One important thing: Remember all the personal information you had to give when getting your SIM card? The government may require your telecom service provider to pass on all of those details to over-the-top communication platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal.

• This move is being considered in order to help OTT platforms in displaying the verified name of any caller to a user, thereby reducing impersonation and fraud.

In today’s newsletter: 

• Tiger feels the chill, 2022 investments drop 70%
• Former employee sues TCS in the US
• More growth pangs for Indian IT

Ashneer Grover's memoir "Doglapan" has already become an Amazon bestseller. Why? Scroll down for more deets!

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Indian startup and venture capital ecosystem's Tiger seems to have taken a step back to mull over its deployments as the winter chills get to it.

In 2022, Tiger Global's investments decreased by 70 percent from the previous year's total, signaling a slowdown in fund deployment.

• However, it is not the end of the road for one of the country's most aggressive technology investors. Here's why:

While cheque sizes are shrinking, Tiger Global remains bullish on India and continues to deploy capital.

• This comes as it slowed down investments elsewhere fearing macroeconomic headwinds
  
  
• In the first 11 months of 2022, the hedge fund participated in 50 funding rounds. While the deal count is lower than in 2021, it is still significantly higher than the 19 deals in 2020
  
  
• The deal count also exceeded Tiger Global's pre-pandemic average of 26 deals per year since 2014

Despite a slower pace, the hedge fund seems open to exploring further investments in India.

• Partners from the firm have visited India at least four times this year to meet startup founders and early-stage investors
  
  
• Partners Scott Shleifer, Deep Verma, and Griffin Schroeder visited India in November to meet stakeholders and sounded 'extremely bullish' on India

[Go deeper]

A former Tata Consultancy Services employee has filed a lawsuit against the IT services provider for discriminatory hiring practices.

Shawn Katz, a former employee who worked for the company for nine years, claims that the company prefers Indian and South Asian candidates for open positions in the United States, while others are passed over.

TCS seeks to fill open positions in the United States when it acquires a client in the country, according to the lawsuit, and it prefers Indian and South Asian candidates for these positions. After completing a project, the employee is moved to the bench, where they must apply for other positions. If they are on the bench for too long, they are let go.

• Since Indian and South Asian employees are preferred, the lawsuit claims that employees who do not fall into these categories are disproportionately let go.

The lawsuit claims that visa regulations are manipulated so that TCS can obtain as many H-1B and L-1 visas as possible.

• It alleges that TCS submits visa petitions for more positions than exist in the US, allowing the company to build a pool of visa-ready workers.

• It also claims that visa petitions falsely indicate the existence of specific positions when they do not.

This is not TCS's first time facing a similar lawsuit. Go deeper

Analysts believe the October-December quarter for the Indian IT sector will be weaker than expected. The sector's stocks are also having their worst year since 2008. In 2022 YTD, Nifty IT Index has already plummeted over 24% as compared to 55% in 2008.

After two years of rapid growth and high demand, some of the steam has started to cool down for these companies. Key markets for Indian IT companies, such as Europe and the United States, are experiencing an economic crisis, which is affecting clients' spending capacity and tech budgets, causing a delay in setting tech budgets.

• The US market, which accounts for roughly 45-60 percent of IT companies' revenue, is currently facing macroeconomic uncertainty, inflation, and an impending recession.
  
  
• According to a Credit Suisse report, the top four Indian IT companies, TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and HCLTech, will see a 10-27% correction in their public market valuation.

Wedbush Securities' Moshe Katri took a different stance than some of the Indian analysts, saying:

• The worst-case scenario is a one-to-two-month delay in budget cycle decisions, as demand continues to look resilient
  
  
• Despite pockets of weaknesses, the sector remains strong as cost-supply equation improves.

Go deeper

On December 12, 1980, Apple launched its initial public offering (IPO). It was the largest IPO since Comsat's on June 2, 1964 and the most oversubscribed since Ford's on January 17, 1956.

On its first trading day, the stock gained nearly 32%, reaching a high of $29.25 before settling at $28.75. Apple would end the day with a market capitalisation of $1.75 billion.

Thanks to the stock options, more than 40 of Apple's 1,000 employees became instant millionaires. (Picture credit: Computerhistory.org)

• Do Kwon, the failed entrepreneur responsible for the $40 billion collapse of the terraUSD and luna tokens, is believed by South Korean prosecutors to be hiding in Serbia. After the collapse of his terraUSD and luna coins in May, Kwon was charged with fraud and violations of capital markets law in South Korea.
  
  
• Cryptocurrency exchange Binance acknowledged reports that a small number of altcoins were trading "abnormally" on its platform. The exchange said it would conduct an investigation and take action against "suspicious accounts."

“If you choose to work with your spouse, there should be no hesitation in designating them as co-founders as well as giving them a seat on the board”

 “It is important to remember that the investor is just another vendor. Put yourself first”

 “To my mind, the concept of a related-party transaction in India is totally irrelevant.”

If these lines made you sit up and take notice, you are not alone. Ashneer Grover, the ousted co-founder and MD of fintech unicorn BharatPe is at his provocative, polarising and irascible best in his tell-all memoir Doglapan. No wonder then, despite the cloud of court cases and allegations of misgovernance, his book is trending at #1 on Amazon. 

Who does he blame for his cataclysmic fall from grace? Well, he has a looong list.

Check out our review here.  

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