Ajay Datta, who launched LinkedIn Lite for India, says user experience should be top priority and entrepreneurs should focus more on retention, than on driving the app.

Is your product as good as your content? It has to be, if you aim to retain users. Ajay Datta, Head of Product, LinkedIn India, backed this theory and spoke a lot more about things every founder needs to consider to retain his or her target audience.

Speaking on day one of the ninth edition of TechSparks 2018, he said: “When it comes to marketing, which unfortunately is not always free, it actually leads to a high number of downloads. But in many cases, it leads to an uninstall in 30 days. It is then that people start thinking of other free channels to get  more users.”

At a session on Mobile Web and Lite – Is it just about performance? , he said it was important to think of user experience from the word go. He added that having the number of users grow organically works better than using temporary features to drive traffic to your site.  So does better content need a better web browsing speed or can only apps provide the best user experience?

Extra user functionalities

Ajay says, “Most people start by building an android app; they then look at Play Store or Google, and aim for more features. They think, I should have a platform to create mobile presence, from web. As we have got a progressive web app, lets create a PWA.”

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are an emerging technology of web applications (client-server computer programs) that load like regular web pages or websites. However, they can offer extra user functionalities such as working offline, push notifications from web, and device hardware access. But these are traditionally available only to native mobile applications.

Even LinkedIn did the same thing when it arrived in India. But the Indian market was different and Ajay soon decided to tweak the product to suit the needs of Indian users.

In 2016, it launched a new product for India, LinkedIn Lite. It was a smaller version of the mobile website for slower internet connections.  But was it done only for faster web browsing?

Ajay asked the audience to think whether they would download a 50 MB app at the first go? “There are doubts. Most of us prefer checking with a friend or colleague before using any app.  And we look at SEO or Facebook marketing,” he said.

When everyone is launching their product either on website or app, what are the factors that a founder should consider? How will it perform? How many users will it reach? How will it grow over time?” However, many do not define what performance would actually mean.

The LinkedIn India head said it was all about “retention”. “Is your website offering something that could be used quite often?” Ajay focused on this, which is what led him to change his strategy and focus on how to change products for target users.

“Unless you are building a high frequency messaging use case or network use case, many products do not have important applications on how users will interact with them,” he said. “You may know about the site from friends but you won’t go ahead and download something immediately. The most important thing when it comes to your site is performance so embed more detail in each set of applications you provide,” Ajay added.

Focus on the product

The idea of lite apps is to provide the user with what s/he is looking for quickly. But Ajay claimed that in the Indian market people might not be well versed with the product you are bringing in or the complexity of that particular product.  “So it is very important to focuss on what is the key running proposition that you are offering to your users and make sure it is delivered  in the most simplistic way,” Ajay said.

He points to another mistake most people make - upselling their product. “It means persuading the customer to buy more features at an extra cost on an app. If it is for an elevated app experience, then why not deliver it over web? Why do you need to upsell the app? There are certain places you might have to do that such as a device capability that it will actually be leveraging. But if you don’t need to, don’t do that,” he added.

Ajay advised entrepreneurs and businesses to focus more on developing their product. “The loading time for your landing page should be less than six seconds; if it crosses six seconds you have lost 50 percent of your potential users,” he said, reiterating that the customer’s first experience should be delightful.

Explaining LinkedIn’s theory of creating lighter web versions, he said, “Even without having a transaction, we are looking for user flows with finite resources available, creating first-class user experiences. It helps us retain users. Whatever be the feature, add value to the time user spends on you web application.”

The key is to notice the final conversion rate. Do not focus so much on driving the app, focus on driving retention. As long as you are doing the right matrix optimisation, you are out there. Monitor your key conversion channels and make this drive your channel, he advised the audience.

Speaking about his own experience, Ajay said: “With more than 400 engagements on an average on a post, something is certainly working. We are now questioning whether we actually need an app or not.”

YourStory's annual extravaganza TechSparks brings together the best and the brightest from the startup ecosystem, corporate world, policymakers, and of course, the investor community. Over the years, it has grown to become India's most loved tech and startup platform for knowledge sharing and networking. The ninth edition of TechSparks also marks YourStory's 10th anniversary. A big thank you for all your support over the years and keep reading and watching YourStory.

Olympic shooter Shagun Chowdhary urges people and the government to encourage female athletes from the start of their journey, and not wait until they start winning laurels for the country on the international stage. 

In the second day of the 9th edition of TechSparks, YourStory's flagship annual tech conference, Olympic trap shooter Shagun Chowdhary detailed the struggles of being an Indian sportswoman, her Olympic journey and the need for acceptance of sports as a career option, for women and men alike.

"A female Indian athlete is very hard to come by," Shagun said, adding that she is often asked what she does for a living. When she says that she shoots, the usual response goes something like: "oh that's nice, what else do you do?" To drive home her point, she asked the audience if they knew who won medals for India at the Rio Olympics.

"Two women. PV Sindhu and Sakshi Mallik... Women have to work much harder for recognition," she pointed out.

But she acknowledged that things are looking up for women in sport in India. Earlier, we only talked about Anju Bobby George, but now we have names like Sania Mirza, Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, and Hima Das, after whom Addidas named one of its range of shoes. Shagun felt the change is driven by the audience and social media. "More people are now coming out to support sportswomen," she added.

The Shagun story

Shagun's father, a shooter himself, was her biggest inspiration and source of motivation. Her mother, on the other hand, saw absolutely no future in a career in sport.

Shagun studied science in school and went on to study economics in college. Her mother always hoped her daughter would pursue a traditional career, that of an engineer or working for a corporate.

Her father, however, had different plans for Shagun. He introduced Shagun to the game, gave her the opportunity to explore it, and believed in her. "He saw what I could be," Shagun said.

But the society was not as kind. Back in the day, being a woman athlete was tough, since sports was a boys' club. On the national level, there were only two other women shooters besides Shagun, and they were not taken seriously. "We used to be like puppets who came and shot, for the sake of shooting," Shagun recalled, adding, "I had to do something really, really big to tell everyone and myself that I am right."

On September 18, 2011, when she came fourth in the World Championships, she also won the first quota for India at the Olympics in shooting trap. "I called up my mother and said, 'Sorry I could not become a doctor or engineer, but will an Olympian do?'"

From then to now, the number of women shooters in the national level has increased from a paltry two to an impressive hundred.

Begin at the beginning 

Did her competitors from around the world have a similar journey to the Olympics? The University of Stanford is termed, in the sporting world, 'a nation of 16,000'. And they won 27 medals at the Rio Olympics.

Shagun explained that talent has to be fostered from a very young age, and this would help competitors prep themselves for a fruitful career on the world stage.

In India, too, sportswoman can scale great heights in the sports world with the help of everyone's support and encouragement. But more than anything else, we need acceptance in India. "We must start accepting sports as a career option," the Olympian added.

Shagun said that she did not have any role model while growing up since there were hardly any women in the shooting space, but she hoped that the future would be full of inspiration, mentors and role models.

What can the government do?

While the government has started recognising sportswoman, it often steps in a little late in the game.

Things, however, are changing slowly, Shagun noted. "There is funding coming and groups that are picking up athletes at a younger level and are being a part of their journey," she added.

But what about the expectation on women to hang up their boots for the sake of starting a family? Shagun cited the example of boxer Mary Kom. "As far as the second innings is concerned, women manage to balance life much better than men," she quipped.

YourStory's annual extravaganza TechSparks brings together the best and the brightest from the startup ecosystem, corporate world, policymakers and, of course, the investor community. Over the years, it has grown to become India's most loved tech and startup platform for knowledge sharing and networking. The ninth edition of TechSparks also marks YourStory's 10th anniversary. A big thank you for all your support over the years and keep reading and watching YourStory.

From technology to transformation, witness the memorable journey of Indian entrepreneurship in these excerpts and stories! StoryBites is a weekly feature from YourStory, featuring notable quotable quotes in our articles of this past week (see the previous post here; we will have a separate compilation on TechSparks 2018 coming up next). Share these 30 gems and insights from the week of October 1-7 with your colleagues and networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights.

What matters most is as a founder, did you take the company to the next level? - Naganand Doraswamy, IdeaSpring Capital

If you have a great product or innovation then no country is a barrier. -  Alok Kejriwal, Games2Win

For the global market, quality is the highest priority. - TC Joseph, Dolphin Rubber Industries

The new trend is to communicate the brand’s message through the life stories of real people, be it emotional or aspirational. - Sanghamitra Khatu, Tribal Box

Storytelling gives meaning and allows you to stand out from the mass of routine pitches. - Vani Kola, Kalaari Capital

Digital marketing is a successful business model that can be run without the support of external funding. - Pardeep Goyal, StartupKarma

As mere good content is not enough anymore, many OTT players are re-routing their content strategies and creating relatable content. - Jason Wang, SHAREit India

Monetising chatbots is not only a possibility today, it is also becoming a necessity. - Amit Dua, ValueAppz

There is so much to travel but only so little time. Even if we have all the means to travel, it is physically impossible to cover the globe. - Purav Shah, QuaQua

Large consumer internet unicorns are now becoming acquirers. They are acquiring newer categories, technologies and making acquisitions within the ecosystem. - Sreedhar Prasad, KPMG India

We have to adopt blockchain technology or else we may fail to keep pace with other countries. - Pankaj Sinha, Right Directions

Keep reading and learning about upcoming technologies. They have the potential to grow or destroy any industry. - Sumit Jaiswal, Highflow Industries

Demonetisation pushed Indians towards switching to cashless methods, which come with hidden costs, but as soon as the pressure reduced, Indians returned to using cash. - Himaghna Sarkar, ToneTag

Ecommerce gives you access to top 25 cities in an instant. - Vinay Singh, Fireside Ventures

Over the years, it became increasingly evident that India’s commitment to being a welfare state was being compromised by a weak public distribution system. - TN Hari, Fundamentum

No point in finding faults with any government; certain governments are better to work with, and certain governments are more proactive. - Vishal Phanse, Piramal Swasthya

The release of a very pragmatic regulation is a big relief for the entire Indian drone industry. - Vipul Singh, Aarav Unmanned Systems

