RedBus Continues To Dominate In India, But That?s Not What Makes Them Special

As I start my trip in India along with Dave McClure’s “Geeks On A Plane,” I started to read about all of the startups in India that are used to proving that the country is making inroads and is relevant. It’s a story that I’m very familiar with in emerging markets: a group of VCs and entrepreneurs that want to prove that India is worthy of time, effort and, more importantly, investment. One of the companies that I had heard quite a bit about is called RedBus.in, a service that has standardized and centralized India’s bus system. Having been to India before, I kind of laughed at the notion of that being possible, even after having read Sarah Lacy’s fantastic piece about them from two years ago. This was supposed to be one of the “ones,” the company that is supposed to make the investment world make the pilgrimage to Bangalore, India, which is about 18 hours worth of flights away from Silicon Valley. I visited the RedBus offices, which don’t seem to have change much since Lacy described them, but I did notice something new. I spent time in India two years ago, so trust me on this. It was a sign that happily announced that RedBus was hiring. It doesn’t sound like much – maybe a sign that the company is growing – but it was my first signal that something very special was happening in these offices. Our entire “tour” packed into RedBus’ conference room, and once we were introduced to the team it didn’t feel like we were in India. We were in a successful startup’s office and they were about to matter-of-factly explain to us why and how they’ve disrupted a system in a country that had no business being disrupted. All Aboard Buses in India are a lifeline, along with manual and motorized rickshaws. There’s not much joyriding happening in this country; it’s very much a “point A to point B” proposition. When I say that, I mean that a group of friends aren’t going out to a club. Someone is going to the market to bring food back for their family. When it comes to travelling outside the city in which residents live, the bus is the only option. There are thousands of buses. They’re cheap compared to trains and flights, and people will take a 23-hour bus ride from one side of

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