Sabeer Bhatia’s status as India’s first celebrity “technology entrepreneur” appears impeccable. The Stanford-educated engineer jointly dreamed up Hotmail and sold it to Microsoft in December 1997 for $395m. A telegenic thirtysomething, he is as popular with the media as he is with Bollywood and technology geeks.
“Frankly, I see a celebrity partner who also happens to think out of the box as a marketing asset,” says Yogesh Patel, a partner of Mr Bhatia in a start-up.
