[Weekend wrap] Heroes with halos or heroes with feet of clay, and other stories

An important need in the Indian startup ecosystem, I have come to realise, is the search for the right mentor. Whether it is startup events, meetups, or social media, new entrepreneurs are always on the lookout for people who can give them insights into their business.

This week, there was a lot of talk about fallen heroes and trolls in the Twitter world, which at times becomes an echo chamber of sorts.

Read my story, titled: Why is the Indian startup ecosystem going all Hulk on social media? which explores the need for real conversations that can help steer an entrepreneur’s journey.

And while we are at it, the case of fallen heroes can make for a good story another time. Like Bard’s own heroes, ours too come with feet of clay. A tragic flaw that perhaps makes them human, no?

But in our story on the SaaS heroes early this week, you will find how some entrepreneurs are truly inspiring a whole new generation. The story by Vishal Krishna titled: Freshdesk and Zoho springboard the rise of the new Saas brigade, puts the spotlight on new startups in the SaaS space. It has this wise quote from Girish Mathrubootham, an entrepreneur revered for his fortitude and enterprise, that beats all the advice an entrepreneur can ever ask for. Girish says, “Entrepreneurs should realise that throwing money at a problem is not the best way to solve things.” Read the story here, if you missed it on Monday.

Our big interview this week was with Flipkart’s COO Nitin Seth. In its 10th year, Flipkart is pulling out all stops to mark this grand milestone. In an interview with Radhika P Nair and Athira Nair, Nitin speaks about Flipkart’s perception problem, organisational challenges, focus on grocery and furniture categories, and on innovating for growth.

To a question on the slow pace of growth in the e-comm space, Nitin answered, “Because Flipkart did not grow fast. It’s not like the industry grows, and then Flipkart grows. It is when Flipkart grows the industry grows.”

A quote that was pulled out by our Nosey Parker Harshith Mallya and likened to the dialogue from the popular Amitabh Bachchan-starer movie, Kaalia, “Hum jahan khade ho jaate hain, line wahi se shuru hoti hai.” Hahaha, things we do when not writing.

We also wrote about startups doing some great work. Discover all the new startups here.

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We await your brickbats and some love.

Till next Sunday then.