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Wednesday 20 April 2016

Latha, Rajini and Amudha: Three women who wrote their own script

River streams have their way. And just like they choose their own paths to flow, these three women carved their own destiny, not complacent with staying in the shadows of men who scripted greater success and fame.

Latha Rajan told her husband, K. Pandia Rajan, as they co-founded staffing solutions company Ma Foi in 1992, “If people in the office call me the MD’s wife one year down the line, I will quit.” She was a qualified chartered accountant and had established an independent practice. As Ma Foi rapidly took off by 1994, she took a more active role in the its growth, taking up added responsibilities. She feels people are her strong forte. “Managing HR in a HR company is not easy,” she laughs. She then went on to play a definitive role in social outreach programmes, some of which have grown to benefit a large section of the society.

From L to R: V P Rajini Reddy, Managing Trustee at Swarnabhoomi Academic Institutions; 
Amudha, Founder and Director at Canopo; and Latha Pandiarajan, Co-Founder and Director at Ma Foi Group

V.P. Rajini Reddy dreamt of being an architect. She chose to study civil engineering, an unconventional choice of engineering stream for girls, inspired by her uncle who was running a real estate business employing architects. She joined her uncle’s business just after finishing college. Before she could dip her feet, she got married to merchant banker G.R.K. Reddy. And it was after a short time in Delhi that Reddy wanted to shift to Madras to set up his own venture in merchant banking. Reddy then forayed into real estate, establishing MARG as a visionary brand standing out for mega projects. Rajini Reddy didn’t follow her husband into the business. Instead she founded a software training company, along with partners to start with, and then moved into the outsourcing business on her own. She now takes care of all the educational ventures of the group apart from running the outsourcing business.

Amudha, the eldest daughter of C.K. Ranganathan, whose CavinKare group is behind several retail brands that are household names today, studied visual communications, inspired by her cousin. She knew that she would end up in business and so she took to several projects and trained herself in retail sales, restaurant management, personal grooming and interior design, all within CavinKare group businesses. But she soon realised that she was not going to find her grounding in any of these businesses. Encouraged by her father at every stage of her experimentation, she finally decided that she would run a school for kids. The inspiration came to her from a school called Alphabet that she would longingly look at, on her way to college every day. Once she found her calling, she followed it without a second thought.

Shaping up

The trajectory these women have followed were shaped by circumstance and a desire to stand out. Rajini Reddy’s resolve was strengthened by a near-traumatic experience of G.R.K. Reddy getting kidnapped by a village mafia. Out of the blue, she received a phone call demanding a ransom for her husband’s release. While her husband returned safely after a five-day ordeal, Rajini decided to take more interest in the operations of MARG, in which she was a promoter-director.

Latha simply went through the grind of establishing Ma Foi. She was entrusted with the responsibility of internal operations of the company, while Pandiarajan took care of business development and customer acquisition. Ma Foi Foundation, the social responsibility arm of Ma Foi, engaged itself in several welfare projects, spearheaded by Latha. The underprivileged sections, especially in north Chennai, were the group’s primary focus. Empowering women was what Latha focussed upon keenly. That also propelled her to establish a micro-finance unit.

Amudha was advised by her father to train herself in different areas. She recalls, “When a new soft drink was launched by CavinKare, I was involved in the field sales.” She joined other selling agents of the company at 4 a.m. for a briefing and was set targets. When she was learning operations in the group’s restaurant Veg Nation (which has since been wound up), there was a flash strike by the kitchen staff at around 11 a.m. Guests were expected at 12 noon. Unexpected situations mean unconventional responses as well. Along with the restaurant manager, and a few helpful staff, she wore the apron and cooked a few dishes, having seen it prepared by cooks. “I learnt how to respond to unforeseen situations,” she says. Into their own calling

The sailing was not smooth for these women. It was grit and resolve that took Rajini to overcome adversity and emerge successful. Her first venture, Atlanta Software, failed, not because of the market but when the two co-founders decided to drop it to pursue something else. She took the burden of converting that company into an outsourcing business. RR Infotech was born in 1999 (later renamed Exemplarr in 2008) and was primarily engaged in medical billing and medical transcription services for US clients. Investment was significant, as were the operational expenditure, as it necessitated setting up a US office. She says, “It was a seasonal business and when there was work, it will pour.” Dry days were hard, as whatever was gained evened out during the low period. Though fortunes fluctuated, she stayed put. She expanded first into data entry and then into publishing outsourcing. This was also a seasonal business, but the going was better.

More importantly, bettering herself was Rajini’s priority. People at home always considered her businesses a hobby and thought she could shut it down when her demands increased in the family. She didn’t view life and her business as a hobby but as a path to writing her own story. She got enrolled in the Harvard Business School’s 10-week programme for business owners. Not content with the exposure, she also completed an executive MBA from Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. “People started taking notice of me and my stock went up in the family,” she says. To equip herself in handling finance, she took the ISB course for executives, a grind for 18 months, in which she visited business schools in the United States and Brazil. The exposure not only increased her confidence but also gave her a peer network through which she learnt greatly, especially how to manage finances.

Latha’s Ma Foi success took unexpected turns. Venture capitalists came in a bit later than the initial 273 investors. “My friends and Pandiarajan’s friends helped us with funds at the beginning,” Latha recalls. “People talk of crowd funding. We started our company through that,” she adds. Investment as low as Rs 5000 was taken and shares issued. When the Netherlands-based Vedior wanted to take a significant stake in Ma Foi in 2004, they wanted all the small investors to quit. Vedior gave a great comfort in operations as they were more of a confederate and did not interfere in the company’s affairs. But when Vedior was acquired by Randstad in 2008, everything changed. And the Rajans also exited the staffing business. But they made effort to retain the Ma Foi brand, and went into consulting, education and analytics in 2012. But Latha’s focus is firmly on the micro-finance business, Varam, through which 60,000 women have benefitted. She has invested heavily in the venture after exiting Ma Foi. “Loans worth Rs. 7.5 crore have been disbursed so far,” she says. The beneficiary women have taken to several micro-businesses and continue to earn their livelihood. For instance, flower vendors, petty businesses, and women rearing cows have achieved better livelihood, thanks to Varam.

