Looks like this is say-it-as-I-see-it season! Here's Manoj Gupta, formerly a Principal at Nexus Ventures and now Founder of Craftsvilla (which is backed by VCs including Nexus), in Economic Times:
Here (in India) entrepreneurship is like standing in a sandstorm - you do not know your path ahead and are constantly buffeted by strong winds. In the US, it is more like a foggy day - the path ahead is unclear, but you have a strong support system. One key cog of entrepreneurship seems to be doing more to hinder than help startups in India: venture capitalists.Venture Intelligence is the leading provider of data and analysis on Private Company Financials, Transactions (private equity, venture capital and M&A) & their Valuations in India. Click Here to view our products list including the Free Deal Digest Weekly: India's First & Most Exhaustive Transactions Newsletter.
...Fifteen minutes into a pitch with a top VC, he started quizzing me on financial services, when I was pitching my e-commerce business. A meeting with a VC is enough for entrepreneurs to feel discouraged and demoralised.
...Nine out of 10 technology entrepreneurs I have met told me that VCs were clueless about what they were doing and told them to copy a US-based idea and implement it in India. Very few have the guts to support innovation and make an investment in which their peers have not invested.