Cyber Media’s Dataquest magazine has published a list of Top 25 Hot Indian Web 2.0 Startups which include BigAdda, Ibibo, Fropper, DesiMartini, BharatStudent, MingleBox, Indyarocks, ApnaCircle, Burrp TV, Kwippy, LifeBlob, LordsOfOdds, CommonFloor, IndiaMarks, Indipepal, Kreeo, Metaaso, AuthorStream, Uhooroo, Zahdoo, TellAFriend.SocialTwist.com, Kwench.in, Parentree.in, MobShare.in and Tagz.in.

“India has the potential to significantly drive the direction in which Web 2.0 is moving. Micro-blogging and video streaming are the future of Web 2.0 along with niche networking, be it on a friendship portal or around communities,” Shyamanuja Das, editor, Dataquest, has said, adding. “A stronger revenue model and a shift from ad-based framework to an e-commerce based set-up are desirable.”

According to Dataquest, the list was prepared by its editors with the help of IndianWeb2.com from 54 shortlisted companies which began operations on or after January 1, 2007 and are headquartered in India. While shortlisting the companies the focus was on those companies that had collaboration or Web 2.0 attributes as core to their business model. The other parameters which were used to select the winners were reach, impact and innovativeness of offering.

Frankly, I am very surprised with this list. A lot of these are not startups. Bigadda, for example. Or even desimartini…which had been sold to HT a few years back. And one of the selection criteria being that the “startup” commenced operations from Jan ’07 or later. Sure some of them are noble and have a pleasant look about them, like uhooroo, but then, anyone you know who has heard of uhooroo? is it enough to create a good site, and then hope that it gets promoted on its own? Take zahdoo, for instance. Their home page gives me such a complicated description about what’s possible on zahdoo, that i’m still on dictionary.com trying to figure out what they mean (screenshot attached)

I’m not doubting the effort gone into the exercise. It may be a good start, giving a platform for serious startups to stand up and get counted, but there are some obvious loopholes.

1. Define a startup clearly, and once defined, have the courage to reject ones who do not meet the criteria

2. Be clear on what web2.0 means. Having a lot of white and looking cool is not what web2.0 means.

3. Take into account website traffic as well. It does not help if a cool looking site gets created, with no one visiting the same.

My 2 cents to Dataquest, do not make this an annual exercise. Make it monthly or quarterly, where your index points to the best new sites launched in the last month or last quarter, or any other period deemed suitable. If the aim is to encourage startups, then let it be startups alone, who need loads of help and as much of such coverage as necessary. Don’t make it a pointless activity by including sites which are neither web 2, nor startups. Hope to see a more serious and honest effort the next time onwards!

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I have a few issues with this site and the approach taken:

1. Clearly, the site aims to piggybank on the brand name of shaadi.com, the way secondshaadi.com also did. At least half the people who come to meet me think secondshaadi.com belongs to shaadi.com!

2. With Shaaditimes.com, BM matrimony services etc already in existence, why do we need another logistics site? Specially one which serves half baked information and details?

3. What was the hurry to go with a press release, on sites like alootechie, if you have an incomplete and half baked product? Why do entrepreneurs want to take a PR release route to try driving eyeballs in the short term, knowing fully well that a user will not return if the 1st time experience is bad enough? Or is it that in a society obsessed with iits and iims, people start assuming anything with an iit tag attached is newsworthy enough?

4. Clearly, the site aims to make money only by forwarding enquiries to the merchants listed on the site. For example, visit the bandwallas page, and try looking for more information on any of the listed vendors. Zilch. Which clearly means that only a basic googlign has been used to try and pick up information about the merchants, which limits the information made available to users. And hence, the big hope is that people will be forced to drop an enquiry due to lack of information available!

5. Some gadgets have been used, like gold prices, and weather, and google maps, and the entire approach, starting with the logo, is extremely old world, childish, and very very boring. Sorry guys, but that’s not the way to go about a site. There’s no harm in waiting for a few weeks/months, as long as you have power in your idea, and are willing to leave no stones turned to see it get fulfilled.

Leaving you with some screenshots. A picture might say what i was trying to say in 1000 words!

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1. Nothing like being a bachelor when wanting to be on your own. The thinking is fresh, the quality of life is abysmal in most cases (you can support yourself on a shoe-string budget), and with no family or society pressures, you are much better equipped to try it out, until you succeed

2. Find a real need, and don’t just go googling to find those needs. Every successful venture of US will not succeed in India. Appreciate the cultural nuances, and ensure your offering is customized well enough to offer value to the audience it is targeting

3. Fail. Its important to fail. Never underestimate the importance of failing in your venture early on. It will teach you a number of things which you otherwise will never realize

4. Build a network which you can rely upon, at the right time and place. And it’s not only the online network. While Linkedin, twitter, facebook etc are great places to start getting known amongst the right people, its equally important to build a strong offline network as well. Go to blogcamps, meet people who have gone through the entrepreneurship cycle, learn from them, keep a track of all these people and be in regular touch with them. You never know when they might come in handy

5. Do not assume that everyone out there is just waiting for you to tell them something, and they’ll go rushing to follow you. For example, if you send an email to 1000 of your contacts, do not expect all of them to act upon it, just because the mail is coming from you. Irrespective of whether they are your known contacts or not, only when they see some value in what you’re saying, that they’ll be willing to listen to you

6. Learn from your mistakes, and take immediate actions. You’ll be better off by not repeating your mistakes. Small mistakes and oversights can make or break startups

7. Never forget the people who helped you initially. The success of your venture should not change the person you are. At a young age, when you suddenly taste unanticipated success, it is very very easy to get carried away

8. Learn as much as possible. Even if you’re new to technology or photoshop or other relevant knowledge base, you’ll be served by better by taking a shot at learning them yourself. Do some google and you’ll be surprised at the amount of help that will come your way, by way of free tutorials, advice, templates, and sites which will do the jobs for you

9. Make a sustained and solid presence on the web. Think along the lines of a complete online identity management approach, wherein you integrate your website, your blog, business and social networking, micro-blogging, feedback tracking, participation in forums of relevant/related topics

10. Give your venture some time. Do not look for short-term gains. Be clear on where you see your venture 2 years, 5 years and 10 years down the line. Most of us end up thinking from a short term gain perspective, without realizing that this can only result on temporary happiness. Have belief in your idea and your venture, and go all out to succeed. Celebrate short and sweet successes that come your way, without ever compromising on the vision you have set for yourself

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We are still a long way off when it comes to accurate, updated traffic and weather information. It needs much more than physically placing some people at key intersections and trying to help people. It needs better and richer technology. It needs dedicated satellites which can predict to the tee. It needs more involvement from the government.
here are the top 3 sites which open up on google when you search for “india+weather”. trust me, its fun

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