Early this week I chatted with California-based Vineet Buch over the ‘phone about his departure from BlueRun Ventures, the venture capital firm where he worked for about four years. Buch returns to his entrepreneurial roots at Like.com, a visual search engine focused on fashion developed by Riya Inc. As usual, he had some candid views to share on venture capital, why entrepreneurship makes more sense for him at this stage and turning angel for Indian startups. Edited excerpts:
What pulled you back to Like.com?
I’ve been associated with Like.com since its inception. It has continued to do well despite the downturn. In fact, in Q4 2008, online shopping for fashion exceeded offline for the first time. Munjal (Shah) had been asking me to come back for a while and now seems to be the right time.
How tumultous is it in venture capital business at present?
These are interesting times in the Valley. Between 2004 and 2006, venture capitalists bought just about everything. But, 2007 saw the bottom fall out. Venture capital, of course, does go through these periods of euphoria and consolidation. Now we are in the consolidation phase and capital has become a real asset. Also, for many people who invested in the Internet space, the ad-based model has not worked for most people. It is tough to make money now. There will be some shakeouts.
Any interesting trends out there?
There are no big trends visible. There are a couple of interesting companies here and there but nothing that one can pin-point as the next big thing. Take Twitter for instance. It is a company, not a trend and it is not making money. I think there might be some interesting things happening on the e-commerce side, but it’s early to tell.
How do you think Twitter could make money?
I personally think Twitter will have to sell out before the founders figure out a revenue model. Who knows, search may be where their future lies.
How does Like.com make money?
We send qualified shopping lead to merchants and they pay us for the leads.
What specifically is your job going to be?
My role is going to be related to driving some of the merger and acquisition activity and general corporate strategy. We’re looking to acquire companies that have content or communities related to fashion.
So, goodbye venture capital?
There are no forevers in life. Startups and venture capital always have a revolving door. I can’t rule out coming back.
But, anything that disappointed you in the business?
I think venture capitalists need to be more disciplined with respect to their portfolio companies. You have to think of the sustainability of the company. A lot of investors tend to get dis-engaged when the time are tough.
Will you continue to have hooks into Indian startups?
Oh yes. In fact, now I can get involved with startups as an angel investor. At BlueRun I was not able to personally invest because one had to be careful about conflict of interest. I’ve been in touch with a lot of entrepreneurs here, so the association continues. Also, we might look at extending Like.com beyong the US, maybe to Europe and later India. Indian consumers spend a lot, so there may be an opportunity there.
Read Buch’s blog at Venture Explorer.
Photo Courtesy: Vineet Buch’s Blog
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