North Chennai is the prime area of focus for Varam in Chennai Remote locations in Chattisgarh and Maharashtra have also been added now. Ma Foi Foundation also supports a rural healthcare initiative called Ekam Trust. Latha contributes to it significantly by providing financial and mentoring support. Finding that boys in north Chennai love boxing, Latha initiated steps to train the interested boys in boxing. A sports academy is up and running now to train these boys who have taken to winning prizes at prominent events, even at the national level.

Amudha spent her time researching about schools when she decided to set up a school for tiny tots. She travelled across the country to see for herself how children’s schools are run. She researched intensely on the subject as well. Canopo was set up in 2014. Through her learning, she designed a special curriculum that offered a unique experience to the kids as well as mothers. “Infants as young as 10 months are part of our programme,” she beams. Bonding with the mother is the aim of this training and slowly as the infants grow older, they are taught speaking and writing skills. Consciousness of the nature and the environment is given a special focus. By the time the kids are five-and-a-half, they would have undergone basic learning and would have imbibed a few special skills that enhance their thinking and movement.

Rajini is the founder-member of the organisation for empowering women in IT called e-WIT. “The networking opportunities for women are less. They can’t socialise as men do and if they did, that is looked down as not a respectable thing to do,” feels Rajini. The most important difference that e-WIT has made is empowering women professionals in the IT sector to taking up executive positions and senior management roles. Even within MARG, Rajni became a voice for women to play important and higher executive roles.

While underprivileged women and children’s uplift continues to be Latha’s muse, Rajini finds her moorings in women empowerment and in enhancing rural employability, for which she has set up a rural finishing school. The young, dreamy-eyed Amudha aims to expand the footprint of Canopo across India and eventually far and wide as well. And these ventures have no scent of super-achiever husbands of Latha and Rajini or, in the case of Amudha, her father, who wrote his own history in the FMCG business.

Tuesday 19 April 2016

‘Shooter Daadi’: This 75 Year Old Woman Regularly Beats Men In Shooting Competitions

75 year old Prakaso Tomar is such a good shooter that after she beats younger men in shooting competitions, they refuse to be photographed with her “You see my pictures. In most of them, there is no one else in the frame,” she told Yuvadesh with a big smile.

Her fame extends far beyond the village shooting range of Johri, her home. She is disliked by many of the men, and honoured by even more women in western Uttar Pradesh (UP). This region is North India’s badlands. Shooting is not a sport – its a life skill here. Guns are common, and so are gunfights to end arguments. And here, she is known as “shooter daadi”, who regularly wins medals and laurels across India.
At first glance, Tomar doesn’t look like a woman comfortable with a pistol. But a glance is all she needs to set a target and take a perfect shot.

Shooter Dadi aka “PRAKASO TOMAR”
How did she begin her tryst with the revolver?

She first visited the shooting range for her grandson, who’d expressed interest in the sport. Her grandson got her to the shooting range, and she showed a streak of beginner’s luck that made her coach believe that she was a natural. On her regular trips to the shooting range for her grandson’s practice, she began shooting with him. Soon, she was so good that her first few competitions saw her defeat a Delhi Police Deputy Inspector General (DIG). The cop was so embarrassed he left before the prize distribution ceremony!

Today, she’s a role model for local women in the male-dominated region, and there have been many stories of local women practicing shooting. In her words, shooting transcends the sport. “It is not a question of practicing shooting. It is a question of having the confidence to compete with men. For generations women here have had no voice. I am happy that my abilities with the gun has now forced the men folk in these parts to sit up and take notice of what we women are capable of, if given an opportunity.”

Shooting is today what the region is known for, because there’s nothing else of note. No pucca roads, no regular supply of water, and obviously a shortage of regular electricity. The shooting range came up in 1989, and was established by Rajpal Singh, honorary Sports Authority of India shooting coach. In the area’s love of guns, Rajpal saw the potential for marksmanship.
Over a 1000 people have been trained at the shooting range, most of whom are women today. Many of the great marksmen it has produced also seem to have benefited from the discipline involved. This includesRubi Tomar (Punjab Police), Seema Tomar and Varsha Tomar (Indian Army) and Shefali Tomar (University of Chandigarh), and Rajiv Jatav, the son of a brick-kiln worker (Central Reserve Police Force)

Monday 18 April 2016

This 26-year-old doctor turned serial entrepreneur and investor has invested in 26 startups

26! Yes, you read that right. And yes, it does sound super-human. That’s not all, Ritesh Malik has been listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 in the Finance and Venture list (Asia) 2016.


Ritesh Malik, the 26- year- old doctor turned entrepreneur and investor:

Ritesh graduated from the Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R Medical University in 2013. While in medical school, he developed a keen interest in entrepreneurship. In 2010, he ‘bunked’ most of the semester and attended the Marketing Science 101 course at London School of Economics. There he learnt about how the Silicon Valley was booming and buzzing with startups and sustainability. In 2012, a major breakthrough came when Adstuck (a company Ritesh co-founded in his final year of medicine) sold its flagship product (ALIVE) to Times of India. After this feat, in 2013, Ritesh decided to study ‘Management of Innovation & Technology’ at Harvard University. Ritesh is a polymath with experience across sectors like, healthcare, information technology, management, entrepreneurship, angel investments, social entrepreneurship, and innovation.

Ritesh is also the Founder and CEO of Guerilla Ventures, an angel fund that was founded in 2013, with a focus on hardware companies. As per Forbes, one of the portfolio companies, Fin Robotics, a wearable gadget manufacturer, is the first hardware product company to raise Series A funding. Ritesh has invested in over 26 companies that include RHLvision, Wigzo, AddoDoc, Mashinga, and Flipmotion, among others.


Ritesh also actively collaborates with the Government of India to help build college entrepreneurship ecosystem in the country to champion ‘Startup India Standup India’ in the nether regions.


