Startups need to start from who their customer is going to be, says Rahul Taneja of Lightspeed India

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Nithin Kamath, Founder & CEO of Zerodha, and Rahul Taneja, Partner at Lightspeed India Partners, spoke about the challenges that many businesses are facing today. They pointed out that many companies are finding it hard to generate revenue, and as a result, many are struggling.

Taneja believes that people need to start by thinking about who their customer is going to be. Everything else follows from that. He said, “People think that, capital can solve for creation of suitable products or propositions that may attract these consumers but that is not very obvious to start off with. The important point is people first need to start off from, you know, who their customer is going to be? And is there value to be delivered to that customer, everything else follows from that.”

The question is what you prioritise: your customer or skilling over understanding what is working. In the era of cheap capital, many companies prioritise scale over addressing what is working and that really is at the heart of the problems that many of these companies face.

Kamath believes that the ability to make money from the masses is key to success. However, if the funding winter doesn't end, many companies will merge with others. There is an incentive in the private space to oversell to raise money, but money always comes with an obligation.

He said, “India is really hard when it comes to the ability to be able to make money from the masses. The issue is that if the winter doesn't end first, I think there'll be a lot of companies, which will pose to merge with others or be forced to shut down.”

Ultimately, a lot of companies aren't obsessed with their customers, and that is a big mistake. As Kamath points out, the ability to make money from the masses is the key to success. If businesses focus on their customers and build top-notch products, they will be able to succeed in the long run.