Rockstars of Apps Ecosystem - Thinking Aloud! · PDF fileprominent tech entrepreneurs on the...

Ritesh AgarwalFounder & CEO, OYO Rooms

October 2015 · `40 · thinkingaloud.in

H E L P I N G Y O U T H I N K O N L I N E

One of the key indicators of a consistently growing economy is NOT when market leaders grow and take the industry with them. It is when the smaller entrepreneurial ventures starts growing at a fast pace and provides newer dimensions to the economic ecosystem of a country. One such emerging domain is the Indian New Age Business space. With the emergence of new technologies, we are witnessing an onset of a whole new arena of businesses and businessmen and the decline in fortune of some old established ones who have failed to move ahead with this new technology. We can take the example of e-commerce which is a product of the internet and telecommunication revolution and today has challenged the traditional brick-and-mortar marketplace. According to the Global consulting firm, Gartner, the Indian e-commerce market is will reach $6 billion in 2015, a 70% increase in revenue 2014 revenue of $3.5 billion. India is now known as the US of the Asia Pacific Region. The entire competition amongst ‘etailers’ today is to grab the customer’s attention for just 10 minutes. From food to furniture, mobiles to kitchen ware, appliances to clothes, the sky is the limit for selling on these B2C e-stores. With easy access, low prices, effective supply chain, numerous vendors, various payment options, the modern e-shopper is spoilt for choice.

Small and medium sized businesses in India today have unprecedented access to new markets, vendors and of course, Customers. They are constantly shaping the industry and economy at large while understanding the needs of the customers to help them take a leap to dominate the market. A research claims that the Small and Medium Business sector in India is estimated to witness a year-on-year growth of 15 percent CAGR. This is expected to propel the IT spending in the sector to over $ 18.5 billion (about Rs 111 thousand crores) by 2018. This only goes on to show how the New Age businesses in India are innovating and adopting newer and better

technology solutions to meet the growing competitive market both in the country as well as Globally. There was also an announcement from NASSCOM last year about its intention to partner with the Indian Government and industry associations to ensure successful adoption of IT in Small and Medium Businesses. The report also claimed that SMBs employed about 40 percent of the country’s workforce and contributes to over 17 percent of the national gross domestic product (GDP).

With the Start-Up boom taking over the subcontinent, increasing number of young and dynamic entrepreneurs are not only coming onboard, but also are entering the ‘super-rich’ list. The debutants include Ola founders Ankit Bhati, 28, and Bhavish Agarwal, 29, who are also the youngest on the list. With their personal fortunes estimated at Rs 2,385 crores each, the duo are jointly ranked 238th. The Indian who posted the biggest gain in wealth over the past year is reported to be Dhiraj Rajaram, the 40-year-old founder of Bengaluru-based analytics firm Mu Sigma. There are 76 new faces among the 296 who made it to the Hurun India Rich List this year, with the cut-off level being personal wealth of Rs 1,600 crore. Apart from Ola's Bhati and Aggarwal, other prominent tech entrepreneurs on the list include Flipkart's Sachin Bansal, 34, and Binny Bansal, 34, whose estimated wealth of Rs 9,010 crore each puts them at the 85th spot, a rise of 58 positions. Snapdeal's Kunal Bahl, 32, is a new entrant, jumping straight to the 243rd spot with a wealth of Rs 2,314 crore. Most of these technology and internet companies have raised significant amounts of private equity capital at substantial valuations over the past year. Flipkart's latest fund raise valued the firm at $15 billion, and Snapdeal's valued it close to $5 billion. Most of the new-age startup founders are also exceptional in that they are self-made.

These new age entrepreneurs provide an in depth and smart insight into trends and preferences of consumers and create strategies based on that, which in turn goes on to redefine businesses. They innovate opportunities for themselves as well as for various small and medium suppliers spread across the length and breadth of the country who were hitherto inaccessible to the masses. They are the new age thinkers and doers, who have the knowledge and the courage to look beyond the traditional way of doing business. Approximately 800 start-ups are created annually in India, which is also the world’s third largest and fastest growing country for these budding companies. According to a report, these Indian start-ups that are building global solutions, primarily digital, are well equipped to address the demands of the entire Asian market—an opportunity to expand beyond the US and Europe.

Another very important aspect of new age businesses in India has been the advent of social media which has ushered in a new age of marketing for these firms. These digital platforms have become such powerful marketing tools that the use of social media in business is no longer considered cutting edge—it's a standard norm these days. This platform has brought in a huge amount of transparency between the business and the end customer and has opened avenues through which customers can be engaged. By simply logging in to their Facebook or Twitter account and searching for your company, potential customers can easily discover more about you and your offerings by viewing your profile or following your company. It has helped businesses to promote organic, engaging conversations with their customers.

Earlier this year our honourable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, outlined his vision for a New Age India at The Economic Times Global Business Summit. He emphasized that the government is moving fast in framing policies and laws to promote growth and also highlighted many steps taken by his government. He further added that the objective of reforms must be to improve the welfare of the people. The Govt. of India is focused on nurturing an ecosystem where the economy is primed for growth and growth promotes all-round development; where development is employment-generating and employment is enabled by skills; and most importantly, the resultant prosperity is for the welfare of all.

Essential procedures coupled with Innovation and new technology aid the creation of an efficient economic structure where older processes are streamlined and replaced by re-engineering and dynamic entrepreneurship. And that is the underlying key to creating a nation driven by New Age businesses.

Lalit MangalCo-founder & CTO, Commonfloor

Rockstars of Apps Ecosystem

EDITOR SPEAK

NilotpalChakravarti

In a jiffy, more than half of the year has gone by without even us realising it. This year so far has been eventful, as far as the digital industry is concerned. Thus, I thought this is a good time to take stock of the situation till date – industry performance wise that is. I believe that the year 2014 was the year of internet and am of the firm view that internet has reached an inflection point. The consolidated numbers for FY 2014 affirms the fact that internet in India has now becoming inclusive, which augurs well for the industry and society at large. Let’s take a look at some of the key numbers which give rise to my optimism.

The number of Internet users in India reached 302 million by December 2014, registering a Y-o-Y growth of 32% over FY 2013. The Internet in India took more than a decade to move from 10 million to 100 million and 3 years from 100 to 200 million. However, it took only a year to move from 200 to 300 million users. Clearly, Internet is main-stream in India today.

On the other hand, mobile Internet in India also witnessed significant growth rate. Mobile Internet in India is set to growth at an exponential rate. India had 159 million mobile Internet users as on October 2014. Out of this, 119 million users were from Urban India and the rest 40 million were from Rural India. There has been a growth of 45% from October 2013. Mobile Internet users reached 213 million by June 2015.

Also, the impact of internet penetration has seen a huge spurt in Digital Commerce. The digital commerce market was valued at INR 81,525 crores by the end of December 2014, and registered a growth of 53% over 2013. According to IAMAI-IMRB estimates, the industry is estimated to grow further at a rate of 33% and cross INR one lakh crores by the end of 2015.

Digital Advertising has also been witnessing a steady growth. The online advertising market in India was projected to reach INR 3,575 crores by March 2015 with a Y-o-Y growth rate of 30%. The online advertising market was pegged at INR 2,750 crores in March 2014.

I strongly think that increase in local language content on the Internet will lead to a growth of 39% in the current Internet user base. Rural India will be the primary driver of this growth (75%) while in Urban India, the growth will be 16%. The local language user base is growing at 47% Y-o-Y to reach 127 million in June 2015. The next set of internet users will come from rural India and the availability of local language content on internet will be the key for the growth of Internet industry in India.

Now, coming back to this issue of your magazine, you will read interview of the OLX CEO, whose company’s tagline Bech De has gone viral. Also, there are articles on the issue of Porn Ban, trends on e-commerce and digital payments and other interesting stuff! Do read and give us your feedback.

Sincerely,Nilotpal [email protected]

10/15VOLUME 12

ISSUE 11

THE TEAM

Printed, Published& Edited bySubhajyoti Ray

Designed by03 Pixels

On behalf ofInternet & Mobile Association of India

Published atC-36, (Basement) East of Kailash, New Delhi 110 024

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Editor-in-chiefDr. Subho Ray

Executive EditorNilotpal Chakravarti









INBOX

K.SapruNew Delhi I thoroughly enjoyed reading Thinking Aloud. The topics are pertinent and

cover almost all aspects of the digital industry. The magazine is now becoming a must for all people related to the digital industry.

S. ThapaThaneI found all the articles and interviews very interesting. The articles were all

argued and present a very neutral point of view. Keep up the good work.

J. NadkarniMumbaiThe August issue was relevant and it hit my desk at the right time. The articles

were very well written, researched and presented a balanced point of view.

