The world has been witness to several movements that have changed the face of history. India is not alien to these – Mahatma Gandhi’s silent revolution that finally led to Indian Independence is a shining example. About 18 months ago, a group of software product entrepreneurs got together to charter a course that would make India a Product Nation. Today, those 30 early pioneers of iSPIRT are joined by 50 Product Circle Donors who represent a cross section of the software product industry and add weight to the cause of the industry.
These Product Circle Donors role model the industry. For instance, 60% of the company’s focus on Enterprise Software, 30% on B2C software and the remaining 10% focus on the SMB space in India. 55% target the US market, 30% India and around 15% on the Emerging markets. 60% companies are funded and around 40% are bootstrapped. 65% companies are SaaS based, 30% are On-Premise and 5% are using Tech to enable their business (like Ola Cabs, Taxiforsure, CommonFloor), 50% companies are at a growth stage… 40% are early stage and 10% are Hyper growth stage. The Software Product Companies represent Enterprise Mobility, Big Data, Cloud, analytics, Security, Heatlhcare, Elearning, Workflow, collaboration spaces.
This group of 80 is now small and niche enough, yet deep enough to champion the industry cause.
Though the intention was not to exclude (there may be many who are not part of the group), the invitation to join was designed to build the momentum slowly yet surely by including companies that have visibly demonstrated their zeal in championing the software product movement in the past. And these champions will certainly grow over a period of time. Rest assured, for those who still feel the urge to volunteer there is room for everyone! (email: getinvolved@productnation.in and become part of the movement).
Then, the question is often asked: Why handicap yourself by not having VCs, MNCs and Service Companies as Product Circle donors? We believe that Donors provide the financial muscle for iSPIRT to achieve its mission of making India a Product Nation. While we appreciate this contribution, there is a risk, albeit, a small one that donor clout can result in mission capture. We manage this risk in two ways. First, we ensure that we have a broad base of donors and no one company is a dominant donor. Second, we exclude categories of donors where future mission conflict can happen. For this reason we don’t have certain categories of donors on board.
Finally, while our steps are still baby ones, be assured our voice has been heard. Our resolve is even stronger with the 50 new Product Circle Donors on board. The time has come to join hands and redouble our efforts to make India truly a Product Nation.
As Anchor Volunteers for the Donor Campaign, we’d like to thank Sandeep Todi, Sanket Nadhani, Peter Yorke, Avinash Raghava, Harrshada Deshpande and Sagar Kogekar from BillBooks for pulling together the collateral and logistics for this.
Shekhar Kirani and Anand Deshpande
Anchor Volunteer for the Donor Campaign
Below is the Donor Campaign deck that the invited companies received:
