Who besides you comprises the ConnectCapital operational team?
I have relocated to Mumbai. The team will have a diversity of excperience.Since we view ourselves as an incubation and seed investment firm, we willhave the VC people, the investment professionals, some senior charteredaccountants and infrastructure-oriented functional individuals in marketing,recruiting and finance who will support both Connect and its portfoliocompanies. We should have between 20 to 30 people by the year-end. The boardof Connect today comprises of myself and a representative each fromMicrosoft and i2 Technologies.

What is the level of participation of each partner in the fund?
I can't disclose that. But Connect is the primary Asian vehicle for ICP. Itis a major strategic thrust for i2 and its first such venture capitalcommitment so far made by it.

Will you restrict yourself to incubation alone?
Mostly incubation at this stage. As business evolves, we will take on otheraspects too.

Will you look for ventures across Asia, or only in India? How do you ratethe maturity levels that exist in Indian Internet scene versus elsewhere inAsia?
Connect is an Asian venture but initial focus will be on India. Later, a lotof Asia-related activity will happen from here. The management teams, mediaand the operational talent in India is much more sophisticated and orientedtowards a global market than most other Asia-Pacific regions. The way IndianIT economy has proceeded has been a very globally oriented process. Thismakes it a very compelling place to be in. In India, there is such a hugeuntapped market.

But do you think Indian Netpreneurs and VCs have been mature enough intheir ventures?
If you see the spectrum, there has been a fair amount of immaturity. Thereare many immature teams who have not thought through the execution issues. Atwo-page idea does not a business plan make. But I also see people withideas beginning to cooperate with people with operational skills afterinitial confusion. The good thing about the market turmoil of last threefour-months has forced everybody to focus more on execution. So they aremore focussed on what is the idea like than on what are the barriers toentry for that idea, besides lots of cash. The market is immature less interms of VCs and more in terms of the segmentation which you are only nowbeginning to see in the VC industry. Many VCs now are realising theimportance of having global connections to the table. And the competitionhas made them better.

Since you will be eyeing e-commerce led ventures keenly, how big ane-commerce market do you think India has at present?Ask me in six months when I am a little more aware about it. It seems tohave immense potential and there seem to be a lot providers who will tapthis potential. But how big it is, how quickly it will grow, I am not yetqualified to comment.

How many ventures will you target in the first year and in which segment?How big will be the investments?
We have identified four, but it is not final. People get very focussed onhow much money they put in ventures as against how much money will they bedeploying over the lifecycle of the venture. This is especially relevant forearly stage investors. Many of them get bogged down by an impulse to exhausttheir funds. We will target between $75 million to $100 million investmentannually and will be investing anywhere between $5 million and $20million.

How do you rank other existing VCFs in India?
I would say both Chrysalis and Infinity are doing a good job. Chrysalis hasdone well to capture the high ground in dot com industry. It will make themwinners in the long run. And I am not saying it because I am a investor inChrysalis.

Would you also consider B2C investments like Chrysalis?
No.

What will be the critical elements that you will look for in aventure?
The individual, the team, the vertical market, the quality of the idea andhow far it has been thought through from the execution point in that order.So to me, the idea comes last. It may change with times because that is thenature of the market. It is the team which can make dynamic changes that isimportant.

Will you look at exits while funding?
We are not focused on exits. If we build great businesses, exit will come.We don't have liqudity dreams before investing. We will create businessesthat are global.

What will be the typical shareholding you will have in ventures?
We are a minority shareholder in most of our 50 global ventures. But it canvary between 25 to 90 per cent. We are are used to seeing management teamswith a lot of control and large equity positions. Businesses that are trulyrun by the incubators often lack the passion of an enterpreneur.