Hotmail Founder Takes Microsoft Head-on with Online Office Suite

Talk of biting the hand that fed you. Sabeer Bhatia, founder of Hotmail, who eventually sold it to Microsoft for $400 Million, is staring straight at the behemoth’s eyes.

Sabeer’s startup InstaColl has developed a suite of online office productivity tools with an aim to take a bite of the extremely lucrative market segment. How lucrative? How does $20 Billion sound to you?

Sridhar Vembu, the founder of Zoho, has already planted his flag at this space and his company is supposed to be doing fairly well. He couldn’t help take a swipe at this new competitor. He’s quick to point out the 1% lie that entrepreneurs always make!

Live Documents aims to offer functionality equivalent to Microsoft’s commonly used Word, Excel and PowerPoint software. It is available as an optional desktop client application and is free for individual customers, similar to a offering from Google Inc.—Google Documents.

The Live Documents desktop client also ensures offline access to documents. The cost of the application for business users such as companies is $5 per month per user, Bhatia told Mint in a telephonic interview.