He adds, “Through project Guerilla, we take the President and Prime Minister to far flung colleges where no one goes. For example, we took the President to G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, which is the largest agriculture university in the world. We organised an innovation workshop for 10,000 students and also understood what they need to be able to innovate while sensitising them about startups. More than the hyper-evaluated startup market, we’re focussing on the small and medium size startup groups.”

“Money doesn’t motivate me”

Ritesh says that he has two clear goals right now – encourage more women to take up entrepreneurship, and serve the rural market’s needs, by leveraging technology. He says, “There are only about nine per cent of women entrepreneurs in India, and I hope to take this number to 45 per cent in the next seven years. I know that that is ambitious. As for the rural market, agriculture is the largest sector followed by healthcare and retail and not many are catering to the first one.”

Most people start investing only when they are in their 40’s, especially doctors. But Ritesh didn’t have to wait for so long as he had found his calling. So, has he bid farewell to medicine? He quips, “I’ve not left medicine, it is my first love, I just don’t practice it.” Ritesh also manages his father’s hospital (Radix Healthcare) and is chalking out plans for expansion. “I just feel as a doctor I could just reach about 100 patients a day, but by leveraging technology I can reach 100 million a day”, says the docpreneur and investor.

Success didn’t come easy

While studying medicine, Ritesh would often travel to IIT Madras, and that is where he met his first co-founder Abhishek Shankar. Abhishek was building a product in augmented reality and had a couple of patents under his belt. Ritesh suggested integrating augmented reality with healthcare and start an augmented reality platform for doctors, which would assist and connect doctors across geographies and get real-time guidance while performing surgeries in rural areas. The startup tanked because there were few takers, and the infrastructure to support such a platform wasn’t there. But, it was this failure that gave Ritesh and Abhishek the idea for ALIVE, which ultimately brought them appreciation and all the goodies galore.

Ritesh used the capital that he accrued from ALIVE’s sale to invest in other 26 startups.

In search of smart investment opportunities, especially in hardware, Ritesh turned to the startup village in Kochi. “The startup village today has 10 funded startups out of which nine are ours”, says the proud investor.
His investment mantra, pet peeve, and management tips
Ritesh believes that his investment mantra – to invest in people – is the most critical success factor. He says,

If the idea is too early and the market doesn’t exist yet, these factors can always be pivoted, but a good team cannot be pivoted.

He adds that he doesn’t believe in strong arming an entrepreneur. “All we do is suggest and the final call is always with the entrepreneur. Mistakes and failure are part and parcel. If you don’t fail, you’re not going to be able to make a valuable product.”

He talks about his pet peeve, I often ask entrepreneurs – What do you want to build. And nothing frustrates me more when they say a ‘$1 billion company’. The focus should always be about creating value, not valuations.

Ritesh started investing in companies at a very young age. So far he has invested in over 26 companies. We quiz him on the ninja skills it takes to keep an eye on all his investments, “It’s all my team. I look pretty with all the accolades, but actually it’s Vivek, Hemanth, Ankush and Russel from my team who deserve all the attention. I don’t understand technology deeply and, in all honesty, I have forgotten most of my medical knowledge as well. What I am now is just a people manager, I infuse dreams in them and give them the freedom to innovate and fail and get the best out of themselves. My dreams are aligned with their dreams.”
Of learnings and future plans
Not one to rest on his laurels, Ritesh is back in his entrepreneur shoes with Innov8, a co-working space in Delhi (launched in November 2015). His experiences taught him that the most vital aspect of a startup is community building and startups are all about tinkering. Ritesh adds, “They’re about meeting new people and interacting with them and synergising win-win situations to create growth hacking and disruption in the conventional business models. That’s how a unique idea of a business networking platform, Innov8 emerged. Innov8 is a platform to connect a community of freelancers, entrepreneurs, corporates, tech innovators and investors under one roof and in a social environment.” With his latest venture, Innov8, he aims to encourage product-based startups to be a part of the ecosystem and envisions to make India a product nation.

Innov8 gives women extra incentive to startup. “The step is called #innov84women. I personally feel women founders are amazing. Women manage businesses very well, they use investor money very judiciously. Much better than men! We give discounts to women and help them on their strategy and conduct events such as Women Who Code, Angel Event, etc.,” says Ritesh. He aims to build Delhi as the next Silicon Valley after SFO, Tel Aviv, and Bengaluru by setting up the flagship Innov8 property in Connaught Place in New Delhi.


Ritesh’s advice to fellow entrepreneurs and investors is to not invest in the current trends but visualise the products that will foray into the market and invest in those. Another pearl of wisdom from him is to learn the art of delegation. “People can do much better than you, just give them the freedom to execute and you’ll see results.”

Ritesh is proud of every mistake and failure. He says, “I celebrate failure. Those are the events which actually push you towards success and are the very building blocks of the person you become.” He laughs as he says,

I have had so many failures that it’s hard to choose the best one of the lot.

Saturday 16 April 2016

The story of a woman who followed her heart and hopes to never find her destination

“I have come to believe that the best kind of walk, or journey, is the one in which you have no particular destination when you set out.” – Ruskin Bond

Sheela Lunkad at a curated makers’ market
This isn’t a story of woman entrepreneur who found her eureka moment, broke societal shackles and discovered a venture with sky-rocketing revenues. This is the story of a 43-year-old woman, who doesn’t have a pre-defined destination. She’s chosen to embrace her journey and create mini-destinations – to inspire people to simply, “follow their heart and find their calling(s).”

Delhiite Sheela Lunkad had been drawn to the creative arts for as long as she can remember. She was always encouraged by her parents, teachers, and friends to explore her creative potential. After a degree in architecture, she and husband Rajiv, who was her senior, started Just another Lemon Treewith four friends. She says, “We used to have a small workshop and we’d make diverse products (such as trays, mugs, baskets, and furniture). This was our foray into design and it released a lot of our latent interests.” They shut the company in less than a year to explore bigger, unchartered avenues.

