ibibo January 25, 2008
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Social Networking , add a commentIf you’ve read eIndia reviews before, you know that I don’t pound on sites that have the ‘beta’ sign up. Fortunately, with ibibo I didn’t have many reasons to do so anyway.
Ibibo gives a local flavor to ongoing social networking frenzy. Ibibo users can create blogs, polls, share opinions, reviews, photos, ask questions (and answer), search jobs and play games. So… pretty much everything except walking your dog for you. They did try to justify the name ibibo as “I build, I bond”… which is a bit Julius Casear-ish for me. The registration is free, and they are upfront about their business model “…core revenue model will be driven by serving targeted advertising”. I didn’t see any advertisements on the site, so probably they are still ramping up on sales effort. Which tells you something about this business model- you better be prepared to survive for a long time (?years) before advertisers will hand over the cash.
Launched in early 2007, the site has grown to a monthly visitor count between 20-25K (source: compete.com data). Pretty impressive. The site is good-looking (relatively speaking) and easy to navigate, so that may be a reason for it’s popularity. Of course, the deep-pocket based tactics of TV ads and news media coverage helps too. Ibibo is backed by MIH Group, which is owned by Naspers (for a org chart, go here). MIH Group is a multinational media company with internet properties for China, Russia etc. In late 2006, MIH decided to get serious about Indian Internet space. After a few acquisitions, they now own pixrat, Bixee, ApnaMarket, OneFamily, Dwaar, QuestionBank.net. More on them in future.
MeraMD January 19, 2008
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Healthcare , 1 comment so farMeraMD launched this month in an attempt to be an online directory for Indian doctors and healthcare institutions. Their press release claims a listing of over 10000 hospitals/clinics and over 25000 doctors in India, but my search for a cardiologist in Delhi didn’t return any results.
I know, I know. I’m over-critical and they might be ramping up on content currently, having been public for barely few days. But my point here is to highlight the increasing tendency of web startups- they all seem to be anxious to get out there as soon as possible, without giving much thought to getting it right or the first user impression. It’s something that is not limited to Indian web startups, only more prominent in them.
The site has better than average design. They also go over the oft-ignored question of ‘How do we make money’ on their About page: The ubiquitous advertising-based business model with free user access to content. The interesting (and possibly viable) twist is their registration-based revenue from doctors and hospitals. That might actually sustain MeraMD, given the fact that healthcare insurance is taking off in India and the web is emerging as a infrastructure to some extent.
I couldn’t find any public information about big names or pockets backing MeraMD. Some facts point towards a NRI benefactor/founder though: choice of name (MD is an abbreviation more common in US), above-average design, somewhat thought through business model, to name a few. Lookout for more healthcare related web startups for India- the wave is coming.
MoserBaerHomeVideos January 5, 2008
Posted by Pallav Sharda in : Shopping , add a commentMoser Baer holds more than 10% of global recordable optical media market, supplying to world’s top brands like Memorex, Imation, TDK, Verbatim and others. Established in 1983, it’s one of India’s leading technology companies headquartered in New Delhi.
With MoserBaerHomeVideos (launched in December 2006), the company moves into entertainment content and distribution arena. The company has acquired exclusive licenses to more than 10,000 titles (almost a third of all movies produced till date) and allows you to order DVD/VCD formats through the MoserBaerHomeVideos website. What surprises me is the ridiculously cheap pricing! Last I checked, they offered: Hindi movie titles (two VCD for Rs.30, one DVD for Rs.39), English movies (one VCD Rs.69, one DVD for Rs.99) and some non-movie stuff like live shows, songs etc.
I saw content in most major Indian languages and English, with some fairly collectible titles (like Good Will Hunting, Charlie Chaplin, Munna Bhai…). Granted they don’t have all the movies you may want, and some popular titles are out of stock most of the times, but this redefines the home entertainment market for Indians. It’s one more reason to buy legal, good quality versions of your favorite movies and shun pirated content (which usually sucks in quality).
The site is moderately good-looking, but easy to navigate. Good search function and filters (by language, theme, genre etc.). Overall, a great value if you are a movie buff and collector. Definitely worth checking out.