VCCircle

Business Standard has an interview with Promod Haque of Norwest Venture Partners. He talks about Norwest's investment in Yatra Online, the first B2C investment of the VC fund in India, the right qualities of an entrepreneur, India's competitive advantage in outsourcing and so on. Read on.

This is the first time you appear to be looking at the B2C (business-to-consumer) segment. Earlier, your focus was on the B2B (business-to-business) segment.

If you see our portfolio, we have invested in the B2C segment in the past too. Of course, in India, this is the first such funding. The reason is that you see consumer spending growing since the middle calss is growing. Internet usage is increasing.

We are looking at consumer services that are well-proven in the US and Europe. Travel fits in our current strategy. We spent a lot of time understanding the travel space. We also identified a team in the UK and convinced them to come to India. We will be looking at several other consumer services in the near future.

What criteria do you adopt to identify the “right” entrepreneurs?

The process is consistent. First, we look at large market opportunities. This comes from experience. Then we look at a solution for a service that is highly differentiated. Finally, we look for the “big vision”. This does not mean we get it right every time. However, Norwest is backed by some hardworking, smart people (looks sideways at his partner Vab Goel). It’s a team effort.

What advice do you have for today’s entrepreneurs?

Today, you don’t need a rich family to start a company. Indian entrepreneurs have an excellent opportunity to start companies with anywhere between $1-10 million and create one of the top 10 companies. All you need to have is a great idea, a good experienced (reiterates this) team and focus on the right investor. There is a certain amount of discipline and homework that needs to be done. We want to find these guys and back them.

For more...go to Business Standard.