Why Lightspeed said yes to mobile dating app Vee
Extracts from a post on the Lightspeed Ventures India blog (emphasis mine): Traditionally, young Indian women and men have struggled to meet new and like-minded people owing to various socio-cultural…
How Piramals cracked the Private Equity in Real Estate puzzle
From the Forbes India profile: Given the scope of its services, while all realty funds have a takeover clause in their contracts, Piramal Fund Management has the actual capability to…
“Incremental reforms will push up growth, but fail the youth”: Former Chief Economic Adviser Shankar Acharya
Writing in Business Standard, former chief economic adviser to the government Shankar Acharya has evaluated the notable economic and financial developments during the first six months of Modi Sarkaar. Extracts:…
Selling a Rs.400 bulb for Rs.10 and other Brilliant Ideas to Reduce the Fiscal Deficit
Dr. Ajay Shah has timely and extremely well argued post on the government’s plans to subsidise LED bulbs costing Rs.400 to be sold for Rs.10! Hopefully the decision makers will…
Why Everyone & His Uncle Likes Doing Dr.Raghuram Rajan’s Job
Every time a monetary policy review is round the corner (like now), everybody from the Finance Minister to twitter-friendly industrialists decide to front run Dr.Rajan to get media attention. In…
The Dangerous Shotgun Wedding of Financial Technologies with NSEL
In a “shotgun wedding“, the long term ramifications of which were somewhat drowned amidst the Diwali break last week, the Union Government has ordered the forced merger of two private…
Doug Leone of Sequoia on Indian VC
Economic Times has an interesting interview with Sequoia Capital’s Silicon Valley-based partner Douglas (Doug) Leone on the firm’s investments in India and elsewhere. Extracts (emphasis mine): On why Sequoia is…
Profile of Meru Cabs founder Neeraj Gupta
From the Mint article He did almost nothing for five years after his graduation from Mithibai College in Mumbai. “My wife got a job at Jet Airways right after college…
Profile of Vini Cosmetics founder Darshan Patel
From the Mint article: Patel launched Vini Cosmetics in 2010, having spent two decades at Paras Pharmaceuticals, which he co-owned with his brothers; he had a 24% stake in it.…
Why PE investors should stick to minority investments in Restaurants
From an Economic Times article titledd “Do PE firms make bad chefs?” citing the problems at Adiga’s, Sagar Ratna and Nirula’s. Prudent investment metrics back PE’s thinking in grabbing pieces…