H. SinghLucknow

Let me applaud the editorial team for a great issue and design. The views were balanced and I am now more enriched about real issues concerning the digital industry. Thanks for conceptualizing the issue based on some important topics. Keep up the good work.

N. SaikiaNew Delhi

Thinking Aloud magazine is gradually becoming my main source of learning about the digital industry. The magazine discusses thread-bare all the relevant issues and provides a balanced perspective. It is a wonderful read.









THIS ISSUE

07-08

Digital Media• Omnichannel Marketing: Rocket

Science or Piece of Cake?• Key Competencies of Digital

Agencies!

• “MOBILE10X” Launched by IAMAI to boost Mobile Apps Development in India

• Mobile App Development Trends - The Road Ahead

14-16

Mobile

• Progressing telecom industry, Tumbling Customer experience!

• 7 MoUs Signed to Boost Startups in India

• Lalit Mangal, Co-founder & CTO, Commonfloor - Interview

• Rs 3.4 Cr Raised by a Kerala Startup in Pre-Orders

• Ritesh Agarwal, founder and CEO at OYO Rooms - Interview

• 7 gears to give your organization the "Speed to Lead"

• Age of Wantrepreneurs?

20-34

Start-ups/Tech

eCommerce

09-13• India & New age Business

• The Growth of SMEs in India will be driven by eCommerce

• Big Bucks for eCommerce Firms this Festive Season!

17-19

Digital Payments• Alibaba Invests in Paytm after a

Small Stake in Snapdeal One of the key indicators of a consistently growing economy is NOT when market leaders grow and take the industry with them. It is when the smaller entrepreneurial ventures starts growing at a fast pace and provides newer dimensions to the economic ecosystem of a country. One such emerging domain is the Indian New Age Business space. With the emergence of new technologies, we are witnessing an onset of a whole new arena of businesses and businessmen and the decline in fortune of some old established ones who have failed to move ahead with this new technology. We can take the example of e-commerce which is a product of the internet and telecommunication revolution and today has challenged the traditional brick-and-mortar marketplace. According to the Global consulting firm, Gartner, the Indian e-commerce market is will reach $6 billion in 2015, a 70% increase in revenue 2014 revenue of $3.5 billion. India is now known as the US of the Asia Pacific Region. The entire competition amongst ‘etailers’ today is to grab the customer’s attention for just 10 minutes. From food to furniture, mobiles to kitchen ware, appliances to clothes, the sky is the limit for selling on these B2C e-stores. With easy access, low prices, effective supply chain, numerous vendors, various payment options, the modern e-shopper is spoilt for choice.








October 2015 | THINKING ALOUD! 07

The need to be an omnichannel brand is, by itself, a given in this age of the omniscient consumer. But even a few years into this state, what most brands still struggle with is the ‘How’. How does one get his hands and head around the multitude of channels, diverse audiences and a range of communication devices? Is there any method to this madness?

To paint a simple analogy, imagine planning an evening out at the movies on a Wednesday. When you’ve decided on the movie, you’ll want to call some friends for company. Of the 100 odd buddies on your list, there are probably 30 you know who might succumb to the temptation of watching a mindless romcom. Of the 30, you know 5 are not in town, 5 have families they don’t usually part with on a weekday and another 5 who are alcoholics who can’t part with their work. Of the 15 left, you don’t really feel like calling the same 5 you went out with the last week and so you’re left with 10. Since its Wednesday afternoon when you’ve got this itch to visit the theatres, you’ve got to find out how many can turn up before you get those tickets. You probably start by sending them a whatsapp. Then follow that up with a call to a couple who need a little persuasion and then an email sending them the ticket details and location. Whoa! Before you know it, you’re omnichannel!!!

So, what’s stopping brands from just piling on this omnichannel train? Because, the devil’s in the details. And in this case, that’s the data. When a list of 100 buddies burgeons to a few million friends and all you’re armed with is your mobile phone, we already know you’re not going to catch that movie tonight – unless you want to go alone or just randomly call up a few on the list, both of which might not get you the experience you aimed for.

For brands to realize the power of omnichannel marketing, they need to get a few ducks in a row:• Get your consumer data consolidated– you’ll know where to start• Ensure you know enough about your consumers’ behaviour, psychographic and purchase details – you can now target whom you want to invite to the party• Check how to connect and retarget them, based on their propensity - you can zero in on the channel and approach to moving them through the funnel

Well, granted it’s really not rocket science. But, neither is it a piece of cake. It involves some heavy duty Big Data crunching, serious automation, accurate segmentation and flexible multichannel communication. You’ll have to work through some of this with some experts to get your Big Data foundation right. But, to really make a success of the automation, so it impacts your top-line revenue, leverage an omnichannel marketing automation platform. They’re available through affordable SaaS models, that not only make your life easier but also open up new opportunities and communication possibilities for your brand marketing.

The views expressed here are personal.

Omnichannel Marketing:Rocket Science or Piece of Cake?

By Vishwa Nigam, Manager, Product Marketing – Interact









October 2015 | THINKING ALOUD!08

We don’t have a choice on whether we do Social Media, the question is that how well we do it – Erik Qualman, Author, Socialnomics.

Digital marketing is widely regarded as a huge and an ever evolving arena, which will continue to expand rapidly in the coming years. Brands and companies are now leaving behind the traditional marketing techniques to switch to digital platforms. In simple words, if brands fail to plan out a digital strategy, they find themselves at a high risk of getting left behind. Various digital marketing agencies have a team of in-house experts that can help you formulate your digital marketing strategy to attain your business goals. These digital mavens have an expertise to create number of digital channels that can use content driven methodologies to engage existing customers on online platforms. Apart from interacting with the existing customers, they can also help you target potential customers for your brand. Digital marketing provides an option of allowing customers to be selective about the brands they want to use and want to be associated with. Companies need to formulate their strategy pertaining to the existing trends in the digital market as new trends evolve in this field with each passing day. The key to success lies in considering the various key elements while formulating a digital engagement strategy. These elements are mainly divided into 3 verticals; Location, Influence and Brand Association.

Location EvaluationThe premier digital agencies make it a point to evaluate the location of the potential customers and to which community they belong. Ethnic marketing is getting bigger and bigger with each passing day. Brands and companies must focus on their ethnic values, geographies and preferences about a certain brand and what motivates them to buy a certain product. Brands also need to focus on their behavioral traits to narrow down on a target audience. A well-versed advertising agency can help you achieve this.

Tapping Influence The second step adopted by a number of agencies, while planning a digital marketing strategy is tapping influence. Digital advertising mavens evaluate the reach of the brand conversation and the authority of the content which can help influence the customers. Close on the heels of tapping the influence, is the process of gauging the volume and estimating the amount of buzz to be generated for a certain campaign. This can be attained via paying acute attention to the sentiments of the prospect customers and the target audience, if it is positive, negative or neutral.

Brand AssociationThe final step is to focus on brand association. Once they have finalized the target audience various digital marketing experts & agencies target the audience who are inquisitive and looking for information related to the brand. Their competency lies in successful bifurcation of the potential customers as brand advocates or brand opponents. Brand manipulation plays a big part in a brand’s success, the digital agencies have a knack of understanding the brand association that can work in favor for different companies.

Core services provided by the digital agencies include Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Pay per Click, Online Reputation Management, Research and Analytics, Search Engine Marketing and much more.

Key Competencies of Digital Agencies!By Rohit Pandey – Sr. Content Writer / Social Media Strategist









October 2015 | THINKING ALOUD! 09

By Rohit Pandey – Sr. Content Writer / Social Media Strategist

Hardik KapoorFounder of Jewelsify

India & New age BusinessBy Hardik Kapoor, Founder of Jewelsify









10 October 2015 | THINKING ALOUD!









11October 2015 | THINKING ALOUD!









The Growth of SMEs in India will bedriven by eCommerce


The eCommerce surge in India has been gaining a lot of pace in recent times. More and more Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are now adopting eCommerce to grow sales.

