iSPIRT Product Industry Monitor(PIM) Feb 2014 - a first-of-its-kind report analyzing India’s software product industry landscape.

iSPIRT     Product  Industry   Monitor   Feb  2014    

Why  Product  Industry  Monitor  Reports   Startup   Outcomes   Startup   Density   Feb  2014   • The  industry  needs   to  move  from   anecdotal  data  to   scien5fic  data   • Credible,  regular,   insighFul  guidance   on  the  industry   through  ‘Product   Industry  Monitor’   reports     2  

First  Product  Industry  Monitor  Report   First  Product  Industry  Monitor  report  is  focused  on  the   following:   •  Industry  Demographics:  locaKon,  age,  market  sector,  legal   status,  and  number  of  employees  and  founders.   •  Founder  Profile:  names,  educaKonal  background,  experience,   and  role  in  startup.   •  Talent  Management:  pressure  points  in  hiring,  perceived   reasons  for  difficulty  in  hiring  types  of  talent,  and  pay  scales.   •  Financing:  sources  of  funding,  total  capital  invested,  valuaKon   status,  and  equity  share  of  founders.     Feb  2014   3  

Key  Finding  #1  -­‐  Bootstrapping   •  Over  50%  of  soYware  product  companies  are  completely  self-­‐ funded  or  ‘bootstrapped’   •  Reasons  could  be:   –  lack  of  early  stage  financing  in  the  ecosystem.   –  conscious  choice  by  entrepreneurs  to  seek  external  funding  at  a  later   stage,  so  as  to  beZer  their  prospect  of  higher  valuaKon.   •  Whether  the  phenomenon  is  a  result  of  external  constraints  or   strategic  choice  of  firms,  it  is  important  to  recognize  that   bootstrapped  firms  form  a  dis5nct  and  important  category   within  the  Indian  so?ware  product  industry,  much  like  it  is  in   Silicon  Valley  too   •  Bootstrapped  firms,  with  a  different  pathway  to  growth/IPO  need   to  be  nurtured  and  evaluated  as  a  disKnct  category,  rather  than   as  an  aberraKon   Feb  2014   4  

Key  Finding  #2  –  Talent  StarvaKon   •  The  steady  flow  of  MNC  R&D  investment  into  India  was   expected  to  create  knowledge  spillovers  and  provide  an   impetus  to  Indian  soYware  product  industry.   •  We  indeed  find  that  a  lot  of  senior  talent  from  MNCs  are   starKng  soYware  product  companies  –  close  to  40%  of   founders  come  from  a  MNC   •  However,  the  same  cannot  be  said  of  junior  talent.  The  typical   early  startup  in  India  struggles  to  hire  technical  talent  for  lack   of  brand  and  inability  to  match  MNC  pay  scales   •  Basically,  the  propensity  to  take  risks  increases  with  age  and   experience.  As  a  result,  Indian  so?ware  product  startups  are   experiencing  ‘talent  starva5on’  at  the  entry  level   Feb  2014   5  

Key  Finding  #3  –  Birds  of  the  Same  Feather   •  Research  has  shown  that  funcKonal  diversity  among  the  top   management  team  posiKvely  impacts  firm  performance   (Cannella,  Park  and  Lee,  2008)   •  Therefore,  the  key  to  building  a  successful  product  company  is   to  have  a  diverse  founding  team  -­‐  a  combinaKon  of  technical   and  business  skills     •  We  find  that  78%  of  Indian  so?ware  product  startups  defy  this   rule.  They  have  homogeneous  founding  teams  i.e.,  all   founders  are  technologists  or  all  of  them  have  training  in   business   •  Founding  teams  are  coalescing  based  on  familiarity  between   founders  rather  than  diversity  of  skills   •  This  might  be  a  manifestaKon  of  a  low-­‐trust  society   Feb  2014   6  

Industry  Demographics  

How  old  and  how  big  are  the  companies?   •  The  average  soYware  product  company  is  2.5  years  old,   however  some  listed  their  founding  date  as  recently  as  last   month,  some  are  25  years  old.     •  Most  soYware  product  companies  have  only  one  headquarter   (94%);  others  have  secondary  headquarters  either  in  Europe   or  in  the  United  States.   •  Most  soYware  product  companies  have  8  employees   (excluding  founders);  some  are  as  small  as  one,  and  some   have  over  120  employees.   Feb  2014   8  

