Would this argument make sense if we had a "Google clone"?
There's a market to be tapped, and they seem to be doing just that. One wonders why this is even possible, and if Groupon's dropped the ball in India. Regardless, they're running a business. What's not to like?
Many Silicon Valley start-ups are incredibly derivative, but a flip is still a flip.
It would have made more sense if it was not a country-specific clone of anything, i.e. if it really was a "next big thing", not a regional adaptation of what's big in the U.S.
Andy Grove's opinion made for an interesting, and imho persuasive, argument against this. Taking the laptop battery industry as an example - the outsourced manufacturers first made derivative products. Over time though, they achieved competence and finally mastery of the technology.
By opening the door and improving on what they had, even if it was a clone of something, they understood what had to be improved and finally dominated the market.
There's a market to be tapped, and they seem to be doing just that. One wonders why this is even possible, and if Groupon's dropped the ball in India. Regardless, they're running a business. What's not to like?
Many Silicon Valley start-ups are incredibly derivative, but a flip is still a flip.