When Unicorns fly - I may as well go Virtual

You may call me old school; well at my age I am supposed to be that. Yet; my family could well claim the title of being a pioneer in the Indian Venture Cap. space. My uncle UB (Uncle Brave) was a great risk taker; and he had no hesitation in investing in a business proposal that would appear strange in the 1980s - at least in relation to the field we were involved in - hotels and real estate development. So; we ended up investing in a tuna fishing and processing factory ship; a wrist watch assembling unit for high end Swiss watches in Sikkim; a soft beverages logistics unit in Delhi; medical diagnostic centre in Mumbai; a computer education centre in Hyderabad; and a few more. None of them returned the capital. The only reason he stopped his VC adventure was because our cash cow hotel in Mumbai got bombed in the 1993 serial blast. None of them made any money. All of them were write offs.

My own tryst with organised Venture Cap. started off in 1999 when I decided to start a magazine on Venture capital called "VCQ" (Venture Capital quadrangle) for StrategicNewspapers.com (itself a venture funded company that I worked for then). Purpose; to cover the dotcom 1.0 boom driven by the internet that had erupted in India. It was the first time I believed that India would see a socio-economic change with the emergence of the young - honest "no body" (no big family name I mean) entrepreneur funded by the great younger (in most cases) risk takers called Venture Capitalists. Most of them were heavy accented Ivy school ABCDs (American Born Confused Desis) sent here by the western big boys with pocket change (running in millions) to engage this Nation's technically educated low cost talent for a global play. It was a time of parties, celebrations, phenomenal pay hikes and super high energy. If you did not have a .com website or were not familiar with "Alibaba.com" and "Amazon.com" and terms like "e-comm","eyeballs","stickiness", "page views - click", "B2B", B2C", "P2P" - hey! you were an "old brick and mortar economy" dinosaur. Mobile phones then were not as smart and futurists would talk about it as the next big wave - only they did not know when.

My magazine did exceedingly well; in fact, it got nicknamed the "Red Herring" of India. It even earned a massive valuation as an IP (Intellectual Property) by itself - and I told my boss to exit while it was the flavour of the month. I could sense the crazy valuation bubble had reached hideous proportions and the burst would follow anytime soon. It did and what followed was a massive economic correction. Surprisingly the real estate market too took an unprecedented vertical dive down even though it was never a direct benefactor of venture capital then. (Real Estate saw its own rise with Private Equity from 2005 on; but that's another story).

But, thanks to dotcom 1.0; India did become the world's largest ITES centre; and not all the enterprises set up then disappeared either. Makemytrip.com is one such story (and I quote it because I had a very small role to play when it was set up). There are many entrepreneurs of that era who have switched roles to VCs now. Krishnan and Meena Ganesh have come a long way from their cusstomerasset.com days. Nascom led by late Devang Mehta may have been the lead body in nurturing tech ventures then; but TIE, a baby then; now the one all entrepreneurs look up to.

During those heady days; I had access to all the big names in the VC world. Trying to figure out a way to revive my own hotel; I asked one of them if his firm would look at funding the hotel's revival - converting it into a kind of an incubation facility just like the "Trident" in South Mumbai was turning out to be. Obviously, he was not impressed with the suggestion as it lacked scale and was grounded in heavy brick and mortar. My response was yet but it would have a for certain revenue line as well as profit; something that the dotcom could not guarantee for years of cash burn. No dice. I then said; if I could find a way of creating a virtual hotel then would he fund it. He laughed and said of course; but, being ahead of time does not work and the VC binned that idea saying that it could not happen.  It struck me that a VC would "throw" tons of money behind a seemingly no asset no immediate financial fundamental "idea" at a "fictional - no real basis" valuation; but not into a potentially real revenue producing hard asset at a real measurable valuation.