The job market and the GDP contribution in the country has been driven by the industry bigwigs and big companies. However, a recent joint study by the research firm KPMG & Snapdeal revealed that the eCommerce sector in India is projected to cross $80 billion by 2020. More and more SMEs are now lending big numbers to the job market and GDP contribution. According to the study by KPMG in collaboration with Snapdeal, 85 percent of SMEs believe that the adoption of eCommerce is a cost effective medium for their sales numbers to prosper. eCommerce has enabled SMEs to cut down on their distribution, marketing and sales spends by 60 to 80 percent. The study also revealed that 46 percent SMEs have witness substantial growth through listings on online marketplaces. The Small and Medium Business Development Chamber of India is also working hard towards empowering the SMEs for global competitiveness. Earlier in July, another study by KPMG-IAMAI titled 'India on the Go: Mobile Internet Vision 2017' revealed that the internet penetration in India has surged from 13.7 percent in 2013 to 19.19 percent in 2014. More internet penetration means more mobile applications entering the market. The KPMG-IAMAI study also revealed that the mobile phone market in India is awaiting a rural fortune. These developments will further encourage SMEs to adopt eCommerce practices for better success. Enterprises from the far-fetched corners of the country are now looking to have their piece of the eCommerce boom. Mobile internet and eCommerce amalgamation can prove to be a perfect recipe for success for the SMEs. eCommerce is slowly shifting towards the paradigm of mCommerce. According to the KPMG-IAMAI study, the number of mobile internet users in India was 159 million in 2014. This number is expected to reach 314 million by the end of 2017 registering a CAGR of 27.8 percent for the period 2013-2017. Looking at these numbers, you can guess what eCommerce & mCommerce has in store for the SMEs. Does this mean that eCommerce will cease to exist in the near future? The answer is a big 'NO'. mCommerce will be taking eCommerce to the masses & the enterprises in Tier II/III cities will be benefitting a lot from the development.

Going back to the joint study by KPMG and Snapdeal, 43 percent of SMEs in India participate in online sales & 69 percent of them report an increase in customers due to the internet. Speaking about the study, Richard Rekhy, Chief Executive of KPMG India said, "The fast paced growth of the e-commerce industry in India represents an unprecedented opportunity for SMEs. We hope that the findings of this report will assist policymakers, industry bodies and e-commerce companies to strengthen the support ecosystem, which enables SMEs to ride the e-commerce growth wave successfully." Kunal Bahl, Co-founder & CEO, Snapdeal also spoke at length about the study, he said, “At Snapdeal, we are working towards building the most impactful digital commerce ecosystem in the country and SMEs form the foundation of this ecosystem in many ways. With over 200,000 sellers operating on our platform, we felt the need to conduct a systematic unbiased study to identify opportunities and challenges to further accelerate the growth of the sector.”










Big Bucks for eCommerce Firmsthis Festive Season!By Rohit Pandey – Sr. Content Writer / Social Media Strategist

eCommerce success depends a lot on channeling the effort in the right direction and identifying the right time. What better than the festive season to reap the benefits, right? The festive season ignited an eCommerce war last year. What's in store for this year as the festive season is a stone's throw away!

Millions of dollars of funding, investments pouring in, the innovations happening across multiple platforms, including print & digital headlined the last festive season. In terms of the eCommerce bigwigs, the 'so-called' war

was poised for a huge success. However, the bright light was a bit short-lived. The eCommerce portals were not functioning at par & the companies had to face the wrath of the consumers. "The Big Billion Day" sale, does it ring any bells? The Flipkart sale that was launched amidst so much chaos turned out to be a dampener. The logistics and infrastructure clearly failed to live up to the customer demands. Hordes of shoppers took to the Social Media to vent their anger and frustration to showcase their protest. And, the Flipkart founders, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal had to tender a public apology. So, what was the cause of the debacle? I would say, too many expectations and too many technical glitches. However, the Flipkart episode has proved to be a learning curve for the various big-scale and small-scale eCommerce businesses to satiate the festive rush this year.

The idea of a flash sale was relatively new to the Indian audience and the eCommerce bigwigs alike. Flipkart did come up with something new and even succeeded in implementing it in the online market. However, there have been multiple developments in the field of eCommerce in the last calendar year. The new ventures are now decked with money and logistical support & the Indian online shopper's wallet has also got fatter. Moreover, both the sellers and the buyers have got a proper gist of the festive season sale process. The sellers are expecting a minimum 40 to 50 percent increase in the demand for products and the buyers are well-equipped with the latest technology & apps to buy. Many online food ordering solution providers are recruiting a new fleet of delivery boys, especially for the festive season. For a number of new eCommerce entrants in the market, this will be their first festive season. With the influx of money, the majority of the new ventures has channeled the money to build better back-end infrastructure to handle the demand surge. In case of the hyper local startup Zopper, they have underwritten demand with third-party logistics partners, so that they will always have dedicated logistics support. Zopper is a mobile-app startup that connects users to offline retailers. Same is the case with Urban Ladder, they have upgraded their ERP and CRM systems to handle the expected high volumes. "We were clocking 15% month-on-month growth till August and we expect this to rise to 25% in the next three months," Rajiv Srivatsa, COO and co-founder, says. Taking things a notch higher, BigBasket has implemented an algorithm-based system that is equipped to predict demand surges and alert the operations team. "While we don't see huge demand spikes during the festive season the way a normal e-tailer would do, we are ready for any unprecedented surges. The demand for staples go up along with increased orders for dry fruits and gift boxes. Also, a 2x surge for us is the same as a 50x surge for Flipkart due to the sheer number of smaller items in one single order," said Vipul Parekh, co-founder of the venture.

eCommerce firms of all sizes, old and new are implementing several measures to make sure that they top the pile of success this festive season. The festive season can rake in big moolah & the eCommerce portals seem to be ready to wage an eCommerce war this festive season.










eCommerce success depends a lot on channeling the effort in the right direction and identifying the right time. What better than the festive season to reap the benefits, right? The festive season ignited an eCommerce war last year. What's in store for this year as the festive season is a stone's throw away!

Millions of dollars of funding, investments pouring in, the innovations happening across multiple platforms, including print & digital headlined the last festive season. In terms of the eCommerce bigwigs, the 'so-called' war

was poised for a huge success. However, the bright light was a bit short-lived. The eCommerce portals were not functioning at par & the companies had to face the wrath of the consumers. "The Big Billion Day" sale, does it ring any bells? The Flipkart sale that was launched amidst so much chaos turned out to be a dampener. The logistics and infrastructure clearly failed to live up to the customer demands. Hordes of shoppers took to the Social Media to vent their anger and frustration to showcase their protest. And, the Flipkart founders, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal had to tender a public apology. So, what was the cause of the debacle? I would say, too many expectations and too many technical glitches. However, the Flipkart episode has proved to be a learning curve for the various big-scale and small-scale eCommerce businesses to satiate the festive rush this year.

The idea of a flash sale was relatively new to the Indian audience and the eCommerce bigwigs alike. Flipkart did come up with something new and even succeeded in implementing it in the online market. However, there have been multiple developments in the field of eCommerce in the last calendar year. The new ventures are now decked with money and logistical support & the Indian online shopper's wallet has also got fatter. Moreover, both the sellers and the buyers have got a proper gist of the festive season sale process. The sellers are expecting a minimum 40 to 50 percent increase in the demand for products and the buyers are well-equipped with the latest technology & apps to buy. Many online food ordering solution providers are recruiting a new fleet of delivery boys, especially for the festive season. For a number of new eCommerce entrants in the market, this will be their first festive season. With the influx of money, the majority of the new ventures has channeled the money to build better back-end infrastructure to handle the demand surge. In case of the hyper local startup Zopper, they have underwritten demand with third-party logistics partners, so that they will always have dedicated logistics support. Zopper is a mobile-app startup that connects users to offline retailers. Same is the case with Urban Ladder, they have upgraded their ERP and CRM systems to handle the expected high volumes. "We were clocking 15% month-on-month growth till August and we expect this to rise to 25% in the next three months," Rajiv Srivatsa, COO and co-founder, says. Taking things a notch higher, BigBasket has implemented an algorithm-based system that is equipped to predict demand surges and alert the operations team. "While we don't see huge demand spikes during the festive season the way a normal e-tailer would do, we are ready for any unprecedented surges. The demand for staples go up along with increased orders for dry fruits and gift boxes. Also, a 2x surge for us is the same as a 50x surge for Flipkart due to the sheer number of smaller items in one single order," said Vipul Parekh, co-founder of the venture.

eCommerce firms of all sizes, old and new are implementing several measures to make sure that they top the pile of success this festive season. The festive season can rake in big moolah & the eCommerce portals seem to be ready to wage an eCommerce war this festive season.










“MOBILE10X” Launched by IAMAI toboost Mobile Apps Development in IndiaBy Staff Reporter

With a vision of making India a global mobile app provider, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) launched 'Mobile10X' this Wednesday. Backed by Google India and Paytm as founding partners, the platform is the largest capacity building and ecosystem enabling programme for mobile apps. There has been a dearth of Indian apps surfacing on the global scene. The programme will scale up quality developers from 50,000 to 5 Lacs along with pushing mobile app revenue from INR 1,000 Cr to INR 10,000 Cr. The programme is designed to stand steady on the following five pillars.• Mobile Startup Hub• Training 5 lakh engineering students on Android and iOS platforms• Online mentoring platform with experts and mentors• Industry connect• Investor connect

Setting up five mobile startup hubs would be the initial step undertaken by MOBILE10X. These hubs will be set up across the country in the next 5 years, with the first hub slated for launch in Bengaluru in October, 2015. The mobile hub will have testing lab, design lab, capability building and co-working space. Mobile10X through Industry connect will be the platform for developers to connect with peers and industry experts. On the other hand, the Investor Connect segment will help developers reach out to potential investors. With Apps developers’ community growing at an exponential pace, Mobile10X would augur developer base, quality and market by 10 times by 2019. This will be achieved by intervening at different stages and levels of App developers. Intervention of development will be on 4Es – Educate; Engage; Evangelize and Enable, catering to Students, Beginner/Directionless Developers, Focused/Serious Apps Developers and funded/established developers.