Finding her passion for people, arts and spaces

Her first professional assignment was to create a living exhibition for the 2002 Smithsonian Folk Life Festival, in Washington, DC. Unifying over 400 artisans, musicians, and scholars from 24 countries along the Old Silk Route (Venice, Italy to Nara, Japan), the month-long festival “was an eye-opener, which allowed her to design 3, 500 metres of textiles as well as curate the space. She excitedly says, “I fell in love with creating spaces and doing them up. And I, who had studied things from a larger perspective, saw things bottom up.”

After three years, she managed the construction and interiors of Fabindia’s 8, 000 sq ft flagship store in the Greater Kailash in New Delhi. She has also helped build the stores in Jaipur, Chennai, Dubai and Guangzhou (China). She says, “I started out as the only in-house architect and later became the head of design. I also designed and developed their entire home furnishings – linen, upholstery and furniture. It was empowering and life-changing.”

This was when Fabindia was expanding and they decided to decentralise and set up smaller subsidiary companies across India. Next, Sheela moved to Jaipur as the CEO of Desert Artisans Handicrafts. She says,

I asked myself one question – how can traditional crafts such as jhunjunoo, bandhej, and bagru be revived to suit contemporary needs and percolate into every household?

And over the next two-and-a-half years, she was able to bring together over 2, 500 craftspeople and the company grew 300 per cent. Many artisan families became shareholders and grew with the company.

After almost nine years, Sheela decided to take a break – to travel, spend time with her sons, read and cook. Little did she know, her entrepreneurial journey was about to start.

Creating spaces to inspire the world and finding her next calling

She ventured into eco-tourism, which brought together her love for nature, crafts, spaces and people! She created the Turtle Beach Resort in Sindhudurg district, famed for idyllic beaches where Olive Ridley turtles nest in the season.

After sandy beaches, it was the mountains that beckoned, where she helped build Jilling Terraces – a boutique eco-hotel – amidst 100-acres of lush forests, tucked in the South Gola mountain range in Uttaranchal. The resort’s five rooms, inspired by local Himalayan flora such as wild cherry trees, bay berry, scarlet rhododendrons, bamboos and alder, use all these elements in the design. She says, A Jilling Terraces room from the inside completely made out of available local resources.


The idea was to create something rustic that would allow people to be in sync with nature and the locals.

Jilling Terraces during late evening
Jilling Terraces also caters to corporate off-sites for whom Sheela creates customised workshops such as ‘Going Vegan’ and ‘Sweat Lodge’ (A Mexican form of meditation). The entire resort is run by locals, something Sheela is proud of, “We had a couple who started out by just helping us but they are managers today. It’s heartening to see them settle.”

While setting up Jilling Terraces, she realised a vacuum existed in the Indian market. She says, “In Jilling, everything is handmade and customised. We had local artisans, with whom I have long-standing relationships, create masterpieces for us. But how many people have access to these craftsmen and vice-versa? This gap has spurred industrialization and mass production.”

And that’s how she found her next calling – Direct Create.Direct Create – An online community platform to bridge the gap between makers and consumers

Sheela says, “Unfortunately, industrialisation allows scale but not customisation. As individuals, we are all creative, but the lack of right platforms to engage with the right people is stopping us from unleashing that creativity.”

She further says, “Technology can act as a catalyst bringing the artisans and customers closer. Imagine, how lovely it would be if a Bhagalpur weaver gets a chance to work withMadhubani painters – because that’s the kind of customisation you want.”

Just a year old, Direct Create claims to be one of India’s first online community platforms that allows makers, designers and buyers to connect, collaborate and co-create. While it’s currently in beta and hopes to go live in the next two months, Sheela has already hosted multiple events under the banner such as curating marketplaces for the Jaipur Film Festival and INK Talks. By end of this year, Sheela will bring together 500 makers, 300 designers and 1,000 buyers on Direct Create.

She tells us about one of the artisans a young girl from Phugalia. “She had stepped out of her home for the first time and was extremely shy. But the minute a customer spoke to her, she would explain the entire process of her craft and the happiness in her eyes when someone bought her stuff was unparalleled. She also sought suggestions on how to be even better at her craft.”

The consumption of traditional handicrafts has undoubtedly gone up, but the effort to ensure that artisans are continually improvising is dismal. How many times will you buy the same ghoda and haathi? Celebrating Indian artisans isn’t about poverty alleviation; buying a product shouldn’t be because one feels sorry at their plight but because one loves art. That’s what empowers artisans to create better products, to innovate and ultimately build a new market.

Encouraging people to buy more from the maker community, Sheela explains, I say from experience that the one thing consumers get from the makers’ community is positive energy. Every product is handmade, with great detailing, and a sense of love and affection. Remember, they are putting years of traditional wisdom and creativity into a product and in today’s cluttered world where everyone is seeking something meaningful of their own, these products create a sense of belonging. Because, indirectly, you’re connecting to the goodwill of the people.

On a parting note, she says, I have always asked myself what it is I really wanted at a point in time, and have gone after it. For me, entrepreneurship is about finding with clarity, the core of what you want to do.

Friday 15 April 2016

Bootstrapped and growing at 300 pc YoY – meet the Indian startup behind world’s first wireless charging tablet

We cannot imagine a life devoid of technology: smartphones, handheld devices and tablets today play important roles in our lives. But in 2011, the Indian market was just getting a sense of what has now become a technology overload. It was back then when Ravi Jakhar, Aditya Agrawal and Rohit Sharma came up with the idea of ICE X Electronics.

Today, ICE hasn’t only gone ahead and built one of the first wireless charging tablets, it has also been one of the first Indian companies to be featured on Amazon Launchpad. And moving from smartphones and tablets, ICE has gone ahead to build smart devices, drones and smart rings. Currently, ICE is available with Amazon in US, UK and other EU nations, apart from India.

“As the world is moving towards smart devices, it was important to take innovation to the next level and build a portfolio of smart devices. We expanded the design team to work on smart devices and it took us more than a year to develop the initial set of products,” adds 34-year-old Aditya.