Where  are  the  companies  located?   •  SoYware  product  companies   in  the  survey  come  primarily   from  four  ciKes:   –  –  –  –  Bangalore   Pune   Delhi/NCR   Chennai   •  This  may  be  due  to  #PNCamp   being  in  Pune;  more  clarity  on   this  point  as  response  rate   increases  and  a  wider  cross-­‐ secKon  is  surveyed   Feb  2014   Other-Europe Other-USA Other-India Hyderabad Chennai Mumbai Delhi/NCR Pune Bangalore 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 9  

What  products  do  these  companies   create?   •  The  three  most  common   product  sectors  that   companies  work  in  are:   Agriculture Education Analytics Big Data –  Enterprise   –  SaaS   –  Consumer   Media and Advertising Healthcare E-Commerce Security Infrastructure Mobile Consumer SaaS Enterprise 0% Feb  2014   5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 10  

The  Founding  Team  

How  many  employees  and  founders?   •  The  modal  soYware   product  company  has  2   founders  (40%);  followed   by  one  person  and  three   person  founding  teams.   More than 4 4 3 2 1 •  Only  22%  of  the  companies   have  a  diverse  founding   team.   0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Founding  Team  Diversity   Diverse  team   Homogeneous  Team   Feb  2014   0%   20%   40%   60%   80%   100%  12  

What  the  experience  profile  of  founders?   •  Experience  with  startups  is   nearly  balanced  equally  across:   founders  with  no  experience,   experience  as  an  employee,   and  as  a  founder.     •  Most,  69%,  have  some  prior   startup  exposure.   •  Most  have  worked  before   (95%)     •  Most  in  mulKnaKonals,  large   domesKcs,  and  a  significant   number  in  domesKc  and   overseas  startups.   Feb  2014   No  prior  experience   yes,  as  employee   yes,  as  founder   28%   29%   30%   31%   32%   33%   34%   35%   36%   37%   No prior work experience Domestic startup Overseas startup Large domestic Multinational 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 13  

How  old  are  the  founders?   •  Not  too  many  dorm  room   startups.   •  Founders  are  older,  most  in   their  30’s  and  40’s  (71%).   more than 50 years 41 to 50 years 31 to 40 years •  About  23%  are  in  their  20’s.   21 to 30 years less than 21 years 0% Feb  2014   10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 14  

What  is  the  educaKon  of  founders?   •  Many  founders  are   engineers  with  only  a  BE  or   BTech  (43%).   •  About  44%  have  earned  an   advanced  degree,  either  a   masters  or  an  MBA.     •  A  minority  have  a  BA  or  BSc   (12%)   •  About  22%  of  founding   teams  have  least  one   member  with  a  degree   from  IIT,  IIM  or  NIT.     Feb  2014   BA or BSc BE or Btech MBA Masters degree Doctoral degree 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 15  

Finding,  Hiring,  and  Retaining  Talent  

Talent  that  startups  find  difficult  to  hire   Feb  2014   Most difficult Product Mangament Sales Product Development/ Engineering Marketing Operations 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4 5 Labor market lacks talent Strongly Agree Reasons for Hiring Difficulty Product Management •  On  average,  soYware  product   startups  have  mixed  experience  in   finding  talent.     •  Some  soYware  product  startups  find   it  easy  to  hire;  others,  difficult.   •  On  average,  the  easiest  talent  to  hire   is  operaKons;  the  most  difficult,   product  management.   •  The  key  external  reason  is  the   percepKon  that  the  labor  market   lacks  product  management   specialists.     •  Overall,  companies  aZribute  difficulty   primarily  two  internal  factors:  the   inability  to  pay  compeKKve  wages,   and  the  lack  of  a  brand  reputaKon.   Cannot afford to pay market wages Company lacks brand reputation Company doesn't have resources for perks Founders lack people in their networks 0 1 2 3 17  

What  do  startups  pay  for  talent?   •  The  modal  pay  for  each  of  the  talent   areas  seems  quite  consistent  across   soYware  product  startups:   –  66%  of  startups  pay  between  25k  INR  to   75k  INR  for  Engineers.   –  56%  pay  between  50k  to  1  lakh  for   Product  Managers.   –  56%  pay  between  25k  to  75k  for  Sales.   –  66%  pay  between  25k  to  75k  for   OperaKons.   –  56%  pay  between  25k  to  75k  for   MarkeKng  talent.   •  The  widest  variaKon  in  pay    norms  is  in   Product  management,  then  Sales.     •  Most  consistent  pay  norms  are  in   OperaKons.   Feb  2014   Pay scale distribution for Engineering talent more than 1,50,000 inr 1,00,001 to 1,50,000 inr 75,001 to 1,00,000 inr 50,001 to 75,000 inr 25,001 to 50,000 inr below 25,000 inr 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% Pay scale distribution for Product Management talent more than 1,50,000 inr 1,00,001 to 1,50,000 inr 75,001 to 1,00,000 inr 50,001 to 75,000 inr 25,001 to 50,000 inr below 25,000 inr 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 18  