The global HR tech industry is nearly $400 billion and while India has had a slow start, it is picking up the pace and gaining investor attention. - Sandeep Chaudhary, Aon Hewitt India

We are seeing strong demand for venture debt from the Indian market. - Vinod Murali, Alteria Capital

India is going through an increase in the number of lifestyle problems like obesity, diabetes, cardio-vascular disorders, hypertension and cancer. - Anju Sood, Rejoov

Logistics is a sector that is poised for transformation. - Ajay Maniar, Aavishkaar

The purpose of mechanisation is to achieve the highest levels of hygiene by reducing human contact with the food. - Madhu Pandit Dasa, Akshaya Patra Foundation

Experience can save one from big losses. And experience comes after facing big losses. - Manjeet Singh Duhan, IBP

Don’t be scared of failures – there’s no successful startup that has never failed once or twice. - Amitabh Kant, NITI Aayog

We envision a future generation of dignified individuals who are well aware of their social responsibilities and have an open mindset to find innovative solutions to every problem. - Adwita Desai, LIFE labs

Only by working for the welfare of someone else and impacting other lives do we bring meaning to our existence. - Ankit Manchanda, Books For All

Within you lies the immense potential to reverse negativity, optimise your future, focus on your plans and achieve the success that you were meant to have. - Reeta Gupta, ‘Rescript Your Life'

Some incidents that take place even a decade ago remain fresh in your memory. - Janice Sequeria

Learn about the world, the ways of life, introspection and retrospection. - Medha Joseph, Embarq

Geeks are taking over the world. If they haven’t already. - Priyanka Chopra

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

Ecommerce founders who are slowly embracing offline believe online is great to start a business, but offline is better to build trust and value. 

‘O20’ or online-to-offline is the new buzzword in ecommerce.

On Day 1 of TechSparks 2018, Kishore Biyani underscored the importance of building a “digital layer on top of physical retail”. He said Future Group is a “big proponent of O2O” and would soon launch experiential retail stores.

On Day 2, the founders of two pure play online ventures, which later got into offline, discussed the merits and demerits of O2O commerce. The consensus was this: Online is great to start a business, offline is better to build trust and value. Offline increases conversions too, especially in big-ticket categories like home decor, modular kitchens, etc.

So, at what point does an ecommerce firm decide to go offline? And what are the expected business outcomes?

Rajiv Srivasta, Founder and CPTO, Urban Ladder, said:

“Around three years back, we decided that we were more a brand and not just a marketplace. A brand needs to be where the consumer is. And today, consumers for this category are 99 percent offline. They ask us where our store is even as we deliver their online orders.”

Also, “online is still perceived as discounting. You will always be price-compared. We have a solid product. We didn’t want to play the pricing game. Offline helped us offer a sense of quality”, he added.

While brand-building is key to the long-term success of a business, as Biyani too stressed upon last evening, some ventures look at building a physical presence to establish their brand. Livspace was one.

Ramakant Sharma, Co-founder, Livspace, said:

“For us, the primary reason was to build trust in customers. We sell a complex design solution. Consumers started online, but seeing the products in a physical setup was as important. So, we redirected the online funnel to offline. Today, 95 percent of conversions are from offline.”

For Urban Ladder too, conversions increased as offline stores became operational. “There were 30X more conversions and the average ticket size grew 2X. Consumers were buying the bigger products offline, more than online,” Rajiv revealed.

Interestingly, customers tend to exhibit different buying behaviour even within the same demographic.

Ramakant said, “Online is more trusted in Bengaluru. Consumers believe companies heavy on social media. But, in Delhi or Greater Noida, online is considered fly-by-night. The trust and conversions are more if the brand has an offline presence. For new consumers, initiation of the process is always offline.”

The impact of emerging tech

Even as companies are caught in the online-offline conundrum, the rise of emerging technologies like augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) has added a new dimension to retail. AR and VR have the ability to deliver store-like buying experiences to customers from within the confines of their homes.

Rajiv said,

“VR will be as widespread as mobile in the next two to three years. VR needs a lot of bandwidth to function. 5G will make VR mainstream. But, VR devices are clunky. Once devices become smaller, adoption will increase. You would be able to see how furniture fits in your house without the need for a physical marker.”

Ramakant added, “Customer buying decision was earlier a four-week cycle. Now, it has reduced by a few weeks. Our VR setup is integrated with offline. A mix of VR and offline helps drive conversion efficiencies in the funnel.”

Despite the rising importance of offline, both founders said they would choose online if they had to pick just one. Rajiv said, “I would always start online.” Ramakant concurred. “Online gives you a kind of scale that is unseen. Every year we are growing at 4X.”

He adds, “But, to bring in more efficiencies in every dollar you invest, you need to mix both very smartly, such that both your brand positioning and conversion funnel become better.”

YourStory's annual extravaganza TechSparks brings together the best and the brightest from the startup ecosystem, corporate world, policy makers, and of course, the investor community. Over the years, it has grown to become India's most loved tech and startup platform for knowledge sharing and networking. The ninth edition of TechSparks also marks YourStory's 10th anniversary. A big thank you for all your support over the years and keep reading and watching YourStory.

Fueled by its goal to ensure that no child in India is deprived of education because of hunger, the Akshaya Patra Foundation continues to increase its fleet of kitchens to serve hot nutritious meals to school children across states. By 2020, the foundation aims to feed 5 million children, from 1.75 million currently. 

A young Bengaluru boy, whose parents earned a mere Rs. 4,000 a month, had a passion for cooking and dreamed of becoming a chef one day. Despite a leaky roof over his head and sparse ingredients to cook a fancy meal, the eighth-grader was known for fashioning chef hats out of paper and cooking meals with whatever ingredients were available to him at his home. So, to help the aspiring chef realise his dream, the Akshaya Patra Foundation connected him with one of the best chefs in the city under their 'Giving Dreams a Chance' programme. For 45 days, the boy received training from a professional chef at the Taj Hotels. By the end of the programme, he was able to whip up a meal that was as healthy and tasty as that cooked by professional chefs, earning him an actual chef hat from one of the top chefs at the Taj.

This simple story, as told by Shridhar Venkat, CEO, Akshaya Patra Foundation, is reflective of the work of the foundation and the larger goal it seeks to achieve: empower children to gain holistic development and achieve their dreams by fulfiling their basic need for food.

Shridhar narrated several other stories of how the foundation has enabled different children to realise their dreams, including one who obtained a PhD in biotechnology, another who became a chartered accountant, and yet another who is studying medicine. What's common among these children is the fact that they all come from low-income families (Rs 6,000/month on average), but are fast learners.

He said,

“We focus on the fundamental needs of a child, that is food, and further help them fulfill their dreams.”

The idea was to make sure these children receive a daily mid-day meal so that they could go back to school, rather than leave school to earn a meal. To be sure, the foundation believes that to bring about a revolution, innovation, focus, and simplicity are all essential, particularly due to India's vast size.

Focus on innovation, go-local strategy

Akshaya Patra realised the importance of going local and catering to local palettes early on. So, whether it's the grains they source, or the food they serve, or the people they employ, Akshay Patra is focused on being local.

“We started at a very small scale with five schools and 1,500 children in Bengaluru, and served them khichdi. Within the first few days, consumption of food went up like anything but it dropped drastically within the next 8-10 days,” said Shridhar.

Akshaya Patra soon realised that children in Bengaluru do not eat khichdi for lunch everyday. Instead, they eat rice, sambar, and curd. Similarly, children in north India prefer rotis to rice. And so, Akshaya Patra adopted its strategy of catering to local palettes through local kitchens, local sourcing, and local transformation.

Through it all, the foundation has focused on innovative ideas and technology to ensure efficiency and hygiene. For example, it collaborated with a person from Jalandhar to build an in-house roti maker from a papad-making machine that could make 1,000 rotis in an hour. Thanks to Akshaya Patra's unrelenting focus on innovation, the roti making machine can now make 60,000 rotis per hour.

Currently, 1.75 million children across 12 states receive mid-day meals through the foundation's public-private partnership model, which allows them to ensure continuous innovation in their drive to feed children. Associated with more than 14,000 schools, it aims to feed 5 million children every day by 2020.

Shridhar says this initiative would have been impossible to execute without the government's partnership. The not-for-profit public-private partnership enables the foundation to spend 92 percent of the Rs 1,100 allocated for each child for feeding the child. Currently, its overhead cost is eight percent and Shridhar says the organisation is trying to bring this down to five percent in the next two to three years.

The foundation also focuses on transparency, which, in turn, has earned it several awards, including the Hall of the Fame for financial reporting by the Institute of Chartered Accountants, India.

He said,

“Social accountability is extremely important for a social enterprise."

The foundation, which runs kitchens for more than 100 missionaries across 14 tribal locations, aims to serve more than a billion meals each day in the coming years in order to ensure that no child goes hungry. The social impact of the work done by Akshaya Patra cannot be denied.

He added,

"When I ask employees why are you there with us for the past 10 years, they say, “Hume yahan karam aur dharam dono karne ko milta hai (We get the opportunity to both earn and do good here)."

As a social enterprise, it wants to collaborate with other social initiatives like Teach for India, and solve other problems all across the country.

Having said that, the foundation will continue to maintain its core focus on making sure children are not denied the opportunity to earn an education because of hunger. Shridhar recounts, "Another day, someone offered Rs 100 crore to build toilets in schools, but I rejected it. Yahan pe khaney ko nahi hai, toilet banke kya karenge (Here children do not come to school because of lack of food and you are talking of toilets)?"

Shridhar ends on an optimistic note for India, saying that come 2040, he expects Akshaya Patra will be "obsolete" by then because he expects the foundation would have "cured hunger.”

YourStory's annual extravaganza TechSparks brings together the best and the brightest from the startup ecosystem, corporate world, policy makers, and of course, the investor community. Over the years, it has grown to become India's most loved tech and startup platform for knowledge sharing and networking. The ninth edition of TechSparks also marks YourStory's 10th anniversary. A big thank you for all your support over the years and keep reading and watching YourStory.

A Chinese bot translated an English book on blockchain to Mandarin with 95 percent accuracy, revealing China's tremendous progress in advanced technologies.