Ravi, Aditya and Rohit in the early days
A run down memory lane

In 2011, when the trio had started ICE, they began with first working on the product and apart from building their own brand, they would make products for other brands. By 2013, they had clocked sales worth Rs 10 crore for their own brand and Rs 40 crore for other brands.

“We had wanted to bring in innovation in the tablet and smartphone space in India, and have been able to achieve several firsts,” adds Aditya. Thus, deciding to focus on building better products by 2014-15 the team decided to work only on their own brand and products and stop work for other brands.

They decided to launch their new products in the overseas market. Most of these devices involved substantial research and investment and hence due to higher price it made sense to sell them in an international market. They developed a levitating speaker and smart glasses and are soon launching smart ring and drones.




Apart from building value products, the team wanted to create something that is price-agnostic, wherein the customers perceive the value of the product based on innovation and utility.

“Ironically, some of our innovative products are not available on Amazon India and we are in talks with them to bring them to India soon,” adds Aditya. Internationally, the products sell at a run rate of close to $one million month on month.

However, the transition wasn’t easy. When the team decided to shift focus from other brands to building their own products, they had to forgo a significant revenue. The next challenge they faced were dealing with the regulatory issues of setting up scale in international markets. From sorting out the methods of revenue collection, payment, testing and overseas staffing, the team had to clear several stages.

Some products such as drones were not allowed to be imported in India and they had to test them entirely outside India. Operationally, they witnessed a sudden scale-up in work both in India and for US and Europe and had to cater to different kinds of products for different markets and clear new testing standards. “We managed all these problems by establishing an overseas presence and through better work planning and expansion of our R&D team,” adds Aditya.

ICE initially was available across online as well as offline channels. The team realised they had to keep up with the management resource demand as organisational needs had to be constantly restructured and finding new talent is also not easy.

“It helped as we stayed focussed on selected verticals and today we are focussed on e-commerce and TV-commerce,” adds Aditya.
Breaking different markets

India is a price-driven market. and it is difficult to bring the lowest price product all the time and at the same time maintain the quality of the product. So this meant keeping the margins tight and removing all the intermediaries.

“We have launched 4G tablet – ICE Ultima at sub-Rs 5,000, exclusively with Snapdeal. We are further building the portfolio of 4G devices for Indian market and would be soon launching a range of 4G smartphones at affordable price points,” adds Aditya.

Their international portfolio has grown from one to four products and the other two are slated to launch soon. In the last six months of their international presence the team has grown 300 percent and in India the team sells close to 60,000 tablets a month, projecting a 250 percent growth in the last year.

In terms of product, the future is all about wearables and ICE wants to be in every device that a person can use and wear. This includes tablets, smartphones and other wearable and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

“In terms of international markets, we are working on increasing the depth of our distribution in the countries we are already present. Apart from this we also have plans to launch in the Middle East. We want to build a global brand and we know that we would achieve our target by 2020,” adds Aditya.
The wearables and device market

It is no surprise that the world is at the brink of a device and wearable revolution. According to an IDC report, the market is poised to witness a growth of over 173 percent. In 2014 during a digital consumer service, consumers in India were ranked amongst the highest in buying wearable products and devices. These included tracking devices, smartwatches and eyeglasses.

There are going to be close to 80 billion connected devices by 2020. The past few years has seen a growing buzz in the space. In the mobile and tablets space, Indian player Micromax has captured a decent size of the market.

However, there were reports that Micromax lost close to 50 percent of its market share, even though the shipments of smartphones in the country is said to have jumped 29 percent, with 103 million units.

The reason for this drop is believed to be a rapid growth of Chinese mobile phones, that are affordable and of good quality. According to a report by Counterpoint research, these brands are believed to have doubled, to 18 per cent. It would be interesting to see if their Indian counterparts and newer brands can catch up.

Thursday 14 April 2016

How to change the world from a chai shop

“Because of the opportunities created by exponentially growing communication technologies, many of the best and brightest have been lured in by an app-tilted playing field, which has both entrepreneurs and venture capitalists believing that three years to profitability and exit should be the norm. Of course if your true passion is building apps, then build away. But let’s be clear: when Steve Jobs said that the goal of every entrepreneur is to ‘put a dent in the universe’, he wasn’t talking about next Angry Birds!” – Peter H. Diamandis, Bold.

Bandwagons

An average Indian finds it a great achievement if he snags a seat on a passenger train or bus, which typically run full. And rightly so; it is usually a fierce battle and takes a lot of luck to find a seat. One has to strategise quite a bit to get them.

The above metaphor fits to the world of startups. Prospective entrepreneurs search for opportunities like people search for the right trains and buses. These trains and buses come unreserved, so it is vital for them to fight. If they have access to resources and funds they get promoted to a less crowded though still unreserved wagons. Those who can manage to find a seat, win. Those who can’t, lose. Game over.

Here’s where the metaphor ends. Train and bus journeys are supposed to be commutes between two points. Unlike companies; while stated objective of a given company might be to sell as many flavored and colored sugary water bottles as possible, they do leave a lot of social, economic, and ecological footprints. Entrepreneurs will not mind if the companies they start end up making the world a better place, but this is not their primary concern either. At least not for the so-called ‘for-profits’.

Utilitarianism 101

“The danger in trying to do good is that the mind comes to confuse the intent of goodness with the act of doing things well.”- Ursula K. Le Guin, Tales from Earthsea

Does consequence matter more than just intent? Is trying to eliminate world hunger, fight poverty, increase production and eliminate waste, cure diseases, and improve the conditions of a particular region or section of the society all such worthy pursuits? Is it possible to have some idea of the effects that the actions of people or entities exert upon one another? Does long term or indirect or inconspicuous aspects of actions also matter?

