New companies that are starting out very often do not have a person at leadership who understands data and its usage or has any past experience with data, according to Sanjeev Bikhchandani, chairman of Info Edge India. Young companies do not use data the way they can or should, either because they're not aware of the benefits or they don't know how to. Explaining how Info Edge used data in the early days, he said that new startups don't recognize the importance of data (understand it and its analytics) and often new businesses do not have enough of their own data to build an algorithm. However, "startups will be well-advised to understand and appreciate the importance of data to build smarter products", he said, speaking at a conversation at the India Digital Summit held earlier this month. The founding teams of startups are very often friends who went to the same college, school, or B-School. Most often than not, founders may choose a person with the same skill set simply because they are friends and factors such as moral support and trust are considered more important. This results in certain essential skills being left out of the founding team, he explained. "We [Naukri/Info Edge] didn't have a top tech person when we started, we ended up underinvesting in tech in the first 5-6 years. As data becomes important, its appreciation needs to be understood by the leadership," Bikchandani said. Info Edge meets startups every month for possible investments but they…
