Blog

  • Discord – Bringing People Together Around Games

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Discord.

    People love to stay in touch whether it’s by talking to friends and family through video calls, messaging through apps, or touching base working remotely. Gamers are no different. That’s why online gaming and chatting go together like Han and Chewy.

    Gamers have always faced two problems, how to talk to one another and how to organize people to get an online game going. Discord is one such app that was created by the gamers for gamers to solve such problems. But outside of the gamer’s realm, what is discord all about?

    Discord – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Discord
    Developer Discord Inc.
    Headquarters San Francisco, CA
    Industry Social Media, Gaming
    Founded May 13, 2015
    Founders Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy
    CEO Jason Citron
    Area Served Worldwide
    Website www.discord.com

    About Discord And How it Works?
    Discord – Target Market Size
    Discord – Name, Logo, and Tagline
    Discord – Founder and History
    Discord – Vision and Mission
    Discord – Business Model
    Discord – Revenue Growth
    Discord – Funding and Investors
    Discord – Acquisitions
    Discord – Partnership
    Discord – Competitors
    Discord – Challenges Faced
    Discord – Future Plans

    About Discord And How it Works?

    Discord is an easy-to-use free communication app, similar to apps like Skype or Slack but aimed mainly at gamers with a lot more features. Discord lets friends chat with each other at one to one or as a group via a server.

    It provides user-friendly text, voice, screen-sharing, and video chat services through public or private servers that can be set up pretty quickly and easily. No doubt Discord started as a gamers’ chat app and became quite famous for it. But its users started finding non-gaming ways of using this platform which inspired Discord to make a few changes.

    Discord specializes in text, image, video, and audio communication between users in a chat channel. Discord runs on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, and in web browsers. One of the most critical differentiators that makes Discord the go-to app for video gamers is its open-bot-friendly ecosystem.

    COVID forced everybody to social distance and communicate via chat platforms. So, because of its users and the pandemic Discord thought about growing beyond its only for-gamers image, and now it wants to be seen as a general-purpose chat app for everyone with even non-gaming needs and wants, to go mainstream all over the world, just like Zoom. Discord is for anyone who could use a place to talk with their friends and communities.

    Discord – Target Market Size

    Founded in 2015, Discord successfully identified who the early adopters of their platform would be, the gamers.

    Leading Countries for Monthly Traffic to discord.com in July 2022
    Leading Countries for Monthly Traffic to discord.com in July 2022

    However, in recent years, as the company continues its expansion, the target market size has also been growing hand in hand with the same. The vicinity of their platform’s services is gradually starting to attract more users outside of the gaming community.

    From large corporate meetings to job recruitments, from live karaoke nights to virtual wedding parties, the possibilities are pretty endless. That’s why they have changed the branding and introduced the new tagline which specifically says, “Your Place to Talk and Hang Out”.

    In short, Discord is projecting itself because of the way forward for platforms where you’ll chat with friends, learn something online, or simply share ideas albeit you are not into gaming. They have successfully gained a sustainable advantage above their competition within the gaming sector and now the company appears to have shifted its focus to target users from various industries.


    Everything you need to know about Microsoft’s Skype for Business in depth
    Microsoft Skype had a wider adoption and is still the preferred medium in someareas of the world to connect to the. Skype for Business formerly known as Microsoft Lync is a platform for instant messaging developed by Microsoft aspart of the Office suite. Skype for Business is designed to use wit…


    Discord – Name, Logo, and Tagline

    Discord Logo
    Discord Logo

    Whether you’re a part of a faculty club, gaming group, worldwide art community, or simply a couple of friends that want to spend time together, Discord makes it easy to speak a day and hang around more often.

    About Discord’s logo, the most popular theory is that the discord logo is a game controller, with a face. But according to its Twitter account, it’s a friendly bot named Clyde.

    Discord’s tagline says, “Your Place to Talk and Hang Out”. Whether you’re a part of a faculty club, gaming group, worldwide art community, or simply a couple of friends that want to spend time together, Discord makes it easy to speak a day and hang around more often. Discord is not just for people with gaming requirements, but for everyone to communicate.

    Discord – Founder and History

    Founded in May 2015 by Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy, Discord continues to be the most preferred app for gamers for communicating while gaming.

