Lateral Sparks, the weekly quiz from YourStory, tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see the previous edition here). In this 88th 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.
Q1: AI impacts
The rise of AI has caught the world by storm, with much euphoria as well as doomsday scenarios. Ethical and legal issues of AI are certainly major issues—what’s another concern around AI that we should pay attention to?
Q2: Sustainable consumption
Many consumers experience problems from damage and decay of their accessories. These lead not just to monetary loss but adverse environmental impact due to premature dumping. What’s a creative way to solve both these issues?
Q3: The ecommerce opportunity
This country seems on track be become the second-largest ecommerce market in the world. Which one is this, and what new opportunities open up in the ecommerce ecosystem?
Q4: Differentiation and resilience
Jewellery represents a lucrative market—but is also fiercely competitive. Sales of jewellery stores took a hit during the pandemic as well. So how have some entrepreneurs differentiated and thrived in this space?
Q5: Green urban habitats
Many urban parks are sprouting up in city neighbourhoods, with walking tracks and ornamental plants. However, these plants are often non-indigenous. What’s a better way for natural co-existence, and what opportunities lie here?
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: AI impacts
“AI models and algorithms are highly resource-intensive and consume significant amounts of power. Training AI models involves massive computational workloads,” cautions Shrikant Navelkar, Director of Clover Infotech.
AI could account for up to 20% of global electricity consumption by 2030, according to a study by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Read more here about corrective measures such as upgrading to more energy-efficient servers, using renewable energy sources, and implementing advanced cooling techniques,
A2: Sustainable consumption
Founded by Vani Talwar Khosla and Paridhi Sekhri, lifestyle accessories brand TidyUp offers organisers and other storage solutions to preserve bags and shoes from damage. It promotes sustainable consumption by helping people increase the longevity of their personal belongings, instead of buying more.
The founders bootstrapped the company with personal savings of Rs 2 lakh. Read more here about how it expanded to 220 SKUs across five categories, priced between Rs 450 and Rs 9,000, with future segments like babycare products.
A3: The e-commerce opportunity
Driven by the power of MSMEs, India is on track to become the second largest e-commerce industry in the world, according to a survey by ecommerce enablement platform Shiprocket. The pandemic drove a strong retailer and consumer push into ecommerce, while also opening up local and global frontiers for online trade.
Global retailers played a major role in boosting cross-border trade as well. Read more here about how Shiprocket enables shipping, fulfilment, customer communication, and marketing tools for ecommerce.
A4: Differentiation and resilience
Founded in 2015 by Harvi Shah, Bling Bag offers over 1,000 designs and 50 unique colour shades in earrings and necklaces. “Colour has been our USP. We are offering jewellery in a variety of colours that perfectly complement or contrast with the outfits,” she describes.
During the pandemic, she also launched a business coaching initiative called Fashionpreneur for aspiring women entrepreneurs. Read more here about how this paid community has grown from eight to 3,500 members in two and a half years.
A5: Green urban habitats
Arun Krishnamurthy launched the Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI) in 2017 in Chennai, with an initial focus on planting native species such as neem, pongamia, peepal, banyan, and palm. “With a little work, nature has demonstrated its unique power to repair and regenerate itself even after years of exploitation—if only given a chance,” he explains.
“Ornamental plants don’t bring the kind of value addition tree foliage does—in terms of groundwater retention, shade cover, temperature regulation, and oxygen fixation,” he adds. Read more here about how EFI works across 18 states, restored 357 waterbodies, and created 63 afforestation sites.
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).
