Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google
Topping the Web billionaires list are the Google duo Sergey Brin and Larry Page with a net worth of $18.7 billion and $18.6 billion respectively. Brin, the president and head of Google's technology division, started Google along with Page in 1998 out of a friend's garage. Moscow-born Brin received a Bachelor of Science degree with honours in mathematics and computer sciences from the University of Maryland. He is currently on leave from the PhD programme in computer science at Stanford University, where he received his master's degree. Brin continues to share responsibility for day-to-day operations along with Page and Schmidt. Larry Page is Google's founding CEO and grew the company to be the behemoth it is today. In 2001, he moved into his role as president, products. Son of a computer science professor at Michigan State University, Page's love for computers began at age six. He earned a Bachelor of Science in engineering from the University of Michigan. Despite getting Eric Schmidt (chief executive of Google) on board, Page is still credited with being intensely involved in company's affairs. He is said to go through CV of every employee before the person is hired at Google even today.
Jeffrey Bezos, Amazon
Jeffrey Preston Bezos, founder, president, CEO and chairman of Amazon.com has a net worth of $8.2 billion. Inspired by the amazing power of Internet, Bezos created a business model that leveraged Internet's ability to deliver huge amount of information efficiently. In 1994 he founded Amazon.com, an online bookshop. Amazon tried to compete with brick and mortar shops on three counts: lower prices, authoritative selection and a wealth of product information. In 1997, Amazon went Public, and expanded from selling books to an online retailer with a vast portfolio of goods. Bezos started his career with Fitel, a start-up that was building a network to conduct international trade. The Princeton University graduate later went on to work as a financial analyst for DE Shaw & Co before founding Amazon in 1994. In 2004, he founded a human spaceflight startup called Blue Origin. Bezos also has a personal investment company called Bezos Expeditions. He was named Person of the Year by Time magazine in 1999. Though Amazon as a company may not inspire the awe, it did during its heydays, Bezos still has his name intact among the most venerable tech honchos.
Pierre Omidyar, eBay
Father of online auction, Pierre Omidyar founded eBay. Ranked at no. 4 in the Web billionaires list, Omidyar's net worth is $7.7 billion. French-born computer programmer, Pierre developed fascination for computers in high school and graduated from Tufts University in 1988 with a degree in Computer Science. After graduation he worked for Claris, a subsidiary of Apple Computer, developing software for the Macintosh. In 1991, he co-founded Ink Development Corp with three friends. The company included an Internet shopping segment and was later renamed eShop Inc. In 1996, eShop was sold to Microsoft. Intrigued by the technical problem of establishing an online venue for direct person-to-person auction of collectible items, he created a simple prototype on his personal Web page, and launched an online service called Auction Web in 1995. The revenue soon started pouring, with business expanding by word of mouth. In 1997, Omidyar changed the company’s name to eBay.
Eric Schmidt, Google
Chief executive of Google Eric Emerson Schmidt ranks at no. 5 with a net worth of $6.6 billion. Schmidt joined Google from Novell, where he led the company's strategic planning, management and technology development as chairman and CEO. Prior to his appointment at Novell, Schmidt was chief technology officer and corporate executive officer at Sun Microsystems Inc, where he led the development of Java, Sun's platform-independent programming technology, and defined Sun's Internet software strategy. Before joining Sun in 1983, he was a member of the research staff at the Computer Science Lab at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), and also held positions at Bell Laboratories and Zilog. He is generally acknowledged as the one who catapulted Google from being a promising tech company to a universal ‘God of Internet'. Schmidt has a degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University, and a Master's and PhD in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Jeffrey Skoll, eBay
eBay's first president and second-largest shareholder, Jeffrey Skoll has a net worth of $3.6 billion. He served as director of eBay from December 1996 to March 1998. An Internet pioneer, Skoll served as eBay's vice president strategic planning and analysis in February 1998, its president from August 1996 to February 1998. One of the eBay cofounders, Skoll left the company and turned his attention to making movies and philanthropy. He was executive producer of North Country, starring Charlize Theron, and two George Clooney films, including Syriana. Skoll was also the executive producer of An Inconvenient Truth, the global-warming documentary that featured former Vice President Al Gore. Skoll served as channel marketing manager for Knight-Ridder Information Inc, an online information services company, from July 1995 to July 1996. Prior to this, Skoll served as president of Skoll Engineering, a systems consulting firm, that he founded. He was also the co-founder of Micros on the Move, a computer rentals company, as an adjunct to Skoll Engineering in 1990. He also serves as director at Community Foundation Silicon Valley and Ingenio Inc. Graduating in BASC Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto, he later pursued MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Shi Yuzhu, ZTgame
Founder of China's third-largest online games company, Zhengtu, Shi Yuzhu has a net worth of $2.8 billion. He recently listed the company on NYSE Euronext. Almost half of his fortune comes from stakes in financial institutions China Minsheng Banking and Huaxia Bank. Shanghai's richest resident, Yuzhu was born in Huanyuan of Anhui Province. He graduated in Mathematics from Zhejiang University in 1984 and pursued software master degree from Shengzhen University. A few years later, he made his first million by selling his own software, and established the company Giant Group in 1991. Later in 1996, due to the over investment in Giant Building project and mismanagement, the Company fell into abyss of finance. Yuzhu later become an expert in capital operation, and paid back to the public small investors in Giant Building project. In 2004,Yuzhu sold his production technology, assembly line and brand by 1.2 billion Yuan RMB.
