The new Deal

Do you have a startup? A single digit team with a cute business model? All bolstered by an idea whose time has come? Maybe you are waiting for a generous uncle to stump up the dough. In a country where middlemen have exploited our pockmarked infrastructure and thrived, spotting a business idea is akin to locating an elephant in a swimming pool. How do the gigs work though? E-tailers hawking garments at anemic prices with multiple prices stacked one above the other on the tag. You spot all but the bottom figure scratched out. You realize this is your once in a lifetime opportunity to pick that spaghetti top up for a steal, or at a 80% discount. Kitted out in the latest in fashion, you spot another round of discounting mania on another portal, all in the same week.

Sample this popular furniture portal, whose name is more appropriate for a culinary vendor. They promise to spare you the pain of having to put your own cupboard together (when was the last time you had to pick out your own wood for the dresser?) and delivering it to your doorstep by a friendly handyman who offers a Namaste to your proferred tip. In one commercial, a yuppie couple debate their planned purchases, where the wife is all smug, secure in the knowledge that even her husband can’t cock up with his ideas on interior decoration, the smart portal is idiot proof you see!

All of this is music to the ears of harassed urban dwellers who would rather knock back pints than make the trip to brick and mortal stores. The start up ninjas, corporate misfits some, are all gung ho with angel investors handing out cash faster than it can be burned. Many of these fledgling ventures would fold or be swallowed up by biggies in an eventual round of consolidation. In the meanwhile, customized push up bras anyone?