MOBILE10X was launched at the Startup Summit in Delhi by Rajan Anandan, Vice President & Managing Director, Google, South East Asia & India & Nishant Rao, Chairman, IAMAI & Country Manager, LinkedIn India. The ‘Mobile10X’ is focused on growing the developer base, quality and market size by ten times, by 2019, by intervening at different stages and levels of App developers. Speaking at the launch of Mobile10X, Dr. Subho Ray, President, IAMAI, said, “India is on the cusp of Apps revolution. With over 213 million mobile internet users and nearly 130 million local language consumers on the internet, the growth trajectory for Apps development is bound to be exponential. People are moving towards apps and IAMAI is of the view that the Apps economy is India will drive the next level of internet growth.”










Mobile App Development Trends- The Road Ahead

Mobile is not the future, it is the now. Meet your customers in the environment of their choice, not where it's convenient for you - Cyndie Shaffstall, Spider Trainers.

A few years back, I proudly flaunted my newly bought Nokia E71 smartphone while I was in the second year of my degree college. Yes, it was a big deal for me (it should be for a student on a meagre pocket money & with a


part-time job paying peanuts). However, the scenario has changed by leaps and bounds. If the comparison of the old phones with the new ones is to be put in the words: that cat must be long dead by now. With so many Freemium and Premium apps on offer, the smartphone era has witnessed so many innovations & the new-age phones have long left the laggard sets behind. Along with the entry of so many smartphone providers in the market, there are a lot of opportunities for Mobile App Developers in the market. The transformation of the Mobile App Development market is nothing less than astonishing & it will continue to impress us mightily in the coming months. A glance at the IAMAI-ICRIER report titled "An Inquiry into the Impact of India's App Economy" reveals that the Mobile App Development sector will emerge as one of the most profitable ones in the coming years. According to the report, app downloads have increased from $24.9 billion in 2011 to $81.4 billion in 2013. This number is expected to rise up to $310 billion by 2016. Initially, Apple used to offer a flat 70 percent of the total revenue to developers. On the other hand, the telecom operators adopted a 30:70 revenue model. So, what's in store for App Developers in the coming year? And, how can we segregate App Developers into categories? App Developers can be segregated into two categories.

1) Driven by the pursuit of creativity.

2) Driven by revenue generation.

The first lot, mainly consist of budding, young, freelance developers looking to present their ideas in front of the largest audience. The second lot, mainly consists of large companies and industry bigwigs looking to develop apps according to the strategic business model. The combination of both results in 42 percent of the App Developer population and 48 percent of the App economy revenues globally. Here's a glance at the Mobile App Development trends to look out for in the coming years.

Move over Freemium & Premium models, Paymium model will continue to prosper. In short, a Paymium app is a paid app that charges for extra features via in-app purchases. In spite of growing quick in volume, the Paymium model is still in its nascent stage. It is still being experimented and will continue to grow in the coming years. As an App Developer, it is upon you to choose the monetization model according to your needs. However, experts say that it is more profitable to opt for the Paymium model. India is known as a very innovative and active developer community. Vision Mobile's survey determined that Indians are the second largest nationality of developers, only behind the American. However, half of them are based outside India. In order to stay amongst the pioneers of Mobile App Development, it is essential to stay abreast of the latest trends and implementing them. Staying informed and implementing the latest on offer can help us build India as a global App economy. One of the biggest trends to study and adapt is the use of App Analytics and Big Data. The developers will become more instigating in terms of integration of analytics to record user information & understand user behavior.

Developers will try to make the most of Platform Based Apps. To cater to rapid application development, more and more developers must use platforms to create apps using HTML5, CSS. These platforms are cost-effective & fast to grasp for the learners. Finally In-app purchasing and advertisement holds the key to success. Marketing is now getting bigger than ever. App Developers must make it a point to properly market their "brainchild" app. The Geography of the App Economy by CTIA revealed that the App economy in the US created 519,000 jobs in 2012. According to the IAMAI-ICRIER report, the multiplier estimates suggest that the direct increase in employment to India's App economy is expected to range between 76,230 and 84,010 jobs from 2014 to 2016.

Image source: www.marketingland.com










Mobile is not the future, it is the now. Meet your customers in the environment of their choice, not where it's convenient for you - Cyndie Shaffstall, Spider Trainers.

A few years back, I proudly flaunted my newly bought Nokia E71 smartphone while I was in the second year of my degree college. Yes, it was a big deal for me (it should be for a student on a meagre pocket money & with a

part-time job paying peanuts). However, the scenario has changed by leaps and bounds. If the comparison of the old phones with the new ones is to be put in the words: that cat must be long dead by now. With so many Freemium and Premium apps on offer, the smartphone era has witnessed so many innovations & the new-age phones have long left the laggard sets behind. Along with the entry of so many smartphone providers in the market, there are a lot of opportunities for Mobile App Developers in the market. The transformation of the Mobile App Development market is nothing less than astonishing & it will continue to impress us mightily in the coming months. A glance at the IAMAI-ICRIER report titled "An Inquiry into the Impact of India's App Economy" reveals that the Mobile App Development sector will emerge as one of the most profitable ones in the coming years. According to the report, app downloads have increased from $24.9 billion in 2011 to $81.4 billion in 2013. This number is expected to rise up to $310 billion by 2016. Initially, Apple used to offer a flat 70 percent of the total revenue to developers. On the other hand, the telecom operators adopted a 30:70 revenue model. So, what's in store for App Developers in the coming year? And, how can we segregate App Developers into categories? App Developers can be segregated into two categories.

1) Driven by the pursuit of creativity.

2) Driven by revenue generation.

The first lot, mainly consist of budding, young, freelance developers looking to present their ideas in front of the largest audience. The second lot, mainly consists of large companies and industry bigwigs looking to develop apps according to the strategic business model. The combination of both results in 42 percent of the App Developer population and 48 percent of the App economy revenues globally. Here's a glance at the Mobile App Development trends to look out for in the coming years.

Move over Freemium & Premium models, Paymium model will continue to prosper. In short, a Paymium app is a paid app that charges for extra features via in-app purchases. In spite of growing quick in volume, the Paymium model is still in its nascent stage. It is still being experimented and will continue to grow in the coming years. As an App Developer, it is upon you to choose the monetization model according to your needs. However, experts say that it is more profitable to opt for the Paymium model. India is known as a very innovative and active developer community. Vision Mobile's survey determined that Indians are the second largest nationality of developers, only behind the American. However, half of them are based outside India. In order to stay amongst the pioneers of Mobile App Development, it is essential to stay abreast of the latest trends and implementing them. Staying informed and implementing the latest on offer can help us build India as a global App economy. One of the biggest trends to study and adapt is the use of App Analytics and Big Data. The developers will become more instigating in terms of integration of analytics to record user information & understand user behavior.

Developers will try to make the most of Platform Based Apps. To cater to rapid application development, more and more developers must use platforms to create apps using HTML5, CSS. These platforms are cost-effective & fast to grasp for the learners. Finally In-app purchasing and advertisement holds the key to success. Marketing is now getting bigger than ever. App Developers must make it a point to properly market their "brainchild" app. The Geography of the App Economy by CTIA revealed that the App economy in the US created 519,000 jobs in 2012. According to the IAMAI-ICRIER report, the multiplier estimates suggest that the direct increase in employment to India's App economy is expected to range between 76,230 and 84,010 jobs from 2014 to 2016.










Alibaba Invests in Paytm aftera Small Stake in Snapdeal

By Staff Reporter

Close on the heels of Snapdeal launching the Freecharge wallet this month, Paytm announced that Alibaba and Ant Financial has made strategic investments in One97's flagship brand. Scroll down to know more.

While browsing on Twitter this month, I could witness some bad blood brewing between Freecharge and Paytm. Upon the launch of their Freecharge wallet, Kunal Bahl, Chief Executive, Snapdeal took a dig aimed at Paytm's claim of having 100 million mobile wallet users. According to the latest developments, China-based giants Alibaba has invested in Paytm via a strategic partnership. The news comes quick after the Chinese eCommerce firm picked up a stake in Paytm's rival Snapdeal. Alibaba has not disclosed the amount pertaining to the investment. Recently, Ant Financial struck a deal worth $575 million investment in Paytm. The move seems to be aimed as a vision of getting a piece of the Startup boom in India. According to the Economic Times, Alibaba will take a 20 percent stake in Paytm. While Paytm's core business is mobile payments, the company has recently made significant developments in terms of tapping the eCommerce market in India. Catering to the recent developments in the market, it can be seen that the majority of the companies feel that owning a payment wallet is pivotal to long-term success. Paytm has 80,000 merchants on its platform and is expecting to touch close to 100,000 by the year-end after it allows zero-commission listings. Noida-based Paytm is also backed by venture capital firm SAIF Partners.

Speaking about the investment, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Paytm founder & CEO, said, “Common investor or not, we always want our wallet to be available across every player.” Sharma added that, “We do have a marketplace but I would like it if users can use our wallet across e-commerce sites. We will continue to dominate and focus on wallet in India. Wallet is a customer’s relationship starting point with Paytm. So it will remain our primary attention. For us, marketplace is the opportunity to complete the other side: the merchant side.” Daniel Zhang, CEO, Alibaba Group, said, “This investment will further expand Alibaba Group’s global footprint in India’s thriving mobile commerce market.” Vijay Shekhar Sharma, further added that, “We believe that in India not many are really serious about the marketplace. Most of them are chasing a vanity number of GMV (gross merchandise value). Merchants use us as a payment option and additionally as a MARKETING channel for their products in the marketplace. It completes the loop. We have an edge there. We will be winners in the long term and we aren’t changing any short-term goals.”

Image source: www.15minutenews.com


Progressing telecom industry,Tumbling Customer experience!By Rajesh Razdan, Founder and CEO, mCarbon Tech Innovation Pvt. Ltd.

About Rajesh RazdanRajesh is a new age entrepreneur who founded mCarbon in early 2008 to create a compelling platform based offerings for Telco's to maximize revenues in the areas of usage and retention, customer life cycle and value management. An industry veteran with over 17 years of experience, his vision is to support Telco's through technology based offerings to help them upsell and cross sell enabling continuous usage and return based business models. In his present capacity as CEO, he steers mCarbon's strategic vision, corporate development and operations. As a visionary leader, he has successfully mobilized the human potential and has steered the organization towards global success. In the past, Rajesh has served as a member of solution sales team at Nokia Siemens and handled APAC and India region. Formerly, he has held senior positions with leading Telecom Organizations including KPN International Consulting, Ericsson, and Roamware wherein he worked across business development, product management, channels, strategic alliances, marketing and strategy functions.

Deployment of 4G has seeded discussions on advanced topics like the implementation of 5G services that is anticipated to be launched globally in 2020. With this new wave in the telecom milieu, India comes across to be striving hard in adapting to the altering DNA of the sector. In this chaos what is being disregarded is that the ‘Indian consumer’ is staring blindly at a bitter incongruity caused by severe ground level follies.

What seems rather ironical is the fact that the decision makers are pondering upon further progressive technologies when services like 3G have still not seen 100% penetration. Additionally, even 4G has only recently seen the light of day after almost 4 years of spectrum allocation. To utter astonishment, the industry is talking of deploying radical technologies when grim ground level issues are continually hampering existing service quality.

The low quality of service brings to my mind almost instantaneously a recent functioning devil termed ‘Call Drop.’ With everyone from operators to the DoT talking of this operative gap, I sense that the permeation of services like 4G and 5G are merely fanciful contemplations.

This ‘Call drop’ issue seems to have contributed immensely towards deteriorating the already low levels of customer experience. Reasons like spectrum shortage, telcos struggle with debts and the tearing down of mobile towers are being used to answer the disconcerted subscriber base.

The cacophony has recently amplified with the news of disagreement between the DoT and the operators. On one hand, the DoT is blaming the operators for having strategically planned the call drop commotion and on the

Rajesh RazdanFounder and CEO, mCarbon Tech Innovation Pvt. Ltd.

In a exclusive interview to Thinking Aloud, Ritesh Agarwal, founder and CEO at OYO Rooms, talks about the startup ecosystem in India today and what a budding entrepreneur should do to make investors and stakeholders to stand-up and take note.

TA: Amongst the legal registration hassles, funding & resources, what are the perceptions that matter the most to kick off a startup?RA: In a exclusive interview to Thinking Aloud, Ritesh Agarwal, founder and CEO at OYO Rooms, talks about the

startup ecosystem in India today and what a budding entrepreneur should do to make investors and stakeholders to stand-up and take note.

TA: Startup guidance is all about encouraging the urge of budding entrepreneurs & channeling their startup aspirations. Share your kind thoughts about capturing the attention of the investors.RA: When you are genuinely passionate about trying to solve a problem and are doing great work, you will grab the attention of the investors. Your business model should have the potential and your approach should be innovative.

TA: We believe that Startups are all about building habit-forming products & services. What's your take on it?RA: I believe start-ups are all about solving problems and bringing in really effective solutions. It is the solutions that are habit-forming, as the pain-points of consumers are removed.

TA: How would you address the ways to gain market share, enhance brand recognition & differentiating a brand in the startup ecosystem? Any valuable points would you like to add? RA: Having built a mass consumer brand, I will say only three things matter- consumer experience, consumer experience and consumer experience. Just focus on delivering exceptional and unmatched consumer experience and all other things will fall in place.

New-age Indian Startups are on a path of revolutionizing the industry. Any entrepreneurial clichés that you would want them to get beyond?RA: ‘Do everything yourself’ is an entrepreneurial cliché I think most people should avoid. When I started OYO Rooms in 2013, I was running one OYO property in Gurgaon where I was the housekeeping guy, the manager, the sales executive and the CEO. But, that was not by choice. From the beginning, I knew the importance of building a strong team. Get people who are the best at what they do and give them the freedom to do their work. Be involved, but you can’t be heading all teams.

TA: Established bigwigs in the industry still prefer traditional spends rather than digital spends. How big a role would digital play in the success of Indian startups?RA: As TV and newspaper are shrinking, the digital spends are significantly increasing globally and they are going to get bigger with time. I believe digital will play a big role in the success of Indian start-ups. Also, you cannot ignore the fact that the leading start-ups in India are tech-based and hence, digital spends make a lot of sense.

TA: Recently, OYO Rooms garnered a partnership with Venuepick, would you kindly shed some light on the development?RA: Through our partnership with Venuepick, we plan to give a comprehensive solution to the people who are looking for accommodations plus venues while organizing events. Before every partnership we do, our biggest concern is how to maximize the consumer experience through the partnership and how the partnership will result in making the services of OYO better. For instance, our partnership with OLA was formed to solve the basic problem of transport to OYO properties; similarly our partnership with Zomato was forged keeping in mind the connection between food and hospitality; to enable our guests to discover restaurants near their place of stay.


other the operators are passing the buck by indicting the department for the tightly held spectrum.

Does this commotion really concern the customer? Do they bother about the nuances that are creating this pandemonium? NO, is the answer. As subscribers they only value experience and playing the blame game is having no bearing on their mind.

At this stage it becomes pivotal to understand that the face of the telecom capability is the operator and any back end glitch will only leave an ineffaceable blemish on the loyalty levels of their brand solely.

With already concerns like high churn rates and blossoming OTT applications, the falling customer experience might also soon turn into a nightmare for the operators P&L. As one is aware, ever since the times of CRBT (caller ring back tone) the operators have been rapidly trying distinctive approaches to address the problem of low levels of ARPU. With even the most innovative products deployed on networks they have faltered because of poor customer response.

To address the problem of low customer experience, the operators are continually talking of balancing the innovative telecom solutions while combatting the existing deep rooted operational challenges. They are working on strategizing methods of improving the same by aping the developed nations for solving the problems that are unique to India. This folly seems to be the reason for constant failures in improving service quality. Insights like these are making it difficult for experts to recognize the magnanimity of the issues that they might have to face due to falling customer experience levels.

Desperate measures like waiving off the bills due to call drops or any such approach is a short term solution to the concerns of the customer. What needs to be addressed are questions like that of alternates to improving the quality of service and the disposition of other immediate functioning changes. However insignificant such queries might seem today, it is rather important for the authorities to nip them in the bud before they grow beyond the likes of handling.

Operators have to understand the potential benefits of increased customer experience and its eventual benefits like enhanced revenue streams. At present addressing basic issues and redefining the customer relationship is what is needed to be done. They must be ready to prove that they can propose high-quality, state-of-the-art and reliable communications services.

The efforts behind enhanced customer experience will eventually provide for the significant investments that are going to be needed for deploying new networking technologies that wait to be unmasked in the coming times. Apart from the operators, the regulators must also devise new schemes to sustain a healthy economic model that bridges the gap between revenue and growth projections.

