Practo helps consumers book appointments with doctors, and provides software to run hospitals. Co-founder Shashank N D says their global strategy has helped build a world-class product.
You have made four acquisitions in five months. Isn't that quite a mouthful for a startup?
If two companies with the same vision can come together, accomplishing that vision becomes easier. We make sure that the company we are acquiring fits into our culture and ecosystem. We then allow the acquired company to function independently, even as it accommodates our philosophy. It is run like a startup inside a startup. The acquisition is not the end.If it become s the end, we will face the problems that plague big companies. Acquisitions are hard work. Between two acquisitions, we work all day and weekends to make it successful. If you look at our acquisitions, all the founders are still with us and are contributing significantly.
Most of your acquisitions are in the enterprise segment. Is that where the revenue comes from?
Yes. Also, such technologies are harder to build. The consumer side is relatively easier. Selling software to hospitals and clinics is tough, especially if they are already using one, and these software are also the hardest to build.Some of the companies we acquired have been building and selling such software for several years.So when we acquire them, we save a lot of time.
Most of the doctor appointments or consultations in India are less than Rs 250. What kind of commission will you get even if this business model scales? Will you make money from consumers in the next decade?
There is a nuance there. We are not just about appointments or consultations. In some cases consultation leads to surgeries and those treatments are where most of the money is spent. Do we really have to make money from consumers, the answer is no. Google and Facebook do not make money from users, but because of them. If we can, it is good. But our intention is to make revenue primarily from providers like hospitals, diagnostic centres, pharmacies, clinics etc. As for our actual numbers, I'm sorry, it is a very competitive market and I can't disclose our numbers.
You have been expanding rapidly overseas. Aren't you worried that you might be running too fast?
I will admit that we are running fast. I think the industry re quires us to run that fast and luckily we have a great team that has stuck with us through the ups and downs. Our strategy has paid off and we are happy that a company from India has done so well overseas, bringing something new to the healthcare industry in the world and being recognized for it. This year, it is more about setting up the operations; next year we will expand rapidly in those countries.
Will you look at developed markets? Will India become just one small part of your overall focus?
We will not be looking at developed markets anytime soon. Right now, our focus is India and there is so much to do here. We have presence in 15 countries and our bandwidth does not allow us to go beyond that.Money, one can raise. It is more about whether we can do a great job there. We are present only in 40 cities in India and we would like to take it to 100 cities. We are doing some good work in other countries and the highest quality investors are appreciating our effort, be it Google, Tencent, Sequoia or Yuri Milner. The revenue from other markets is definitely a multiple of what you get in India, but then the Indian healthcare market is huge and is expected to be $300 billion by 2017. So India is the market to be in over the long term.
What are the learnings from your entrepreneurial journey?
I always optimize for the vision and pay close attention to what our customers tell us. Angry customers especially are important be cause they are the ones who are emotionally vested in your product and when you failed to pro vide a service, they didn't just get up and leave, they reached out to you and wanted to give you a chance to improve. Take that chance and win them back. They will be your most loyal supporters. In funding, it is important to look at who is investing in you instead of how much.
Investors can be great partners in helping you grow; so they must share your medium and long term vision.We never allow a subpar product to get shipped. Customers have an innate sense to detect carelessness.We also thought global, and that helped. The Singapore market really stress-tested our product and helped us improve it by leaps and bounds. And finally , make sure you love what you are doing and are excited by it, because there is no room for half-heartedness.
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