    The idea of Discord came into Jason Citron’s mind when he noticed how difficult it was for his team to work out tactics in games like Final Fantasy XIV and League of Legends using available voice-over IP (VoIP) software. He founded OpenFeint, a social mobile gaming platform that got sold in 2011 for $104 million.

    Founders of Discord - Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy
    Founders of Discord – Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy

    He founded a game development studio, Hammer & Chisel in 2012. Their first product was Fates Forever, released in 2014, which Citron anticipated being the primary MOBA game on mobile platforms, but it didn’t become commercially successful. He then noticed the glitches and issues faced by gamers all over the world while gaming which was communication. He also found that some VoIP options required players to type in IP addresses just to connect, while others were resource-heavy and had known security problems. This led the developers to develop a chat service that was much friendlier to use and based on more modern technologies.

    Discord addressed all of the issues of its predecessors. It was free to use. It had a remarkable product design. It had a desktop client, but it also had an internet app. Users could invite friends with a link and start conversing through the browser without downloading anything.

    Discord was publicly released in May 2015 under the URL discordapp.com. consistent with Citron, the sole area that they pushed Discord into was for the Reddit communities, finding that a lot of subreddit forums were replacing IRC servers with Discord ones. Discord became a known name among Esports and LAN tournament gamers, and other Twitch streamers.

    Discord – Vision and Mission

    “Discord  wants you to build genuine relationships with your friends and communities close to home or around the world. Original, reliable, playful, and relatable. These are the values that connect our users and our employees at Discord.”

    Discord’s mission is closely associated with its vision. Its mission is to bring people together around games. That’s why most of the app’s features consider meeting the requirements of gamers. For Discord, diversity and inclusiveness are critical a part of how it intends to succeed in its mission.

    “It’s where your world talks. Discord is a voice, video and text communication service used by over a hundred million people to hang out and talk with their friends and communities.”

    Discord – Business Model

    Discord is against advertisements and the selling of user data. It has been relying on funding money till recently and has no intentions to make users pay to use the application in the future.

    Discord’s basic service is free. But there’s also a premium version called Nitro that comes with added features—custom emojis, higher-quality video for sharing gaming screens, and higher file-upload limits—starting from $2.99 monthly.

    Explaining the rationale behind the decision, Citron said,

    “I didn’t want to sell ads because I felt like selling ads would require us to spend a tremendous amount of energy investing in building ad technology that doesn’t make the end user experience better. It actually subtracts from the end user experience. So, we would be spending a ton of energy taking value away from our users so that we could make money. And I wanted to build a business where the incentives of our team and our user base were directly aligned. And that is why, at that moment, I said let’s not do the easy thing and slap ads on this. Let’s double down on Discord Nitro, which is all about making it more fun to talk and hang out, and see if we can build a real business around that.”


    Zoom Success Story – Virtual Meeting is the New Normal!
    With the coronavirus pandemic hitting the whole world at large, face-to-facebusiness activities had to take a plunge. That’s when this company became asaviour for every online meeting that took place. We are talking about the Zoomcloud meeting which was founded by Eric S. Yuan in 2011. Zoom is a…


    Discord – Revenue Growth

    • In Q2 2022, Discord reported $28.72 million in revenues, an increase of over $5 million compared to Q2 2021.
    • Almost all of Discord’s revenue comes from its Nitro, its premium enhancement bundle.
    • Discord has over 150 million active monthly users and over 300 million registered accounts.
    • In 2021, it was valued at $7 billion, doubling its value in under a year. In 2022 it was valued at $15 billion.
    In-App Purchase Revenues of Discord Mobile App Worldwide
    In-App Purchase Revenues of Discord Mobile App Worldwide

    Discord – Funding and Investors

    Discord has raised a total of $995.4M in funding over 16 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on March 12, 2022, from a Secondary Market round. Discord is funded by 31 investors. Arcane Group and Flat Capital are the most recent investors.