If such strategizing is worked upon the operators will be encouraged to invest in meeting the growing demand. Furthermore, the deployment, up-gradation and maintenance of networks as well as boosting revenue generation from increased subscriber base will be added benefits for the industry in entirety.

The need of the hour for both the regulator and the operator is to find a way to optimize revenues from different customer segments, especially those that value service quality and superior customer experiences.

India as a market needs to come to terms with the fact that we cannot function like the developed economies. This acceptance might give us the prudence of not trying to duplicate international strategies to combat problems that are exclusive to us.

We as an economy should definitely deliberate on being ambitious but only after we have a plan to iron out the tactical problems we are facing. With almost 250 million mobile internet users India falls second after the US, thus, the struggle to tackle colossal issues to provide undisruptive connectivity across the subscriber base becomes a major disquiet.

To conclude, the only necessity I see at this point is of building a ‘customer first’ industry. I am rather intrigued to find out how one of the most pivotal industries will work its way around the current situation and advance towards improved customer experience.











To be successful, you have to have quantity of quality - Mark Frauenfelder, Co-founder, Boing Boing

7 MoUs Signed to Boost Startupsin IndiaBy Staff Reporter

Image source: www.nasscom.in











With the vision of injecting an immense quantity of quality in the budding startups in the country, there was a major development in store during PM Narendra Modi's visit to the US. The meet-up between Mark Zuckerberg and Narendra Modi was heavily covered across several Indian media channels. Along with an event that looked like a tete-a-tete with the Zuckerberg, Modi also had plans to attend the India-US Startup Konnect 2015. Presented by Nasscom in a partnership with TiE Silicon Valley & IIM Ahmedabad's CIIE India, the event featured 36 startups from India and 5 startups from the US. News which can be deemed as seven more homeruns by PM Modi in termed of strengthening the Indo-US relations to dish out more innovative ideas and solutions, seven MoUs were signed. These MoUs were signed to boost the startup segment in India in conjecture with the various organizations from the US.

The first MoU was signed between the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms and the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences. The main motive of the partnership is to develop Indo-US Life Science Sister Innovation Hub to promote science-based entrepreneurship, research, academia and business by leveraging each other's ecosystem. The second MoU was signed between the Department of Biotechnology and Prakash Lab, Stanford University on Foldscope -- a frugal science innovation that has emerged from a lab of an Indian with majority of Indians working in this laboratory. The lab and the Department of Biotechnology will work in tandem to develop and deploy more products from this lab. National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) and the Indus Entrepreneurs signed an MoU to collaborate in a mutually satisfactory form and manner in order to support the creation of a vibrant ecosystem to foster technology entrepreneurship in India and Silicon Valley. IIM Ahmedabad's Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) and Lester Centre for Entrepreneurship of the Haas Business School of the University of California, signed a MoU to collaborate on mutual incubation, and support each other's activities of mutual interest. CIIE also signed a couple of more MoUs with Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator & Google to extend NGIN Membership benefits and support technology and impact entrepreneurs for strategic support respectively.

In further developments at the India-US Startup Konnect 2015, Prime Minister Modi also launched the Bharat Fund to provide seed funding for Indian entrepreneurs. Based on the excerpts from his speech at the event, PM Modi spoke at lengths about data security and cyber security being of the utmost importance & had some kind words about LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.











In an exclusive chat with Thinking Aloud, Lalit Mangal – Co-founder & CTO, Commonfloor shares light on the startup ecosystem

TA: Amongst the legal registration hassles, funding & resources, what are the perceptions that matter the most to kick off a startup?LM: To kick-off a startup successfully, founding team should be full-time on to that. Better to register a private limited company from the very start. One must be clear about the equity share and expectations among the founding team. Regarding funding, it is easier to get an angel round today. Investors at all stage would love

Lalit MangalCo-founder & CTO, Commonfloor

“I would highly advise the founders to definea mission for their startup”- Lalit Mangal

traction and customer loyalty. At the formative stage, it would be very helpful if founders can approach investors with a beta / POC with some consumer data on how they liked/loved the service.

TA: Startup guidance is all about encouraging the urge of budding entrepreneurs & channeling their startup aspirations. Share your kind thoughts about capturing the attention of the investors.LM: If you can build a recommendable product, take it to your alpha set of customers; investors will come flocking to you. There is no secret formula. Focus on the word "recommendable".

TA: We believe that Startups are all about building habit-forming products & services. What's your take on it?LM: Could not agree more, but it is little more relevant for consumer facing businesses. An anti-virus software startup need not focus forming a habit. If a product is catering a frequent and reasonably felt need, it must aim to becoming habit forming. I would recommend Nir Eyal's "Hooked" for reading up more on that.

TA: How would you address the ways to gain market share, enhance brand recognition & differentiating a brand in the startup ecosystem? Any valuable points would you like to add? LM: I would highly advise the founders to define a mission for their startup. A mission that matters to the world, for example, if you are starting a food delivery business, your mission could be "saving humans world-wide from the discontent out of hunger". Such a mission is relatable and inspiring. It suddenly puts a different lens to how outsiders and insiders look at your business. Once you have figured out a mission that matters, figure out a unique positioning for your product or service. A tip on how to do this is trying to answer this question, "People should love your service because....". An answer to this question is the positioning of your startup. Continue to deliver 10X on this and you will become highly recommendable. This will trigger the word of mouth marketing for you. Once you reach a critical mass of happy customer, only then consider advertising your product.

New-age Indian Startups are on a path of revolutionizing the industry. Any entrepreneurial clichés that you would want them to get beyond?LM: This is arguably the best time to do business in India. There is enough advice and mentorship accessible to entrepreneurs, they must make an effort to tap into this and avoid foreseeable pit-falls. Things around valuations and market size of the opportunity might distract entrepreneurs away from a worthy enough problem to be solved. The most important ingredient in the recipe of success is your passion for the problem you are setting out to solve, everything else will follow. India is a very big market and every problem will be worth solving, if I look back from a future view point.

TA: Established bigwigs in the industry still prefer traditional spends rather than digital spends. How big a role would digital play in the success of Indian startups?LM: If we can understand the life cycle of a startup in stages, these are Product discovery stage, Product distribution stage and then the scale-up stage. Digital marketing has very different potential at each of these stages. How digital can help in the product discovery stage, we have inspirations like dropbox and how they nailed the initial product definition by creating a video, letting it spread on social channels and getting user interest. Today, it is easier than ever before to reach out to your exact TG and engage in a conversation to understand their problem which you're passionate about solving. Once a startup discovers a recommendable shape of their product, digital comes back again as a mega weapon to crack distribution channels for that product. At this stage, the knowledge of what keywords your users are search for which are relevant for your product; the knowledge of real life trigger which prompt them to use your product can immensely help you in guiding your communications strategy, make your ads very relevant and performing. At the scale-up stage, where I assume the startup should also invest in traditional media to broaden its reach of audience, digital helps establishing a recall and ensures a retained usage and rate of trials for your product.

TA: Recently, Commonfloor entered into a technological partnership with Zippr. Kindly, shed light on the development. LM: At Commonfloor, our mission is to organize the real estate industry through tech and data. Crucial part of this mission is to map every possible address and profile each and every property. Zippr came across as a very relevant partner in this objective. Today, if you are a zippr user, you can post your property for rent or sale in just single tap.











In an exclusive chat with Thinking Aloud, Lalit Mangal – Co-founder & CTO, Commonfloor shares light on the startup ecosystem

TA: Amongst the legal registration hassles, funding & resources, what are the perceptions that matter the most to kick off a startup?LM: To kick-off a startup successfully, founding team should be full-time on to that. Better to register a private limited company from the very start. One must be clear about the equity share and expectations among the founding team. Regarding funding, it is easier to get an angel round today. Investors at all stage would love

traction and customer loyalty. At the formative stage, it would be very helpful if founders can approach investors with a beta / POC with some consumer data on how they liked/loved the service.

TA: Startup guidance is all about encouraging the urge of budding entrepreneurs & channeling their startup aspirations. Share your kind thoughts about capturing the attention of the investors.LM: If you can build a recommendable product, take it to your alpha set of customers; investors will come flocking to you. There is no secret formula. Focus on the word "recommendable".

TA: We believe that Startups are all about building habit-forming products & services. What's your take on it?LM: Could not agree more, but it is little more relevant for consumer facing businesses. An anti-virus software startup need not focus forming a habit. If a product is catering a frequent and reasonably felt need, it must aim to becoming habit forming. I would recommend Nir Eyal's "Hooked" for reading up more on that.

