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Lateral Sparks, the weekly quiz from YourStory, tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see the previous edition here). In this 102nd edition of the quiz, we present issues tackled by real-life entrepreneurs in their startup journeys.

What would you do if you were in their shoes? At the end of the quiz, you will find out what the entrepreneurs and innovators themselves actually did. Would you do things differently?

Check out YourStory’s Book Review section as well, with takeaways from over 355 titles on creativity and entrepreneurship, and our weekend PhotoSparks section on creativity in the arts.

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Q1: Ecommerce success

The direct-to-consumer model for brands revolves around a number of success factors such as compelling price-points, seamless payment, and responsive customer service. What else is a crucial enabler for D2C players?

Q2: App stickiness

Attention spans are diminishing, particularly in the fast-moving world of mobile media. What are the stickiest mobile apps, and how can developers ensure they build and maintain apps that are sticky?

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Q3: Education for industry

Today’s industry requires students and professionals who have cutting-edge digital skills in an increasingly online environment. But the traditional education curriculum seems out of step with industry needs. How can this be tackled?

Q4: Online fraud

The digital world opens up a whole world of opportunity–as well as a number of challenges in fraud detection mechanisms and validation of transactions in real time. How can technology help here, and what are the opportunities for entrepreneurs?

Q5: Startup ecosystems

Creating an entrepreneur-friendly policy can help states in creating and scaling startup ecosystems. Providing R&D grants and inviting investors from around the world also helps. What else can governments do for their startups?

Answers!

Congratulations on having come this far! But there’s more to come–answers to these five questions (below), as well as links to articles with more details on the entrepreneurs’ solutions. Happy reading, happy learning–and happy creating!

A1: Ecommerce success

Ajith Pai, COO, Delhivery, emphasised the importance of brands selecting a reliable logistics partner at India’s premier tech innovation conference, TechSparks 2023. “Logistics should be the silent engine working at the back and delivering what is promised,” Pai said.

Delhivery aims at making the purchase journey seamless for all customers. Read more here about how it has invested in intelligent systems that detect erroneous pincodes, thus reducing shipment delays.

A2: App stickiness

“Creating a sticky app requires marketers to be knowledgeable about concepts such as game theory and novelty effect,” explains Jacob Joseph, Vice President–Data Science at CleverTap, a customer engagement platform.

He cites data which shows that the stickiest apps are in social media, gaming, e-commerce and travel. Read more here about how Khatabook and Starbucks embed stickiness in their apps, and how predictive analytics can help combine digital and in-store marketing.

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A3: Education for industry

Digiaccel Learning is an edtech venture that aims to flip the top-down teaching model by offering a learning experience powered by industry insights. This approach involves industry experts and not just academic professors, according to founder and CEO Karan Bhagi.

The edtech firm collaborates with organisations such as HUL, WPP Group, and Mullen Lowe Group to provide specialised marketing education programmes. Read more here about how its mentorship programme includes experts from Amazon, Flipkart, Mamaearth, and Shiprocket.

A4: Online fraud

Fintech startup Tutelar offers a range of offerings to fortify businesses against evolving online threats. Its solutions help detect and prevent fraud in onboarding, KYC, real-time payment transactions, and anti-money laundering, according to Mohan K, CEO.

The full-stack AI-based risk management company also helps enable compliance in line with guidelines by regulatory authorities to avoid penalties, fines, and business closures. Read more here about how it serves clients like Lyra, PayG, Nexdha and Foloosi.

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A5: Startup ecosystems

The Government of Karnataka has several initiatives to boost startups, including the Elevate competition programme, Women Entrepreneurship and Rural Entrepreneurship Programme, Public Procurement Policy, and creating centres of excellence, according to Priyank Kharge, the state’s IT minister.

Speaking at the TechSparks 2023 conference, he also explained Karnataka’s other initiative called Beyond Bengaluru, which promotes startup growth across the state in other cities and towns such as Hubli, Mangaluru, and Belagavi. Read more here about the state’s sector-specific focus for startups in agriculture, biotechnology and aerospace.

YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).