This is automation at a completely different level. A 300-page English book written by Indian author Srinivas Mahankali, consisting of over one lakh words, was translated into Mandarin in flat 30 seconds.

“Chinese publishers were very keen to translate my book on blockchain as they wanted to create awareness about this technology in their language,” says Srinivas, author of Blockchain - The Untold story.

As a technologist himself and a graduate from IIT Madras, Srinivas said he was amazed in the advances made by China in the area of AI. Srinivas claimed that the translation was 95 percent accurate.

This technology feat was demonstrated at the Beijing International Book fair in August this year by the Youdao AI Translator.

After it was translated by the bot, the book took a human editor a week's work before it could be published. According to Srinivas, it takes about six months for any book to be translated into the Chinese language.

The Chinese publisher, keen to have it translated as soon as possible, reached out to the Indian publisher of Srinivas’ book. “There is lot of interest in China on the topic of blockchain,” said Srinivas.

He added China is far ahead in emerging technologies such as AI and machine learning, and now wants to implement blockchain in multiple areas. This translation technology could be very useful for a country like India, which has over a thousand languages.

The very charming Sujeet Kumar gave the audience at TechSparks a glimpse of what passion, hard work, and drive can do - his company, Udaan, is India’s fastest unicorn, having achieved the coveted $1 billion valuation in a short 26 months. The young man from Bhabua, Bihar, shies away from the praise he gets, but is honest in telling all he did not make it to the UPSC exam - not once, but twice.

How does one target the next 500 million Indian users? "Definitely not with porn," said Virendra Gupta, Founder and CEO, and Umang Bedi, President, of Dailyhunt, the app that publishes and aggregates news in 17 languages. He added investors focused on DAUs (Daily Active Users) and MAUs (Monthly Active Users) and did not understand that businesses, especially in content and with a focus on the users who are coming online for the first time, need to be built with quality content.

Standing ovations are rare, more so at TechSparks. But when bootstrapped billionaire Divyank Turakhia finished a crackling fireside chat, the audience couldn’t help but stand up and applaud the young entrepreneur. The Turakhia brothers – Divyank and Bhavin – joined India’s billionaire club in 2016 with the tech company they founded in their teens. His story is the stuff of legend – how a Rs 25,000 loan turned into a near-billion-dollar exit.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation realised the importance of catering to local palettes early on, says CEO Sridhar Venkat. Whether it's the grains they source, the food they serve, the people they employ, Akshay Patra is focused on being local. The foundation has focused on innovative ideas and technology to ensure efficiency and hygiene in the food they serve to children across schools.

Taking automation to an altogether different level, a 300-page English book written by Indian author Srinivas Mahankali - it had over one lakh words - was translated into Mandarin in flat 30 seconds. No, there are no super editors here - this was the Youdao AI translator at work. The technology was demonstrated at the Beijing International Book Fair in August this year.

Olympic trap shooter Shagun Chowdhary spoke about the struggles of being an Indian sportswoman, her Olympic journey, and the need to accept sports as a career option. Shagun is often asked what she does for a living. When she says she shoots, the usual response goes something like: "Oh! That's nice, what else do you do?"

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Soon enough, you can replace your smartphones, tablets and computers with Facebook’s very own ‘video chat device’. What’s more, it can sit in a corner and sense people’s movements to automatically zoom and pan a video.

In a first, Facebook forayed into the hardware space with Portal and Portal Plus – video chat devices designed to make chatting easier with good video and audio quality. These devices are just like Google Home or Amazon’s Alexa – but with a twist!

For Portal and Portal Plus, Facebook has developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) software called the Smart Camera to sense movements. The devices claim no lag and latency, and put Facebook in direct competition with Google and Amazon for smart home products.

The Portal has a 10.1-inch smart display and costs $199, and the Portal Plus costs $349 with a 15.6-inch screen. Both devices will be shipped in November.

Currently, Facebook has over 2.2 billion users and these devices could be big bets for the company. Facebook said its CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s daughters use a Portal device to chat with their grandparents.

According to CNET, both the Portal and Portal Plus have display augmented reality effects, similar to the digital filter overlays on Instagram or Snapchat – like the 'dog’s ear' filter. They also have a 'Story Time' feature that lets parents tell children stories over video chat with enhanced digital filters.

Calls from Portal can be triggered by “Hey Portal, call …” and the name of the person you want to call. The company has partnered with Spotify, Pandora and iHeartRadio, so you can also listen to the same song with the people you’re chatting with. You can also watch videos on it through several channels like Food Network and Newsy.

However, with a device in play, Facebook needs to focus on its security even more. The company is already facing a $1.63 billion fine by an EU privacy watchdog for a recent data breach that compromised almost 90 million users.

Will Facebook make its mark in the battle of the devices? There are some exciting times ahead.

In the digital age, teachers need to keep up with evolving technology, know what digital tools are best suited to their students, and use them effectively in their classrooms.

Despite all the sophisticated modern technology that helps educators impart knowledge, it is a teacher’s personal touch that holds the key to unlocking the remarkable potential in every student. Even today, the quality of teaching contributes the most to a student’s success in school. The role of teachers, therefore, is more important than ever before.

Students of today are gearing up to become global citizens of tomorrow. They are living in a highly-advanced digital age, where the cyber world has superimposed itself upon the real world. The internet and social media have made the world smaller and flatter and transformed mindsets and belief systems.

It comes as no surprise then that the processes and trends of education are being transformed dramatically.

In such a scenario, teachers have no option but to evolve as well. They must update themselves to the modern, thinking-oriented global processes of education if they wish to continue inspiring young minds and equip them with skills that can be valuable in the future.

Somewhere, it is also the responsibility of educational institutes to ensure that teachers engage in continuous professional learning and apply that learning to enhance student achievement.

The pertinent question, however, is: how can teachers evolve? What are the requisite professional development skills for teaching digital-age students?

Let’s enumerate some of them.

Only when teachers acquire contemporary, avant-garde knowledge and new, innovative tools of teaching can they impart 21st-century education appropriately. And this is easily possible now, thanks to highly specialised education academies (both classroom-oriented and online) with comprehensively-structured modules of training for teachers to upgrade their teaching skills.

Digital tools are constantly changing the manner in which teachers teach and students learn. Teachers need to keep up with evolving technology, know what digital tools are best suited to their students, and use them effectively in their classrooms. Virtual reality classrooms, for example, are a state-of-the-art tool that can allow students to experience the entire world from within the confines of the classroom.

How good a teacher’s communication skills are can make all the difference to a student’s mental and academic growth. Not all students learn in the same way. Some are naturally gifted while others learn slowly. Some students need to learn in a different way. That is where augmented communication skills can prove to be invaluable.

Handling student issues in a sensitive manner and finding novel ways to overcome their learning challenges also calls for out-of-the-box thinking and a well-honed ability to adapt. The ability to adapt to any and every situation is a crucial skill for modern teachers.

To help students overcome their shortcomings and learn efficiently requires critical thinking. Teachers have to deal with deadlines and balance the discipline of the classroom with a sensitive approach to students’ needs. That requires critical thinking. They need to resolve conflicts between students. That also requires critical thinking. In short, critical thinking abilities need to be high on the list of professional skills for teachers.

At the same time, teachers must also have the expertise to help students think critically, be innovative and creative, and sharpen their problem-solving skills.

This clearly indicates that the role of the modern teacher encompasses that of the mentor, much like the guru-shishya equation in ancient times. As mentors, teachers must patiently guide students into understanding their own selves and identities better. They must be able to help students identify their goals and assist them in devising practical strategies to achieve those goals. They must have the know-how to encourage students in developing effective coping mechanisms that will prepare them for any challenges they may face when they step into the real world to find their individual niches and voices.

It is a teacher’s job to imbibe values and disciplines, and look after the emotional well-being of students. Kids are fragile and easily afflicted by behavioural, emotional, learning, or mental disorders. The processes by which we prepare our teachers for 21^st-century education must also focus on elevating their emotional intelligence. This will allow them to understand, control, and express their emotions better, and handle inter-personal relationships with their students more empathetically.

One can conclude that to empower digital-age students with cutting-edge knowledge and skills, teachers must empower themselves first. They need to enhance their skillsets to global levels and become passionate knowledge-givers who can shape minds and ignite imaginations of future generations.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.) 

Sanjay Katkar, MD and CTO at Quick Heal Antivirus and Manish Agarwal, CEO of Nazara Technologies talk about the Business of Giants - winning the profitability and growth war at TechSparks. 

Even as the first day of the ninth edition of TechSparks 2018 progressed towards lunchtime, those hungry to know how to crack the elusive profitability-growth balance were not left high and dry. At the session 'Business of Giants- Winning the Profitability and Growth War', Sanjay Katkar, Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer, Quick Heal Antivirus and Manish Agarwal, CEO, Nazara Technologies let the audience in on how rewarding persistence and discipline prove to be in the long run.

Both the leaders took the path of struggle to success. While the session revolved around initial public offerings (IPOs), other topics - how a growth mindset is different from a profit-making one, how growth and profitability should be seen in times of volatility in the market, when is a good time to become an IPO, whether to focus on growth spending all your profits or pocket them, and why there is a need to go for IPO were the other key topics discussed.

When a growing private company or corporation wants to expand, it raises investments from public offering (IPO). Once a company files for IPO, it can exit its earlier investors.

With Quick Heal, Sanjay explained that they did not open its stock for public when markets crashed in 2013, a move that saved them from failure. It instead did it in 2016. He noted that the company's plan was to grow organically and to that end it wanted to exit its past investor. Their focus was not just on raising money and Quick Heal kept re-inventing its products.

Mobile games company Nazara, serving emerging markets such as India, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America, became the first online gaming company to file for an IPO this year. Its downloads increased from 42 million in 2016 to 44.5 million in September 2017.  Investments helped the company reach Tier I and II cities using virtual reality lounges, and the company was able expand in the interactive entertainment market.

Focus on margins

With the recent Sensex crash and volatility, what does a company have to keep in mind when it seeks an IPO? Sanjay advised young entrepreneurs to focus on growing by protecting their margins.

“Investors look at how you are trying to maintain your profitability. Although growth has some risk involved, if you do have money from investors, it is a good strategy to follow,” he added.

