Sanjay Bhargava launches mobile payment startup – EKO

Sanjay Bhargava, who was the former VP(payments) of paypal ( employ #10) has launched a mobile payment startup – EKO which is currently in stealth mode. After going through the EKO website, i feel like  Eko is a mobile payment solution.

But would differentiate it from the market would be it’s B2B model. So i guess rather than trying to compete with say a paymate or an NGPAY or an Obopay it will help service providers launch their own mobile payment solution under their brand name ( Read SBI Pay – powered by Eko) . Anyway i had always believed that there is enough market in India for a b2b service because it can bet on existing customer base and brand value of the service provider ( say an Idea or an SBI). Further the payment company can fully concentrate on the product development and improving the product while the marketing & promotion will be done by the service provider.

Also from a customer’s perspective , using a mobile payment service for a service provider (say an SBI or an IDEA Cellular) adds crediblity when compared with a mobile payment company like NGPAY or PAYMATE ( For example if a customer recieves an SMS from the customer care of his mobile service provider like ” Dear customer, now you can pay your utility bills and pay at resturants using your Airtel phone. to regsiter log on to Airtel.com” , the customers are more likely to use the service.

One critical factor for mobile payment solution providers is the platform they choose to operate their service ..USSD, SMS , GPRS or Voice. While USSD can be the most preferred option from a customers point of view as it works on any mobile phone with out the difficulty of typing keywords for an SMS service which is one reason why many of the SMS based application was a failure in market. ( Well at the time when my startup was running the SMS service for a leading TV network, our biggest problem was the keyword typing errors most of the users were doing..). When it comes to GPRS, it would works well if you are targeting the premium end of your subscriber base, becuase i think it would take atleast 2-3 years for GPRS to catch up in India due to bandwidth constraints of many networks.

Also i believe service providers rather than concentrating on services like restaurant bills and online shopping should cater to the basic needs of the average cell phone user like providing a facility to pay electricity bills, water bills and other utility bills ( remember bill desk and bill junction are really doing well on the utility bill sector and now they have started talking about mobile..though bill junction all ready has a mobile payment option), then railway ticket booking etc ( remember ITZ cash which is really doing well on this space).
Once again i wish Sanjay good luck on his way to creating an elephant that will cater to over more than a million customers with an ARPU of Rs 400/year as he always wanted to be!

Top 10 reasons why you should be an Entrepreneur

Well am just pasting an interesting blog article about entrepreneurship.

Top 10 reasons according to me why you should be an entrepreneur:

1. The number one reason is also the reason why most of us are afraid to be an entrepreneur. To experience the uncertain journey on Entrepreneurship. You have one short life, and if you do not give a shot at it, you are missing out on a great experience. The journey of becoming an entrepreneur will itself teach you so much it is worth it only for that one reason. The zing, the high, the thrill – experience it and you will know what I am talking about.
2. To bring out the inner strength within yourself, that is rooted deep inside somewhere. That reserve of strength will bring out a new and confident you.
3. To make yourself proud by walking on a path that is less traveled. To stand out of majority of people and creating an unforgettable identity for yourself based on what you have done.
4. To show people around you that you are a man of strength and confidence. People will look upon you as a source of strength. They will seek your advice during their hardships.
5. To value your own skills and strengths, instead of giving off cheaply by working for someone else.
6. To be an inspiration and example for others.
7. To be creative. Yes, when you walk on the entrepreneurship path, the creative side of yours will surface in most unexpected ways.
8. To make a difference in lives of others. When you are an entrepreneur you will have the power of making a difference in the life of your employees, friends and customers.
9. To be happy. To love life and to love self.
10. And finally, to create wealth. Yes, this is important, but it is the last reason. All the above 9 reasons will give you much more satisfaction than this 10th reason.

New Entrants in the mobile payment space!

The Indian mobile payment industry is getting heated up with the entry of new players like Reliance ( With it’s proposed wireless money transfer service), Vodafone (mobile money transfer service), VISA and Sify(which is reportedly working on a mobile payment solution).Anyway circa 2008, you will see more and more Indians transacting over their mobile phones!

15% of Redherring 200 list are Indian Startups!

While India is getting ready to celebrate it’s 60th Independence Day, there is few more reasons for each and every Indians to cheer. Out of the 200 finalits of the redherring 200 list 28 of them are Indian startups.

The Top 100 award winners will be announced at the ceremony which will be held on the 29th and 30th of this month HongKong. Some of the leading startups in the list include iXiGO, Paymate & Onyomo.

The following is the list of shortlisted companies in the RedHerring 200 list.

• Adiance Technologies Pvt Ltd www.adiance.com
• Automotive Exchange Private Limited www.CarWale.com
• CashTech Solutions India Ltd www.cash-tech.com
• Cat Computer Services Pvt Ltd www.quickheal.com
• Cross-Tab Marketing Services Pvt Ltd www.cross-tab.com
• FXLabs Studios Pvt Ltd www.fxlabs.com
• Gameshastra Solutions P Ltd www.gameshastra.com
• GlobalLogic India Pvt Ltd www.globallogic.com
• Intrasoft Technologies Ltd www.infrasofttech.com
• iXiGO.com www.ixigo.com
• iYogi Technical Services Pvt Ltd www.iyogi.net
• MeritTrac Services Private Limited www.merittrac.com
• Mindlogicx Infotech Ltd www.mindlogicx.com
• Mistral Software Pvt Ltd www.mistralsoftware.com
• nautanki.tv online india Pvt Ltd www.nautanki.tv
• NetAlter Software Limited www.netalter.com
• OnMobile Asia Pacific Pvt Ltd www.onmobile.com
• PayMate India Pvt. Ltd. www.paymate.co.in
• Proteans Software www.proteans.com
• RealAcres.com www.RealAcres.com
• Rudra Technologies Pte Ltd www.rudratec.com
• Regalix www.regalix.com
• Saora www.saora.com
• SM Onyomo Infotech Pvt Ltd www.onyomo.com
• Telibrahma Convergent Communications Pvt Ltd www.telibrahma.com
• Vembu www.vembu.com
• WeP Peripherals Ltd www.wepindia.com
• Worldviewer Dot Com India Private Ltd www.kerala.com

Band of Angels is now “Indian Angel Network”

In a move to expand nation wide Delhi-based Band of Angels is renaming itself as Indian Angel Network. It has got a new website too – IndianAngelNetwork.com. Their next target is Mumbai, and will spread to other cities too, truly making it a national angel network.
he network currently has some 60 members like Jerry Rao, Saurabh Srivastava, Pramod Bhasin, Raman Roy, Rajiv Luthra, Pradeep Gupta, Alok Mittal, Ranjit Shastri and so on. It also has institutional members like IBM, SIDBI, Naukri, Greylock Partners, and Google.
The network so far has invested in over seven companies.

Sequioa has 1 billion each for India& China! Anyone?

According to Mike Moritz Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India ,the leading VC firm has a commitment of 1 billion dollars each for India and China. While some of the industry watchers are calling the latest wave of web2.0 around the world as bubble 2.0, this is a good news for startups who have some real content within them.

Interview Transcript | Video