Mahesh Murthy On E-com Bubble Bath Being Driven By 'Topi' Investors

According to popular view, it is a second coming for e-commerce in India. This is clearly visible as more than half-a-dozen e-com businesses have procured funds during the first half of this calendar year while VC funds are literally competing with each other to get a large chunk of the pie. However, some investors like to think differently. They feel that investors are going bananas and e-commerce investing is now akin to 'topi' investing -- a balance sheet game where one investor sells the futuristic valuations of its portfolio to another, without any real visibility on revenues or cash flows. In an exclusive video interview, Mahesh Murthy, a founding partner at Seedfund, talks candidly about the current e-commerce frenzy in India. Murthy holds the contrarian view and feels that this surge is certainly not for real.