Till about a year ago, they looked invincible and unstoppable. Flipkart, Ola, Snapdeal, Quikr, Zomato... and a few others, had become the fabled Indian unicorns – start-ups boasting of valuation of over $1 billion. They were expanding like mad, starting new business lines, hiring engineers and business management graduates in hundreds from the premier institutes and generally proving a huge threat to their old-style rivals who had not embraced the digital marketplace as quickly.
None of them was making any money. But, backed by seemingly unlimited capital, they were giving discounts galore to woo customers, burning cash hand over fist, and driving brick and mortar players into losses while they chased market share and gross revenues.
Each time they ran short of cash, they would see a line of venture…