Manish, however, brought a different perspective about the impact of markets. “Ups and downs of markets are not truly indicative of your company. Just focus on the basic key metrics and growth will follow,” he said.

As more and more companies file for IPOs, the options to explore are expanding. "The gaming market in India has a huge opportunity for growth. But do not try to achieve rocket growth just in a year of launch. Consistency is the key factor,” Manish said, adding that concentrating on unit economics, and making concerted efforts to understand customer needs will help in the company's growth.

Spend profits on growth or pocket them?

On how to manage profits, Sanjay said, “If a product or service is creative enough and drives innovation, then growth needs to be focussed on first and not an IPO. Once you have established your product, your consumers are satisfied, and then you can pocket profits. That’s what we did.”

There is room for both growth and profit. “Once a business is in its gestation period, backed by investors, it can then work on market shares and strengthening its product KPIs. That’s how successful companies run,” Manish said.

Sanjay said, “If a product or service  is creative enough and drives more of innovation, then growth needs to be focused first and not going public.”

Sustainability is key

Both the panelists agreed that business models need to be sustainable.

“You just need to keep re-inventing. Do not stick to one product. Once you have the investors on your side, the company will generate revenue and later profits. A time will come when the company can exit the investors and file for an IPO,” Sanjay said.

Filling for an IPO becomes the right path to pursue when your product does not involve a lot of innovation. This is because investors are more focussed on quarterly growth. But for a creative product, that goes through a number of trials, nothing changes in a quarter. Such a product needs at least 12 months for a good response. Sanjay shared his personal experience on how difficult it was to convince Indian investors that the product will take time to create profits and stabilise.

YourStory's annual extravaganza TechSparks brings together the best and the brightest from the startup ecosystem, corporate world, policymakers and, of course, the investor community. Over the years, it has grown to become India's most loved tech and startup platform for knowledge sharing and networking. The ninth edition of TechSparks also marks YourStory's 10th anniversary. A big thank you for all your support over the years and keep reading and watching YourStory.

The cost of selling to existing customers who already trust you is almost negligible as compared to selling to new ones.

There are only three ways to grow a business.

1. I increase the number of customers.
2. I increase the average transaction value per customer.
3. I increase a customer’s frequency of purchase.

The first step is most common, but also the toughest. If businesses calculated how much they spend on acquiring customers, they’d get a rude shock. Manpower and marketing costs, time spent in writing proposals and following up – all this cumulatively adds up to a lot. This is something businesses either don’t see or just take in their stride.

I don’t mean that you should not pursue new customers. But the cost of selling to existing customers who already trust you is almost negligible as compared to selling to new ones.

For instance, if you want to grow your turnover by 100 percent, you could try doubling the number of your customers. But think about how many people you’ll have to recruit, the infrastructure you’ll have to expand, and mistakes you’ll make along the way. What will the financial implications of all this be?

On the other hand, if you increased the number of your customers, their purchase frequency and average transaction value each by 25 percent, you’ll still double your turnover. All this at a fraction of the time, effort, risk, manpower, and infrastructure.

Have I convinced you about the importance of getting existing customers to buy from you? Great!

Now let me elaborate on five techniques you can deploy to achieve this.

 Size up the need

Imagine this. Your salesperson successfully sells your product to a branch office of a large organisation. Or, the customer bought your product on a trial basis for a tiny number of users.

In both cases, your business has the potential to sell more of your product to the same customer. Document the customer’s potential based on the number of users who are likely to be ideal for using your product. After a few weeks, when things are smooth, get your sales team to pitch the product to the same customer again.

If you’ve managed to win the trust of the customer, this should be a piece of cake.

Address concerns early

How do you build trust in customers? Not by doing things right all the time, but by fixing things promptly when they go wrong. Track instances when customers call your team with concerns or issues and follow up quickly.

Buffer, the social media management app, follow an interesting technique. While responding to issues, customers whose tenure is less get priority. This is because when a customer is new, it’s important to establish trust with them early.

Respond to customers early, address their issues, and follow up. Each time you follow up to check, they feel heard and safe; and such customers turn from satisfied to happy to evangelists quickly. When customers become your advocates, they don’t just do business only with you, but also send plenty of references your way.

Build an opportunity grid

Ravindra Datar, a friend and Founder of Business Mastermind Advisory Services LLP, follows an opportunity grid to track potential sales to existing customers.

Here’s how it works. First, note down your customers’ names. Next, create a column for each of your products. Now, under each product’s column, note the status of the interaction with the customer. Some statuses could be Pitched Following Up, Sold, Not Applicable, Opportunity, and Pitched Not Interested.

This gives you a clear idea about products to pitch to customers, which offerings to prioritise (row totals of untapped opportunity), which customers to prioritise (column totals of untapped opportunities), and can thus help you plan your sales and marketing campaigns they become part of your pipeline.

Identify influencers

There are decision makers, and there are influencers. It’s not necessary that both are the same.

For instance, one of our customers wanted to sell a safety-related product to a renowned construction company. He stayed connected with the purchase manager, but soon realised that the purchase team merely bought what the safety officer wanted.

When our customer convinced the safety officer about the quality of his product, he quickly became a preferred vendor of the construction company. In this case, the safety officer was the influencer.

Many times, the sales team interacts only with decision makers and not the influencers. As a result, it loses out on potential sales. Get your sales team to speak to influencers and end users, and understand their pain points. Then pitch the product as a solution to the users’ problem. Sometimes the influencers may not even be from the organisation you are selling to. For example, purchases by many CIOs are influenced by reports of analyst firms like Gartner, Forrester and IDC; purchases by many doctors and hospitals are strongly influenced by the recognised KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) in the pharmaceutical and medical fraternity; investments may be influenced by tax advisors who are not on the company’s payroll, etc.

Some of your other customers can also be influencers in the buying process of the customers you are trying to target. Reference from a fellow professional in the industry is much stronger than any sales pitch.

Some purchases may also be aspirational, influenced by the buyer’s role model. For instance, if you tell a small startup company that a TCS, Infosys or Wipro uses this product to gain so-and-so benefits, they are more likely to be influenced to buy. Another example is that of iPhone buyers – more buyers buy because their neighbour has it than because they really need it.

When your salespeople get influencers on their side, it becomes easier to acquire a customer and make repeat sales with the same customer.

Get a foot in the door

Use your smallest product to get a foot in the door with a customer and then upsell. A consulting company can start with selling simple software to a client. Next, they can pitch an audit service to check whether the software is getting used optimally. After that, they can study the reports and pitch their consulting to help the client’s business improve.

Upselling and cross-selling to existing customers, helping them upgrade at every level, is an easier sales strategy than trying to sell your most premium product to a new customer.

Summing Up

Your customers’ feedback will help you improve your product. By profiling them, you can also streamline your target audience and focus on the right one. Happy customers stay loyal to you and talk about you to their peers. This word of mouth is the most effective (and monetarily the cheapest) marketing tool.

Your existing customers can spur your business’ growth to the next level. They are your most prized assets. Treat them like that.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.) 

HDFC Bank will partner leading startup accelerators across the world and get access to cutting-edge technologies and fintech platforms. 

HDFC Bank has launched an Accelerator Engagement Programme (AEP) under the Bank’s Centre of Digital Excellence (CODE). Under the programme, the bank will partner with leading global startup accelerators to gain early access to potential fintech ideas and innovative solutions in the areas of artificial intelligence, machine learning, analytics, and robotic process automation.

The bank launched the programme in association with the UK's Department for International Trade (UK DIT) and startup accelerators 91SpringBoard and IvyCamp.

Through the AEP, the bank will have access to cutting-edge technologies and platforms. It creates a win-win situation as startups and fintech companies will get the opportunity to deploy their solutions, the bank said in a statement.

Nitin Chugh, country head – digital banking, HDFC Bank, said, “At HDFC Bank, we are looking for disruptive, global first innovations. This enables us to be in sync with our customers’ needs and desires. We believe that to tap into this vast pool of innovative ideas, we need to work as a partner in the digital ecosystem and encourage the spirit of innovation in the country.”

Lord Mayor of London Charles Bowman said, “I am delighted to help launch this powerful new initiative, and even happier that the delegation I’ve brought to India is the first to benefit from it. Fintech is an area of immense potential for the UK and India, and I look forward to seeing more collaboration between our two countries in this area.”

While 91SpringBoard engages with more than 25,000 startups and fintechs globally, IvyCamp is engaged with more than 5,000.

The Accelerator Engagement Programme aims to create a mutually beneficial ecosystem with relevant players in the startup and fintech space not just in India, but globally. Other initiatives started by the bank under CODE are Digital Command Centre and Industry-Academia. While the former was set up to understand and acquire insights on brands through customers’ conversations on social media, Industry-Academia aims at mentoring and hand-holding fintechs and startups incubated at the country’s top technical and B-schools.

A startup founder must ensure that transparency prevails every step of the journey, says Sameer Nigam, Founder and CEO of PhonePe. Trust, he adds, is vital to success.

Warren Buffett says the measure of success is whether people close to you are happy, and love you. At Flipkart, an unusual startup has made a dent in the payments ecosystem. Many people wrote off PhonePe when it was launched in 2016. However, Flipkart acquired it because of the disruption that Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari brought to the payments system through UPI.

"When we built the platform on UPI, we realised we needed a government level ecosystem to make us scale. By moving back into Flipkart, we did not want to get to the valuation game. We realised that if we have to pay the valuation game, we need a strategic runway."

“We did not go after valuations,” Sameer Nigam, Founder and CEO of PhonePe, said. He added the path that they have taken is to try and stay away from raising large amounts of capital. As of now, PhonePe has more than 100 million customers.

"Nowadays valuations start forcing you to justify the valuation. The path we have taken is to stay lean, stay away from capital and grow fast. We don't do valuation because we are 100 percent owned by Flipkart. We focus on the cost of acquisition, and what we are capable of building and scaling up."

At the recently concluded TechSparks 2018, Sameer looked back at his own learnings and gave lessons in disruption and success.

• Be open to working with large companies: Early stage entrepreneurs have to merge with larger companies; this is a model that evolved in the US. Strategic mergers are key to success and are much more important than valuations.
• Transparency trumps trust: Founders must understand that blind trust is never scalable. It is about ideas and a founder must ensure that transparency prevails every step of the journey. People should know what the founder’s strategy is.

