Start-ups that burn investor money won't get second chance: Ratan Tata

Industrialist Ratan Tata on Tuesday warned that start-ups which burn investors' money and disappear will not get a second or a third chance.
Tata, who also invests in start-ups, also said old-age businesses will recede and the young founders of innovative companies are the future leaders of the Indian industry.

The comments from Tata come at a time when many start-ups have been blamed for what is termed as "cash burn", wherein the optimism of making money in the future makes venture funds to invest in such companies, and the companies keep incurring losses. At its peak, e-commerce major Flipkart was reportedly burning USD 150 million a month.
"We will have start-ups which will attract attention, collect money and disappear. Such start-ups will not get a second or a third chance," Tata, who was feted with the lifetime achievement award at the TiECON awards here, said.
Tata, whose portfolio also consists of e-commerce company Snapdeal, exhorted businesses to conduct themselves ethically and not to be "fly-by-night" operators.
He said the start-ups require mentoring, advice, networking and also recognition, and welcomed the role played by TiE, an organisation that seeks to promote the start-up ecosystem in India.
Tata also urged TiE to work as a shadow regulator for ethics and good practices, and ensure that the start-up sector grows in a manner that it should.
He was granted the award by Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy.

Ratan Tata, Tata Sons directors summoned in Nusli Wadia's defamation suit

The 38th Magistrate Court in Ballard Pier, Mumbai, on Saturday agreed to hear a defamation suit filed by Nusli Wadia, chairman, Wadia Group against Ratan Tata, chairman Tata Trusts and Tata Sons directors including Ajay Piramal, Amit Chandra, Ishaat Hussain, Nitin Nohria, Ranendra Sen, Vijay Singh, Venu Srinivasan, Ralf Speth, N Chandrasekaran and. F N Subedar. The court has issued a process and directed them to appear before it.
Counsel Abad Ponda appearing for Wadia stated that following the removal of Cyrus Mistry as chairman of Tata Sons in October 2016, all the aforementioned persons had made several defamatory statements against his client.

Tata Sons had alleged that Wadia was acting against the interests of the Tata Group and in concert with a former manager, in order to cause harm to the Tata Group despite being an independent director on the Board of a few Tata companies. Tata Sons had also accused Wadia of “acting without bonafides and putting the future of Tata Steel and its employees in grave jeopoardy”.
Tata and the aforementioned people will now face trial for the charges of criminal defamation under Sections 499, 500 and 501 of Indian Penal Code. The punishment of an offence under Section 500 is simple imprisonment for a term that may extend to two years and may also include a fine.
The accused will have to appear before the Magistrate and seek formal bail from the court at its next hearing which has been fixed for March 25, 2019. Wadia filed a criminal defamation case against Tata Sons and its then interim Chairman Ratan Tata and various directors on December 23, 2016, following up on a Rs 33 billion defamation suit he had filed on December 16.