A decade and a half later; not much has changed in terms of fundamentals. the numbers have become larger. Dotcoms are passe. Aggregation, "Shareconomy" and Unicorns are the new buzzwords. Every business has to have an "App." (goodbye websites). And, every other person I know is looking at building the next billion dollar idea. Smart and wearables the new technology enablers. Flipkart, Snapdeal, Olacabs, BookmyShow; Housing.com and several others are there to inspire the new entrepreneurial generation, And yes; there is a virtual hotel chain called "Airbnb" that commands a way higher valuation than the largest hotel brand and management company. I still don't see them funding a real hotel in this rebooted "asset light" world; and in these  times when Unicorns fly; I too may as well go virtual.

There is a growing belief that this bubble will deliver a much bigger blow then the ones before - soon. I "true" that. But hey! would earth be there if there was no "Big Bang"? I hope to be around when the next wave picks up and hopefully it will pick me up with it too.  

A bunch of billion-dollar 'unicorn' startups are just 'horses with sticks taped on their heads,' top New York investors say

ALYSON SHONTELL0JUN 29, 2015, 08.43 PM

http://qz.com/405367/san-francisco-says-airbnb-is-making-its-housing-crisis-worse/

http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/staff-editorials/12637/tech-bubble-venture-capital/

Why the startup investing market is headed for a bust

Suhas Baliga | July 18, 2015 at 8:00 pm   

The Great Social Divide

Just this morning (1st June 2015); I read that there was much noise being created in the US about a Muslim lady being denied a sealed can of cold beverage in an aircraft as it can serve as a potential weapon. As a rule; airlines would not serve me an unopened can either and I am not Muslim. 

Just a few days back discrimination was big news in Mumbai news as well. First there was news of a Muslim MBA graduate being denied a job in a diamond firm. Then there was news of a young lady of Muslim faith who was denied accommodation in a building society based on her religion. Well; it was not only Muslims being pushed around; a Hindu Maharashtrian man was denied purchase of a flat because he and family were non-vegetarians. Then there was news of a school not willing to admit students from a particular locality dominated by Muslims on grounds of them being trouble makers. 

Hey! what's going on? Discrimination of any kind is unacceptable; and in most nations unconstitutional. Yet; racial discrimination primarily fueled by fear is on the rise and is dividing civilized societies to behave in very weird ways. Are the ones discriminating really justified in their action? 

Let me park that question and run a couple of scenarios and news bits first: 

Bangalore hub of techie-terror network - 

BANGALORE: Bangalore appears to have turned into a hub of radical techies. 

Under the banner of Muslim Information Technology Professionals' Association, these techies in the city are said to be networking and aiding radical groups. 

Jun 01 2015 : Mirror (Mumbai)

Hawala operator misuses diamond trader's account to transfer over Rs 20 lakh

Worrying trend: Hawala operators are roping in hackers to secretly transfer funds.

The inside story of how Areeb Majeed became an ISIS terrorist

By Bhupen Patel |Posted 30-Nov-2014

- The 23-year-old Kalyan-based engineering student was remanded by a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court for being an alleged ISIS terrorist till December 8. Now, Majeed has revealed vital information to the officials on how Indian youths are brainwashed into becoming terrorists in the name of jihad. - 

HC moved for nod to animal slaughter in housing societies for Eid. 

Residents question goat slaughter

MUMBAI: Is it legal to slaughter goats in residential areas on the occasion of Bakr-Id? As the number of goats being killed this way increases in the city, more and more residents are beginning to question the practice. 

The issue came into the limelight after residents of the Versova Seaside Premises Cooperative Housing Society (VSPCHS) filed a petition in the Mumbai high court last year, requesting a ban on the slaughter of goats within their society premises. 