  “We publish all our metrics, including our EBITA. Yes, the data goes out, but if you are good enough nobody can beat you in the market. This trust creates an openness to succeed. People need to know what mission they are part of,” he said. "Transparency brings trust with employees, and they partner with you in solving problems."

• Get bright entrepreneurs on board: Sameer said his leadership team is filled with entrepreneurs. “We are 400 people, but we have 20 people that were ex-entrepreneurs,” he said.

  The founders of Zopper, Trupay, and Walnut are part of the business and engineering teams; they are spread across the country. “You solve and employ for skill in engineering data sciences, and design is key for the success of a company,” Sameer added.

• The learning from Flipkart: Sameer said learning how to scale was great at Flipkart. The team grew from 600 members to 35,000 members in 2015. “Everyone should have clarity in their role. Power centres are not important; all teams should align motivations to the same purpose. Flipkart taught me to understand human behaviour and how to manage people,” he said.
• Shaping an ecosystem: Think about building ecosystems to grow. WeChat, Google, and Amazon are creating their own ecosystems, and have the whole world on their platforms. In India, Paytm and Airtel had so much money that PhonePe had to figure out how to run to create its ecosystem.

  “We were doing 50,000 transactions a day and our competition was doing 5 million transactions. The thinking was around how do we grow.” PhonePe was a very capital efficient company and they partnered with a lot of businesses instead of going and spending to create an ecosystem. “It's great to see people who are okay with partnerships. I recommend startups to be open to change.”

YourStory's annual extravaganza TechSparks brings together the best and the brightest from the startup ecosystem, corporate world, policy makers, and of course, the investor community. Over the years, it has grown to become India's most loved tech and startup platform for knowledge sharing and networking. The ninth edition of TechSparks also marks YourStory's 10th anniversary. A big thank you for all your support over the years and keep reading and watching YourStory.

Ashish Bhasin, South Asia head of Dentsu Aegis Network, speaks about the roadmap to his success, and betting on the digital space early on.

He holds the distinction of having made many millionaires with the 13 acquisitions he made over the last few years. Combining organic and inorganic growth, under his leadership, his company has metamorphosed into a profitable heavyweight with 3,500+ staff across a large number of advertising agencies.

Meet Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO, South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), who dislodged an old rival to claim the Number 2 position among Indian advertising companies in less than 10 years of foraying into the country.

Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO, South Asia, Dentsu Aegis NetworkAt the recently concluded TechSparks, Ashish spoke to YourStory Founder and CEO Shradha Sharma in an auditorium packed to capacity as young entrepreneurs crowded in to listen to the man who bet big on the digital space in advertising and communications.

Ashish said he hit the bull's eye by betting on the digital space early on, which is now rapidly changing the very face of the industry. “Ten years ago, we were small and could not take on the big agencies, but saw the emergence of digital and decided let’s take leadership in this segment.”

"I really didn't have much of a choice. Aegis media was a small company, and I was about 88 years late in the market. I had no option. If I took them head-on on TV and print, it would make sense. The thing that I did realise was that the rest of the world was going digital rapidly, and it was going to happen in India. They were all blindsided, they were all saying that is only four percent of the advertising market."

Today, Dentsu Aegis boasts of having 1,650 digital experts as part of its team. On the acquisitions he has made, Ashish stressed chemistry is important. In fact, the audience was hooked on the fact that DAN is known to be the type of acquirer that entrepreneurs love to work for – many founders whose companies it acquired have stayed on, and continue to thrive.

"People underestimate the chemistry part of it. I put in a lot of emphasis on the cultural fit on the companies that we are acquiring. For an entrepreneur, the company they have built is their baby and their life, you've got to give them that freedom, independence, ecosystem, respect but at the same time there are entrepreneurs who need support and help to take the company to the next level."

M&As not a strategy

"One of the three things that an acquisition should do for me is - It should be a strategic fit into the overall strategy, second, it should be innovative - something I cannot get - and three, because I am a late entrant, it should help me scale my business."

The internet population in the country is close to 400 million, and is expected to double soon. “By 2021, the reach of internet and telecom will be the same,” he projected.

YourStory's annual extravaganza TechSparks brings together the best and the brightest from the startup ecosystem, corporate world, policy makers, and of course, the investor community. Over the years, it has grown to become India's most loved tech and startup platform for knowledge sharing and networking. The ninth edition of TechSparks also marks YourStory's 10th anniversary. A big thank you for all your support over the years and keep reading and watching YourStory.

There is a lot of momentum to make Goa the preferred startup and IT destination in India, and one of the Top 25 startup destinations in Asia by 2025. Globally acknowledged as the bright star on India’s tourist map, Goa is on a mission to showcase its other side – as the go-to destination for IT firms and startups.

Learning from the successes and challenges of the startup boom in larger cities, Goa is leveraging its unique strengths to become the next startup hotspot.

To this effect, the man of the hour - Rohan Khaunte, Minister of Revenue, IT, Labour and Employment, Government of Goa - led the Goan delegation at TechSparks, delivering a passionate discourse on why Indian entrepreneurs need to be in Goa. In conversation with Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO of YourStory, Minister Khaunte and Ameya Abhyankar, Secretary, Government of Goa elaborated on the state’s new focus on IT and startups.

“Goa is already marked as a tourist destination on the map, and now we plan to make it as a startup destination too. Huge policies and incentives are out to support ideas and innovations. It's time startups come and claim their business on the ground and beaches of Goa.”

One of his goals, he said, was to create a startup culture in Goa where the youth of the state became job creators, and not job seekers.

“Goa now stands for Golden Opportunity Available!"

~Rohan Khaunte, Minister of Revenue, IT, Labour and Employment, Government of Goa

The state government is offering a host of financial and infrastructural incentives for businesses to come to Goa. Earlier this year, Minister Khaunte had launched the Goa Startup Policy, and later, the Goa IT Policy in July, with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. The policies aim to make Goa a vibrant destination for IT and ITeS businesses.

Khaunte also spoke about how the government was focussing on ten technologies as special focus areas including IoT, AI, ML, interaction design, Big Data analytics, robotics, 3-D printing, data sciences, drones and virtual, augmented and merged reality.

“We want to create a policy environment that helps people set up their businesses quickly, with as little hassles as possible.”

~Ameya Abhyankar, Secretary, Government of Goa

Building on what the minister said, Ameya elaborated on how the state has signed several MoUs with IT companies such as Wowsoft and Visteon to set up operations in the state. Impressively, Wowsoft actually kicked off its Goa operations in less than 30 days after signing the MoU at the Goa IT Day.

On the ground, the IT Department is working towards educating students at the school and the university level about entrepreneurship, emerging technologies and skill development. It has organised various training camps that give participants an opportunity to set up initiate business even from their homes and be self-sufficient.

As seen through various initiatives, the state is approaching its vision with the spirit of collaboration with all possible ecosystem partners, including enterprises, global trade bodies and policy makers, and entrepreneurs. The minister and Ameya said they are actively looking for all kinds of relevant collaborations, and assured full cooperation in this regard.

          

What it takes for us to feel fulfilled and successful is an ability to bring our whole selves to work all of who we are, all the gifts, all the talents, the fears, the doubts, the insecurities, our heart, our soul, and the things that matter most to us. 

Being authentic is the new buzzword in the workplace today.  More and more organisations across the globe are encouraging their employees to bring their complete selves to the office, to engage in frank conversations, and to tell personal stories as a way of gaining their colleagues’ trust and improving group performance.

However, being yourself in the workplace can come in many forms. Whether it's being open about your personal life, letting others see your professional struggles and successes in the spirit of vulnerability or breaking out of other self-imposed limitations, there are a number of ways to embrace who you are. It’s just about picking the right way to go about doing so and being aware of where you work.

As an executive coach, I feel, "You can't get to the courage of being authentic without walking through vulnerability."

Being yourself and things like appreciation, authenticity, and compassion in the context of leadership and teamwork and success in the business world seem to be pretty simple concepts.

What it takes for us to feel fulfilled and successful is an ability to bring our whole selves to work all of who we are, all the gifts, all the talents, the fears, the doubts, the insecurities, our heart, our soul, and the things that matter most to us.

Being authentic is being vulnerable

Organisations of various sizes strongly believe that vulnerability is the key driver in human trust; so it’s fundamental for leaders to build confidence to connect with people. Also, it's the birthplace of innovation of change of risk of all the things that are most important to us, if we're going to do anything new or different we're going to grow we got to be vulnerable.

However, it's hard to be vulnerable, and we don't want to be vulnerable. It doesn't feel right; it's uncomfortable, it's scary, and why is that I mean there's a lot of reasons I mean on a more superficial level we don't want to look bad right we don't want other people to judge us.

How many of you honestly find yourself from time to time worrying about what other people think about you, most of us do, right, some of us do more than others, but one time or the other we all worry.

I remember this, having said to most of my clients whenever there is this conversation, "You wouldn't worry so much about what other people think about you; if you realise how little they did."  People may not be paying that attention, not as much as we think.

We all know and appreciate, vulnerability is hard, because we've all experienced pain in our life, we've all experienced disappointment, we've had our hearts broken, and not just personally even in our professional lives. At school in the things that we do we've wanted things when you want something badly, it becomes vulnerable because you could lose it or not get it, so we hold back, so it takes courage.

 Key elements organisations have to look for in helping employees bring their authentic self

There are two essential elements for creating an environment that's conducive for people to thrive and bring their authentic selves to the workplace: the first part is, a high healthy bar of expectation, not perfection, demand not pressure, but the high expectation of excellence.  So the other part is high nurturing, so you expect a lot, and you nurture a lot at the same time, not one or the other, and most of us as individuals and in the groups that we are in have a tendency to fall on sort of one side or the other.

If we look at what is involved in the organisations which are built around nurturance, people feel nurtured, being seen, being heard, being valued, and being appreciated not just for what they do, but for who they are. What also has people feel nurtured is, it being safe for us to be ourselves to speak our truth to disagree, to take risks, yeah it can be scary but that it's safe to do that and what also creates nurturance is compassion.