TA: How would you address the ways to gain market share, enhance brand recognition & differentiating a brand in the startup ecosystem? Any valuable points would you like to add? LM: I would highly advise the founders to define a mission for their startup. A mission that matters to the world, for example, if you are starting a food delivery business, your mission could be "saving humans world-wide from the discontent out of hunger". Such a mission is relatable and inspiring. It suddenly puts a different lens to how outsiders and insiders look at your business. Once you have figured out a mission that matters, figure out a unique positioning for your product or service. A tip on how to do this is trying to answer this question, "People should love your service because....". An answer to this question is the positioning of your startup. Continue to deliver 10X on this and you will become highly recommendable. This will trigger the word of mouth marketing for you. Once you reach a critical mass of happy customer, only then consider advertising your product.

New-age Indian Startups are on a path of revolutionizing the industry. Any entrepreneurial clichés that you would want them to get beyond?LM: This is arguably the best time to do business in India. There is enough advice and mentorship accessible to entrepreneurs, they must make an effort to tap into this and avoid foreseeable pit-falls. Things around valuations and market size of the opportunity might distract entrepreneurs away from a worthy enough problem to be solved. The most important ingredient in the recipe of success is your passion for the problem you are setting out to solve, everything else will follow. India is a very big market and every problem will be worth solving, if I look back from a future view point.

TA: Established bigwigs in the industry still prefer traditional spends rather than digital spends. How big a role would digital play in the success of Indian startups?LM: If we can understand the life cycle of a startup in stages, these are Product discovery stage, Product distribution stage and then the scale-up stage. Digital marketing has very different potential at each of these stages. How digital can help in the product discovery stage, we have inspirations like dropbox and how they nailed the initial product definition by creating a video, letting it spread on social channels and getting user interest. Today, it is easier than ever before to reach out to your exact TG and engage in a conversation to understand their problem which you're passionate about solving. Once a startup discovers a recommendable shape of their product, digital comes back again as a mega weapon to crack distribution channels for that product. At this stage, the knowledge of what keywords your users are search for which are relevant for your product; the knowledge of real life trigger which prompt them to use your product can immensely help you in guiding your communications strategy, make your ads very relevant and performing. At the scale-up stage, where I assume the startup should also invest in traditional media to broaden its reach of audience, digital helps establishing a recall and ensures a retained usage and rate of trials for your product.

TA: Recently, Commonfloor entered into a technological partnership with Zippr. Kindly, shed light on the development. LM: At Commonfloor, our mission is to organize the real estate industry through tech and data. Crucial part of this mission is to map every possible address and profile each and every property. Zippr came across as a very relevant partner in this objective. Today, if you are a zippr user, you can post your property for rent or sale in just single tap.











Rs 3.4 Cr Raised by a Kerala Startupin Pre-Orders.By Staff Reporter

A successful startup is always about the urge and inspiration to succeed. Limitations and barriers can always be crossed with determination and vision.

What makes a perfect success story? Maybe some determined people, an idea, some motivation and the drive to succeed. A wise man once said, if an idea clicks, the money and fame follow. What can be termed as a perfect success story, Kerala-based startup Exploride Inc has raised Rs. 3.4 Cr through pre-orders. Close on the heels of their international launch, Exploride has achieved this record-making feat. For the people unaware of Exploride, it is an Augmented Reality integrated head up display, which can convert any car into a smart car. A product that would seem like a transparent glass to the naked eye, it sits on the dashboard and allows the driver to perform multiple tasks. One might think, doing multiple tasks must involve a lot of maneuvering! No, it helps you perform multiple tasks with your eyes fixed on the road. With help of Exploride, you can navigate, checkout the maps, shuffle music, talk on the phone, send and receive text messages and much more. The actions are performed via the usage of voice and gestures. Decked with a quad-core processor, 2 GB RAM, USB, IR Camera, 4G LTE and Bluetooth, it can also easily convert into Wi-Fi hotspot.

Going back to Exploride's record-making feat, the crowd funding development has made it India's biggest startup crowd funding success story. Exploride has raised Rs. 3.4 Cr from tech enthusiasts at Indiegogo. The product, known as Exploride Heads-up Display, has received orders from most parts of the globe, but the biggest pre-orders, priced at 299 dollars apiece, are from the US. Speaking about the crowd funding success, Sunil Vallath, Founder & CEO, Exploride, said, "Raising a whopping $512,718 in 40 days for a startup is a feat achieved by no other company in India. Your car's infotainment system, instrument cluster, navigation system, and your smart phone-all these compete for your attention while you drive. Exploride puts all of them in one place, on a transparent display, so that you won't have to take your eyes off the road." The product was incubated in the Startup Village in Kerala. Acting on the lines of Prime Minister Modi's vision of Digital India and Make in India campaigns, Exploride is one of the first locally built global success story. Shedding light on the development, Startup Village Chairman, Sanjay Vijayakumar, said, “Product startup ecosystems that can support early stage founders even in the face of failure have to be created nationally for maximizing the potential of Startup India."

Image source: www.inc42.com













Ritesh Agarwalfounder and CEO, OYO Rooms

“I believe start-ups are all about solvingproblems” – Ritesh Agarwal








3 Web-Based Indian Startups Poisedto Grow Big in the Coming Years

By Staff Reporter











7 gears to give your organization the"Speed to Lead"By Julie Woods-Moss (@juliewoodsmoss)

Imagine trying to manoeuvre a Boeing 747 aircraft - then compare that to the nimble handling of a sleek two-wheel motorbike. It’s a perfect metaphor for the tougher challenges faced by larger, more established companies in trying to stay agile and innovative. Start-ups are often fearless, with nothing to lose, measured by how quickly they gain traction and disrupt a market and not on quarterly revenue and profits. Size means scale but the legacy processes of mature organisations built in to drive efficiency, can often make it difficult to promote a culture of innovation.

This is a challenge we face at Tata Communications. We’re now a large company, with a huge global footprint, but one that wants to keep that sense of nimble energy you get in a start-up. With that in mind we created a programme to boost entrepreneurship and innovation. Our Shape The Future (STF) initiative focuses on structured learning and development to help our people think like entrepreneurs. Our teams learn to think creatively and innovatively, to write a solid business case, to develop discussions, to make a pitch for funding for their most exciting ideas, and to leverage external platforms and expertise.

Julie Woods-Moss CEO-NextGen Business and Chief Marketing Officer at Tata Communications Ltd











The ideas that hit home with our leadership team are funded through an incubation program and play a significant role in the continued growth of Tata Communications. However, the approach and the culture that drives the STF programme is equally important and as we embed this way of thinking in the business we rely on seven gears.

Gear 1: Regular Servicing & Timely Oil ChangeAt Tata Communications we have been fortunate, we have agility and intellectual curiosity built into our DNA , but even then we don’t expect most employees to be able to switch naturally from an operational process-oriented approach to one that’s more unconventional. What we’ve found helpful is to build an oil change and servicing element into the creative process. We do this through training sessions for employees with institutions like Singularity University – a university exclusively focused on the study of exponential technologies or technologies that can change a billion lives in less than a decade.

Gear 2: Revving up the EngineThe STF program is designed to create excitement and cultural change at every level of the organisation. So we put our money where our mouth is and put aside funding for the best ideas to come out of the initiative. We shortlisted five ideas from the hundreds received - ranging from new or refined services, product innovations and new markets. Those five teams were given support, training and market exposure to help them take their ideas further. This included spending an “Immersion” week in Silicon Valley where they were further inspired by entrepreneurs, organisations & VCs –and treated to an inspirational keynote by Guy Kawasaki, as well as a visit and session with LinkedIn, Box, Stanford University, VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, and Startup Incubator - NestGSV among others.

Gear 3: Leveraging Your Unfair Advantages to Gain SpeedIt’s important to make full use of your core strengths and market advantages to support such a major initiative. Tata Communications is part of the $100bn salt to software multinational conglomerate Tata group, which has over 100 operating companies, operations spanning 80+ countries and 6 continents, and an overall employee

Open Innovation framework











base of about 545,000. It’s an exceptional resource of people from diverse sectors and industries with a wide variety of viewpoints and few groups globally can match it. Tata Innoverse – the group’s innovation and crowd-sourcing platform where employees can network, collaborate, share, remix, predict and implement innovative ideas swiftly – provides Tata Communications with the ability to generate ideas and seek solutions like no other.

Gear 4: Keeping an Eye on the TrafficWhile it’s vital to drive your employees towards innovation, it is equally important to tap into the creative brilliance outside your organisation through ‘open innovation’. Our STF “Future of Collaboration” Hackathon in July 2013 (held simultaneously in Redwood city, CA and Bangalore, India) and DataHack’14 in July 2014 (held simultaneously in Redwood city, CA and London, UK) were not an attempt at PR but an essential strategy to drive the innovation engine. These STF Hackathons also helped us understand the importance of leveraging diversity internally and externally.

