Article · About 8 min read
"If you don't invest in R&D, you won't have long term growth," says Zoho Corp's boss Sridhar Vembu
Sridhar Vembu · Business Today Free Intermediate India
The clearest statement of the tradeoff in his own words: venture capital pushes spend toward sales and marketing and away from R&D, and he names what that costs you later.
- Zoho crossed 1 billion dollars in revenue having never raised funding, and paid over 600 crore rupees in tax that fiscal year.
- India went from barely a top-ten market to Zoho's number three, and Vembu expects number two within three to five years.
- His stance against venture capital is specifically about the forced exit pressure it creates.
- He argues R&D spend has to come before sales and marketing spend, or there is no long-term growth.