Compassion the typical human response, the natural human reaction to vulnerability is compassion, empathy now those things are simple, but again they are not comfortable.  I know quite a few organisations that do this actively, and especially now in the 21st century looking at how they do that in a conscious is more important.

Organisations who care and create an atmosphere to bring Authentic Self

Karen Mae who's a vice-president at Google, and is in charge of all learning, talked about how they at Google specifically focus on trying to create an environment where people can bring their whole selves to work, and she said what they try to do is, they don't make it prescriptive, so if anyone wants to do X Y or Z he or she can feel safe that they can be themselves.

Eric Severson who's the co-head of HR for GAP Inc talked about a program that they've developed at GAP called performance for life. Based on research and on data they created a tagline "Better you Better GAP."  He went ahead saying what they have learned and what they've seen and what the data showed them is that when people are encouraged to be their best self, healthy, effective, and successful in their life they are going to be more productive at work.

Conclusion

You may wonder that encouraging people to be their authentic self may be risky for companies - it's vulnerable; though the old model of thinking of businesses, we have to make sure the bottom line is where we want it to be.

So this is really about us collectively having the courage, individually and together to be vulnerable to bring our whole selves to whatever we're doing.

The question now is are we willing to take the risk, are we ready to go for it, are we willing to try and at the end of the day it does come down to how we relate to ourselves, and we can't change the environment around us.

I firmly believe that nothing changes until you do so, it's an internal process.  Moreover, if you think about this for yourself, where are the places in your life, where are the areas in your work, where are the situations, the circumstances, the conversations, that you want to have the risks you want to take.  Also, where do you find yourself holding yourself back, and with compassion can you challenge yourself to step beyond what might be safe what might be comfortable?

As a conclusion, my final thought is because all the above things may be making sense, we get this. However, the question is; whether we practice it, and do we have the courage to do that.   A simple yet profound statement which I got from my mentor that I can never forget.  After having started of my own, I was scared I was nervous I was trying to get my business started and get things going, and he said to me, Sudhakar you're living your life as though you're trying to survive it, he said you have to remember something significant nobody ever has.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)

This new book brings managers up to speed on the business potential of analytics and AI, and how to gear their organisations up for change and innovation.

Startups and enterprises looking to harness the power of exponential technologies can find useful checklists, frameworks, and case studies in the new book, AI and Analytics: Accelerating Business Decisions by Sameer Dhanrajani.

“AI is the natural evolution to changing genres of sophisticated analytics, further strengthened by an algorithm economy,” Sameer begins. “AI is rapidly becoming the vehicle to address and solve the most pressing societal problems related to healthcare, security, education, and allied areas. This makes it akin to the next Industrial Revolution itself,” he adds.

Sameer is the Chief Strategy Officer at Fractal Analytics, and was earlier at Cognizant Technology Solutions and Genpact. The book is drawn from his 150 blogposts over five years, but the book could do with a lot more editing to remove repetitive material. The painfully small font makes it difficult to read across the 372 pages, and many figures and charts are illegible.

Here are some of my key takeaways from the book in terms of trends, impacts, organisational change, startup players, and future challenges. See also my reviews of the related books Big Data Revolution, Big Data @ Work, and Life 3.0.

Trends

The book begins by identifying key trends in this space: industrialisation of analytics; data collection and monetisation; analytics-led business transformation; and rise of the algorithm economy in areas like behavioural prediction. Market forces drivers for analytics are technological advancement, rise of consumerism, data explosion, and competitive pressure.

Depending on the level of maturity with respect to reactive, tactical, and strategic use of analytics at the local or enterprise-wide level, companies can be classified as laggards, amateurs, practitioners or masters. Analytics in mature organisations is business-user friendly, and grows beyond the purview of CTOs and CIOs. In a data-driven economy, data sits at the core of every business model, leading to real-time insights and agile decision-making.

AI is powering new models of assisted intelligence (in clearly-defined, rules-based, repetitive tasks, for example in Gmail), augmented intelligence (for example, clinical decision support; Netflix recommendations based on individual and group patterns), and autonomous intelligence (for example, facial recognition, driverless cars, automated trading).

Transformation 1: Analytics

The journey to analytics transformation is not a sprint but a marathon, Sameer cautions; it involves technology, process, culture and leadership change. Just gathering lots of data is not enough; many companies have large volumes of “dark data” in silos.

The transformation calls for unification in approaches across divisions and functions, internally and externally. Companies should think big, frame the right questions, craft a data agenda with effective quality and governance, and embed insights at the right touchpoints to deliver immediate value, Sameer advises.

Effective “data horsepower” depends on data quality, storage, assimilation, sanitisation, harmonisation, and visualisation. Data readiness should be followed by technology and business readiness. Security and privacy of consumer data should also be respected.

Close cooperation is needed between the data management team, data modelers, data scientists, visualisation experts, domain experts, and business unit heads. Early initiatives can focus on projects and tactics, then scale up to strategy and partnerships.

In the age of the predictive enterprise, the “data deluge” should be converted to a data monetisation engine. Data is worth monetising if it can predict behaviours, lead to actionable insights, refine understanding of existing and potential customers, and make a decision with precision.

Sameer offers a 2X2 matrix comparing data maturity and analytical maturity to decide whether corporate decision-making is gut-based, reactive, tactical or forward-looking. Speed and quality of response are important if they can prevent fraud or failure, reduce customer waiting time, and improve resource utilisation.

Decisions to build, buy or outsource analytics solutions and services should be taken based on criticality, differentiation, availability of in-house talent, and vendor considerations of ease of use, cost-effectiveness, and granularity of control.

In additional to transactional Big Data about consumer activities, companies need “thick data” about consumer behaviours and emotions via qualitative insights. This helped Lego understand, for example, that children wanted not just quick gratification but the longer experience of imagining and creating.

“The problem with Big Data is that organisations can get too obsessed with numbers and charts, and ignore the humanistic reality of their customers’ lives,” Sameer rightly cautions (see my review of the related book Sensemaking).

Such insights help understand the “choice architecture” of consumers, and use methods like “social proof” to induce change via “behavioural nudges.” Such techniques are effective during election campaigns, for example.

Transformation 2: AI

Innovative giants such as the FANG companies are rapidly disrupting a number of sectors with AI. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is disrupting IT services and BPO companies. A company should make itself AI-ready by embedding intelligence in processes and platforms, fostering a learning culture, encouraging innovation, deepening internal relations, re-skilling teams, and preparing for tough ethical challenges.

Engaging with tech experts, consultants and startups also helps. The focus should be on processes and not just departmental functions or silos. “Algorithms can work at a speed and scale that cannot be easily matched by scaling the human workforce,” Sameer explains. Robots and algorithms can also build other robots and algorithms.

Business leaders must figure out how to design and leverage algorithmic business models (“the economics of connections,” as described by Gartner). “Mr Algorithm” may well be the new member in the boardroom, Sameer jokes. “To some degree, every company will become a math house,” he adds.

Inputs from fields like design thinking will become increasingly valuable, by providing human-centred creative angles. Companies should set up a design research capability, to combine context with analytics. This helps with problem reframing, structured ideation, and responsible and inclusive design; it applies to the consumer as well as internal enterprise contexts.

Careers and skills

Analytics practitioners need domain knowledge in statistics and machine learning, skills in storytelling, experience in data engineering, and a sense of academic curiosity. “The data must tell a story that can be understood by all stakeholders,” Sameer explains.

Visual dashboards play an important role here as well. The data scientist’s role goes beyond collecting data and developing products; it is also about engagement and quality. Companies will need a culture of fact-based decision-making, powered by data science expertise and AI strategy. Success in this era even calls for being comfortable with uncertainty and acting with agility.

The rise of AI will make it all the more important for humans to reposition themselves towards tasks requiring judgement, creativity, empathy, ethics and regulation. This could also be the time for a career pivot for traditional IT professionals, who can branch out into new areas like Blockchain and cybersecurity. Adaptability is key to unlearn and relearn, Sameer advises.

Business impacts

AI is well-suited to tackle complicated and complex problems, as well as tasks with drudgery, risk and repetition. Analytics and AI are transforming operations, HR, finance, marketing, and strategy. They reduce decision latency, strengthen fire-fighting, improve risk modelling, refine product categorisation, and speed up responsiveness in real-time scenarios involving airplanes, power plants, and self-driving cars.

Impact areas are across sectors: banking (fraud mitigation, customer retention, risk management), automotive (connected cars, drones), insurance (digital actuarian models), healthcare (at the level of patients, drugs, treatments), retail (personalisation, supply chain optimisation, omni-channel commerce), and cybersecurity (monitoring and predicting attack patterns).

“AI has been critical in research and development to eliminate human error, which is expected to have a major impact in fintech,” Sameer explains. Services can also be personalised to a “customer segment of one.” Robo advisors can help users with goal-based planning and wealth management.

Other “man-machine learning” (MML) scenarios arise in automated and augmented underwriting in the insurance sector, such as claims management and fraud prevention. Smart wallets will guide users to more responsible spending habits. Better models can be used for collection services and punitive actions.

Analytics in healthcare can be used at the level of medical records, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up care. Real-world evidence (RWE) helps track differences and similarities across comparator groups, which can be used in designing disease treatment. Detailed datasets and analytics for health technology assessment can improve clinical trial design, for example the use of bio-markers.

Analytics can also yield rich insights from patient portals such as PatientsLikeMe. AI is a “boon to the life science industry,” Sameer explains. Sectors like genomics show how coordinated approaches towards data processing are the future of the industry. Genomics can help identify high-risk patients in diseases like diabetes.

AI can also be used to manage regulatory compliance, for example misinterpretation of rules. Open source tools are emerging to explore large genomic data sets, for example Integrative Genomics Weaver (by MIT and Harvard). The key is to manage large volumes of data in real time and find pertinent correlations quickly.

“Predictive analytics has been used in retail for decades; however, in the last few years, AI with other advances in technology have super-charged the speed, scale and cost at which it is used,” Sameer explains; the accuracy has also increased.

Diversity in retail options and the rise of mobile and social media have given consumers more choice and voice than before. “A data-rich industry, e-commerce benefits widely with AI adoption,” observes Sameer, pointing to intelligent product discovery via visual and voice search as an example.

