Incubator Funds in India: Product Marketing?
In the previous post, we discussed the Idea Crucible. In this one, we would assume that an idea has been generated and validated.
The next major skill-set missing from the early-stage venture equation in India is Product Marketing.
India’s stature as the back-end services capital of the world, unfortunately, has left a gaping void in product marketing talent development.
For the success of any significant entrepreneurial venture (perhaps slightly less so in Consumer Internet), the product and strategic marketing skills are critical. Products need to be positioned, markets need to be segmented and sized, specs need to be envisioned and derived out of the critical assumptions.
Indian entrepreneurs, by and large, haven’t been able to do this so far.
In Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs have often come out of the technology side, and allowed innovative technologies to drive company formation. Thus, product marketing has been layered on top of technology solutions to come up with “companies”. This method, which I call “Solutions Looking For a Problem” work well when the technology is sufficiently original, which I’m afraid has not been India’s sweet spot either. (Israel has done better in this mode.)
So, at this point, I would say, let’s design incubators that have strong product marketing built in and leveraged across the companies in the portfolio. It may be difficult if not downright impossible for individual companies to hire great product marketing talent, but an incubator can hire such talent, to amortize over 5-8 portfolio companies.
Engineering Talent? →
This segment is part 2 in a 11 part series
Jump to part: Idea Crucible?, Product Marketing?, Engineering Talent?, Sales and Business Development?, Distribution?, Legal & Financial Structuring?, Real Estate & Infrastructure, Adult Supervision?, Fund Structure?, Management Team, Synthesis
Is it possible that they go by a different name? I’ve come to believe that in India, senior engineers morph into engineering managers and take up product management capabilities.
Two things, Vijay.
One, Product Management, especially the kind that is done by engineers in India, and Product Marketing are two entirely different disciplines.
Two, good Product Marketeers are very difficult to find even in Silicon Valley. In India, by and large, I would say, they don’t exist.
Sramana
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