    Date Round Amount Lead Investors
    Mar 12, 2022 Secondary Market
    Mar 3, 2022 Secondary Market
    Sep 15, 2021 Series H $500M Dragoneer Investment Group
    Dec 17, 2020 Series H $100M Greenoaks Capital
    Sep 29, 2020 Secondary Market
    Jun 30, 2020 Series G $100M Index Ventures
    Dec 21, 2018 Series F $150M Greemoaks Capital
    Apr 19, 2018 Series E $50M
    Jan 1, 2017 Series D $50M Index Ventures
    Jan 26, 2016 Series C $20M Greylock, Spark Capital
    Feb 10, 2015 Series B 9+ Program, Benchmark, Tencent
    Nov 21, 2013 Series A $8.2M Benchmark
    Jul 11, 2012 Seed Round $1.1M

    Discord – Acquisitions

    Discord acquired Blitz App on Nov 6, 2018. The gaming chat app giant acquires augmented reality startup Ubiquity6 in 2021. The latter was experiencing problems in finding audiences for its products, as per reports.

    Acquiree Name Date Amount About Acquiree
    Blitz App Nov 6, 2018 Your gaming coach for League of Legends, Valorant, CSGO, Fortnite, and more— powered by AI and built with professional players.
    Ubiquity6 June 2021 An augmented reality startup founded in 2017 aimed to bring augmented reality experience to mobile users.

    Discord – Partnership

    After the initial growth spurt, Jason’s team had to come up with a strategy to reach out to a larger target audience for which they partnered with video game streamers such as Twitch. This partnership did result in more visibility, allowing more gamers to adopt as well as invite others to join the discord users’ community.

    Discord – Competitors

    The top 10 competitors of Discord are:

    • TeamSpeak
    • Troop Messenger
    • HeySpace
    • Slack
    • Mumble
    • Flock
    • Overtone
    • Hangouts chat
    • Microsoft Teams
    • Steam Chat

    Skype vs Zoom: The Better Video Conferencing Application for Different Use Cases
    This pandemic has completely changed the way we communicate, work, and attendcollege. Some of it was for the better, while others, not so much. Work fromhome has become the new norm, and online classes have taken over the traditionalclassroom teaching. Even meeting friends and distant family has …


    Discord – Challenges Faced

    But obviously, Discord also faces several challenges. The principal among them is that it allows users anonymity that creates an “anything goes” environment. Anybody from anywhere can technically create “servers,” which are chat groups. This could also lead to younger users being exposed to adult content or bullying. For his part, Citron defended Discord by saying it kicks out users who are younger than 13 if they’re found, but verifying ages on the service is almost impossible.

    “For teenagers, you know, obviously, it’s still important that parents are aware of apps that their kids are using, and sort of who they’re talking to on the internet,” says Citron.

    During Q2 2022, over 27.7 million Discord accounts were deleted due to spam activity, and approx. 532,000 accounts were banned due to child safety concerns. Similarly, 106,00 accounts received a ban due to exploitative and unsolicited content approximately. Additionally, the platform permanently deleted nearly 27,500 accounts following reports of regulated or illegal activities.

    Number of Banned Discord Accounts in Q2 2022
    Number of Banned Discord Accounts in Q2 2022

    “The truth is that yes, I am [frustrated],” says Citron about the abuse. “We built Discord to be a way for people to be together with their friends and, as a parent, it’s important to me for that to be safe for everyone. Ensuring Discord is an inclusive and welcoming place for our users is our highest priority.”

    Discord – Future Plans

    Discord leveraged heavily on the essential human need for communicating. The strength of Discord lies in its ability to cater to the growing needs of huge web-based communities.

    Discord continues to refresh and refine its services by creating perks like a guided bot, meme bots, bots that could fetch player stats, and many more which makes discord a fun platform for users to interact via. All of this could happen only because of the founding team’s in-depth knowledge of the gamer’s mindset and insight into industry trends.

    It’s pushing to show the platform as a communication tool not only for gamers but for everyone from study groups to sneakerheads to gardening enthusiasts. At the top of June, Discord’s rebrand was complete. Its new tagline was “Your place to speak,” which cleared the misunderstanding of many folks that the app is simply for gamers.

    In the coming years, according to Citron, Discord has many works to do including improving moderation tools and making sure the communities on its platform operate the way the company hopes is not being just confined to a group of people with gaming interests.

    Conclusion

    Discord is a popular communication platform that allows users to create and join virtual “servers” to chat and collaborate with others. It offers features such as text and voice chat, file sharing, and integration with other apps and services. It is widely used by gamers but has also gained popularity among other communities such as artists and educators. Overall, Discord is a versatile and user-friendly tool for online communication and collaboration.