Customer expectations have risen, and they expect to be rewarded for their loyalty; they want exclusive, personalised, and relevant offers. Businesses will in turn need to get smarter to gather valuable data, assess deep context instantaneously, harness collaborative filtering, reduce customer churn, and detect and reduce lost sales.

“The application of algorithms is witnessing a shift from productivity based in the back end to a core selling model in the front end,” says Sameer. “To be effective, customer intelligence needs to include raw transactional as well as behavioural data,” he adds.

Attribute analysis and event sequence analysis are useful computational techniques in this regard to get a more complete view of the customer. In omni-channel retail, customers expect consistency, agility and ease at all times.

Analytics and AI are creating fluid supply chains; smart logistics enables better demand planning and forecasting. Inventory tracking, route optimisation, product placement, and promotional displays are other areas where analytics makes an impact.

CXO impacts

Impact areas of analytics and AI also span different functions and managerial roles, such as marketing, advertising, HR, finance, and enterprise information management. For example, the CMO will be able to improve engagement marketing at scale in real time, harness contextual insight-driven automation, and break out of silos to enable effective cross-selling and upselling.

Customer churn can be reduced, and loyalty and win-backs tracked in real-time. Social media listening and rich data flows within the organisation can improve brand perception analysis, and predictive powers will be enhanced on a scale not previously possible, says Sameer. Decisions based on such actionable insights will be smarter, faster, repeatable and replicable.

“HR is shifting from being an art to a science,” explains Sameer, pointing to the use of chat bots, employee sentiment analysis, and fraud detection. The rise of talent sciences represents a new era in HR, by enhancing human capital management via better psychometric and behavioural data analysis.

This includes pre-hire selection methods beyond gut instinct, training based on learning analytics, job rotation, attrition prediction, and succession planning. Gartner research classifies HR analytics into four levels: workforce summary, HR processes, employee performance, and workforce planning.

CFOs will be able to dig below the numbers to their source along with better business correlations; this can improve invoice clearing and expense claim auditing. The rise of IoT and Industry 4.0 frameworks will create new types of CIO leadership persona: explorer, ambassador, clarifier, educator, attractor and cartographer, according to Gartner.

Challenges

A range of challenges is holding back the rapid rise of AI. These include lack of understanding about AI, absence of standardised and structured frameworks, inadequate data awareness or strategy, inability to vision or morph to new business models, and lack of re-skilling to make workforces AI-ready.

“Enterprises must figure out how humans and machines can collaborate and complement each other to create competitive advantage and synergies,” Sameer urges. This also applies to risk management, where AI can help companies monitor and respond to cyber-attacks and fraudulent behaviour based on pattern analysis at the level of devices, processes and networks.

The author rightfully identifies a range of other business, ethical and legal challenges that companies need to factor in as they increase their capabilities in analytics and AI. These include customer and employee privacy, enterprise change management, and upskilling to deal with work transformation.

Case studies

The book is packed with case studies and profiles of sectoral business impacts. A data focus can create “new business moments,” such as Google leveraging previously untapped hyperlinks as a data resource; AI now drives everything from its search platforms to driverless cars. A significant chunk of business at Amazon comes from its recommendation engine; the company’s other initiatives also represent the state of the art in deploying an “integrated strategy machine.”

Nike has integrated data to avoid potential stock-outs and maintain optimal inventory levels. Data monetisation at Vodafone Netherlands led to stronger marketing success by improving relevance of targeting and market positioning.

Tesco Bank uses ClubCard customer data to identify customer needs and create new personalised products and services. Freight company Pitt Ohio uses predictive analytics to increase repeat orders and reduce the risk of lost customers. Analytics helped PPL Electric improve its service reliability metrics.

Data collection and open reporting have been used for public works monitoring in South Africa (WaterWatchers), health services tracking in Uganda (Cipesa), spotting illegal fishing structures (Iran), comparing educational policies (World Bank), and modelling agricultural risk in Kenya (GeoVentures),

Emcien delivers its pattern-detection capability via cloud-based analytics-as-a-service to retailers and telcos. Host Analytics, 8thBridge, and Dachis Group offer insights-as-a-service, drawing on customer data and social media. JBara offers business best practices for improving customer profitability, while 9Lenses helps companies benchmark their performance.

The Talla chat bot assists in interview question management. TextIO uses AI to detect biases in communication during interviews. HireVue helps companies analyse interview videos for cues from voice inflections, micro-expressions and verb choices. BluVision radio badges track employee movements and flag intrusions or time-wasting behaviours.

Minhondo improves employee networking by profiling their workspace and online browsing activities. Bain has researched how companies track and improve efficiency of meetings to reduce wastage of time.

JP Morgan uses algorithms to track and reduce rogue trading among employees. JP Morgan Chase has a contract intelligence platform (CoIn) to analyse legal documents. American Express uses predictive analytics to identify at-risk customers. Lemonade uses AI to speed up its home insurance signup process. Progressive uses telematics to track driver performance and customise a range of car insurance plans.

Philips IntelliSpace uses AI to improve performance in ICUs. Moorfields Eye Hospital is using Google Deep Mind Health to track eye disease complications. Texas Health has partnered with Healthways to identify high-risk patients and offer customised intervention. Pfizer uses Watson for Drug Discovery to mine research articles for insights on better drug usage in cancer treatment.

Healthcare company Merck created a data-driven solution called MANTIS (Manufacturing and Analytics Intelligence) which helped reduce inventory carrying costs; rollout began with a “lighthouse” project in the Asia-Pacific, followed by a broader rollout.

Flipkart’s Project Mira uses AI to query users about what they want. At SnapDeal, 40 percent of total sales are driven by predictive algorithms. Pandora and NetFlix leverage hyper-granular behavioural profiles of customer shopping habits at scale.

Alibaba’s TMall uses robots in its warehouses, and DHL uses autonomous forklifts. UPS improved its route schedules and customer service through its On-Road Integrated Optimisation and Navigation (ORION) system.

WalMart blends offline and online shopping via in-store Pick-up Towers for online shoppers; facial recognition is also used to identify unhappy or frustrated customers at checkout lines. Macy’s has leveraged Big Data for real-time visibility and pricing, by drawing on location and demand insights. Toy retailer Entertainer used micro-segmentation analytics to increase digital channel sales. LinkedIn uses the “also viewed” feature to show profiles and jobs to those already viewed.

Disney’s Magic Band bracelets yield valuable insights in consumer persona while helping visitors in park navigation, ticketing, and room bookings. Knorr, through a social media campaign called #WhatsForDinner, uses AI to recommend recipes based on what consumers have in fridges.

GoFind uses a deep learning-based image search engine to help people find products in online stores. L’Oreal and CoverGirl use ModiFace’s facial modelling techniques to help with product discovery. TheTake uses AI to help people find products similar to what they see on TV. Google Assistant helps voice-based search of images on smartphones.

Siemens is using the Industry 4.0 framework for automating supply chains and making factories self-organising. BMW ID profiles help leverage data in the connected car ecosystem. EverScreen uses AI with security cameras to track errors in checkout scanning.

The Associated Press is generating reports with AI-powered robots, and focusing journalists on more investigative reporting. Pinterest uses a combination of AI and crowdsourcing to help users find what they want through better curation.

Airbus used fuzzy matching and self-learning algorithms to reduce production disruptions. BP augments human skills with AI to improve field operations. Insurance company Ping uses AI to speed up its loan offering capabilities with better customer scoring capabilities.

The US Postal Service uses deep-learning neural networks to automatically read handwritten zipcode digits. Other high-profile AI stories are exemplified by AlphaGo, Watson, and Big Blue.

Startups

Large companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, NetFlix, LinkedIn and GE are leading the AI wave. A number of startups have also entered the fray, such as SearchLight Health (healthcare sector analytics), Netradyne (determining causes of automobile accidents), Node (natural language processing), Dumbstruck (emotion analysis), Shift Technology (claims management), ControlExpert (auto insurance), Libra (genomics), Layar (AR), and Premise (consumer price index). New devices have also emerged in healthcare, such as Asthmapolis (GPS-enabled tracker to record inhaler usage).

CB Insights classifies AI startups in fintech into segments such as credit scoring, direct lending, personal assistants, asset management, fraud detection, insurance, sentiment analysis, debt collection, reporting, and predictive analytics. “For traditional banking institutions, the focus and energy for innovation are simply not there, nor are the necessary IT budgets,” Sameer observes; this has driven many corporates to engage with startups.

Many large firms have also acquired analytics and AI startups, or made strategic investments in them, for example Ford (Argo), Citibank (FeedzAI), RBS (Lavo), Roche (Bina Technologies), and Google (MoodStocks). Wells Fargo has a startup accelerator programme for the fintech sector. 

The road ahead

Emerging frontiers to watch are IoT (streaming analytics, edge responses, embedded intelligence), Blockchain (usage of new asset classes), and chatbots. “Algorithmic marketplaces will disrupt the analytics ecosystem and likely the whole software ecosystem,” Sameer predicts.

Embedded and connected intelligence will transform the automotive industry, improving in-vehicle content and services while also spawning new business partnerships for road safety and fuel efficiency. A new range of creative possibilities will arise with self-aware automotive vehicles and networks, as AI transforms self-driven cars and drones.

IoT represents new challenges via the need for edge analytics and not just centralised analytics; issues to tackle are performance, latency and security. New frameworks, partnerships and monetisation models will be needed for smart cities, homes, and seamlessly interconnected media and manufacturing sectors. Analytics will also help policymakers understand new frontiers like cryptocurrency, for example spending patterns, transaction traces, and international transfers.

In the long run, though analytics and AI will advance, there will still be decisions that require insights beyond what AI can interpret. “We need to consider AI not as machines, but as colleagues,” Sameer advises. AI algorithms can augment human capabilities, and new business processes can be created based on augmented working strategy.

More exploration and experimentation are called for in this brave new world. Ultimately, the evolution of technology is creating a “new normal,” and will drive humans to find a new purpose in life.

Podcasts enable today’s fast-moving millennials to multi-task as one can listen to the content while performing routine tasks such as preparing a meal for, driving to the grocery store or taking a walk in the nearby park.

