In Web2.0 start-up world, just a great idea is not enough to be successful. You got to have many things right including financing, operational setup, idea execution and most importantly the people / team have to be right !
Burrp! is one of the Indian start-up that has got quite a bit of coverage in blogosphere, and there product seems to be justify it. I have liked what I have seen at Burrp!
But today I was given a link to an interview with Burrp! founder – Deap Ubhi published at loscreador . There is nothing sensational about the interview. However, comments to the interview are quite interesting. I should laud loscreador for publishing the comments. The comments are supposedly from the founders of Burrp! itself.
I actually wanted to give my view and opinion on this, however, being the sensitive stuff that it is – I decided to just reproduce the comments that disclose the dog fight going among the founders of the company.
The Interview : Burrp! – Deap Ubhi tells LC of his hunger for food and technology
First Comment by Paul starts it all:
Well.. lets me get a few things straight..
It was not Anand Jain and Deap who visited mumbai, it was more like Deap and Krishna who visited mumbai. Krishna is one of the founders who have been long forgotten. Deap and Anand Jain have gone to the point where they are not even giving equity that other three founders should have. They have betrayed their best friends, for what? So they can tell lies and tell some sugar coated sweet ass success stories.
oh well.. things catch up.. one way or another..
Thanks for letting me speak out.
Comment by Paul ? June 14, 2007 @ 12:49 pm
Excerpt from second comment by Paul
Every interview I have read story has been and him and Anand Jain visited Mumbai. That wasn?t the case. Why lie? Just cause he can sell Anand Jain as a founder. Ofcourse Anand Jain is a founder, but not more than me, Krishna or Anand C…..
………
….Without spilling more Burrp dirt, I would just say that Deap and Anand Jain should fix their stories, untell their lies, and come down to reality that they have screwed over the ones they trusted.Keep up the good work LC.
Comment by Paul ? June 14, 2007 @ 2:14 pm
And now the fight. Paul guesses that Raj is Deap and Trikash is probably Anand.
Paul am really shocked to see your comments! Though havent known much about blurrp, lately i visited their site and found it interesting! I think the greed of quick bucks or authority (by late entrants – either thru Angel Funding or VC or new hires) screws up the passionate TEAM! But this is a case where the founding team itself is screwing up the team?s passion! VERY SAD! I hope this is a good learning exercise for you! BEST OF LUCK in your future endeavors, dont get disheartedned by this, keep the entrepreneurship passion to its maximum! [:)]
Comment by RAJ ? June 22, 2007 @ 2:27 pm
This is the third founder as per Paul) – (I am surprised that Trikash knows so much about Burrp!)
Paul, why were you not part of the team that initially went over to India? From the blogs that I have read, it appears as though Deap and Anand were the ones who assumed the true risk by quitting their highly successful jobs to move across the world with no steady income to actually get Burrp! off the ground. Its not much of a risk for you to stay back in the states while maintaining your job (and income) and leaving Deap and Anand with the sole responsibility of undertaking the true risk by quitting their jobs. If you want my naive take on the situation, those who assume the risk are due the rewards?its easy for you to bash them in hindsight for not having the marbles to make the sacrifices they made?and a future lesson?entrepreneurs are defined are risk takers?not sore losers!
Now the detail from Paul
Raj aka Deap and Trikash is probably Anand.
So Deap and Anand, here are my responses.
In Short, Deap came to India because he wanted to become a CEO, and no one the team said he could become a CEO. So he took control. Selfish. Anand moved to India for personal reasons, and is getting more than what he really should. He wants to be called the CTO.
Deap, another lie. People trust in you, you should not do that to them. You are not Raj. And for readers, this is not an example of passionate ones moving over to India. So set that record straight, Deap sacrificed, Anand didn?t. Deap did give up a good job so……
read further at Los Creador (still lots more)
Note: I am publishing this post just to give an example of behind the scenes (If it is true) politics in a start-up. This happens everywhere, however, when the can of worms are let out, it gives a pretty bad name.
I have not checked the authenticity of the story- so take it with a pinch of salt.
Hi,
I have broken bread with Deap quite often and i never got the sense that there was anything lurking beneath the surface. He has always been full of ideas and fairly focused on what he was doing. He has my respect for moving from what could be a relatively cushier life some where on the west coast to the madness of Bombay and taking Burrp through its evolution.
As someone who has started a business with someone else and been treated unethically then left to pick up the pieces i know how the politics plays out. So i would just recommend that you guys do this behind closed doors because this benefits no one and only hurts the brand, if you own part of it then why denigrate it like this. When tempers flare, people say things they often regret, more so publicly.
Cheers.
G
Other than these comments.. no.
All three of us are here waiting for hear from our good friend Deap and Anand. What we said was our biggest strength, communication among the team, has broke down completely because Deap and Anand don’t want to talk.
At the end of the day. I am still part owner of Burrp, so are the other two here.
Paul
Paul, If this whole case if authentic, I sure feel you got a raw deal.
Just one question, Are you still anyway connected with Burrp!?
Well.. it is as authentic as it gets..
Yeah its nasty, and I know it. It makes me look bad too. This is not the best way to handle things, but when you put so much trust in someone and they just blow it away, you deal with it differently.
However, it is common for ones you empower to screw you over.
I am happy that you like what I write. Comments like these mean a lot, it encourages me to write more.
About Burrp! I was surprised when I saw this. Actually, I wrote a much harsher post earlier, but decided against it. One of the reasons was I have not really done much investigation and do not know the truth in entirety. Burrp had to do something about this very soon…
Yikers! that is plain ugly. Well i wouldnt deny that all companies have politics, but to have it right out in the open like that …..Classic case of really Bad publicity. Burrp being funded should have their PR in place . Poof i can actually use this as negative PR example for my future studies.
Trakin you do a great job with your blog. :)