This weekly quiz from YourStory tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see the previous edition here). In this 25th 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 themselves actually did. Would you do things differently?
Check out YourStory’s Book Review section as well, with takeaways from over 330 titles on creativity and entrepreneurship, and our weekend PhotoSparks section on creativity in the arts.
Q1: Fintech – beyond access
Providing access to high-quality and updated financial information is key for startups in the fintech space. The infrastructure must be robust, and the user experience should be intuitive for new users. But what else is key for growing the fintech market?
Q2: New tech roles
The global wave of digital transformation is spawning a whole range of new roles and responsibilities in organisations. In addition to a CTO and CIO, many companies also have a Chief Data Officer, Chief Knowledge Officer, or even Chief Ethics Officer. What’s another important role in this space?
Q3: Logistics and delivery
The e-commerce and D2C boom, accelerated by the pandemic, have increased the demand for reliable and speedy delivery. Accuracy, affordability, and predictability are key success factors. What’s another success factor for this sector, particularly in turbulent times?
Q4: The gaming culture
Trends like networked games, immersive tools, and the metaverse have turbocharged the gaming industry. Cloud computing has helped leading and emerging game companies achieve economies of scale as well as personalisation. But how can the ethical issues in gaming also be tackled at scale?
Q5: The pet market
The pet market in India is set for high and sustained growth. The need and desire for pets increased during the isolation periods of the pandemic lockdown as well. However, there is more to having a pet than getting one and giving it home food. What do pet owners often overlook?
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: Fintech – beyond access
“The majority of the people in India, especially non-HNIs, do not get the right, unbiased, and affordable service,” observes Anshul Sharan, Co-founder and CEO, Elever. The goal-based investing app has an AI-driven investing platform that recommends, manages, and tracks tailor-made diversified portfolios to achieve customers’ financial goals.
The app is called ‘Systematic Lifestyle Planning,’ and the startup has raised funds of $750,000 from a group of 19 angel investors. Read more about this platform for simple and affordable investing here.
A2: New tech roles
“The CPO or Chief Product Officer role is quite new in the industry,” observes Rajesh Mukherjee, Product Data Science Leader at Asana. This role might not be present in many companies that are not technology-first, such as retail, but the head of product often steps into the VP role, he adds.
The CPOs may not write the code themselves, but write the requirements for engineers to build. “The position is often referred to as “mini CEO” of the company,” Rajesh describes. Read more about a CPO’s responsibilities here.
A3: Logistics and delivery
“The issue is how quickly you can identify mistakes and work on them. You also manage the customer appropriately. Fast recovery is important,” affirms Rajaganesh Sethupathi, Head – Enterprise Solutions, Delhivery.
For example, during the pandemic, the importance of reliability and recovery increased. “There could be a COVID outbreak in our last mile centre. Planning for this and being proactive is important,” he adds. Read more about how Delhivery has moved away from providing a service to providing solutions here.
A4: The gaming culture
“A well-sequenced AI/ML model will be imperative for establishing a healthy gaming culture, ensuring sustained user engagement while creating a safe, healthy online gaming space,” explains Tridib Mukherjee, Vice President of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Games24x7.
“Data scientists need to be vigilant and account for data bias while developing models to be fair,” he adds. AI/ML models should also offer explainability, or the ability to make sense of the inferences made. Read more about AI/ML contributions to gaming here.
A5: The pet market
“It’s great to see India moving in the right direction of becoming a pet-friendly nation, but we still need to put in more effort as a pet community to ensure lasting change,” explains Yashika Arora, who launched an exclusive bakery for pets in 2017.
Called Paw Petisserie, it increases awareness among pet owners about potential harmful food for pets. “Most of the food we eat daily can be harmful or toxic for our pets,” Yashika cautions. The startup uses only premium pet-friendly ingredients. Read more about its offerings here.
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).
