Much has been written about the tech crash of 2022, with companies like Zoom, Netflix and even giants like Amazon and Meta losing hundreds of billions of dollars in value over the past few months. Much of it is about hyped-up expectations, back-room shenanigans and crypto scams, and many are speculating that tech growth stocks are losing their luster. Therefore, it was refreshing to see John Thornbill display a rare glimmer of optimism in his Financial Times article, ‘Five things the tech bubble got right, He draws inspiration from tech guru Paul Graham’s 2004 post-dotcom crash essay, ‘what got the bubble right‘, in which Graham stated that “stock market investors were right about the direction of travel, even though they were wrong about the speed of travel.” The first point on Thornbill’s list of five is how we added value to data, with data-rich companies being overemphasized. Second, he says, while globalization is on the decline, the world is ‘e-globalizing’, with 63% of the world connected to the Internet, which enables information, access and talent on a global scale. The third is that the world of work has irreversibly changed for the better – with hybrid work, great resignations and the rise of ‘liquid’ companies. Fourth on their list is the massive energy transition from fossil fuels to electricity, led by Tesla. And, finally, while crypto has crashed, its enthusiasts are asking the right questions about the decentralization and democratization of the Internet.
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Tech Crash has played out in India as well, giving tough competition to Indian unicorns in particular. The world’s largest edtech unicorn byju’s seems to be stalling, with Paytm and Zomato destroying multi-billion dollar assets in the local market. It looks like funding has dried up, unicorns are scrambling for down rounds, and big tech companies are tightening their belts. In this technical gloom, I thought of five things that the technical crash in India got right, if any had in common with Thornbill’s global five, and what was different.
In my view, the market gave the same importance to data-rich companies as the rest of the world, which explains the huge IPO valuations of loss-making but data-rich giants like Paytm and Zomato. However, in India, this value of data was taken a step further towards societal value. Nandan Nilekani talked about how the creation and flow of personal and public data from Indian citizens can make Indians “data rich before they become financially prosperous”, thus paving the way for monetization of data for creators. Is. arbitration forum, This brings me to my second point, how public digital infrastructure like Aadhaar and UPI, under Nilekani’s leadership, have united India again. This India stack is now getting richer with Digital Health Records and Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). Jio and other telecom firms are racing to connect every Indian with these services, and even though our country is divided by politics or language, it is united by digital.
Third, technology and COVID have brought the future of work to the present in India as well. While there is no great resignation, hybrid work is much harder, and the workforce is increasingly decentralized. This is especially good for the country, as tier 3 and 4 cities are open to talent and work from home provides more opportunities to women. The fact that work has changed irreversibly here too is evidenced by the backlash against Chandni by Wipro and other IT companies. (I believe moonshine is mandatory, but more on that later).
Fourth, there is a transition to electric as well, but in a distinctly Indian way – it is two- and three-wheelers that are leading the charge, accounting for over 90% of the total EVs sold.
Finally, in a trend that is not necessarily Indian, but rooted in India, ‘Indian’ CEOs rose to the top of global tech companies, despite sinking tech stocks. Much has been written about this, and I believe that the upheaval of the pandemic has brought to the fore the need for skills, values and coping mechanisms that Indians often (again, for a later column). description) is furnished. It can be argued that all these ‘Indian’ CEOs are US citizens. However, it is interesting to note that most of them are of the first generation, and they probably assimilated their early values and customs in India before moving abroad.
Even as the world is in shock from crash, war and recession, I hope these positives and these leaders will lead us back into the light.
Jaspreet Bindra is the founder of Tech Whisperer Limited, a digital transformation and technology advisory practice.
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