Entrepreneurs Are Opportunity Hounds, Shutdown Won’t Deter Them: Alok Kejriwal, Serial Entrepreneur And Mentor

Will the US shutdown hurt the Indian start-ups operating in that country? We bring you a series of quick chats with entrepreneurs and start-up specialists who are tracking the situation in real time. Today’s chat is with Alok Kejriwal.

A successful serial entrepreneur in the digital space, Alok ‘Rodinhood’ Kejriwal is a ‘passionate’ mentor with a deep understanding of the start-up ecosystem. His online gaming firm Games2win (Kejriwal is the co-founder and CEO) operates from India and the US (San Francisco), and claims to entertain over 20 million unique users a month. It is his 4th New Media venture and the company hit the headlines as one of its games, Parking Frenzy, bagged the top spot in US iTunes App Store.

Games2win is currently on an acquisition spree (one deal closed and eyeing some more), but we wondered how the current shutdown would affect its US business, which generates the largest chunk of consumer revenues. Kejriwal feels that the current uncertainty may hurt investor sentiment and put the start-up industry in a ‘slow-motion’ phase. But most entrepreneurs are quite used to things ‘starting and shutting down.’ So they won’t find it too difficult to cope with. Here are the excerpts from our chat.

Will this current shutdown affect Indian start-ups – those with significant operations in the US?

Incidences like the US Shutdown create uncertainty, and uncertainty is something that disturbs investors. Capital is allergic to uncertainty and its availability gets restricted until things become clear. Similarly, trade, risk-taking and the very machinery of enterprise goes into a ‘slow-motion’ phase during such extraordinary times. All these factors adversely affect entrepreneurs. This is enhanced when entrepreneurs run start-ups that service the US government and/or have Indian back offices that rely on the US govt work.

Do you expect your niche business to be affected? After all, gaming, music and such other segments are pure entertainment that may not get so much traction in a crisis period.
Actually, we have seen gaming and ‘freemium’ (free till a point) entertainment offerings flourish in difficult times! Parents, stay-at-home teens and young adults devour cheap and easily accessible entertainment when they are facing financial challenges. Mobile and online games specifically improve in consumption when things are tough!

Will the shutdown impact seed-stage or early-stage funding?
Well, it ‘may.’ That depends on how the US Dollar behaves and its volatility during this upheaval. Investors don’t want their investments to face too much of a currency risk and they become risk-averse about investing in businesses or startups that get affected by currency fluctuations.

As of now, VCs are very cautious about investing in Indian companies. Do you think this sentiment will continue?
Very possible. The year 2007 attracted the maximum number of VCs to India and at that time, the conversion rate was Rs 45/dollar. Today, it is Rs 65. This means that just taking the money back home now costs a VC 50% more in currency depreciation – something that could have been avoided if they had invested the same money in the Unites States.​​

Will Indian start-ups now think twice before entering the US market?
Nope! Never! Entrepreneurs are so used to things ‘starting and shutting down’ that Shutdown feels as if the US government is just another start up!! Entrepreneurs are opportunity hounds. They will never give up until they have found what they were looking for, and captured it!

Watch this space tomorrow for another start-up reaction.