Discuss: Will 2018 be a good year for India’s startup scene?

Photo credit: Darshak Pandya

Discuss features short but strong and insightful opinions on interesting startup, entrepreneurship, and tech topics. Got a topic or question to suggest? Drop us an email.

The startup scene in India saw significant funding activities last year. One of the biggest was Tencent, eBay, and Microsoft pouring US$1.4 billion into Flipkart. But there were also some startups, especially smaller ones, that had to shut shop as they failed to secure additional funding.

What does this say about the future of India’s startup ecosystem? We asked some founders and investors for their thoughts.

Editor’s note: Answers have been edited for clarity.

Sid Talwar, partner at Lightbox VC

The quantum of money raised in any year has no correlation to success or failure of the startup industry. Neither does businesses shutting down. A better gauge is the number of companies that start up—either through raising some money or on their own without external capital. That number shows the robustness of the ecosystem. (I think the number of companies that will start up over the next five years will be greater than the last five years, and that’s very encouraging for someone in my business.)

But even that number doesn’t need to be tracked annually. Annual tracking is something only the media does and absolutely no one else—especially the people working in the industry.

Here’s what startups need to do at all times (our three rules at Lightbox):

1. Make sure you don’t run out of money.
2. Do not stop running your business.
3. If you don’t know something, ask.

India is a very special market—every industry is huge, fragmented, and inefficient in some way or another. And most industries have not been explored at all yet.

See: VC picks: The 3 hottest trends for startups to watch in India in 2018

Let’s discuss: