Top 5 Challenges Faced by Product Companies March 13, 2009 unConference Session NASSCOM Friday’s2.0

“ Markets that don’t exist can not be measured” John Warnock, Co-Founder, Adobe Systems Inc.

“ Markets that don’t exist can not be measured”

John Warnock, Co-Founder, Adobe Systems Inc.

Challenges faced by Product Companies Challenges in attracting Capital No * real* early stage/untested idea funding Competing against big brands Customers are risk-averse Customization for early customer acquisitions Too many customization early on breaks the repeatability of the product Determining Right business model Domestic customers are slow to adopt new stuff Hampers a company's ability to test new product quickly Enterpreneur' lack of marketing skills Most product enterpreneurs are technocrats Identifying the right customer Inability to Scale Very few Indian products have scaled to significant size Lack of global product marketing talent Lack of Maturityin product development skills

Challenges faced by Product Companies Lack of Mentors Young enterpreneurs don’t get a good platform to learn from. Kills startups too quickly Made in India Brand fior products is weak No R&D at university level Open Source Free solutions exist for most problems so why build it Patience & Sustainability Be prepared for the long haul of ambiguity Risk aversion & Social influences for safe jobs Best engg minds go to services; best marketing minds go to FMCG Unclear Pricing Strategy Indian product vendors don’t understand pricing models

Top #5 Challenges – as per today Challenge # of Votes

Top #5 Challenges – as per Emerge Forum Lack of global product marketing talent 4 Lack of Maturityin product development skills 4 Patience & Sustainability 4 Risk aversion & Social influences for safe jobs 4 Determining Right business model 3 Enterpreneur' lack of marketing skills 3

Thank You! Arvind Jha – [email_address] Ankur Lal - [email_address]

Arvind Jha – [email_address]

Ankur Lal - [email_address]