Reflections

A HAPPY EXPERIENCE WITH A STARTUP AS A CONSUMER A startup, whose app did not impress me at all due to its seeming over reliance on Google maps for address mapping , just won my heart on a more detailed usage. A milk app, it did what no other has done, and I have tried more than a few app based daily consumption products startups. Most have failed on the customer satisfaction aspect, with a poor understanding of the separate requirements of customer consumer and shopper. Either that or they failed on  the aspect of core business processes like billing and /delivery. Image source : Google Search THE EXPERIENCE 1. Human interface, not those indecipherable IVR that make you want to do 3 PhDs in Language, technology and soft skills!! IVR connects to a human being (💖💖💖💖💖) in a few seconds flat!! Too many businesses, especially customer facing ones, forget this all too simple reality, that an IVR system is not necessarily the optimal choice. While essential as a ...

BASICS OF BUSINESS : WORTH THE TIME SPENT ON THEM Startups… one of the buzzwords today. This has been said before, and will doubtless be said countless times again; including how they are different from larger entities, and how the startups scene will have an impact on the economy. Well, while the impact on the economy is a matter best left to the vestiges of time – the first two can be examined. I have said earlier- a startup is no different from a large established organisation; at least – not substantially different. After getting exposed to several startups – I can now state that with greater confidence. Sure, there are major differences, but the core of the business basics are the precise same for the most part. Image Source : Pixabay THE   MYTH OF THE RESOURCE CRUNCH Perhaps the biggest single theme startup enthusiasts like to point out is the resource crunch that is present only  in a startup; well, I beg to differ. It is hardly any different in...

This is the 3 rd book from Prachi Garg I am reviewing, and each has added value to me as a professional. It has also given deep insights into what the new India is doing, as well as given me a fascinating insight into the minds of today’s youth. 20 case studies on youth enterprises can be shrugged off; 40 can be dismissed as the product of research and hard work on the part of the author, but when it reaches 60, and the third book, {added to the other books now emerging in the market} it all comes together to create a picture of a new India that is slowly beginning to emerge from the shadows of the older more staid India we are all used to seeing… THE BOOK The book is a series of 20 stories of 20 startups founded by brothers and / or sisters. The concept itself is riveting and fascinating; it is hard doing business within family, and can cause serious issues and misunderstanding simply because the expectations are much higher in such cases, the demands more strident. T...

Startups in India are variously hailed as employment generators, the future and so on.  There are now sites dedicated to various aspects of the Startup ecosystem; you have experts in Startups, specialists so to speak; you can get courses in Startups, and much more. On the one hand, as one of my recent book reviews show, there is also the faint hint of a bubble – while on the other hand, as 3 of my book reviews detail, you have a list of successful startup companies in operation. Where the truth lies is hard to say at this point in time, as there is persuasive evidence on both sides of the argument; this question can only be answered in the due course of time.  What we can do is, take a look at some failures, and try and draw some basic lessons for the startup ecosystem…. STARTUPS : FAILURE ANECDOTES In this section, I will detail a few startups that failed- the objective being to learn lessons from their failure. The first that comes to mind is a company in the M...

Startups are the in-thing in India, indeed – in the world nowadays; thus, when I spotted a book on the Startups in India and lessons to be drawn from them, I not just picked it up immediately, but also placed it at the head of all other to-read books; I normally have a stack of 4-5 new books which I routinely pick up on my surfing and touring. This book was of so current & important and so relevant a topic, that it moved to the top of the pile on the strength of its premise alone – being titled “ Flight Of The Unicorns: Lessons From India’s Startup Bubble .” The book is a look at the start-up scenario in India, divided into two parts : Rise and Fall of the Startup Ecosystem , and Trends and New Rules of the Game being the second section. The first section is way too short, concluding in all of 54 pages, around 25% of the book; this is too short a space and time devotion to this rather vital aspect, as it tries to cover too wide a scope in short, summary format. There...

This is the fifth book in my focus on Indian Business related real stories and case studies; and it ranks right alongside the top 2 in terms of influence on me as a person – perhaps even at the very top. Other books have provided deeper insights, have been greater in their absolute knowledge quotient { if, that is, knowledge can be quantified, which I seriously doubt }; have given deeper and more detailed Marketing and/or business details, that I grant. But in terms of impact on my mind & soul, this book ranks at the very top. My personal congratulations and gratitude to the author for penning this wonder. Superwomen - By Prachi Garg THE PLOT The book is a series of short stories – I don’t want to call them case studies as it would give an incomplete picture of the nature of these stories and this book. These stories are all about women who picked up the challenge and made it in the world of the business of start-ups through sheer dint of effort. Unlike an earlier e...