Very Disciplined, Somewhat Disappointing: Ravi Kiran, VentureNursery

Very Disciplined, Somewhat Disappointing: Ravi Kiran, VentureNursery

A lot of Government programs initiated and announced earlier - rural income and agriculture, infrastructure, social sector, black money, small businesses, housing, higher education - got financial action in Budget proposals supporting them.

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By Ravi Kiran, Co-Founder, VentureNurseryBy Ravi Kiran, Co-Founder, VentureNursery
Ravi Kiran
  • Mar 1, 2016,
  • Updated Mar 1, 2016 4:48 PM IST

The experts have spoken on the Budget everywhere - on TV, on twitter, on blogs and in newspapers. I liked what perhaps the biggest expert of them has reportedly said. "Big Takeaway is that there's no Big Idea", says P. Chidambaram, one of India's longest serving Finance Ministers.The spirit of this will be killed by the 'conditions apply' Waiver if the gains are invested in Government approved Funds. If the investment is made by an individual in a company majority owned by him. To me, this once again demonstrates an inadequate understanding of the start-up ecosystem by our policy makers. Score: 2/10.

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On things not done, such as any real attempt to increase the base of angel investors and corporate angels, introduce incentives for people to take high risks and invest in disruption and innovation and supporting private individuals, accelerators and networks that mentor start-ups when no one will look at them, I feel very disappointed.

But as they say, the real work happens outside the speech. So like most start-ups, I remain hopeful.

*In addition to investing in over 30 start-ups in four years, in his personal capacity as an angel investor, Ravi Kiran in 2012 co-founded VentureNursery, amongst India's most successful and revered start-up accelerators, out of which have graduated companies such as OYO Rooms, Talview, Klip and InvenZone. Ravi Kiran can be reached at @ravitwo

The experts have spoken on the Budget everywhere - on TV, on twitter, on blogs and in newspapers. I liked what perhaps the biggest expert of them has reportedly said. "Big Takeaway is that there's no Big Idea", says P. Chidambaram, one of India's longest serving Finance Ministers.The spirit of this will be killed by the 'conditions apply' Waiver if the gains are invested in Government approved Funds. If the investment is made by an individual in a company majority owned by him. To me, this once again demonstrates an inadequate understanding of the start-up ecosystem by our policy makers. Score: 2/10.

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On things not done, such as any real attempt to increase the base of angel investors and corporate angels, introduce incentives for people to take high risks and invest in disruption and innovation and supporting private individuals, accelerators and networks that mentor start-ups when no one will look at them, I feel very disappointed.

But as they say, the real work happens outside the speech. So like most start-ups, I remain hopeful.

*In addition to investing in over 30 start-ups in four years, in his personal capacity as an angel investor, Ravi Kiran in 2012 co-founded VentureNursery, amongst India's most successful and revered start-up accelerators, out of which have graduated companies such as OYO Rooms, Talview, Klip and InvenZone. Ravi Kiran can be reached at @ravitwo

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