Stolen Ideas

It is more likely that someone stumbled upon the same insight as you rather than 'stole' your idea

In August 2010, two companies were founded. One in Noida and the other in Bangalore. Both founders had similar ideas. Both individuals were serial strugglers, they had both attempted multiple startups before that had achieved varying levels of success.

The company founded in Noida had the advantage of being funded with about $2 million from existing business accruals.

Mobile, e-commerce, 3G and VC funding were all finding their way into India. They both were in the right place at the right time.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

The company started in Noida was Paytm and the one in Bangalore was Freecharge. 

Did Paytm steal Freecharge’s idea or vice versa? Most likely it looked like the shortest path to success and two people took it.

When you explain what you want, very clearly to a developer, you rarely get the outcome you desire. What are the odds that such clarity would be garnered out of one random conversation?

A decade later it is safe to say that both are floundering trying to find a firm footing. Freecharge has changed 3 hands and while it is still alive, it is barely so. Paytm had a devastating listing and lost 75% of its market cap in the week following its listing. Paytm is aggressively pivoting.

Kunal Shah who was the founder of Freecharge is currently engaged in creating the same app all over again albeit with a different name. Cred. 

Whenever an entrepreneur has ever asked me about their idea being stolen, my standard answer is Google was not the first search engine and Facebook was not the first social network. It is not about what you do, it is about how you do it.

It is not abnormal for many people to be working on the same thing at the same time totally oblivious of the other, as evidenced above.

You can get too obsessed with your business idea and decide to chase it repeatedly as evidenced above as well.

Finally, Dr Vivek Mansingh once told me “I have never seen an entrepreneur exit a business with the same business plan that he entered with.”

Maybe Cred will pivot away from what they are currently doing and take on a whole new form altogether. Or perhaps, they will find a scapegoat who will buy it and he may start another company this time with a different starting point.