Gear 5: Being Willing to Take a Scenic DetourThere’s no need to restrict innovative solutions to your own products and services. We have learnt that innovation can be built together with, and for, your stakeholders - customers, vendors and partners alike. For instance, we have introduced the STF F1 Connectivity Innovation prize to come up with new ideas for one of our most prestigious customers - Formula 1® Management. In the first stage of the competition, entrants need to demonstrate insightful information that can be derived from Formula 1® management’s live data feeds, and suggest how this could be visually packaged to add suspense and excitement to the audience experience.

Gear 6: Investing In the Engine not the PaintworkYou don’t need a fancy building and a lot of sunk costs to foster innovation and a start-up culture. It is smarter to partner with program incubators such as NestGSV, who have experience in creating innovation centres. This helps optimise investment by minimising unrecoverable costs and maximising the funds available for core development.

Gear 7: Being Prepared For the Odd BreakdownFinally, driving an innovation culture is a continuous process. You have to be prepared for some ideas to fail. Don’t fall into the trap of putting your best employees into risky business ventures and then penalizing them with lower annual assessments when they don’t succeed. There have been studies into what makes someone creative; what the attributes of a creative person might be. A consistent theme is their willingness to learn from failure. It is, therefore, essential that on these programs at least, employees have the freedom to make mistakes – though not the same mistakes! Facilitate and build the governance framework to manage and learn from any disappointments.For us Innovation comes from the combined and synchronized momentum that takes us through each & every gear from 1 to 7 – It’s that energy that drives our Shape the Future program; building excitement, results and the necessary Speed to Lead™.











Age of Wantrepreneurs?By Shruti Dubey, Payments Junkie, National Payment Corporation of India Limited

The history of the term “Wantrepreneur” dates back to 2012. The coinage is attributed to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who has used it since 2012, but it's documented in Urban Dictionary from 2008. Although it caught my attention a couple of weeks ago in an entrepreneurial newsletter it is said to be quite popular a term. It illustrates a person who talks about starting a business but never gets around to making it happen. Let’s get a perspective of what’s happening around.

NUMBER OF START-UPSIndia has been the start-up nation with around 3100 start-ups seeing light of the day. As per Nasscom’s Startup report in 2014, this makes India the 3rd largest base for start-ups in the world. The report cites the birth of 800+ start-ups annually. The growth trend is expected to soar and by 2020 there would be ~11500 start-ups employing over 250k people.

There has been an equally strong interest from Venture capitalists and Angel investors to boost the start-up scenario. Approximately 300 VC/ Private Equities and 225 angel investment deals worth over USD 2 billion have been realised in 2014. With over 20 mergers and acquisitions worth ~USD 1 billion in last 3 years there’s definitely no looking back.

Shruti G Dubey Payments Junkie, NPCI

Based on data published by YourStory, in 2014, Helion Venture Partners was top of the investors list going by the total number of deals made, followed by Sequoia Capital, Blume Ventures, Kalaari Capital, and Accel Partners.

The market has witnessed a bit of a shakeup with Tiger Global taking the top spot in 2015 with cumulative investments of $269 million in 11 deals, followed by Sequoia Capital with $208 million invested in 14 deals, and Steadview Capital with $107 million with two deals. What is more riveting to note is that, beating America and China, India saw the highest FDI inflow for new projects among all nations in the first half of calendar 2015.

When it comes to the cities where the startups that got funded were based, Bangalore led the charts with $2.43 billion, followed by New Delhi at $1.43 billion, and Mumbai stood in the third position with $610 million. It is quite encouraging to note that as per Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking by San Francisco-based Compass, Bangalore which at rank 15 is the only Asian city apart from Singapore to figure in the top 20. A total of $2.256 billion (INR 14,428 crores) of venture investment was made in Bangalore last year, which made it the 7th biggest investment destination in the report. Bangalore also had the youngest entrepreneurs, with an average age of 28.5 years, compared with Silicon Valley's 36.2 years.

The disruption by start-ups stands eminent. “Paytm, started in 2010 does higher number of transactions than any bank in the country!” It has brought together the internet and mobile channels in such a way that the company claims to have crossed IRCTC’s transaction volume last year itself.

As per IAMAI’s report, An inquiry into the impact of India’s App economy released in July 2015 India also significantly contributes to app development as roughly 10% of apps worldwide are developed by Indians either based abroad or at home. It also estimates the Mobile app industry to create around 1,59,010 jobs, direct as well as indirect by 2016.

SOCIAL ACCEPTABILITYA global estimate is that three out of four start-ups fail within two years. The culture is gradually changing with social acceptance of new alternatives and growing appetites for risk. Treading the path towards entrepreneurship is no longer a career suicide. Failure has become a badge of honour on the contrary in the start-up eco-system. It’s encouraging to see entrepreneurs achieving their dreams. We like it when hard work pays off. But, what about the times when these crusaders who don't achieve instant success? Make way! Failed entrepreneurs are said to be a hot catch by recruiters and hiring agencies. Failing fast and starting new is a good trend, say analysts.

According to a 2015 report released by BNP Paribas covering the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia, India ranks as the most active country for women entrepreneurs. The report finds that an astonishing 49% of entrepreneurs in the country are women, and places India ahead of Hong Kong and France, the other two nations that follow India in terms of active women entrepreneurs. Woman empowerment looks like the mantra!

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVESMake in IndiaHon. PM, Shri Narendra Modi’s ambitious project, Make in India is a very positive step towards bolstering the Manufacturing sector. As per the commerce and industry ministry, FDI into equity jumped 48 per cent after the launch of the 'Make in India' programme. While the initiative has opened up exciting avenues and sectors for collaboration and work in the manufacturing segment, what is worth pondering is that are we seeing enough investment in the agriculture sector? More so, it is of concern because it engages 49 percent of the workforce of the country. Unfortunately, it grew at a meagre 1.1 percent in 2014-15, as per the Economic Survey.

SETUThe Government has established a mechanism to be known as SETU (Self-Employment and Talent Utilisation) under NITI Aayog. SETU will be a Techno-Financial, Incubation and Facilitation Programme to support all aspects of start-up businesses, and other self-employment activities, particularly in technology-driven areas.

MUDRAThe MUDRA scheme targeting around 5.75 small entrepreneurs is aimed at “funding the unfunded” and save them from exploitation at the hands of money lenders. MUDRA, to be set up with a corpus of INR 20,000 crore, and credit guarantee corpus of INR 3,000 crore, would be responsible for developing and refinancing through a Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana, all Micro-finance Institutions (MFIs) which are in the business of lending to micro/small business entities engaged in manufacturing, trading and service activities.

While above initiatives aim at encouraging the set-up for newer initiatives, a lot of start-ups are shifting base abroad thanks to the red-tapism in the country. Last year, 54 per cent of the funded young tech ventures domiciled in Singapore, the U.S and the U.K. because of better regulatory environment in these countries. The figure shot up to 75 per cent this year. Nine of the top 30 business-to-business software product companies by market capitalisation have already relocated to the U.S., Singapore and the U.K. These 30 companies are worth $10 billion (INR 65,589 crore), employing 21,000 people, according to iSpirt’s software product index, which tracks the growth of the industry.

India is the 9th largest economy of the world and is at 3rd position after China and Japan among Asian Countries as per International Monetary Fund World Economic Outlook (April-2015). Although the country has a long way to go, the environment is definitely conducive to growth. The government has also been engaging with start-ups with a sense of purpose to keep up the momentum. When thoughts of this budding start-up environment flash through my grey matter, the future for this newly learned term (read “Wantrepreneur”) definitely looks gloomy!


























Who funded most startups?

Source: YourStory.com

141313

1211

1110

7

4

Helion Venture Partners

Sequoia Capital

Blume Ventures

Kalaari Capital

Accel Partners

Matrix Partners

Tiger Global

IDG Ventures

Softbank

Tim

e Pe

riod:

201

4

8Accel Partners $23 Mn

Top PE/VCV (Investments)

11Tiger Global $269 Mn

14Sequoia Capital $208 Mn

2Steadview Capital $107 Mn

1Softbank $57 Mn

2015

(Jan

-Apr

il)

No. of Deals

Source: YourStory.com

1Nexus Ventures $73 Mn

6Kalaari Capital $45 Mn

6IDG Ventures $19 Mn

5Helion Venture $17 Mn

11Accel Partners $16 Mn

2014

(Jan

-Apr

il)

3 Web-Based Indian Startups Poisedto Grow Big in the Coming Years

By Staff Reporter

Published on 2nd / 3rd of every month | Posted on 6th / 7th of every month | RNI. No.: DELENG/2009/30094 | Postal Registration No.: DL(S) - 01/3375/2010-12

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