delivery. We are definitely far away from valley level innovation, but having people germinate the ecosystem with management styles and culture is extremely important. What is fundamentally broken is somewhere else - the investor ecosystem. Indian investors are young, barely out of college and are professional MBAs without a lot of experience in a startup. It is very hard to explain the value of technical debt, innovation etc...when we can chase copycat business models without innovation. It's been extremely hard finding bthe right culture fit in investors. Combine that with the fact that most entrepreneurs have not become billionaires in India...so you don't have that savvy, experienced angel investors with deep pockets (the Paul Grahams or the Peter Thiels of India). That is what needs fixing. China already has a couple of Jack Ma who are being the second wave of investors.

by jasim 10y ago

sandGorgon 10y ago

That is where you are wrong. There is already fundamental work happening around vernacular linguistics, robotics (especially Grey Orange) and fintech. People misunderstand how much technology needs to be built to be able to reconcile something like cash on delivery. We are definitely far away from valley level innovation, but having people germinate the ecosystem with management styles and culture is extremely important. What is fundamentally broken is somewhere else - the investor ecosystem. Indian investors are young, barely out of college and are professional MBAs without a lot of experience in a startup. It is very hard to explain the value of technical debt, innovation etc...when we can chase copycat business models without innovation. It's been extremely hard finding bthe right culture fit in investors. Combine that with the fact that most entrepreneurs have not become billionaires in India...so you don't have that savvy, experienced angel investors with deep pockets (the Paul Grahams or the Peter Thiels of India). That is what needs fixing. China already has a couple of Jack Ma who are being the second wave of investors.