If you answer affirmatively to most of these questions, you are a fellow utilitarian. That is, someone who respects the idea that we must strive to do maximum good for maximum beings. We often get swayed by the problems we see around us, and rightly so. Some of us would try to solve these problems, but would bother less about the problems we don’t see right in front of us, or the ones which are highly imperceptible, or in the far future. But we live in an extensively intertwined world. The effect of what we do resonates at far-off places and far-off times, and what happens there affects us. When we decide to do something, we decide not to do almost everything else. Opportunity cost of doing something is the value of its best alternative forgone, and this best alternative might be something you didn’t know, or you didn’t know that you didn’t know. The most important decision you will ever make is where to invest your time and energy and money.

On a less bombastic note, we don’t even have a rich enough vocabulary to address the social, ecological, economic impacts of companies. How much good does McDonald’s do? Yes it gives you the pleasure of arguably tasty food and saves time, which may improve the quality of life and productivity of people, it employs a lot of workers and supports them. But does it not create a culture of consumerism, and health concerns, and a lot of waste? How do we weigh the pros and cons? We, at best, have kneejerk answers.
Valuation vs. value

Valuation, in business jargon, is the expected worth of a company, which is a combination of its current as well as prospective assets. In other words, the valuation of a company is how much money a company has in its own kitty and that of others it has a firm grasp on. Adjusting for the future value of time, of course.

However, this is not synonymous with the value that the company will generate. Similar to the McDonald’s example, the value of an e-commerce company like Flipkart is a function of time and money it saves for people, the choices it provides, the employment it generates, the impact on allied economies, numbers of storerooms and air conditioners saved, the enhancement in productivity, the number of dependent business it would spin. On the other hand, it would introduce a culture of consumerism and waste. The overall assessment is very complex, but it is way too easy to shrug it off as merely a subjective and personal choice. More on the issues with personal choice in a previous article we had written.

The accepted dichotomy these days is that there are either companies who sell products and services, and are typically for profit. Or if you are concerned about a social or environmental problem, you are quickly termed as a social entrepreneur, and you better not aim for any profits. So, either make money or make good. (Yes, there is corporate social responsibility, and ‘for-profit’ social enterprises, but these are very few). The irony in this demarcation has always been apparent, but now we have tools to actually unlearn it. ‘The best way to become a billionaire is to solve a billion persons’ problem’. Y combinator has prescribed a list of fundable startup ideas that matter.
The real meaning of value
What is the status of arts, and cinema, and video games, and pure maths, and Mars mission in this utilitarian picture? What value, for example, video games create (apart from the arguably debauched personal pleasure)? The answer is that the apparent personal pleasure is also a type of value, however degraded, and as soon we lift the canvas, various additional hidden values comes to surface. Video games industry has given rise to fantastic visual tools, simulations, technological breakthroughs, and these are now being used from training to remote surgery to teaching maths. The value of arts and cinema may not be immediate, but they give a sense of meaning and higher pleasure to the audience.

So, any calculus which measures the value of an enterprise must take into account the less tangible elements of beauty, depth, and effects on the far future. It must capture what John Keating said in the Dead Poets Society, “..medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for”.

References –
Cover pic: Luke Muehlhauser
Other pic: Funders and Founders
Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler, 2015, Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World, Simon & Schuster
William MacAskill, 2015, Doing Good Better, Gotham

Wednesday 13 April 2016

Dr Saundarya Rajesh is helping 1000s of women restart their career

Dr Saundarya Rajesh has been championing the cause of career opportunities for women who have taken breaks after marriage, motherhood, or relocation for over a decade. She was chosen as one of the 100 Women Achievers of 2016 and was felicitated by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee and Maneka Gandhi, the Minister of state for Women and Child Development, in January this year.

Founder of AVTAR career creators and the AVTAR I-WIN network (for women returning to work after a break), 47-year-old Saundarya has won several commendations and awards in her career spanning two decades, but there is a special place in her heart for a simple card. She says, “In 2008, I received a card that was made by an 11-year-old boy. He thanked me for finding his mother a job after an eight-year break. That is the best award I will ever get!”


The statistics

Though participation of women in different sectors of the organised workforce has undergone phenomenal changes over the last 30 years, in terms of sheer numbers there has been a decline in women’s workforce participation; during the time window from 1990 to 2010, the decline is at almost eight per cent. The fact that gender equality plays an important role in economic development has long been proven by social researchers. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report shows a positive correlation between higher female labour force participation and per capita GDP.

So what does it mean for India? Over the next 40 years, India is projected to add 424 million working-age adults. According to a 2015 study commissioned by McKinsey Global Institute,if India can increase women’s labour force participation by 10 percentage points (68 million more women) by 2025, India could increase its GDP by 16 per cent. That means an estimated Rs 46 lakh crore ($700 billion) addition to India’s GDP. Also when women are given a Hobson’s choice of either family or career, the nation stands to lose the investment made in women’s education.

AVTAR I-WIN

Saundarya set up recruitment consulting firm AVTAR career creators in 2000. When Saundarya started the online platform called AVTAR I-WIN in 2005, it was the first time a system was set up exclusively to help women re-enter the workplace. They organise counselling sessions, career-entry programmes, skill-building and networking sessions, second career as well as early career recruitment. With an employee strength of 75, AVTAR I-WIN has helped 8,000 women get back to work after a career break.


Overcoming obstacles

When Saundarya began evangelising the concept of second careers for women in 2005, she had to face management of companies as well as recruitment agencies who would reject point blank the resumes of women who had taken a break. “There was a mental block and they would ask me why I could not send them serious resumes,” she says.

Saundarya decided that the problem had to be approached differently. She started convincing organisations that women who had taken breaks were a viable group for employment. Soon corporates that were hungry for good talent, decided to try out Saundarya’s suggestion – engaging “returning” women professionals. The very first recorded instance of a ‘second career’ programme in Indian industry took place in July 2006 under the stewardship of Saundarya. Around 400 women re-entered the workplace for the first time.

Saundarya began counselling organisations to develop a Gender Inclusion plan. Using research and analytics, she focussed on the monetary value that organisations would accrue if they invested in women’s careers.