Financing  

Where  do  startups  get  their  funding?   •  The  primary  source  of  funding   for  the  majority  of  soYware   product  startups  is  the   founder’s  own  capital.     •  73%  of  the  capital  for  a   soYware  product  startup  is   self-­‐funding.   •  The  second  largest  is  angel   investment  at  14.1%.   •  A  small  proporKon  comes   from  venture  capital  (2.5%)   and  about  3%  from  debt   financing.   Feb  2014   Debt Financing Private Equity Venture Capital Angel Investment Self-funded 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 20  

Invested  capital  and  ownership  shares •  A  majority  (57%)  of  soYware   product  startups  compleKng  the   survey  have  less  than  1  crore   invested  in  the  startup.   •  Approximately  23%  have  between   1  and  5  crores;  about  17%  have   more  than  5  crores.   •  Only  27%  of  the  companies  have   been  valued.   –  50%  of  these  companies  have  a  valuaKon   is  between  1  and  10  million  USD     –  34%  of  these  have  a  valuaKon  less  than  1   million  USD.   •  In  50%  of  startups  founders  have   equal  share  of  ownership.   Feb  2014   more than 12 crore between 5 and 12 crore between 1 and 5 crore less than 1 crore 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 21  

About  the  Authors   •  •  •  Sharique  Hasan  is  Assistant  Professor  at  Stanford's  Graduate  School  of  Business.  He  specializes  in   the  study  of  social  networks,  human  capital,  and  entrepreneurship.  He  earned  his  doctorate  in   organizaKon  theory  and  management  from  Carnegie  Mellon  University  and  his  bachelors  degree  in   Computer  Science  from  Rutgers  College.  His  research  has  been  published  in  leading  management,   sociology  and  computer  science  journals.     Srivardhini  K.  Jha  is  a  Research  ScienKst  with  McGill  Centre  for  Convergence  of  Health  and   Economics  and  Fellow  at  iSPIRT.  Her  area  of  experKse  is  in  strategic  management  of  innovaKon.  In   parKcular,  she  is  interested  in  exploring  the  structures,  processes  and  organizaKonal  arrangements   that  facilitate  systemaKc  innovaKon  within  firms  as  well  as  within  systems  of  innovaKon,  with   parKcular  emphasis  on  the  emerging  country  context.  She  has  a  Ph.D.  from  IIM,  Bangalore,  M.S.   from  Stanford  University  and  a  Bachelors  degree  in  Engineering  from  Bangalore  University.  She   also  has  over  a  decade  of  industry  experience  in  hi-­‐tech  companies,  both  in  Silicon  Valley  and  in   India.   Rembrand  Koning  is  a  doctoral  candidate  at  Stanford's  Graduate  School  of  Business.  He  specializes   in  the  study  of  social  networks,  innovaKon,  and  entrepreneurship.  He  earned  is  bachelors  degree   in  StaKsKcs  and  MathemaKcs  from  the  University  of  Chicago  where  he  was  a  University  Scholar.         Fine  print:    This  is  based  on  a  carefully  designed  survey  of  Indian  so9ware  product  companies.  The  survey  was  administered  from  Dec  4th     2013  to  Jan  14th  2014  in  two  phases.  In  Phase  2  the  number  of  responses  increased  by  nearly  50%.  The  results  were  strikingly  consistent   across  Phase  1  and  2.  The  shi9s  are  so  minor  that  the  basic  conclusions  from  the  Phase  1  of  the  analysis  remained  the  same  giving   confidence  in  the  overall  integrity  of  this  analysis.    There  were  nearly  100  responses  on  most  quesJons.     Feb  2014   22  

Future  PIM  Reports  and  Impact   •  Product  Industry  Monitor  Reports  inform     –  BeZer  policy  making   –  BeZer  funding  allocaKons   –  BeZer  mentoring/accelerator/incubaKon  programs   •  Future  reports  will  explore     –  M&A  landscape  for  soYware  products   –  Products,  Business  models,  Strategy  and  InnovaKon  in  the   soYware  product  industry   –  Track  year-­‐on-­‐year  trends  on  various  dimensions  of  the   soYware  product  industry   Feb  2014   23