    FAQs

    What kind of company is Discord Inc.?

    Discord is an easy-to-use free communication app, similar to apps like Skype or Slack but aimed mainly at gamers with a lot more features. Discord lets friends chat with each other at one to one or as a group via a server.

    Who founded Discord?

    Discord was founded in May 2015 by Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy.

    How does Discord make money?

    Discord is against advertisements and the selling of user data. Its basic service is free. But there’s also a premium version called Nitro that comes with added features.

    What is Discord used for?

    Discord is used for voice calls, video calls, text messaging, media, and sharing files in private chats. It continues to be the most preferred app for gamers for communicating while gaming.

    What is Discord’s initial release date?

    Discord was initially released on May 13, 2015.

  • Michael Dell: CEO of Dell Technologies

    Michael Dell is an American entrepreneur and business magnate. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Dell Technologies, one of the world’s largest technology companies. Michael Dell started the company in 1984, while still a student at the University of Texas at Austin. He built the company from the ground up, starting as a college student selling computer parts from his dorm room, to growing Dell Technologies into a multibillion-dollar enterprise.

    He is widely recognized for his business acumen and ability to adapt to changing market conditions, as well as his philanthropic efforts. He has been widely recognized and honored for his business success and leadership.

    About Michael Dell

    Michael Dell – Biography

    Name Michael Saul Dell
    Born 23 February 1965
    Birthplace Houston, Texas, U.S.
    Age 57
    Nationality American
    Education Herod Elementary School; Memorial High School
    Profession Entrepreneur
    Title Chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies Inc.; Chairman of VMware
    Net Worth $52.6 Bn (Jan 2023)
    Father Alexander Dell
    Mother Lorraine Charlotte
    Brother Adam Dell
    Marital Status Married
    Spouse Susan Lynn Lieberman
    Children 4

    Michel Dell – Personal Life
    Michel Dell – Education
    Michel Dell – Early Life
    Michel Dell – Professional Life
    Michel Dell – Startup
    Michel Dell – Dell Technologies
    Michel Dell – Write-ups
    Michel Dell – Awards
    Michel Dell – Annexures


    Dell | American multinational company | Company Profile |
    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified informationon different startups and organizations. The content in this post has beenapproved by the organization it is based on. Dell Inc., formerly called “PC’s Limited” (1984–88), is a global company thatdesigns, develops, a…


    Michel Dell – Personal Life

    Michael Dell was born to a Jewish family in 1965 in Houston, US. His father, Alexander Dell was an orthodontist and his mother, Lorraine Charlotte was a stockbroker. His parents wanted Michael to be a doctor and he took pre-med courses to please his parents. But, destiny wrote something desirable for him and he eventually became an entrepreneur. He married Susan Lieberman on October 28, 1989, and the couple currently resides in Austin, Texas with four of their children.

    Michel Dell – Education

    Michael Dell completed his primary education at Herod Elementary School. He later studied at Memorial High School. At eight, he applied to take a high school equivalency exam to enter business early. He studied pre-med at the University of Texas in 1983. He dropped out of the University at the age of 19.

    Michel Dell – Early Life

    At the age of 7, he bought his first calculator and came across an early teletype terminal in junior high. At age 12, he got a job as a dishwasher and was instantly promoted to maitre d’ hotel.

    During his early teens, he invested the money that he made through part-time jobs in stocks and precious metals. After playing with computers at Radio Shack, he got his first computer Apple II at the age of 15. He promptly disassembled his computer to see how it worked. While attending his high school, he sold subscriptions to the Houston Post in the summer.

    Michel Dell – Professional Life

    Michael focused on learning skills to target specific populations for newspaper subscriptions rather than making phone calls, and eventually earned $18,000. He then hired various employees and earned nearly $200,000 in his first year of business. He knew where he could excel and thus he dropped out of the University of Texas at age 19. He established a PC manufacturing company Dell Inc. and later founded MSD Capital L.P. to maintain his family investments.


    List of the Most Famous Entrepreneurs You Must Know About | 2020 Updated
    Famous and popular entrepreneurs [https://startuptalky.com/tag/entrepreneurs/] are the one who changed the way the world think about stuff. These popular andfamous inspirational business [https://startuptalky.com/tag/business-2/…


    Michel Dell – Startup

    Michael Dell started selling upgrade kits for personal computers in his residential building. He then applied for a vendor license to stake on the state contracts of Texas.

