Desimartini:  Facts behind multi-million dollar sale
By Shalini Singh

Techgoss gets many of its stories via anonymous tips.  We received a particularly juicy one this morning. Hindustan Times is one of the most powerful media groups in North India.   It has tied up with the respected Wall Street Journal to start a business newspaper named Mint.

In August, 2007, this high profile media group did a story on India’s social networking sites.  Every successful and about-to-be-success site like Minglebox and Indyrocks were profiled.  This was Aug, 07 and a bright young engineer Vivek Pahwa, 26, had just gained traction with a new social networking website Desimartini.com.  The journalist queried the intelligent Vivek about the number of users and page hits on his website.  Vivek, like every new start up, was keen to impress.  He rattled off impressive figures.  “Desimartini.com had 300,000 users and about eight million page views a month”. 

This article in Aug, 2007 quotes Pahwa saying: “A million users is the minimum base that a social networking site must have to be able to earn revenues”.

In Nov, 2007, the media group Hindustan Media purchased Desimartini.com.  The press release announcing Hindustan Times buying Desimartini.com says it was for ‘less than $10 million dollars’.   Hindustan Times also gives its facts and figures about Desimartini.com.  Apparently, in Nov, 2007 it has 250,000 users and around 2.5 million page views a month.

The Indian market is booming with lots of cash chasing bright young entrepreneurs.  Who cares what was said a few months ago in Aug, 2007?  Market share is the mantra.  And it would be a rare start-up which has not grabbed every marketing opportunity.

(Link to the Aug, 2007 article http://www.livemint.com/Articles/2007/08/27003955/Warring-for-friends.html)