Hiroshi Mikitani, Rakuten
Hiroshi Mikitani is the man behind online shopping mall Rakuten, one of the Japan's most popular Web destination. With a net worth of $2.6 billion, Mikitani is Japan's leading Internet entrepreneur. Mikitani last year moved his company's headquarters from chic Roppongi neighborhood into cheaper bayside Tokyo. He reportedly treats employees to free meals with extra money. He also plans to launch e-commerce business in Taiwan. Mikitani is an MBA from Harvard University.
Mark Cuban, Broadcast.com
Next on the list is Mark Cuban, the founder of Broadcast.com, HDNet, and several other companies. With a net worth of $2.6 billion, Cuban has also been an angel investor for several startups including SlideShare, Goowy, RedSwoosh, Box.net, Weblogs Inc and Mahalo. Having worked as a bartender and a salesperson, Cuban started MicroSolutions in 1986, a systems integrator and software reseller. In 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe, then a subsidiary of H&R Block for $6 million. In 1995, he started Audionet with a fellow friend, which later became Broadcast.com in 1998. During the dotcom boom, Broadcast.com was acquired by Yahoo for $5.9 billion in stock. A passionate basketball fan, Cuban bought Dallas Mavericks, an NBA basketball team, from Ross Perot in 2000 for $285 million. He also serves as a chairman of HDNet, an HDTV cable network. Cuban also plans to build his media empire.
David Filo, Yahoo
The tenth richest Web billionaire is David Filo with a net worth of $2.5 billion. Co-founder of Yahoo Inc, David Filo met Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang as Stanford grad student. A native of Moss Bluff, Louisiana, he co-created the Yahoo Internet navigational guide in April 1994 with Jerry Yang. Filo is credited of having bought 40 per cent stake in Alibaba.com for $1 billion in 2005. Filo serves as a key technologist, directing the technical operations behind the company's global network of Web properties. He is credited with helping build Yahoo into the world's most highly trafficked website and one of the Internet's most recognised brands. Filo holds a BS degree in computer engineering from Tulane University and an MS degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Hottest Start ups - IV - BlogVani.com
| Entrepreneur's Details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | Cyril Gupta | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Age | 28 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hometown | New Delhi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Family background | Business | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| More than 1 company? | No | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Graduated from | National Open School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former employer | PublicSoft India | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former designation | Chief Software Developer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Area of responsibility | Software Developer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite book/movie Business description Blogvani.com has quickly emerged as India's most popular haunt for Hindi bloggers, and readers of Hindi blogs. From a content presenter, it is evolving into a community which brings together now thousands, and later lakhs of hindi language internet users. The website is considered the face of Hindi blogging and has been covered regularly in many leading national newspapers and journals. In this first phase Blogvani.com has platforms for Hindi & Marathi bloggers. By the year's end, it will be available in all leading Indian languages, and in English!
| Stranger in a strange land - R A Heinlein
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hottest start ups - III - DeskAway
| Entrepreneur's Details | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | Sahil Parikh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Age | 28 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hometown | Mumbai | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Family background | Business | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| More than 1 company? | Yes (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Bachelors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Graduated from | University of North Carolina | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former employer | ClinicalTools Inc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former designation | Software Dev team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Area of responsibility | Heading a Software Dev team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Favorite book/movie
Synage is one of the very first Software As A Service (SaaS) companies from India. DeskAway, its flagship service, is a monthly, subscription-based online team and project collaboration service that helps individuals, small businesses, and teams within larger organizations to organize, manage and track their projects from a central location with their partners, employees and clients. With the growing number of small businesses/ distributed teams, increased broadband penetration, and 24x7 mobile work culture, DeskAway is rightly poised to give teams an accurate view of how their projects are doing and help eliminate common problems that occur when multiple people are collaborating: email spam, multiple file versions, lost files, task accountability issues, lack of reporting & work transparency. How does the business make money?. a) Recurring monthly/yearly subscriptions b) Ad supported Free plan. Team information Sitanshi Talati-Parikh, Co-founder.
| E-Myth by Michael Gerber | Movie: The Hurricane
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Friday, September 5, 2008
Success story of Subhiksha - India's largest retail chain
When R Subramanian became an entrepreneur and started a retail chain called Subhiksha, there were not many entrepreneurs in India. In his family too, there were no entrepreneurs.
After obtaining an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, he decided to join Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad as he was sure about one thing -- that he would not leave India to go abroad.
Ten years after Subhiksha was set up, the retail chain has around 500 outlets all over India which Subramanian wants to double by 2007-end.
In an exclusive interview with Contributing Editor Shobha Warrier, Subhiksha managing director R Subramnian talks about his adventures, the success of his retail chain and also his future plans.
Staying back in India after studying at the IIT
I was one of the few students who didn't go to the United States for higher studies. Going to the US never fascinated me. I don't know why. I had always been doing unconventional things, so it was kind of offbeat not to go to the US.
I preferred doing something in front of my own people rather than going to a foreign land because this gives you more satisfaction and recognition. And the sense of achievement is far greater than doing the same thing in a far-off land.
Even the US was not the same US in the mid-eighties. Being one among the many workers and researchers there did not fascinate me. India is your country and you will get as much opportunity as anybody else. If you don't do well here, you have only yourself to blame.
On choosing to study at IIM-Ahmedabad.
That is why an MBA seemed a logical corollary because hardcore engineering was not really my cup of tea. Even when in IIT, I went and did Economics, and took electives like Accounting and kept topping those subjects. I was always doing different things from what everybody wanted to do. So, I joined IIM-Ahmedabad.
At that time, my intention was to get into a good company like Pond's in Chennai and probably work in its marketing department. After my summer training at Pond's, they offered me a job too.
But I got interested in the investment bank department of Citi Corp and I was one among the three who were recruited by them from IIM-A. After working there for 3-4 weeks, I realised that that was not where I wanted to work. I felt you were cut off from the world and living in a world of trading. I felt you were doing more and more of the same and earning more and more money. That was not what I wanted to do in life.
The thought of doing something on my own came to my mind then. It was 1989 and there were no VCs (venture capitalists) to fund your ideas and investors chasing you in those days.
There was no precedent in my family for me to dream of becoming an entrepreneur. My father used to work for the Reserve Bank of India and his brothers too were in government service. My cousins, after studying at various IITs, went abroad. That was how it was.
Leaving the investment bank and joining hands with Enfield.
I called Mr Viswanathan of Enfield who had given me an offer when I was a student of IIM-A and asked, 'Is your offer still on?' He said, 'Yes.' I resigned from Citibank and came down to Chennai. My family in Chennai was shocked. Resigning from Citibank to join a sick company was unthinkable.
What I saw was this: it was a manufacturing company which would have all spectrums of job. I was with Enfield for two years from 1989-91.
Starts his first company called Viswapriya.
I wanted to start a company of my own and told Mr Viswanathan about it. He asked me from where was I going to get the money? I had no idea. I told him I would figure out. He then told me that he would give me money to set up the company and I run it for him. As long as I could run the company, it was fine with me. He provided me with the money, and in 1991, I set up my first company called Viswapriya.
We got a galaxy of very good people on board. We basically did three things. We bought debentures from thousands of people who had them in very small numbers and consolidated as 1 lakh (100,000) or 2 lakh (200,000) debentures and invested in mutual funds. And the investors got a monthly income. Every time the money went to lakhs of investors, it went from Viswapriya and that way our company's name became popular.
It was a good business to start and we were the pioneers in it. After we started, all the big guys got into the business. So it was good fun.
Starting asset securitisation
Today, everybody is talking about 'asset securitisation,' but in 1992, it did not exist in India. When we released a project to do asset securitisation, it was a huge hit. Three months after we did it, the State Bank of India did it, and a month later, ICICI Ltd too started. As we were the first guys, it was noticed; some small company in Chennai starting something like this for the first time in the country. It was making money, it was making us survive and also, it made people notice us.
The big breakthrough
The big breakthrough nationally came in 1994 when we started a new product IPO financing, which we called Prime Advancing. We created the first loan anywhere in the world for a guy who applied for shares without collateral, without guarantee. This industry and we, both, boomed.
Customers were making tons of money, and we were also making tons of money. So it was a win-win situation for everybody.
In 1994-95, we lent Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion). In 1995-96, we lent Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion). Our net profit zoomed to around Rs 25 crore (Rs 250 million). Of course, competition came soon. And then in 1996, the stock market collapsed.
Entering the retail market ten years ago
There was no great logic behind entering the retail market in 1997. We made a study of two areas: software and retail. Between software and retail, we thought we were a bit late for software as Satyam, Infosys, Wipro, TCS, etc had already established by then. We didn't want to be a small and late entrant.
In retail, we would be one of the early entrants, so we would have the learning curve much to our advantage. We allocated a Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) corpus to it and entered the retail business. There was a lot of thought process behind it. We wanted to attract not the top end customer but the aam aadmi.
From our research of three months, we found that consumers prefer buying groceries from closer home. So, we decided to set up 1,000 sq ft shops all across the city and not a 10,000 sq ft big store at one location in Chennai.
The next question was why would he come to our store abandoning the existing store? It had to be the price, because ultimately there is no difference between the branded products like say Boost or Surf or such things. So, we decided to sell branded products at a lower price.
On starting Subhiksha
We looked at all sorts of names; and finally we chose the Sanskrit word Subhiksha (prosperity) because it reflects the Indian ethos and it is a word that can be understood all over India. What we were trying to do was different from the western model; our model is truly Indian. Our theme was, why pay more when you can get it for less at Subhiksha?
In March, 1997, we opened our first store in Thiruvanmiyoor in Chennai with an investment of around Rs 4-5 lakh (Rs 400,000-500,000). We opened it with the clear idea that it is part of a larger system. We thought the day we opened, there would be a stampede because the prices were low and we would sell goods of Rs 30-40 lakh (Rs 3-4 million) by the month end. But there was nothing of that sort! We sold goods of only Rs 5-6 lakh (Rs 500,000-600,000) in the first month.
