Wireless Utopia

How are they related you ask? They are. Consider this. Early stage startups need money. In the Silicon Valley, Angels provide this money along with their expertise and help the startup in making a profitable business. Its no secret that the Silicon Valley model does not work in India. First of all you dont have any creditable Angels in India and for those who are there, its very difficult to find an exit. The closest thing you can get in India are the returned NRI's. Those who have worked for startups in the valley and made their money and returned back for various personal or professional reasons.

But getting them to don the role of an Angel is again a difficult proposition. The reason being, real estate. Buying and selling houses is such a profitable business nowadays that everyone is happy just hoarding their cash into a upcoming property, sitting back and enjoying the fruits. The NRI's also prefer to put their extra cash into the real estate. Even the big corporate IT players are doing the same. Ever wondered why no companies in India have a Venture Capital arm? Investing in Real Estate gives them much more returns without the risk.

But things might change. Going by this article in FT, people have started talking about a correction. A correction driven by the high real estate prices in India. I really hope the real estate market crashes. We might then see some more money being put into startups like ours!