> We're starting with New York and London, but in the coming years we hope to head to Asia, South America and Africa.
I hope they have India on their radar! It would be awesome for the Indian Startup scene to hear all those great speakers live!
I hope they have India on their radar! It would be awesome for the Indian Startup scene to hear all those great speakers live!
1. The infrastructure: India doesn't have the tech infrastructure. Take the 3 major e-commerce requirements for example: internet access, online payment and delivery. Even the basic internet infrastructure in India sucks. Most people access the internet over their phones because getting home internet is still a pricey affair for most people. A pretty small number of people have access to credit cards and for those who do, processing payment online is a huge pain. The postal infrastructure is also pretty bad. India post is flaky and other courier companies are pretty bad or expensive or both.
2. Government interference: Indian government is inconsistent, heavy-handed and has very little interest in improving the tech sector. Most state governments are downright hostile.
3. Lack of exit opportunities: Indian tech sector lacks big players who can provide the entrepreneurs and investors meaningful exits. The culture of acquisitions as a meaningful way to get market advantage is not there. Your only hope is sell to a American or a European company looking to gain a foothold in the region (rare) or IPO (even rarer).
4. Corruption and general apathy: To get anything meaningful done in India is a struggle. From getting setup as a company to getting a good internet connection. You have to fight corruption and apathy of the organizations (both public and private) you are dealing with.
5. Labor laws: Labor laws in India are a joke. They are a relic of the socialist times and are heavily biased on the side of the employees. Setting up any type of manufacturing or operations in India is a legal nightmare. If that's not enough, the trade unions operate as a mafia and its downright dangerous to deal with them.
There is a lot of opportunity in India too but until we overcome the problems that entrepreneurs and investors face, Indian tech startup scene would never take off.
We have to start somewhere.