StartupCentral

Yesterday, Mumbai-based online classifieds startup Quikr announced a Rs 20 crore Series B round of funding from Omidyar Network and existing investor Matrix Partners — see the press release here. The company had raised an undisclosed sum from Matrix in February last year. Online auction major eBay is also an investor in the firm. Incidentally, Quikr was earlier known as Kijiji and was a wholly owned subsidiary of eBay. The company, which started life as Kijiji in 2005, claims 1.5 million users per month and derives its revenues primarily through advertising. New media entrepreneur Pranay Chulet recently signed up as the company’s new CEO.

Omidyar Network is an interesting investor to bring on board. Quikr is the firm’s first consumer Internet investment in India. Started by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar (in photo) and his wife Pam in 2004, the firm is into philanthropic investments and has committed $293 million in various such businesses till date. This includes $136 million invested in for-profit ventures and $157 million as grants in not-for-profit ventures. It has been a fairly active investor in India over the past few years. Here’s a list of its other India and India-related investments: Read the full story

Don’t panic! Economic cycles are a part of life.  The best companies are built in the worst of times. If you panic, your employees will panic.
Conserve cash: Delay spending on non-critical things that do not result in revenue generation. Renegotiate vendor contracts, rental contracts, etc.
Improve productivity: Get more out of your team.
Differentiate between high and low performers: Reward high performers. Counsel out low performers.
Optimize the organization: Hire critical talent as they may be available at a reasonable cost. Transition or re-deploy non critical resources.
Continue selling or marketing your product or service: Being in front of customers or vendors builds confidence that you are a long term player.
Focus on growth with an eye on profitability: Since the cost of capital is high today, be cautious on how much capital you raise to invest for growth. Avoid over-investing in the business in the hope for exponential growth in the future.
Communicate with your team internally: Make sure that your team understands that you’re building a lasting and successful enterprise and that some of the cost cutting measures, including layoffs, are necessary for the health of the company. Anxiety levels can be high in tough times.
Act swiftly: Try to deliver any bad or tough news at one shot to the company. Continuous bad news can affect morale and instill fear.
Have fun! Make sure your team is having fun. A happy environment builds loyalty and performance for the long term.

About the columnist: Suvir Sujan is a co-founder of Nexus India Capital, a Mumbai-based venture capital firm that manages $320 million in funds. Sujan has been an entrepreneur who lived through and survived the difficult dotcom era as co-founder of online marketplace Baazee, now known as eBay India.

Photo Courtesy: Nexus India Capital