Failing to Succeed

Book excerpt: In 1999, when hardly anyone in India transacted on the Internet, K. Vaitheeswaran co-founded India's first e-commerce company. Yet, years later, when e-commerce was exploding in India-despite enjoying first-mover advantage-Indiaplaza shut down. What went wrong? Lack of funding? Wrong strategies? Or was it 'something else'? For the first time ever, Vaitheeswaran reveals that it was indeed something else-a set of inexplicable events that destroyed what could have been a profitable business (an extreme rarity among technology start-ups). He bares his extraordinary trials and tribulations while dealing with business failure and the impossible pressures that can threaten entrepreneurs in India. Coming at the back of stories of young start-ups raising billions of dollars in funding and creating unicorns in just a few years, as well as the recent setbacks in the e-commerce industry, Failing to Succeed delves deep into the dark side of starting up and its myriad pitfalls. Filled with interesting anecdotes, tongue-in-cheek observations, amazing customer insights, hard-hitting predictions and behind-the-scenes industry happenings, this book is an extraordinary unravelling of the challenges facing technology start-ups in India. It is a must-read for aspiring entrepreneurs, investors, industry professionals or business school students, and anyone interested in India's start-up ecosystem. A powerful narration, Failing to Succeed is eventually about finding ways to move forward and succeed despite failures...