Telecom / mobile service providers in India have now started on the proverbial death march … that will leave half of them in ruin. It’s obvious that with every new player entering the market lowering the tariffs to unsustainable levels … it may only result in lowering of service quality across the board … bad news for the consumer in the end probably.
Ironically, there may be good news in this for digital domain start ups in India … and potentially for the Indian consumers.
Once calling rates are killed … the next place competition will move into will be mobile value added services and mobile internet. Both of which have been under strong control of TRAI and the providers. More competition and lowering of tariffs for something like mobile internet can speed up the number of internet enabled consumers and make the promised land a reality for digital domain start ups in India.
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Views expressed are solely personal opinions of the author; and do not represent the views of the organizations/institutions he is associated in any form. The author has no responsibility for actions taken based on ideas expressed here.
(Sridhar Turaga’s Blog: An Indian Entrepreneur)
HSR Layout is very nice place to live, except for lack of good places to eat out. So when we saw a banner “Manasarovar – Authentic Punjabi Khana. Opening soon” … we got there too soon. We drove by peeping in possessively hoping for the best. I went there this weekend first week since launch to order out. It’s a house converted to a restaurant, so u go past the bed room converted to a kitchen and then to the living room that is now the place to eat.
As I peeped into the place … I saw bunch of sweaty guys running around like headless chicken. I walked in and saw a few people eating. But the manager was yelling in the kitchen about some mixed up order. Take away menus in cheap flyer paper were thrown around. I asked him if they deliver home and he said the boy was missing today. After a few embarrassing minutes of silence and indecision … I decided to bail out and go back to our regular joint Aranya.
This is not the first time I have experienced a new launch like this. Why are people in a hurry to go live? Innovative Film City launched half baked. Google launched the SMS search where the example published in the ad didn’t work ! Nokia Ovi creaked and crashed on day 1. Yahoo New just for You links on the home page don’t work for Yahoo Mail !! (I have done worse)
I know the traditional arguments of “when it’s good enough” or “it’s just a Beta” or “we are agile and will iterate quickly”. I believe it’s a bad idea to launch poorly without basics in place. Cut the scope. Set the terms. Define the service levels. State the expectations. BUT … deliver 200% of what you commit (explicitly or implicitly). Get WOW reactions from day 1. If u didn’t get A+ reactions and great WOM from day 1 … no point talking for a product road map.
The market won’t go away anywhere. First mover advantage may very well be a mythical fact. A customer’s repeat visits and referrals a 10 times their first time transaction. It’s better to be small and great at the start … than be passable and big. (Don’t say “Microsoft” please … u are not a monopoly cash overflowing multi-billion $ giant … yet.)
May b u need to write down the basics that are non-negotiable from day 1. Time to pick 
up a call. Time to deliver the product. 1st time load time on your home page. Minimum clicks on your site to end-goal (order-signup-subscribe … what ever). So in all the planning and roadmaps … basics are never missed out.
Do it the right the first time. Do less. But do it right.
Other day we drove by a new Nano. It was so stunning in it’s looks that a lot of cars and scooters were tailgating the car … to get a closer look. Expensive 13-17 Lakh car drivers were eying the Nano enviously !! Who ever said “Less is More…” … probably meant this. 
If u haven’t seen it in real life … u must. The most impressive thing about it is that it’s looks anything BUT small or cheap. No wonder NYTimes called it a “True Engineering Marvel”.
A moment I am quite proud to say “I too worked for TELCO” !!
If u haven’t read the “Blue Ocean Strategy” u must. This is exactly what they talk about. A new value curve … fundamental value innovation. Instead of jumping into the blood red small car market or deep blood red bike market with yet another offering … TATAs started out at “off the chart” value points for everything about a car in India. No wonder there is so much buzz and excitement about it. In fact it’s not radical new technologies that went into the Nano. But assembling existing ones in many ways to arrive at a different value point. Instead of going after the regular car buyers or the scooter owners … they are now saying own a new car at the comparable cost of a scooter or a 2nd hand car !!
In many ways iPod did the same. Started out saying only touch, no key board, designed for the internet … also a phone!!
Mint the new business news paper in India has done the same. Instead of being yet another 
yellow business news paper they said “every one has interest in impact of businesses on their lives” we will write for every one about businesss. No wonder in less than 2 years they are #2 business paper and 4 on 5 Mint readers never read a business paper before !! Talk about creating a new Blue Ocean.
As a start up are u creating a new market … or u just a Me Too Me Too?
Alan Greenspan was in India recently. Most didn’t know that. A lot said “Greenspan Who?”
Not very long ago he was like “Apara Kalidas”. Legend says that what ever Kalidas said became true. Once day when was drunk he was cornered by the king and asked what day it was. Totally smashed that he was, Kalidas said “Full Moon Day” on an Amavasya (“No Moon Day”?). Godess Saraswathi to make his words come true threw up her jewel in the sky and lit up the sky like a full moon day. Greenspan could move markets like that – not too long ago. Now no one cares.
I never liked him. I am too emotional in my decision making, anyways. I hated him when it seemed that he sided with Bush’s tax cuts and policies to get another term extension. That did it for me.
Anyways.
So he was in India. And, no one seemed to care. He warned India and China against having too much regulation. Predicted we are hurting long term growth with over regulation. Blamed the economic crisis on too much saving in 
developing countries that did not have the “infrastructure for consumer spending”. Said a meltdown is inevitable in a bubble bust cycle … if not the real estate bust … it would have been something else.
Such a contrast with an interview in Mint today with ex-RBI Governor Y.V. Reddy. He sounded like a regulator should “Kadoos” – even though he has retired. (… said empirically it is yet to be proven if regulation causes low growth rates … and it may be necessary to make “Financial Stability” as one of the main objectives of RBI and other central banks … how true).
Alan Greenspan is many ways symbolises what is wrong with the US … unwillingness to accept mistakes and see the harsh reality at hand. No wonder there is a political storm to retain the current shamefully flawed health care system. Lobbies lobbies !!
Y.V. Reddy represents what has always been right about India … take the middle path of avoiding extremes, have patience and take a long term view (in fact it’s probably come from our karma model … to think we have endless life-death cycles and hence there is no escape from bad deeds !!).
Reading the two interviews in a span of two weeks is such a contrast. Greenspan giving “know it all sweeping statements” and not taking any responsibility …. and Y.V.Reddy answering every question based on evidence and rejecting three questions saying he won’t speculate … and not taking any credit for his achievements in averting a meltdown in India.
We should be proud and happy our regulators are “like this only” !!
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Views expressed are solely personal opinions of the author; and do not represent the views of the organizations/institutions he is associated in any form. The author has no responsibility for actions taken based on ideas expressed here.
(Sridhar Turaga’s Blog: An Indian Entrepreneur)