Gujarati vs Maharashtrian clash behind BJP-Sena fallout?  Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena seeks to shed its 'anti-north Indian' image

Guess you can understand the point I am trying to make. If the is what is in the news then a certain bias is sure to find a place somewhere in the brain. The diamond trader's HR was stupid to have admitted the bias openly; but the fear of recruiting a highly educated Muslim under the existing environment in some sectors does become a bone of contention. It is certainly not justified nor right. But; can you really blame the employer in thinking in a negative way? Even if the employer  is allowed to take an undertaking from any employee - irrespective of caste, creed, religion indemnifying it from any wrong doing; do you think it will hold good if there really is a problem? It is the employer who has to answer a million dirty questions to clear its name and reputation. I asked around a few friends in my HR circle and one story I heard was quite interesting. "It's not just fear of what they (Muslims)might do, but overall attitude" he said. "One wrong guy in your organization and the rest get a bad name or come under the scanner. I know of a company that hired a highly educated Muslim youth. On Friday; he would go off work after reporting for just 2 hours on grounds of offering Friday prayers. When the HR notified him that it would be better if he took Friday as an unpaid off or adjust it against his paid leaves; he filed a discrimination case against the employer seeking financial and punitive damage. The company now had a mini rebellion from the non-Muslim staffers who began demanding that they too be given similar privileges as otherwise it is a discriminatory practice against them. Eventually the employer won the case when the Court ordered that the Muslim employee had the option to offer prayers on the premises (as permitted in Islam) if it was so important and as such the employer had never opposed it. But the sheer grief faced by the employer resulted in an unwritten "No Muslim from now on" recruitment policy. By the way; have you heard of any media house taking up the case of punishing labour recruiters who boldly advertise "Non Muslims Need not Apply" for jobs in the Middle East?".

"Have you walked in a pool of blood? I have. On Eid day; the Society compound reeks of blood and flesh. It's sickening. I know it's their festival but why are we made to endure this grotesque sight of blood and gore. I guess I will have to move from here?" said a Hindu friend living in a Society that does not discriminate. I asked him if he had spoken to his Muslim neighbours about the situation; after all they must not mean ill as they did send him a part of the meat. He said yes and the answer he got was "We endure the noise you make in Diwali and the mess of colors you leave behind on Holi; so what is your problem?". I said that the answer did have a point of view. My friend just shook his head and said "I am vegetarian. The noise of the crackers is not stomach churning like that of the goat bleating while it is being cut alive. They actually cry for days before knowing the end that awaits them. Our holi mess is not a gross sight like dried blood and fleece. We had one Muslim family in our building when the Society was formed some 10 years back. That family started the practice first and we in fear of retribution tolerated it. Today 50% of the residents in our Society are Muslims as most Hindus have moved out and the few remaining too will sell to Muslims or Non Hindus, as no Hindu wants to buy here". Well he had a point too that could not be argued with. My friend had no animosity towards the Muslims - it was just that their way of living and his were very different causing discomfort to live together.As a matter of debate I took up the subject of the possible reason why a Maharashtrian would have been denied purchase of a flat - even though non vegetarian - he would not slaughter goats outside his house? "Well he must have gone to a Gujarati or Marwari builder. They are probably against M & M - "Maharashtrians and Muslims" he laughed. One threatens their lifestyle and the other their existence in this City. Almost all of them are connected to some local political satrap or toughie and one cannot take any chances anymore. Actually; it's not really about diet or community or religion or LGBT or people with pets anymore. Better to have "like minded" people living together in a place - better safety, security and harmony between the residents then". Are we looking for comfort in numbers then and hence "ghetto-ising" our Society?     

Incidentally, the MBA reject became a news hero and a leading firm gave him a job. Applause, applause. But did anyone care to find out what happened to his two Hindu friends who refused to work with the same discriminatory organization? The young lady who was refused accommodation; it turns out she did not have the papers to prove her bonafides to the Society and probably used the "religion" card as it was trending news.  But; no one seems to care much about her two Hindu room mates who lost out on accommodation because they supported her case to stay. Well their stories not sensational enough for the press I suppose. 

