When media contacted him if his company was acquired, he reportedly said yes to 50% of the journalists and no to 50% of the journalists "to have fun" - http://indianexpress.com/article/blogs/rahul-yadavs-latest-a...
This was apparently the last of a growing list of misdemeanors. So the board of directors asked him to step down.
Softbank (Japan) had nearly 30% stakes in housing.com . Rahul had ~4.5%. Anyway the investors eventually had enough power to expel Rahul "with immediate effect" after yesterday's board meeting saying "The board believed that his behaviour is not befitting of a CEO and is detrimental to the company".
I'm still not sure whether to side with Rahul or the investors. But he does like the spotlight for sure, even if it comes as negative publicity. I don't entirely disregard his opinion or frank talks, but there's a certain professionalism he lacked viz. bringing boardroom talks to media frequently, trying to sensationalise how he talked brazenly to the VCs.
If there's any doubt, never side with the VCs.
The huge market in each city (Bangalore alone has 1 Million IT folks, middle class is ~5 Million), the high density (10K/sqkm), high Internet penetration, make this a market comparable to the largest US cities. These cities now have critical mass to kickstart new product companies.
The daily friction of life is so high, that home delivery/ecommerce is changing the entire retail landscape including in food and groceries, and soon in services too.
Bangalore is on par with SF on food/grocery delivery, and perhaps ahead on services delivery (see home medical service startups like Portea.com).
Startups are not a bubble per se. We need more startups to smoothen out the rough edges of life in India.
However, late stage valuations may be in a bubble. In the early stage, valuations are moderate.