Radio has catered to widespread audiences in India for years, thanks to its accessibility and all-inclusive entertainment value.

One can easily tune in to a radio channel of one’s choice while driving to work and listen to a wide variety of songs and shows to rejuvenate themselves.

However, the traditional audio streaming industry in India still needs to look beyond its standard content, format and brand advertisements. Though radio is still the go-to for many Indian audiophiles, urban millennials are increasingly switching to podcasts for need-specific personalised content.

Reasons for the increase in affinity for podcasts

Podcasts, a series of spoken audio episodes focused on a particular theme/topic, can be played directly through the podcast’s website on the computer or a podcasting app on a mobile device (Android or iOS) to access wide-ranging content through headphones at any time of the day. One can also play these podcasts from one’s phone in the car through Bluetooth connection, an auxiliary cable or a smart speaker. In this way, podcasts are the new radio with no fixed streaming timings!

Also, podcasts enable today’s fast-moving millennials to multi-task as one can listen to the content while performing routine tasks such as preparing a meal for, driving to the grocery store or taking a walk in the nearby park. Podcasts offering comedy, sports updates, movie reviews or self-help tutorials, can easily slide into one’s busy schedule without demanding full attention and time. These are also free of chaotic repetitive brand endorsements and instead synchronise the brand message with their content flow, without interrupting user experience.

Additionally, podcast creation and aggregation platforms help consumers escape excessive information overload by offering content matching with their tastes and preferences. These platforms are AI-enabled and thus offer personalised content from all over the web in easily digestible pieces.

This enhances the end-user experience for audiophiles by helping them escape the fragmented content consumption that they have been accustomed to for many years. Not only consumers, but even advertisers also have a reason to celebrate as they can now monitor end-user experience and analyses the performance of their strategic campaigns all thanks to the data-driven approach employed by podcasts.

Emerging trends in India’s podcast industry: content for varying needs

The podcasting space in India has been growing with each passing day, as there is a cultural shift in the sensibilities of today’s urban educated youth that craves insightful, informative, well-researched content. However, the need for differentiated and enriching content is not a worry anymore, as today’s discerning consumers get to pick their favourites from a wide range of podcasts which are decidedly curated for varied preferences.

Popular podcasts range across those that bring together stand-up comedians, promote indie music culture, trace the origin of popular delicacies from various cuisines, update one on their favourite sports, as well as those that explore science, economics, psychology, politics, etc.

There are also podcasts featuring stories of Premchand, documenting Indian travel tales, encapsulating horror stories, etc. They not only connect listeners to their rich cultural roots but also fill their hearts with nostalgia by making them recall the lost stories of their childhood! In addition to informational podcasts, there are also podcasts which help one sleep at night with relaxing music and certified practitioners helping people meditate effectively.

Parents these days rarely find time from their busy schedules, there are podcasts that specifically cater to kids by performing classics as well as new bedtime stories every week. Parents can let their children enjoy performance-based retellings of fairy tales such as Snow White, Peter Rabbit, and original works as well. This can not only help reduce kids’ screen time, but also stir their imaginations with innovative stories curated particularly for facilitating their understanding and holistic growth.

The future of India’s podcasting space

The increasing penetration of smartphones in India has triggered a wave of podcast experiments, which has resulted in increasing response from consumers in different states.

In addition to Hindi and English, podcasts are available in an array of languages such as Urdu, Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil, etc. to cater to the needs of listeners from multiple geographies.

These podcasts in Indian regional languages bring together soulful songs from specific regions, recitations of religious books along with a deconstruction of their meaning, comedy series, etc. This ensures that there is easily accessible content for reaching audiences with distinctive cultural tastes and sensibilities.

The availability of insightful and informative content for diverse needs and desires helps to assure users of a rich experiential value derived from audio entertainment facilitated through podcasts.

Instead of surfing through numerous consumer entertainment channels, users can listen to anything they want whenever they want! However, not only are podcasts responding to changing consumer preferences, consumer sensibilities are also witnessing a revolution due to the forward-thinking, new-age content offered by dynamic podcasts.

Therefore, in line with the current growth curve, podcasts are set to penetrate more and more households, setting a new benchmark for India’s audio streaming industry.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)

Kevin Gilboe, Head of Design, 3M Asia Pacific, outlines how design creates value for every company by bringing innovation to life and ensuring meaningful brand experiences. 

3M, a company that has been known for its innovation, is using design to enrich innovation and build meaningful brand experiences. Speaking at the recently-concluded TechSparks 2018 event, the flagship annual event of YourStory, Kevin Gilboe, Head of Design, 3M Asia Pacific, said the 3M Design Mission, which was launched five years ago, aims to create value through design.

Gilboe believes the best work comes from collaborative creativity across disciplines. He said,

"The next big idea will come naturally from a creative collision of many smaller ideas that build upon each other. This is what design thinking is all about."

Integrating diverse perspectives means that the outcome is not just about reaching the finish line, but about ensuring the meaningful achievement of purpose, Gilboe said.

3M, formerly Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, has a jaw-dropping number of over 113,000 patents to its credit. These patents are across a range of products, including adhesives, abrasives, laminates, passive fire protection, dental products, electronic materials, medical products, car care products, electronic circuits and optical films.

“What are we doing that keeps us vibrant over the years? We have a “PhD level” of scientific intervention going on - interaction of multiple technology solutions to bring durable solutions,” said Gilboe.

The founder’s original plan was to sell mineral corundum to manufacturers in the East to make grinding wheels. This was met by repeated failure and huge losses, but 3M continued to innovate and did not lose hope. The company’s latest innovations include waterproof sandpaper and masking tape, as well as cellophane "Scotch Tape" and sound deadening materials for cars.

The merits of collaborative creativity

Today, 3M views design as crucial for ensuring value. Through collaborative creativity, the 3M Design Mission team designs meaningful brand experience and enriches innovation.  

Through creative capability, the team fuels growth by providing services such as advanced design, brand experience, design colour, finish, materials graphic/visual design, design management, design trends, identifying design interaction, sound design, and user experience (UX).

“Design enriches innovation and builds powerful brand experiences,” Gilboe said.

Kevin believes designing a product does not only involve ensuring that it is the most stylish and beautiful. In fact, he belives there is an "elevated role of design in the enterprise."

According to him, the five principles to inspiring change through design intervention are:

1. Space matters: Gilboe highlighted the need to get out of the comfort zone. He advocated investing in creating energy and “promote showing versus telling.”
2. Change is personal: Every company is on a unique path, Gilboe said. "We need to create ambassadors and build bridges to reach the customers. Talent development equals value creation,” he added.
3. Architects of the future: Make a prototype to provoke and translate vision to strategy, Gilboe said.
4. Bring the outside in: Bring the customer journey to life while making tools for thought leadership and learn by doing.
5. Speak the language of design: Design is qualitative. “Great design doesn't happen when nobody is talking about it. Words create culture,” he added.

YourStory's annual extravaganza TechSparks brings together the best and the brightest from the startup ecosystem, corporate world, policy makers, and of course, the investor community. Over the years, it has grown to become India's most loved tech and startup platform for knowledge sharing and networking. The ninth edition of TechSparks also marks YourStory's 10th anniversary. A big thank you for all your support over the years and keep reading and watching YourStory.

More than two months ago, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave the Indian startup community the chance to stand up and defend their country. The minister threw a set of 11 challenges to solve technological problems faced by the defence forces to develop see-through armour, laser weaponry, unmanned surface, and underwater vehicles, and AI in logistics.

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s iDEX (Innovation for Defence Excellence) initiative that was launched in April, the Ministry of Defence launched the ‘Defence India Startup Challenge’ in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission.

Already, several startups are working in the defence sector with their unique products and offerings. We bring to you five such startups.

Tonbo Imaging

Dust, smoke, fog, camouflage and even darkness can hamper vision on battlefields. This Bengaluru-based company builds advanced imaging and sensor systems to sense, understand and control these challenging environments. Founded in 2003 by Arvind Lakshmikumar and Ankit Kumar, the startup is a subsidiary of Sarnoff Corporation and Stanford Research International.

Tonbo Imaging uses micro-optics, lower power electronics and real-time vision that balances front end analog processing with sophisticated digital image processing to come up with low power imaging platforms across visible, mid-wave IR and long wave IR spectrums. The company has raised $ 23.4 million from Artiman Ventures, Walden Riverwood Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures.

Idea Forge

This Mumbai-based startup developed India’s first autonomous micro UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). Founded by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay alumni Ankit Mehta, Rahul Singh and Ashish Bhat in 2007,  the company’s UAVs are used for surveillance, reconnaissance, imagery and other industrial applications today.

The company has so far received total funding of $10.1 million from Infosys, IndusAge Partners and Walden Riverwood Ventures.

VizExperts

Based in New Delhi, this startup began with a vision to transform data for the decision-making cycle. Founded by IIT-BHU alumnus Praveen Bhaniramka in 2006, VizExperts is a bootstrapped geospatial intelligence company.

Its 3D geospatial platform GEORBIS provides the army with real-time operation planning that helps in faster and critical decision making. In 2008, it invested $100,000 in its R&D wing for product development.

Axio Biosolutions

This Bengaluru-based trauma care and device company provides medical aid solutions to armed forces. It was founded in 2008 by Leo Mavely.

Its flagship product, Axiostat is a chitosan-based haemostatic dressing that is sterile, single-use and non-absorbable. The company claims that it can stop severe external bleeding in less than five minutes, and is one of the first of its kind.

It has raised raised $9.9 million from Accel Partners, IDG Ventures India and UC-RNT Fund.

CRON Systems

This Haryana-based startup can secure borders with its IoT powered intrusion detection system. Founded by Farheen Ahmed, Tommy Katzenellenbogen, Tushar Chhabra and Saurav Agarwala in 2015, it caters to Border Security Force (BSF) and the Indian Army.

Its initial product line, the KV series, is powered by infrared and laser. It provides notifications upon border infiltration in all terrains and weather. The company claims its systems have already been implemented at the Indo-Pak border.

Currently, CRON Systems' research lab is working on automated drones and smart fencing.

Although the company’s total seed amount remains undisclosed, YourNest Angel Fund, Techstars and Techstars Adelaide Accelerator have invested in it.