SoftBank is a friend, gives more impetus to the ecosystem: Niren Shah of Norwest Venture Partners

It’s a dog eat dog world in business, and more so when the stakes are high. But then there are times when competitors surprise us.

Like at a venture capitalist event in Mumbai last week, where Norwest Venture Partners’ MD Niren Shah had nothing but good things to say about Japanese venture fund giant SoftBank, when the moderator posed him this question — “Do you consider SoftBank a friend or enemy.”

“Softbank is most definitely a friend. Such players give additional impetus to the ecosystem. Moreover, it gives us an option to exit without just going to the M&A market or IPO market,” Shah said.