HT Media’s Internet subsidiary, Firefly eVentures has acquired social networking site Desimartini.
“The new, wholly owned Internet subsidiary of HT Media Ltd, Ltd has acquired social networking site Desimartini.com in an attempt to enter one of the fastest growing segments in the Indian Internet space. Terms were not being disclosed, though HT Media said it was for less than $10 million (Rs 39.3 crore).” [source]
For those who say me-too s are bad and one should build good products, Desimartini is a perfect case study! – It was a me-too with no differentiation at all.
The good thing about me-too product is that you won’t have a hard time selling the concept – you just point your investors/potential acquirers to the original one (e.g. facebook+myspace in desimartini’s case) and say “we are doing exactly the same”!!
Is it that few players with deep pockets (and have got no idea of Internet products) somehow wants a quick entry ? Maybe yes, and maybe that’s why we have too many me-too products.
What’s your take? I feel sorry for HT guys.
tags: desimartini
:O the TV ads seem to have got them a buyer!!! They haven’t even changed the site logo with that of the TV ad…
Honestly, I was taken aback when I saw this!! I guess HT guys are just too dumb!!
All the best to them, and of course, congrats to VIvek Pahwa for making a fool out of HT!
This is crazy…can u predict what’s going to take a future course, I need to understand who did heads the acquisition prospect fro HT media……this doesn’t take them any longer
I have used Desimartini and i can’t believe they have 2,50,000 members….i understand there TV campaigns, but now….
I was always apprehensive with the growth of Indian stock market which hit the 20k mark and today the markets are down/yet again , i am only comparing this to upcoming web trends happening in India, whitout any reasoning and structure mode people invest in such companies, God bless them!!
Let me give a leaf out of it, If u do understand PHP programming, try this http://elgg.org/ you could build your own SN site [much better than Desi-mart-ini] and if u have some money to market , get hold of it and who knows someone like HT media could always be waiting fro it!
India Definitely Shining
I first come across this news at Contentsutra here is the response i posted there .
there is more to this deal if you see it in proper context . look at the following facts .
#1 Desi Martini is a Reasonably good player in this space . thanks to Makkadman viral . it got good number of eyeball and awareness. What matters is that you should be able to cause a blip on the radar of potential buyer which they did .
#2 HT is on a PE Investment and Buyout spree , yesterday only the announced Buying a stake in Crazy Noodles a Chinese Eating joint . [http://tinyurl.com/2xdxxm ] HT is sitting on 400 Crore Cash pile they raised from IPO , so they had to invest that money somewhere . $1 Mil investment to get a foothold in Indian Soc Nw. Space is not a bad deal given that it has a clear potential of integrating with their regular print & online business .
#3 Given there Connections ,Proof of adaptation & lack of good deal available in Indian Online space . it wouldn’t be a herculean task for DM team to raise money from VC . than HT would have to pay multiple of $10 million to buy them .
Crux of deal is not what HT bought but how well they use it . It would be interesting to watch . how they integrate it . and this less than $10 Million price tag thing is just a trick to create a NEWS and hence traction for DM . My hunch is that real price should be somewhere in the ball park of INR 5 -To-8 Crore .
if not anything else this deal will work as a inspiring story for aspiring entereprenuer .
” first come across this news at Contentsutra” – that’s because Vivek is Nikhil’s cousin!
Interesting take Prashant. Here is where I disagree:
> wouldn’t be a herculean task for DM team to raise money from VC – Except cos. like ibibo, I don’t see any VC investing in them.
> 1 Desi Martini is a Reasonably good player in this space : Well, compete data shows it all.
They are struggling with PVs
Yeah..<$10mn is just a weird statement. I don’t think it should be more than a mn$ deal.
RAJ
>>that’s because Vivek is Nikhil’s cousin!
Well i think thats because i don’t read HT MINT .
>>They are struggling with PVs
This is an Age old debate about validity of Alexa numbers but i know first hand that most Internet Inert folks in my friend circle know about Desi Martini thanks to MakkadMan Viral and TV Ads . that must have translated in some users .Add a Heavy mettle Print campaign in HT Publication and it will not be a bad deal .
i think it was more of a Make or BUY decision than a stretergice move to have a huge User base .
