Dare not pick a fight with the Godfather of Internet India- Snapchat’s India Remark

The week before the previous saw a drawn battle between Snapchat and the people of India. The row was caused as a result of the comment by the CEO Evan Spiegel who termed India as a poor nation and not worthy to expand into. The comment received the ire of the Indian youth who were primary users of the app and led to an epic number of uninstallations of the app. This and also the low rating on the play store may have been a big blow to the app which had become quite a trend among youngsters. 

But the entire fight did explain one clear thing. The Internet and its many technologies which form the backbone of many businesses in the current world are significantly impacted by India. And it has a good reason because the Internet penetration in the country is far better than any other country in the world. Also there is hidden potential in the rural India which has a mere penetration of less than 30% (about 200 million users). Also the Smartphone penetration in rural India is less than 20% which is poised to increase in the coming decades.

India’s youth has an inquisitive nature that prompts them to try out various apps that come out. The Silicon Valley and various other IT hubs in the world are earning profits in the Internet business using this user base that is abundant and immense. In such a case careless remarks made by the core marketing person of the company comes as a massive shock to the world. In the Internet world the news spreads even faster than a wild-fire. Such news could have been the death-spell of a flourishing business. And particularly one expects some maturity in chatter coming from a CEO as compared to a normal employee. In this case apparently the employees were sensible enough to put the limelight on their boss’ words.

The fight was a one-sided affair as the people are the principal stakeholders in a transparent world. Gone are the days of closed-room corporate meetings that were exclusive. The average stakeholder knows more than the owners of the company and is free to choose whom to support and whom not. Well it is better late than never; even now the tables can be turned and the company can choose whether to let a good forest burn due to a careless fire or put out the fire before it turns on them as well. 

Ola Uber or Adios Uber!

The taxi-ride market in India is just witnessing its tough competition between two giants. The Uber and the Ola had dominated the Indian market for taxis almost to saturation. Now the American Silicon Valley startup is battling for its ground with the home-turf startup Ola cabs. 

  

Uber had been running into many problems lately which included rape charges on its drivers, market shrink due to newer entrants and also price war with Ola cabs. But the well-funded startup was undeterred by these. But now the departure of personnel from the company has put the company in tough times. Jeff Jones is the latest to depart the ride-sharing business as president of marketing and public image. He will be followed later by the VP of maps and Uber application platform Brian McClendon.

Uber has raised more than $8billion in funding as compared to Ola cabs, which raised about a fourth of that. But Ola plans to counter this using improvement in its user experience. It has presence in over 100 cities across India compared to 29 of Uber. It employs its own map system which is inspired by the fact that various places in India don’t have a proper name to be put on the map. Also it offers its services in more than 20 languages across India. Ola is using its home-grown potential to its advantage. 

This will make it difficult for Uber to expand in it. The current strategy to maintain its footing and bear the attacks until a strong leader comes at its helm, who can understand the importance of local people and culture. The huge capital surplus can help in cushioning the blows. But Ola can go all-out offensive in this situation and gain new turfs.