The legacy

Today, Saundarya travels extensively speaking in various conferences and forums on the benefits and importance of engaging with women on career breaks. The AVTAR I-WIN network has grown to about 40,000 women professionals and is today a destination not only for women professionals, but also for organisations that want to leverage this gender inclusive talent strategy. Several organisations have started offering critical roles to women after a break. Organisations such as Hindustan Unilever, Axis Bank, Godrej, Goldman Sachs, Axis Bank, Fidelity, HCL, Godrej, Philips, and Microsoft have also started their exclusive second career programmes.

How women rock!

The very first project that AVTAR undertook, 15 years ago, was that of the privatisation of the Chennai Container Terminal. The expats in charge were not happy about the fact that they were giving them the profiles of women engineers, rather than men for the position of “Fork-Lift Operator”. Saundarya says that a woman engineer who attended the interview went on to perform it excellently, sitting 25 feet above the ground in a small cabin and operating the fork-lift with finesse, and thus landed the job!

Childhood amidst nature

Saundarya is nostalgic about her childhood in Puducherry, in a world without televisions and smartphones, spent reading her favourite books and cycling to her school that was nestled amidst mango orchards. She wanted to teach English when she grew up.

The Madras University Gold medallist in English Literature in 1988, she met her husband Rajesh who was her batch mate while pursuing MBA. A mother of two, she quit her job at Citibank after her first child was born. Her own experiences while trying to get back to work post motherhood led her to her calling.


The inspiration

Saundarya says, “In the 90s aspirations of women had to be restricted to either children or career, and managing both was tough.” She struggled to find a job that gave her flexibility since her children were young along with an opportunity to exercise her skills, and so turned to teaching. She taught as a guest lecturer at the MOP Vaishnav College for women, Chennai, and could understand first-hand the calibre of Indian women through her students.

Also when Saundarya visited the UK on a Chevening Scholarship in 2005, she interacted with several professionals (male and female) who took up only part-time or project-based assignments. She met an engineer, who lived in the country and tended a tulip garden and a web technologist, who was part of a Shakespearean theatre group. “This beautiful dichotomy truly inspired me. I thought what if we supported the need of Indian women to manage home and hearth, while at the same time not waste their talent and skills?” Today, Saundarya has the satisfaction of translating that thought into an organisation that helps thousands of women.

Saturday 9 April 2016

रतलाम शहर में रहने वाले राम के बेटे दशरथ चाय वाले की कहानी

इस बार मध्यप्रदेश यात्रा के दौरान जयपुर से दोपहर दो बजे निकल कर रतलाम जाने के निश्चय किया तक़रीबन छह सौ किलोमीटर का सफर था साथी अमित जो सुबह नौ बजे से गाड़ी चला रहा था ने कहा चलिए सर देख लेंगे। जब पार्टनर ने कहा देख लेंगे तो मैंने भी कह दिया देख लेंगे। खैर गिरते पड़ते चित्तौड़गढ़ के सोमानी रेस्टोरेंट पर पंद्रह रूपये का पापड़  खाने का अनुभव लेते हुए सुबह आठ बजे रतलाम शहर जा पहुंचे और अमित ने एक होटल वाली गली में गाडी घुसा दी। उस समय में ऊंघ रहा था पर जैसे ही गाडी घूमी तो थोड़ी मेरी नींद खुल गयी और एक अजीब सा शोर मेरे कानों में सुनाई दिया।  मैंने उस एक नजर   घुमाई तो देखा पुलिस की पीसीआर खड़ी है , कुछ सीटियों की आवाजें सुनाई पड़ रही हैं। मैंने मन में सोचा "सुसरा लगै है रौला हो ग्या" और बिना कोई ध्यान दिए मैँ होटल की सीढ़ियां चढ़ने लगा। कमरा लेकर सो गया, शाम को छह बजे नहा कर घूमने के इरादे से नीचे उतरा तो देखा बाहर सुबह से भी ज्यादा भीड़ भड़क्का और रौला कटा हुआ था। पुलिस की पीसीआर भी वहां खड़ी हुई थी। मुझे लगा के भाई लगता है कोई कसूता ही प्रोग्राम सेट हो गया है । उत्सुक भाव से आगे बढ़ा तो शोर शराबे वाली जगह से कोई सौ मीटर दूर से ही लोगों की लाइन जैसी स्थिति दिखी और पास जा कर देखा दिमाग घूम गया। यह एक चाय की दुकान थी जिसके दोनों और सौ सौ मीटर के इलाके में लाइन लगी थी और लोग चाय लेकर वहीँ पर भजिये , पोहा , वडा पाँव , समोसे का आनंद ले रहे थे। तकरीबन दस के आसपास पर्सनल सिक्योरिटी गार्ड सादी वर्दी में ट्रैफिक और भीड़ को नियंत्रित करने में मदद कर रहे थे। दुकान का नाम था बजरंग टी स्टाल। वास्तु के नियमों की ऐसी तैसी करती दूकान के मालिक है दशरथ भाई सुपुत्र राम लाल जिनकी दूकान के लम्बाई सात मीटर , आगे की चौड़ाई तीन मीटर और पीछे की चौड़ाई मात्र एक मीटर थी। बीस लीटर के पतीले में चाय का एक बैच तैयार किया जाता है। प्रत्येक गर्म पतीले को उठने के लिए चारपाई का पावा बड़ी बेदर्दी से ठोका गया है । पतीले में ठुके हुए लकड़ी के पावे की  मदद से पतीला कारीगर के हाथ में आसानी से आ जाता है। चाय को छानने के चक्कर से बचने के लिए कपडे की एक पोटली में चाय की पत्ती बाँध कर पतीले में लटका दी जाती है। पांच रुपये की हाफ चाय जिसे कटिंग कहा जाता है और दस रुपये की फुल  चाय। बिना पैसे दिए पोहा लो चाय लो , एक लो या दस लो कोई पैसा नहीं मांगता। साइड में खड़े हो कर आराम से खाओ और चाय पियो। मन करे एक और ले लो। उसके बाद जा कर गल्ले पर खड़े दशरथ भाई या उनके बेटे को बताओ क्या क्या खाया पिया , वो पैसे बताएँगे और बस हो गया हिसाब।  तीस रुपये में आप लगभग हर एक आइटम टेस्ट कर सकते हैं। क्या पुलिस वाले , क्या दुकानदार और क्या स्टूडेंट सुबह साढ़े चार बजे से दिन भर  और रात ग्यारह बजे तक ऐसे ही मेला लगा रहता है। दशरथ भाई छटी कक्षा पास करके काम धंधे की तलाश ,में रतलाम आ गए। कई छोटे मोटे काम आजमाने के बाद तीस वर्ष पहले एक आड़ा टेढ़ा जमीन का टुकड़ा ले लिए और तीन की छत रख कर बजरंग बली जी के नाम से चाय बेचने लगे। तब से ले कर आज तक सिर्फ गुडरिक चायपत्ती ही प्रयोग करते हैं । चाय में पानी कभी नहीं मिलाया जाता सिर्फ दूध में पत्ती और ईलायची। सुनील और विकास इनके दो बेटे हैं जो बारी बारी से दूकान पर गल्ले की ड्यूटी देते हैं। चाय देने और गिलास उठाने के लिए 10 लड़कों की टीम है। कुल मिला कर एक छोटी से दूकान जिसमें बैठने की कोई जगह नहीं है और दूकान मालिक भी नौ घंटे खड़ा ही रहता है कम से कम बीस परिवारों का पेट भर रही है। दुकान में चारों और सात सी सी टीवी कैमरे लगाये गए हैं ताकि भीड़ का फायदा उठा कर कोई झोल झाल ना कर सके। प्रिय पाठकों दशरथ भाई का मोबाइल नंबर  9179787303 है । आप कभी भी रतलाम जाएँ तो दशरथ भाई की चाय जरूर पी कर आएं। उनकी दूकान रेलवे स्टेशन रतलाम  से मात्र दो सौ मीटर पर स्तिथ है।