Did you see their alexa rating, lower than crap yaari.com. Any marriage here
I hope it does smell like bubble 2.0 . So that I could also sell.
Media publisher Hindustand times catches the Social networking bug – Is this the beginning of the consolidation of indian social network sites ? Linked in xoomly.com -
Although I personally am not for the alleged “me-too”s, I think we have atleast 2 more years before the SN-trend fades out, provided, they remain in the same state.
But if there are any grey cells still active in Big-Pocketed enterprises like HT, Reliance, etc., they will find a way to merge 2.0 with 3.0 and buy themselves another couple of years.
I don’t forsee a bubble. Not an absolute hollow one , in any case. The trick is to have a bubble and then quickly fill it up before its bursts and thats what I predict is the modus operandi of the new breed of Indian Entrepreneurs.
“Crux of deal is not what HT bought but how well they use it”
Prashant, it is. Do you believe that HT couldn’t have come up with an in-house solution with at least 10M USD? If HT was smart enough, they could have had a better product and marketing done for a fraction of the cost they allegedly paid to DM.
Apart from the TV commercial (I never saw it, so can not comment on it) and Makkadman DM didn’t have anything else that could be sold. They have an average domain name, dipping traffic, , low reach, *inspired* code and design.
Here is my take on the deal – http://www.gsharma.com/2007/11/20/155/what-was-ht-thinking/
@Gaurav :Whenever a big plaer wants to get into a particular technology vertical, it is common to buy a smaller, relatively successful player in the that sector. I agree, DesiMartini was not exactly the most popular SN around, but thats exactly why HT must have got it cheap.
Now, with a full-blown SN , albiet with low, dipping traffic, in their hands, they can have in-house solutions for growing it.
Raseel – I agree with you that they buying a SN was a better solution for HT. Perhaps it was. The problem I see is with 10M valuation. I think it is a very good deal to acquire DM for 50k – 100K, but not 10M. My point was, with 10M they could have gone much farther with their in-house SN.
Gaurav
HT + DM has been smart in hyping the deal by announcing “less than $10mn” – is it $1mn? $5mn? Nobody knows!
Nobody has any idea on the valuation..and the announcement goes with DM’s sleaziness approach
@Gaurav : I agree. 10M for a SN of this standard is way to much. But then again, as Ashish points out , the deal may have been over-hyped.
Ashish and Raseel – I understand your point, but don’t you think it is a childish PR stunt (if it is)? I don’t expect a matured company like HT to try to gain traction this way.
Well Gaurav, you never know! When DM is around, any cheap stuff can happen!
And honestly, I am still shocked.
The internal news is that there are lot of “internal” connections (read ISB grads) – in eVenture and DM (Vivek Pahwa is passout of ISB).
What’er is the case, HT has made a BUY decision, and they will end up MAKING the product right from the scratch – be it about the strategic part, or the features or the user base.
Look buddy, we are on your side. We wouldn’t pay $10M to buy-out DM either. But you need to understand that with these big companies, there is no such thing as “cheap”, “childish” PR stunts.
As long as that makes people go to DM and register there just to check out what this hue and cry is all about, they don’t mind pulling another 100 such “stunts”
There you go !!! I think having known that , any more discussion on this is futile
The first time I saw Desimartini, I thought some chinese guy did a Facebook ripoff but with some study. …. It was Indian. I have to say that HT kind off made a bad move. Still, a million dollars for DM?
that is far from away.
Hi –
Generally “me too” learn from originals.
But if you carefully look, the success of a any company is independent of whether it is based on original idea or just a concept copy from someone.
Take a example of IPL. indeed is a ‘ctrl c ctrl v’ of ICL, but more successful than their’s originals. The reason is that it could arrange some USP like participation from Indian team player while later could not….
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i have completed registration process but (www.miwwi.com ) this site was not working and i am not able to download any form for your requirement. Can u send me the application form for desimartini?