by kunal talgeri bengaluru more than 120 startups have been created by former employees of online shopping portal flipkart and 36 by exemployees of its subsidiary myntra according to the tracxn database the flipkart economy of 156 startups is a microcosm of the local ecommerce ecosystem that has bloomed in less than 10 years thanks to 16 billion foreign capital thats flowed into india similarly snapdeal has spawned 60 startups yet founders of domestic consumerinternet companies have failed to build a think tank or policy dialogue with the government according to at least four persons who are board members of internet companies in india its not about the colour of moneyit is just about the amount of money said an industry veteran referring to multinationals aggressive push into india but the bigger concern for local entrepreneurs should be how to bridge their lack of knowledge in shaping public policy compared with the experience mncs have built in several markets our entrepreneurs have been in extreme deficit when it comes to having a meaningful dialogue with the government said a venture capital partner in bengaluru they didnt understand the significance of a policy discourse havent shown the maturity to deal with such complex environments which a travis gets he said referring to uber founder travis kalanick uber for example recruited two graduates for rs 25 lakh from national law school in bengaluru this year it is for research on public policy so they are thinking not just about tech and business but how to influence public policy said a partner at a global consulting firm in contrast the local internet companies have failed to build solidarity around tech entrepreneurs challenges on innovation business and regulation even as late as january this year at the startup india launch organised by the central government there appeared to be some degree of complacency among ceos of the largest ecommerce companies amid talk of digital colonisation at panel discussions this refers to the dominance of the worlds largest digital companies across markets if uber and amazon win in india then the four dominant internet companies including google and facebook will all be of foreign origin said another industry voice from a national policy perspective there was no worry about digital colonisation even from a company strategy perspective there was no worry because the local companies felt they were winning anyway in this context the recent remarks of flipkarts sachin bansal and ola cabs bhavish aggarwal redflagging capital dumping and foreign companies india forays have been seen as reactive it is a rearguard action rather than with any cogent thinking behind it they havent thought this through clearly said an industry source however there is a genuine need for the government to build an agency to hear and resolve local internet entrepreneurs concerns said sharad sharma governing council member of ispirt a think tank for the software product industry today dipp department of industrial policy and promotion looks out for the interests of mncs there is