                    बजरंग रेस्टोरेंट का दृश्य सामने से सुबह छेह बजे  

     सी सी टी वी डिस्प्ले 

दशरथ भाई की टीम    
  
दशरथ भाई का चित्र    

Friday 8 April 2016

How 22-year-old Saman Pahwa achieved Rs 34 lakh revenue with his one-year-old startup

Age has become just a number in the startup world. And it is quite evident in the Forbes’ List of Achievers that comprises 45 Indian entrepreneurs under the age of 30. This is a story of 22-year-old Delhi-based Saman Pahwa, who despite the disapproval of his parents, chose to be an entrepreneur.

While still a student at Delhi’s Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, Saman realised that the gift market is limited to Hallmark, Archie’s, and small gift shops with boring gifts.

His startup, Handmade Junction, founded in April 2015, allows users to order personalised, handmade and custom gifts online and have it delivered to their doorsteps.

Handmade Junction initially sold their products online through their Facebook page. Moreover, putting up stalls at across Delhi University was another option to expand their customer base. The positive reviews and reactions towards the products strengthened Saman’s determination to take Handmade Junction to the next level.

Saman Pahwa and Simran Jeet Singh
Saman quit his MNC job in Gurgaon to follow his passion for Handmade Junction. Because of the dearth of technology expertise, Saman decided to run the Handmade Junction Website on e-commerce platform Zepo. Zepo allows businesses to setup stores online and offers everything from integrated payment gateways to marketing support. FedEx has tied up to offer logistic support to all the online stores.

Saman’s brother Simran Jeet Singh (28) joined the business in April 2015 and they have invested Rs 1 lakh as seed capital. Simran, who also works in a FMCG company in Gurgaon, looks after the Digital Marketing, SEO, and New Product Ideas at Handmade Junction.
A journey towards the junction

The product range of Handmade Junction includes photo lamps, unique LED Collage (which contains more than 200 pictures), customised inside cover of dairy milk silk, temptation box with vodka and unique scroll card. The products are priced between Rs 300 and 3,900, and Handmade Junction gains a margin of 35–40 per cent.

Customers are asked to email customised messages and images once they place an order on the website. Moreover, the team also interacts with the customers to understand their requirements and designs. Once the product is prepared, a draft is shared with the customer and the products are only delivered after they receive a confirmation from the customer.

We have in-house carpenter who make wooden base for our lamps. We also import acrylic pipes from China and we have tied-up with a Canon franchisee store for printing,” says Saman.

The startup has tied up with seven to eight vendors based out of Delhi-NCR to procure the materials. And for Digital Printing and Laser Engraving, they have two more vendors.

Handmade Junction has a team of five people, including the Saman and Simran. Kritika Arora looks after the designing of the products, Ram Chander is for packaging, and Sunil Kumar takes care of the local delivery of the products.

The products of Handmade Junction are also sold via Giveter, GiftingNation, Giftsvilla,Craftsvilla and Shoppo App, which generates 3.6 per cent of the total number of sales.

Number of deliveries

Handmade Junction has delivered more than 4,000 orders in the last one and half year. The website currently sees 8,000 to 9,000 unique visitors per month. Handmade Junction is growing at a rate of 10 per cent month-on-month in terms of revenue. This fiscal year, it has achieved a revenue of Rs 34 lakhs annually. Apart from Delhi, the platform also witness customers from Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.

A glimpse of the market

According to a report by Technopak, the gifting market in India is estimated to be $40 to 42 billion with a handful of players (which comprises corporate gifting and personal gifting) witnessing the annual growth in the range of 20–40 per cent. Flaberry.com, RednBrown, BuddyGifting, PictureBite, Indibni are few of them who are in the tug of war to stay ahead of the competition in the personalised gifting space.

Handmade Junction aims to reach one lakh visitors per month and expand their product range with microcontroller-based personalised gifts, unique gifts for kids and parents in a couple of years. Being a new baby in the personalised gifting space, the startup managed to stay profitable in terms of unit economics. The startup is in talks with some of the investors and is likely to be part of an Incubator programme. Handmade Junction app, which will be launched soon, will add credibility to the growth trajectory, where users can send requests by sharing images via Pinterest, Instagram, Etsy, and more.