Yes, consumers were very surprised, and they gingerly looked at the products and asked, are they seconds or old stock or defective products? In the first year, we opened ten stores in Chennai.
We also started selling medicines at a discount. On the third day of our opening the pharmacy, there were about 100 people outside our store in the morning. We thought all of them were waiting to buy from our store. What we were expecting on day one happened on day three, we thought happily. But we soon found that they were not there to buy anything; they were chemists from the neighbourhood who had come to do a dharna (protest) saying we could not sell medicines at a discount.
Finally we had to go to court, and it was only in 1999 that the Supreme Court gave a ruling that we could sell medicines at a discount. We were doing quite well on the pharma front and we enjoyed all the attention we got.
Another thing is the medicines that we were selling at a discount were bought mainly by the elderly who have no fixed income and they welcomed any discount. We were quite happy to be able to help them in some way. Medicine retailing is more of a service than business for us. Of course, it is good business for us too. But our main motto is service.
On his expansion plans
By March 1999, we started expanding rapidly. From 14 stores, we expanded to 50 stores by June 2000. In the next two years, we had 120-130 stores across Tamil Nadu. Another big thing was, in 2000, ICICI Venture invested in our company. Today, we have 145 stores all over Tamil Nadu.
We saw to it that the moment we got into a city, we started as many stores as possible there. Only that made business sense. Then, till 2004, we made sure that we consolidated before we expanded, though there was a lot of pressure on us to expand nationally.
We decided to look at every part of India which is significantly literate and is a significant consumption market. We wanted to be everywhere. We looked at the telecom companies as our role model. They employed capable regional managers and expanded.
Our business is also extremely local. We can't sit in Chennai and run a store in Chandigarh. We decided to have very good quality people to run the region, area, town and the store.
In 2004-05, we decided to have 420 stores in places like Gujarat, Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra and Karnataka by 2006. In 2005, we started recruiting people in various regions. Today, we have 500 plus stores in all the places that we had planned. It will go up to 600-plus by the month end.
We are already India's largest retail chain store with 500-plus stores. We plan to have 1,000-plus stores by the end of this year.
India is a large country and there are still opportunities to avail of. Though now, the thought of opening stores outside India is not tempting because there are enough opportunities in India. We may look at overseas markets too. . . Maybe later, after we open 2,000 or 2,500 or 3,000 stores in India.
Risk in retailing and expansion?
We are not mad risk takers. We are not producing movies. We do a lot of research before starting business in an area, and we have back-up plans in place. We work with very good people, and if something goes wrong, we try to take corrective steps.
The big advantage we have is, we are not creating products. So there are no worries about whether it would succeed or not. Consumers are smart and they are all price-conscious and they want to finish the work as fast as they can. They don't go to a provision store for fun.
On the entry of MNCs and Reliance in the retail market
Everybody has been asking me, are you worried about Wal-Mart coming to India? Ultimately Wal-Mart is also going to be run by people like us. The point is you need not worry about anybody's entry. There is a huge potential for growth in India. There is potential for another ten people to come in.
Ultimately the share of the unorganised kiranas will come down and the share of organised sector will go up because of the efficacy in buying and distributing. Also, this is an extremely low margin business. Ultimately, everybody has to sell within the cost. It is not that we are geniuses; we have been in the business for ten years, and we have made enough mistakes and learnt from them.
I don't think any child will learn to walk without falling down first, however good the parent is.
We made our mistakes when we were small. The bigger you are, the mistakes will cost you more.
Satisfaction
There are two kinds (of satisfaction). We genuinely believe that through efficiency, we are helping the consumers save more. We are also happy that we are bringing in a model that is Indian, capable of supporting the middle class of India.
On what he does other than thinking about Subhiksha
I would like to say I think of Subhiksha all the time, but I do not. I read a lot, mainly online. I lead a reasonably balanced life. Working 12-13 hours a day six days a week, is my working pattern. I keep Sunday evenings and afternoons only for family. But I travel 12-15 days a month visiting all the Subhiksha regions.
I am a pretty cool person, relaxed all the time. I am not hassled about anything. Personally I am not a very ambitious person; I am happy with my curd-rice! What gives me a kick is to show that a business model from India is superior to a business model imported from the West.
We are living in an age where we do not have to be taught by the West what we should do in our country.
After obtaining an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, he decided to join Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad as he was sure about one thing -- that he would not leave India to go abroad.
Ten years after Subhiksha was set up, the retail chain has around 500 outlets all over India which Subramanian wants to double by 2007-end.
In an exclusive interview with Contributing Editor Shobha Warrier, Subhiksha managing director R Subramnian talks about his adventures, the success of his retail chain and also his future plans.
Staying back in India after studying at the IIT
I was one of the few students who didn't go to the United States for higher studies. Going to the US never fascinated me. I don't know why. I had always been doing unconventional things, so it was kind of offbeat not to go to the US.
I preferred doing something in front of my own people rather than going to a foreign land because this gives you more satisfaction and recognition. And the sense of achievement is far greater than doing the same thing in a far-off land.
