Uday Shankar leaves Star Disney: Is entrepreneurship his next move?

Looking to start an entrepreneurial journey, he may be looking at education, healthcare and digital media, say those in the know

Star Disney India chairman Uday Shankar who announced that he was stepping down from the hot seat is looking at three areas to start his entrepreneurial journey. Those in the know say that the areas which interest him and where he might be contemplating starting his new venture include education, healthcare and of course digital media, an area where he has been a pioneer in the country with the launch of Hotstar OTT.

The reason is simple: these are businesses where he can create value for the mass market, by unleashing the power of technology, which is in its infancy.

Shankar, sources say, will look for scale in whatever business he finally chooses. And while it will be headquartered in India, he wants to tap the Asian market, especially after his experience as the APAC president of Walt Disney Company where he oversaw this region. Not only that he is open to approach both private equity funds as well as Indian business houses or both to fund the venture. And he is also willing to collaborate with existing players in the market to complement their business. Shankar however declined to talk about his future plans.

Shankar took over as the CEO of Star India in 2007 when it had revenues of only Rs 1,300 crore. But as he leaves he has turned it into a media and entertainment behemoth with revenues of over Rs 25,000 crore after Rupert Murdoch sold of part of his global business to Disney a few years ago. And it has been a profitable venture locking horns with Viacom, Sony, Zee amongst others.

There has been speculation for a while that he might join to steer Mukesh Ambani’s media and entertainment business which is converging with the telecom business. But his close friends say that it is not true, despite the fact that he has a good relationship with Mukesh Ambani. However, he has told his friends that anyone in the digital business will need to collaborate with him for business, because of the sheer size and customer base (like if you are in content he is your potential client).

Shankar has always believed that except for a few players Indian media business is at a subscale level and most are still stuck to traditional business models. “His view is clear. They are all overdue to build scale and reinvent their models whether it is TV, content or digital by harnessing new technologies” says a close friend of Shankar.

Those who have worked with him say that he has always believed that in India technology is still an add on and does not power the core of the business. He wants to position himself and grab that opportunity and space.

So when does he go cracking? He is there in Star Disney till next January and will help the company to find a successor.  His friends say that he is in no hurry to start and is still not honed in one clear idea for business.

With the acquisition of Disney, Star Disney India has lost its once crack team which included Sanjay Gupta the CEO who has now shifted to Google as its India boss. And Ajit Mohan who headed OTT platform Hotstar but left to head yet another to global tech company Facebook India. Shankar will be the third key person amongst Murdoch’s once favourite crack team in India who will be moving on.