Slumdog Millionaire = Investing in Indian Technology Ventures

Recently, I had the privilege of sitting next to the cast and crew of Slumdog Millionaire on a Mumbai- Delhi flight. It was interesting to learn about how British Screenwriter, Simon Beaufoy came up with an original script that was an adaptation of a book by an Indian author and British Director, Danny Boyle made a film based on that script using largely Indian cast and crew. A non Indian director and screenwriter had the global mindset, key relationships, access to capital, and the agility and smarts to leverage Indian talent where appropriate to create a global runaway success.

Many of the technology product companies that are being financed by Venture Capital firms in India today have similar team characteristics to Slumdog. An Indian or Non Indian entrepreneur that resides outside India or has recently relocated to India, with a global mindset and key relationships worldwide , leverages Indian talent to produce a globally successful product. Nexus India Capital has several companies of this nature in its portfolio - Kirusa (designed in New Jersey, developed in Bangalore), Pubmatic (designed in San Franscisco, developed in Pune), DimDim (designed in Boston, developed in Hyderabad).

Both film making and technology development are huge industries in India where there is a lot of mid and junior level talent that is available to execute projects. However in both these sectors, a critical mass of globally focused entrepreneurs doesn't seem to exist in India today. While we hope that this will change in the future, for now it seems like the mantra for globally success in film and technology will largely continue to be "designed outside India and developed in India."