Even the US was not the same US in the mid-eighties. Being one among the many workers and researchers there did not fascinate me. India is your country and you will get as much opportunity as anybody else. If you don't do well here, you have only yourself to blame.
On choosing to study at IIM-Ahmedabad.
That is why an MBA seemed a logical corollary because hardcore engineering was not really my cup of tea. Even when in IIT, I went and did Economics, and took electives like Accounting and kept topping those subjects. I was always doing different things from what everybody wanted to do. So, I joined IIM-Ahmedabad.
At that time, my intention was to get into a good company like Pond's in Chennai and probably work in its marketing department. After my summer training at Pond's, they offered me a job too.
But I got interested in the investment bank department of Citi Corp and I was one among the three who were recruited by them from IIM-A. After working there for 3-4 weeks, I realised that that was not where I wanted to work. I felt you were cut off from the world and living in a world of trading. I felt you were doing more and more of the same and earning more and more money. That was not what I wanted to do in life.
The thought of doing something on my own came to my mind then. It was 1989 and there were no VCs (venture capitalists) to fund your ideas and investors chasing you in those days.
There was no precedent in my family for me to dream of becoming an entrepreneur. My father used to work for the Reserve Bank of India and his brothers too were in government service. My cousins, after studying at various IITs, went abroad. That was how it was.
Leaving the investment bank and joining hands with Enfield.
I called Mr Viswanathan of Enfield who had given me an offer when I was a student of IIM-A and asked, 'Is your offer still on?' He said, 'Yes.' I resigned from Citibank and came down to Chennai. My family in Chennai was shocked. Resigning from Citibank to join a sick company was unthinkable.
What I saw was this: it was a manufacturing company which would have all spectrums of job. I was with Enfield for two years from 1989-91.
Starts his first company called Viswapriya.
I wanted to start a company of my own and told Mr Viswanathan about it. He asked me from where was I going to get the money? I had no idea. I told him I would figure out. He then told me that he would give me money to set up the company and I run it for him. As long as I could run the company, it was fine with me. He provided me with the money, and in 1991, I set up my first company called Viswapriya.
We got a galaxy of very good people on board. We basically did three things. We bought debentures from thousands of people who had them in very small numbers and consolidated as 1 lakh (100,000) or 2 lakh (200,000) debentures and invested in mutual funds. And the investors got a monthly income. Every time the money went to lakhs of investors, it went from Viswapriya and that way our company's name became popular.
It was a good business to start and we were the pioneers in it. After we started, all the big guys got into the business. So it was good fun.
Starting asset securitisation
Today, everybody is talking about 'asset securitisation,' but in 1992, it did not exist in India. When we released a project to do asset securitisation, it was a huge hit. Three months after we did it, the State Bank of India did it, and a month later, ICICI Ltd too started. As we were the first guys, it was noticed; some small company in Chennai starting something like this for the first time in the country. It was making money, it was making us survive and also, it made people notice us.
The big breakthrough
The big breakthrough nationally came in 1994 when we started a new product IPO financing, which we called Prime Advancing. We created the first loan anywhere in the world for a guy who applied for shares without collateral, without guarantee. This industry and we, both, boomed.
Customers were making tons of money, and we were also making tons of money. So it was a win-win situation for everybody.
In 1994-95, we lent Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion). In 1995-96, we lent Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion). Our net profit zoomed to around Rs 25 crore (Rs 250 million). Of course, competition came soon. And then in 1996, the stock market collapsed.
Entering the retail market ten years ago
There was no great logic behind entering the retail market in 1997. We made a study of two areas: software and retail. Between software and retail, we thought we were a bit late for software as Satyam, Infosys, Wipro, TCS, etc had already established by then. We didn't want to be a small and late entrant.
In retail, we would be one of the early entrants, so we would have the learning curve much to our advantage. We allocated a Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) corpus to it and entered the retail business. There was a lot of thought process behind it. We wanted to attract not the top end customer but the aam aadmi.
From our research of three months, we found that consumers prefer buying groceries from closer home. So, we decided to set up 1,000 sq ft shops all across the city and not a 10,000 sq ft big store at one location in Chennai.
The next question was why would he come to our store abandoning the existing store? It had to be the price, because ultimately there is no difference between the branded products like say Boost or Surf or such things. So, we decided to sell branded products at a lower price.
On starting Subhiksha
We looked at all sorts of names; and finally we chose the Sanskrit word Subhiksha (prosperity) because it reflects the Indian ethos and it is a word that can be understood all over India. What we were trying to do was different from the western model; our model is truly Indian. Our theme was, why pay more when you can get it for less at Subhiksha?
In March, 1997, we opened our first store in Thiruvanmiyoor in Chennai with an investment of around Rs 4-5 lakh (Rs 400,000-500,000). We opened it with the clear idea that it is part of a larger system. We thought the day we opened, there would be a stampede because the prices were low and we would sell goods of Rs 30-40 lakh (Rs 3-4 million) by the month end. But there was nothing of that sort! We sold goods of only Rs 5-6 lakh (Rs 500,000-600,000) in the first month.
Yes, consumers were very surprised, and they gingerly looked at the products and asked, are they seconds or old stock or defective products? In the first year, we opened ten stores in Chennai.
