"From Elvis Records to Surf Boards: Imported Contexts that Don't Click" - Article by Sanjay Anandaram
At the beginning of the last decade of the last century when the internet started permeating the consciousness of the educated middle class Indian, launching ventures by copying successful American business models seemed de rigueur. I remember seeing a hoarding in Bangalore, from that time, put up by the Indian version of eBay. The hoarding read “Wondering what to do with the Elvis records in your attic?” or something to that effect. I don’t know how many Indians rushed to find Elvis records but am sure many more would’ve rushed to figure out what an attic was, and if they knew, then rushed to locate it in their house and if they indeed kept their records there! Of course, how many would’ve responded to Elvis and records is another matter as well. Recently, a month or so ago, I was part of an evaluation team at a startup event. One of the teams presented their idea of setting up a web-site for people to lend and borrow common every day items that one uses occasionally and therefore do...