On a visit to India two years ago, Vinod Khosla had said the emergence of an Indian Zuckerberg was only a matter of time. Today, the Indian-American billionaire remains equally optimistic. Khosla, 60, who co-founded Sun Microsystems and is now an active venture capitalist, was in Bengaluru last week for the launch of a consumer mobile wallet and spoke exclusively with TOI. Excerpts:
You were very optimistic about India's startup ecosystem two years ago. Do you think it has since further matured?
I believe so. I find everybody is so open to new ideas. I see the psychological change in the whole country, which is really important. There was a time, even five years ago, when you talked about new products and new startups, and it mattered to just 1 per cent of the population. But this has changed now. There's a lot of good product innovation. For the first time, I'm beginning to see product innovation for the Indian market. That's particularly encouraging for me.
You were very optimistic about India's startup ecosystem two years ago. Do you think it has since further matured?
I believe so. I find everybody is so open to new ideas. I see the psychological change in the whole country, which is really important. There was a time, even five years ago, when you talked about new products and new startups, and it mattered to just 1 per cent of the population. But this has changed now. There's a lot of good product innovation. For the first time, I'm beginning to see product innovation for the Indian market. That's particularly encouraging for me.
