Here’s a short list of past startup ventures / ideas that I either led or played a key role in:
- BAW (2009): Another idea in progress where I am merely helping a friend. Cannot disclose more details right now for obvious reasons.
- CoffeeBreak Labs (2009): I was merely helping a friend Sridhar with this idea. But this was my first attempt at something closer to my area of expertise and heart. e-Business!!! I couldn’t devote enough time and pretty soon I heard that my friend had shelved the idea for the moment.
- XBRL Oriented Reporting Solutions (2008-09): Sustainability Reporting using an XML based business report language – Another idea that I worked with a friend David Dore on. I helped Dave crystallize the idea, helped with the product design and pitched it to a few companies in Hong Kong.
- Zeopane (2007-09) : A good 10 years after my previous startup venture in building CTO computers (surprise, surprise again during college), a business plan competition led me and my German friend Wolfgang Ettlich to venture out into the big bad world of Medical Devices. With a really cool technology (zeolite microneedles) and a solid business plan to take it to market, we went out and pitched it to several venture capital firms in HK, US, UK and India. While most of the audience were receptive to the idea overall and believed in the concept, reasons such as stiff competition from the likes of J&J/3M/BD, lack of faith in my own medical background / credentials and IP issues meant that we didn’t get the funding we were starving for and I had to pull the plug a few months after I joined Mu Sigma.
- Operation DeskShop (1997-2001): Assembling computers during my engineering days with a friend, Ravi. We dreamed of becoming the next DELL (It is funny that exactly 10 years later, I was consulting with Dell and another 2 years after, am actually working with DELL). This died when both of us found full-time jobs that paid pretty decently.
If you want to hear more about any of these or even if have your own nascent idea you want feedback on, please do call me at , e-mail me at arhebbar@gmail.com or connect to me on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.