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Wireless Utopia

The journey towards a free wireless world.

The WOW Factor

Friday, January 11, 2008

Is there a startup in India which is doing something which simply blows you away? We once asked ourselves this question but unfortunately we came up with nothing. But if you just broaden the horizon and look at established enterprises, the you do see some amazing stuff being done. Obviously the Tata's One Lakh Car is one such project. The coverage it has been getting in MSM is amazing: Digg, Slashdot, IHT, BBC, CNN, you name it.

One which caught my eye was this one. To quote the article.

Overnight, my canteen manager Sitaram-ji, my driver's elderly father who is a retired army man, my grocery supplier Mr Arora, and all such nice people with decent but limited income can start dreaming.

That's wow! Really!

This is the wow factor. A giant leap rather than an incremental improvement. Something which touches the life of the "common man". Solves a problem, elicits a "wow" from them. That is the market we have. The "common man" market. And its here. Its ready.

We entrepreneurs have lot to learn and a long way to go.

Tags: Entrepreneurship, Startups, Tata, Nano.
posted by Rajiv, 8:03 AM

5 Comments:

I am sure there is innovation in making cheapest car and sure it fosters an exciting dream in lower-middle class. I fear though that it will worsen the problems of India Metros - sudden growth in traffic, lack of parking space, increased pollution (I hope Tata's claim that it will be more environment friendly turns out to be true).

The only customer benefit that Tata has published for this project is "safer option for two wheeler users" (apart from implicit big business for Tata), which really doesn't answer the problems I (and others) have listed above.

I dislike being a skeptic for any innovative project, but the benefits of the new technology should outweigh the undesirable side effects.
Said Blogger Jayesh, 3:22 PM  

Jayesh,

I encourage to read the post below.

http://indiauncut.com/iublog/article/the-lifeboat-syndrome/

I think your concern for traffic jump reeks of hypocrisy. Did you think about that before buying a big car for yourself?
Said Blogger Rajiv, 12:43 AM  

Yeah, I do own a 4 seater car, which I use whenever necessary. For daily commute I use a 2-wheeler.

... no more comments from me.
Said Blogger Jayesh, 4:46 AM  

Sorry to kill the conversation. And great to see you use your two wheeler whenever you do not want to add to the traffic! Very commendable in fact.

But I still do not quite follow your logic. Why do you think the "lower middle class" is not entitled to what you are? Does being "lower middle class" make them a lesser human being in some way?
Said Blogger Rajiv, 8:31 AM  

Very recently "Yo! bikes came to the market" which ran on electricity, with 5-6 hours of battery charge, it could run approx. 100 kms. However this being a small company could never talk (market) it as Tata could.

At another stall at Auto expo, few Brilliant students have demoed a hybrid car that runs on electricity and petrol alike within a budget of 1 lakh again, none talked about it, can't forget that these fellows couldn't even get a stall inside the mail hall, where people flocked like crazy.

If the Wow factor in discussion is product oriented than definitely Nano if one of many such products that are potential of creating this Wow factor. In essence to be able to create an instantaneous Wow factor, it demands lot more than a good product, which only Tatas, Ambanis can provide. Startups do not qualify at all.
Said Blogger Piyush, 7:59 AM  

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