Synopsis:

It is 1999. Few Indians have an Internet connection, and the ones who do barely know what high-speed Internet is like. Transacting online is, of course, still a far-fetched dream. Much work was yet to be done to usher in the Internet Age when K. Vaitheeswaran co-founded India’s first e-commerce company. Back then, survival was obviously the biggest challenge for this start-up. However, the company went out of business when e-commerce was exploding in India. Why was it that Indiaplaza could not make the most of its first-mover advantage? Was it down to a lack of funding, poor strategies, or ‘something else’?

Vaitheeswaran has finally decided to come out and candidly talk about what brought about the downfall of his start-up. He cites a series of unfathomable events that ended up wrecking his business, which might have otherwise gone a long way, riding the wave of the e-commerce boom. He discloses the trials and tribulations he experienced while coming to terms with his business going broke. Failing to Succeed is also a tongue-in-cheek account of how unrealistic expectations and mind-boggling pressures can topple the most promising of ventures. Vaitheeswaran unhesitatingly delves into the dark side of starting up in India without painting a larger-than-life picture of the odd business that does manage to raise billions of dollars in funding.

Failing to Succeed is a cocktail of mesmerizing anecdotes, never-seen-before customer insights, striking prognostications, and behind-the-scenes events in the industry. The book is a treatise on the possible challenges that are in store for any and every forthcoming tech start-up. It also gives useful insights into the mistakes that budding businessmen will do well to avoid. Aspiring entrepreneurs, investors, industry professionals and business-school students, or anyone who is interested in India’s promising start-up ecosystem can ill afford to miss this one.

Driven by a powerful narration and a convincing plot, Failing to Succeed is about finding ways to succeed in an environment designed for you to fail.

Genre: Business and Start-Ups

Price: ₹295 ₹260

Format: Paperback

Published: June 2019

Number of Pages: 224

Language: (Indian) English

K. Vaitheeswaran, author of Failing to Succeed: The Story of India’s First E-Commerce Company

Author: K. Vaitheeswaran

Publisher: Rupa Publications India

ISBN-13: 978-9353040369