We also started selling medicines at a discount. On the third day of our opening the pharmacy, there were about 100 people outside our store in the morning. We thought all of them were waiting to buy from our store. What we were expecting on day one happened on day three, we thought happily. But we soon found that they were not there to buy anything; they were chemists from the neighbourhood who had come to do a dharna (protest) saying we could not sell medicines at a discount.
Finally we had to go to court, and it was only in 1999 that the Supreme Court gave a ruling that we could sell medicines at a discount. We were doing quite well on the pharma front and we enjoyed all the attention we got.
Another thing is the medicines that we were selling at a discount were bought mainly by the elderly who have no fixed income and they welcomed any discount. We were quite happy to be able to help them in some way. Medicine retailing is more of a service than business for us. Of course, it is good business for us too. But our main motto is service.
On his expansion plans
By March 1999, we started expanding rapidly. From 14 stores, we expanded to 50 stores by June 2000. In the next two years, we had 120-130 stores across Tamil Nadu. Another big thing was, in 2000, ICICI Venture invested in our company. Today, we have 145 stores all over Tamil Nadu.
We saw to it that the moment we got into a city, we started as many stores as possible there. Only that made business sense. Then, till 2004, we made sure that we consolidated before we expanded, though there was a lot of pressure on us to expand nationally.
We decided to look at every part of India which is significantly literate and is a significant consumption market. We wanted to be everywhere. We looked at the telecom companies as our role model. They employed capable regional managers and expanded.
Our business is also extremely local. We can't sit in Chennai and run a store in Chandigarh. We decided to have very good quality people to run the region, area, town and the store.
In 2004-05, we decided to have 420 stores in places like Gujarat, Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra and Karnataka by 2006. In 2005, we started recruiting people in various regions. Today, we have 500 plus stores in all the places that we had planned. It will go up to 600-plus by the month end.
We are already India's largest retail chain store with 500-plus stores. We plan to have 1,000-plus stores by the end of this year.
India is a large country and there are still opportunities to avail of. Though now, the thought of opening stores outside India is not tempting because there are enough opportunities in India. We may look at overseas markets too. . . Maybe later, after we open 2,000 or 2,500 or 3,000 stores in India.
Risk in retailing and expansion?
We are not mad risk takers. We are not producing movies. We do a lot of research before starting business in an area, and we have back-up plans in place. We work with very good people, and if something goes wrong, we try to take corrective steps.
The big advantage we have is, we are not creating products. So there are no worries about whether it would succeed or not. Consumers are smart and they are all price-conscious and they want to finish the work as fast as they can. They don't go to a provision store for fun.
On the entry of MNCs and Reliance in the retail market
Everybody has been asking me, are you worried about Wal-Mart coming to India? Ultimately Wal-Mart is also going to be run by people like us. The point is you need not worry about anybody's entry. There is a huge potential for growth in India. There is potential for another ten people to come in.
Ultimately the share of the unorganised kiranas will come down and the share of organised sector will go up because of the efficacy in buying and distributing. Also, this is an extremely low margin business. Ultimately, everybody has to sell within the cost. It is not that we are geniuses; we have been in the business for ten years, and we have made enough mistakes and learnt from them.
I don't think any child will learn to walk without falling down first, however good the parent is.
We made our mistakes when we were small. The bigger you are, the mistakes will cost you more.
Satisfaction
There are two kinds (of satisfaction). We genuinely believe that through efficiency, we are helping the consumers save more. We are also happy that we are bringing in a model that is Indian, capable of supporting the middle class of India.
On what he does other than thinking about Subhiksha
I would like to say I think of Subhiksha all the time, but I do not. I read a lot, mainly online. I lead a reasonably balanced life. Working 12-13 hours a day six days a week, is my working pattern. I keep Sunday evenings and afternoons only for family. But I travel 12-15 days a month visiting all the Subhiksha regions.
I am a pretty cool person, relaxed all the time. I am not hassled about anything. Personally I am not a very ambitious person; I am happy with my curd-rice! What gives me a kick is to show that a business model from India is superior to a business model imported from the West.
We are living in an age where we do not have to be taught by the West what we should do in our country.
Hottest Start ups - II - GoSports India
Entrepreneur's Details
Name Nandan Kamath
Age 31
Hometown Bangalore
Family background First gen entrepreneur
More than 1 company? No
Education Masters
Graduated from Harvard Law School
Former employer Davis Polk and Wardwell
Former designation Associate
Area of responsibility Associate
Favorite book/movie A Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela.
Business Basics
Company Name GoSports India
Founded in 2006
Headquartered in Bangalore
Company website/URL www.gosports.in
Industry Sports
Stage of the company Several customers or locations
Source of idea Wanted it as an individual customer.
Business description
GoSports is a sports management company that seeks to identify young people with a potential and passion for sports, and provide them with the services necessary to reach their goals. The company is located in Bangalore and was founded in 2006 by an Olympian Hakimuddin S. Habibulla, Nandan Kamath and Joseph Ollapally, alumini of Oxford and Harvard School...> Read more..
GoSports is a sports management company that seeks to identify young people with a potential and passion for sports, and provide them with the services necessary to reach their goals. The company is located in Bangalore and was founded in 2006 by an Olympian Hakimuddin S. Habibulla, Nandan Kamath and Joseph Ollapally, alumini of Oxford and Harvard School of Law.
The focus is on making key interventions in the careers of promising athletes by securing them access to training, advisory, monitoring and representation services, sponsorships and other personal development opportunities.
GoSports also consults with local and international businesses, brands, federations and governments on a wide variety of matters relating to Indian sport. These include formulation and drafting of sports policies and sports-related laws, strategic consulting on using sports in marketing and other brand communications, media planning and content development, industry research and corporate sensitisation programs.
The sporting and consequent financial success of the athlete becomes the financial success of the company as the company retains a stake in their future earnings from various sources.
How does the business make money?
Increasing the number of customers, their success is the company's success.
Team information
Co-founders-Hakimuddin S. Habibulla, and Nandan Kamath and Joseph Ollapally
Competition
Competitors Globosport, Percept Talent Management. Collage, Gameplan
How different if your product Substitutes that differ in function
or service? It has...
In what way is your product Focus is on identification and grooming of talent, not so and they concentrate on Olympic sports
or service different?
By The Numbers
2006 2007
No. of employees 0-5 0-5
No. of locations 0-1 0-1
No. of customers 2-5 6-15
Turnover pre revenue pre revenue
Profits preprofit preprofit
Primary source of Personal savings
initial funding
Primary source of Personal savings
additional funding
Raised institutional capital? No.
Why is this startup hot?
GoSports is a company that deals with sports management, but the emphasis here is on the identification and grooming of young talent in the country. The company also consciously tries to focus on sports like Olympic sports, other than popular ones like cricket.
While other players in the market largely deal with the marketing and endorsements of sportspeople, this company lays more emphasis on coaching, financial aid through sponsorship, and handling travel requirements, financial matters and press relations of clients; services that were previously unavailable on a professional level.
The company has invested in people, and has helped a lot of young talent come to the fore front. The time and effort they previously spent on administrative, fundraising and other tasks can now be used for training and rest.
GoSports presently has five atheletes fully managed by them, and are looking to increase that number to 15-20. Three of GoSports athletes have qualified for the Beijing Olympic Games 2008 - Virdhawal Khade and Sandeep Sejwal in swimming and Anup Sridhar in badminton.
In the long run,it will contribute to the development of the sports sector, and lend to it the professionalism and structure that is so much needed for its growth.
Name Nandan Kamath
Age 31
Hometown Bangalore
Family background First gen entrepreneur
More than 1 company? No
Education Masters
Graduated from Harvard Law School
Former employer Davis Polk and Wardwell
Former designation Associate
Area of responsibility Associate
Favorite book/movie A Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela.
Business Basics
Company Name GoSports India
Founded in 2006
Headquartered in Bangalore
Company website/URL www.gosports.in
Industry Sports
Stage of the company Several customers or locations
Source of idea Wanted it as an individual customer.
Business description
GoSports is a sports management company that seeks to identify young people with a potential and passion for sports, and provide them with the services necessary to reach their goals. The company is located in Bangalore and was founded in 2006 by an Olympian Hakimuddin S. Habibulla, Nandan Kamath and Joseph Ollapally, alumini of Oxford and Harvard School...> Read more..
GoSports is a sports management company that seeks to identify young people with a potential and passion for sports, and provide them with the services necessary to reach their goals. The company is located in Bangalore and was founded in 2006 by an Olympian Hakimuddin S. Habibulla, Nandan Kamath and Joseph Ollapally, alumini of Oxford and Harvard School of Law.
The focus is on making key interventions in the careers of promising athletes by securing them access to training, advisory, monitoring and representation services, sponsorships and other personal development opportunities.
GoSports also consults with local and international businesses, brands, federations and governments on a wide variety of matters relating to Indian sport. These include formulation and drafting of sports policies and sports-related laws, strategic consulting on using sports in marketing and other brand communications, media planning and content development, industry research and corporate sensitisation programs.
The sporting and consequent financial success of the athlete becomes the financial success of the company as the company retains a stake in their future earnings from various sources.
How does the business make money?
Increasing the number of customers, their success is the company's success.
Team information
Co-founders-Hakimuddin S. Habibulla, and Nandan Kamath and Joseph Ollapally
Competition
Competitors Globosport, Percept Talent Management. Collage, Gameplan
How different if your product Substitutes that differ in function
or service? It has...
In what way is your product Focus is on identification and grooming of talent, not so and they concentrate on Olympic sports
or service different?
By The Numbers
2006 2007
No. of employees 0-5 0-5
No. of locations 0-1 0-1
No. of customers 2-5 6-15
Turnover pre revenue pre revenue
Profits preprofit preprofit
Primary source of Personal savings
initial funding
Primary source of Personal savings
additional funding
Raised institutional capital? No.
Why is this startup hot?
GoSports is a company that deals with sports management, but the emphasis here is on the identification and grooming of young talent in the country. The company also consciously tries to focus on sports like Olympic sports, other than popular ones like cricket.
While other players in the market largely deal with the marketing and endorsements of sportspeople, this company lays more emphasis on coaching, financial aid through sponsorship, and handling travel requirements, financial matters and press relations of clients; services that were previously unavailable on a professional level.
The company has invested in people, and has helped a lot of young talent come to the fore front. The time and effort they previously spent on administrative, fundraising and other tasks can now be used for training and rest.
GoSports presently has five atheletes fully managed by them, and are looking to increase that number to 15-20. Three of GoSports athletes have qualified for the Beijing Olympic Games 2008 - Virdhawal Khade and Sandeep Sejwal in swimming and Anup Sridhar in badminton.
In the long run,it will contribute to the development of the sports sector, and lend to it the professionalism and structure that is so much needed for its growth.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Hottest Start ups - I - The Loot
Entrepreneur's Details
Name Jay Gupta
Age 33
Hometown Birgang
Family background First gen entrepreneur
More than 1 company? Yes (2)
Education Bachelors
Graduated from SIES, Mumbai
Former employer Master Franchise
Former designation Managing Director
Area of responsibility Leadership
Favorite book/movie Guru
Business description
"The LOOT" is a multi-brand discount store, offering customers a wide range of products with discounts ranging between 25% -60% - throughout the year. The store retails about 100 brands brands like Kappa, Bossini, Adidas, Nike, CAT, ID, Spykar, Lilliput, Giny & Jony, Disney, Ruff Kids, Lee Youth, W, Sepia, AND, Welspun, Puma, Reebok, Van Huesen, Allen So...> Read more..
"The LOOT" is a multi-brand discount store, offering customers a wide range of products with discounts ranging between 25% -60% - throughout the year. The store retails about 100 brands brands like Kappa, Bossini, Adidas, Nike, CAT, ID, Spykar, Lilliput, Giny & Jony, Disney, Ruff Kids, Lee Youth, W, Sepia, AND, Welspun, Puma, Reebok, Van Huesen, Allen Solly, Arrow, Lee, Lee Cooper, Wrangler, Pepe Jeans, Parx, Park Avenue, Blackberrys, Thomas Scott, Red Tape etc and international brands like Mercedes.The LOOT's strength as a retailer lies in proper procurement & an excellent supply chain management. This helps in getting better pricing from the manufacturer and thereafter passing the benefit on to the consumer. The LOOT currently offers the right mix of men's and women's semi-formal, formal, casuals, sports category of garments, footwear & accessories, kids wear etc
How does the business make money?
By giving value to the consumers, good negotiations, working harder and more productivity
Team information
R. P. Chhabra, CEO, MA, LLB, worked with RBI & IDBI, served as Director and CEO in Garware; Melwyn Rebeiro- V.P. Operations, MBA- Symbiosis Institute, Pune, 19 years of retail experience; Satyanarayan Guttula, V.P. Private brands, 19 years in Retail; Sunil Rathi ? V.P. Finance, CA, worked for Bhartiya group, SFS Global Ltd. And Hakoba; Rahul Vohra ? V.P. Brands, 28 years of experience from manufacturing, retail & export
Name Jay Gupta
Age 33
Hometown Birgang
Family background First gen entrepreneur
More than 1 company? Yes (2)
Education Bachelors
Graduated from SIES, Mumbai
Former employer Master Franchise
Former designation Managing Director
Area of responsibility Leadership
Favorite book/movie Guru
Business description
"The LOOT" is a multi-brand discount store, offering customers a wide range of products with discounts ranging between 25% -60% - throughout the year. The store retails about 100 brands brands like Kappa, Bossini, Adidas, Nike, CAT, ID, Spykar, Lilliput, Giny & Jony, Disney, Ruff Kids, Lee Youth, W, Sepia, AND, Welspun, Puma, Reebok, Van Huesen, Allen So...> Read more..
"The LOOT" is a multi-brand discount store, offering customers a wide range of products with discounts ranging between 25% -60% - throughout the year. The store retails about 100 brands brands like Kappa, Bossini, Adidas, Nike, CAT, ID, Spykar, Lilliput, Giny & Jony, Disney, Ruff Kids, Lee Youth, W, Sepia, AND, Welspun, Puma, Reebok, Van Huesen, Allen Solly, Arrow, Lee, Lee Cooper, Wrangler, Pepe Jeans, Parx, Park Avenue, Blackberrys, Thomas Scott, Red Tape etc and international brands like Mercedes.The LOOT's strength as a retailer lies in proper procurement & an excellent supply chain management. This helps in getting better pricing from the manufacturer and thereafter passing the benefit on to the consumer. The LOOT currently offers the right mix of men's and women's semi-formal, formal, casuals, sports category of garments, footwear & accessories, kids wear etc
How does the business make money?
By giving value to the consumers, good negotiations, working harder and more productivity
Team information
R. P. Chhabra, CEO, MA, LLB, worked with RBI & IDBI, served as Director and CEO in Garware; Melwyn Rebeiro- V.P. Operations, MBA- Symbiosis Institute, Pune, 19 years of retail experience; Satyanarayan Guttula, V.P. Private brands, 19 years in Retail; Sunil Rathi ? V.P. Finance, CA, worked for Bhartiya group, SFS Global Ltd. And Hakoba; Rahul Vohra ? V.P. Brands, 28 years of experience from manufacturing, retail & export
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