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Ten years of survival is quite a long time. The online Methuselah, Rediff.com
recently revamped the whole look of the homepage, making it more user friendly.
It even went ahead to give a new look to its e-mail section, which has a
capacity of 1GB.
Ajit Balakrishnan, founder of Rediff.com says, “Ten years ago when I
launched the company, money or success was the last thing on my mind. I was very
curious about the emerging medium, and I gathered around a few editorial friends
and started off in 1996,” says Balakrishnan.
When launched, Rediff was the only source of Indian news and information
online except for the theHinduonnet.com (the online edition of The Hindu).
Destiny also favored Rediff. Being the pioneer in the space, it attracted a
sizeable chunk of Indian online advertisements. The company still maintains a
strong B2C (business-to-customer) focus.
| Rediff.com |
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Ajit Balakrishnan,
founder
Founded:
In January 1996, Nasdaq listing in June 2000.
Investors: Draper International,
Warburg Pincus, FIIs and retail investors; Listed on NASDAQ
Initial Business Model: Started off as
a portal focused on news, then offered Web design services. e-Commerce
platform deployed in 1997
Current Business Model: Horizontal
portal-India's online community leader.
Revenue: $18.7 mn
Net Profits: $1.2 mn |
But all is not well as other domestic players like Indiatimes are snapping at
its heels. Yahoo! and MSN are also waking up to the potential of the domestic
market. It's matrimonial service lags behind Shaadi.com, and Naukri.com is a
sure shot winner in terms of job postings.
Shashwat Chaturvedi Page(s) 1
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