We live in a so called secular Country and yet there is nothing secular about it. An emotional lawyer friend said "Why is there a Hindu law or Muslim law in this nation when we have a common law code? If there is a Muslim law then why not try Muslims by the Sharia code as well?" Actually - left to me - I would adopt the Sharia code for this entire nation for trying criminals at least. Jokes aside - I too at one level feel that this great divide is directly attributable to the parallel laws and privileges that we follow as a form of appeasement to various groups to gain control - hence power. In today's time there is no need for any special treatment to any caste, community, creed, religion as protectionism and special treatment has never worked anywhere in the world. I have heard multiple views in the last few days on this subject of discrimination; and each person had a view that was right from their point of view. Some blamed the mischief of politics; many the over sensationalizing media; and quite a few the influence of local and global events for fanning multiple fractures in our social wall. No one seemed to recognize that our tolerance levels are going lower and lower by the day. In a way it could be our frustration with daily issues affecting us. The rising cost of living; breaking down of the City's infrastructure - as simple as excessive travel time to fro work; weather maybe; increased work load; or psychological pressures are manifesting itself as hate and intolerance. We all looking at someone to blame for our woes. Hitler blamed it on a community - are we all trying to fit into his shoes? Media and politics are mere catalysts that have felt our pulse and recognized the right nerve to press for their own selfish needs. Have we reached a point of no return? Because if we have then we as a species called homo sapiens are doomed - does not matter what "label" we belong to then. 

 Meanwhile in Canada 

Landlords face no punishment for discrimination in online ads

There’s a two bedroom basement apartment for rent in Toronto’s northwest end —one bathroom, newly painted and renovated with a side entrance. The ad, posted on popular classified site Kijiji.ca, comes with the typical caveats —no pets allowed, no smokers. And then, a less common request: Only Muslims need apply.

This a post from Facebook by a Muslim friend of mine: 

"Ghetto-isation" in Mumbai has been rampant for years and only seems to be getting perverse by the day. As far as I can remember, at first it was a sense of elitism that divided our city into North and South.Later, as time went by, a sense of a false persecution complex prompted citizen to adopt Ghettoisation in all sorts of variations.Just so that one need not have to extend one's self to some other way or then being sensitive to social niceties, ghettoisation managed to raise its head in larger numbers throughout our so called cosmopolitan city.

Common courtesies has been replaced by a sense of wanting to assimilate with tribes with greater commonalities in larger numbers within the spaces of our city.

Muslims not allowed buildings (I have been a victim to this twice over), Non-Vegetarians not allowed buildings, Pets Not Allowed building (currently live in such a building), Single's not allowed buildings, Unmarried couples not allowed buildings, following a particular religion not allowed buildings. It's crazy what this city has become! It's crazy that such practices are allowed in the name of being bearers of the will of a society.These trends seem to break new grounds in different walks of life within our City as time is going by. We have seen how the practice "might is right" has completely torn the fabric of democracy and governance, and yet we let ourselves fall prey to this way, by condoning undemocratic practices in our social lives.

The so called comfort of living within your own type will leave mindsets only more skewed and tunnel visioned. How can we think of bettering ourselves as human beings if we don't challenge ourself to be more accommodating and being flexible? Inferiority/ superiority complexes have led to greater deviant behavioural patterns within our social societies.

Be aware people! Don't let primal lowly thinking take control of you.

Most people commenting on this post blamed it on politics. My response: 

Sorry everyone but bitter pill is that politicians are not to blame for all our woes. We have brought it upon ourselves by accepting nonsense and being a part of that very same system when it suits our convenience. If we all believe that politicians are bad then why do we pander to them? Why do we attend functions where they preside? Why do we call them Sir? Why do we want our selfies taken with them? Politics is a necessary evil within our system - the issue is we have become as evil as the system itself. I can't believe we are a secular nation as long as we have a Hindu law or Muslim law or a minorities quota or a class or caste based reservation. When we say we don't want it the divide will come to an end. 

Sorry again. This is a viewpoint and not necessary that I may be right from everyone's point of view.