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Lateral Sparks, the weekly quiz from YS, tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see the previous edition here). In this 44th 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 YS’s Book Review section as well, with takeaways from over 340 titles on creativity and entrepreneurship, and our weekend PhotoSparks section on creativity in the arts.

Q1: Going international

There are multiple opportunities for a company to scale up – expanding to new products, demographics, and geographies, for example. What content and consumption criteria would a digital content player need to consider while expanding to another region?

Q2: Modes of learning

The pandemic accelerated the creation, scale and adoption of ed-tech platforms. But now that schools and learning centres are open, how is the mode of learning changing? What does this mean for ed-tech players and coaching centres?

Q3: Fundraising

Founders who need to go beyond their personal savings to launch their startups can raise funds from angel and seed investors. Larger venture capital firms can come in at the scale stage. But what is another financing option that is often overlooked by founders?

Q4: Impact

Startups are well-suited to bring a new product or service to market, particularly when the business model may be disruptive. They can transform customer lives, solve their pain points, and meet their aspirations. What are some broader aspects of a startup’s contributions?

Q5: The digital edge

Digital technologies have a number of favourable impacts on business, ranging from efficiency and speed to innovation and risk management. They also have one more important contribution which is particularly crucial in the finance and monetary sectors – what is this factor?

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: Going international

News is a very high-interest category in the Middle East, consumed on mobile–web and apps. “We are aiming to address the unmet content needs of the market that demonstrates very similar, linguistically diverse audiences, as seen in the local language dominated market like India,” Umang Bedi, Co-founder of VerSe Innovation observes.

The Bengaluru-based unicorn is launching its news aggregator app Dailyhunt in a number of countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar. This is the startup’s first foray into the global market. Read more about the global opportunity for digital creators here.

A2: Modes of learning

“When learners are young, they prefer a hybrid approach rather than pure offline. When learners are relatively older they prefer pure online,” explains Gaurav Munjal, Co-founder of Unacademy.

“Edtech is here to stay,” he adds. In the post-pandemic era, many learners and parents are in favour of learning in classrooms and coaching centres. More discipline and motivation are called for in self-learning mode. Read more about the post-pandemic ed-tech scenario here.

A3: Fundraising

“Entrepreneurs should keep in mind that diversification of sources of capital is important as it lowers the real cost and provides more avenues for fundraising,” explains Ratna Mehta, Partner at UK-based Ambassador Capital Partners.

“In India, there is little awareness of non-bank credit that can be explored. The market is a niche, but growing very fast,” she adds. Read more here about why entrepreneurs need to understand that the cost of equity can be higher than debt, and how to work with new players in structured private capital.

A4: Impact

“Startups can have a powerful positive impact on society at large—from creating jobs, providing purpose, creating wealth, to improving the GDP,” explains Ashish Bhatia, Founder of India Accelerator. The company has announced plans to expand to Sri Lanka as well.

The accelerator has reportedly helped over 3,200 companies receive over $4.8 billion in funding. “India’s economic growth over the next decade will create hundreds of unicorns,” adds Abhay Aggarwal, Founder and Fund manager, Piper Serica. Read more about startup potential and prospects here.

A5: The digital edge

“This digital-first era is all about scalability and the biggest banks of 2030 will be digital-first,” explains Brett King, Founder and Executive Chairman, Moven. The pandemic drove companies and consumers to regard the digital channel as a must-have requirement.

Speakers at the Banking on Ecosystem Thinkathon explored how the Bank 4.0 paradigm is largely experience-led and not as product-centric. Read more about digital transformation’s impact on the financial sector here.

YS has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World 0of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).