    In January 1984, Dell inclined towards his opinion of gaining more advantage by potential cost savings through manufacturing PCs than the indirect retail channel. The same year Michael registered his company as “PC’s Limited”.

    In May 1984, Michael incorporated the firm as “Dell Computer Corporation” and relocated to a business center in North Austin. The capitalization cost of the venture was $1,000.

    At age 27, he became the youngest CEO of a company ranked in the top 50 corporation list of Fortune magazine in 1992. Dell started selling computers over the web in 1996. The same year, Dell Inc. launched its first servers. Soon, the company reported $1 million per day in sales from dell.com.

    Michel Dell – Dell Technologies

    Dell Technologies Logo
    Dell Technologies Logo

    During the first quarter of 2001, Dell Inc. grossed a market share of 12.8% and became the world’s largest PC maker. Over the last seven years, it was the first time that rankings were changed. At a time when competitors’ sales were decreasing, Dell’s combined shipments of desktops, notebooks, and servers grew 34.3% worldwide and 30.7% in the US.

    Michael’s 243.35 million shares of Dell.Inc stock was worth $3.5 billion, which gave him 12% ownership of the company in 2011. His remaining investments count to $10 billion and it is managed by his other company, MSD Capital. It was declared in 2013 that he had to bid to take Dell Inc. private for $24.4 billion in the biggest management buyout. Thus Dell Inc. officially became private in 2013. While it became public again in 2018.

    Michel Dell – Write-ups

    Michael Dell wrote a book in 1999 named, Direct from Dell: Strategies That Revolutionized an Industry. The book is an account of his early life, his company’s establishment, growth, and faults from which he learned lessons. The book was published under HarperBusiness in collaboration with Catherine Fredman.


    Lei Jun Biography: Co-Founder of Xiaomi Inc.
    The 21st Century will be earmarked forever by the evolution of mobile phones.Mobile phones paved way for several innovations and inventions that changed theway we function, that too for good. The transformation from black and whitecellphones to smart devices is an intriguing one. Present day smar…


    Michel Dell – Awards

    • At age 24, Michael Dell was declared the “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Inc. magazine.
    • Top CEO in American Business from Worth magazine
    • CEO of the Year from Financial World and Chief Executive magazines
    • The 1998 Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
    • The 2013 Franklin Institute’s Bower Award for Business Leadership

    Michel Dell – Annexures

    Michael Dell served as a member of the US President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. He serves on the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum, and the executive committee of the US Business Council.

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, in April 2020, Governor Greg Abbott called Dell to the Strike Force to Open Texas– a group “tasked with finding safe and effective ways to slowly reopen the state.”

    Conclusion

    Michael Dell started Dell Technologies in 1984 while still a student at the University of Texas at Austin, and grew it into a multibillion-dollar enterprise. He is known for his innovative approach to business and his ability to adapt to changing market conditions. He is also a philanthropist, and his foundation has donated millions of dollars to education and healthcare initiatives.

    FAQs

    Who is Michael Dell?

    Michael Dell is an American entrepreneur and business magnate. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Dell Technologies, one of the world’s largest technology companies.

    When did Michael Dell establish Dell?

    Michael Dell founded Dell on February 1, 1984.

    What is the Net worth of Michael Dell?

    As of Jan 19, 2023, Michael Dell’s Net worth is $52.6 billion.

    Does Michael Dell own Dell?

    Dell Technologies is a publicly traded company, so it is owned by its shareholders. The company’s founder, Michael Dell, is the largest individual shareholder and serves as the company’s CEO.

  • From Shopping to Entertainment: Times Prime Business Head Harshita Singh Shares How the Super-App Is Revolutionizing the Subscription Economy

    StartupTalky presents Recap’22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

    The subscription economy offers various products and services through a subscription-based model, providing value and convenience to consumers who can access a range of offerings with a single payment. It has expanded into various areas, including digital content, personal grooming, health, and education. This model has become increasingly popular in India, where consumers are looking for cost-effective and convenient ways to access products and services.

    According to Statista, the global digital subscription economy was worth $650 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to $1.5 trillion by 2025.

    For this Interview, we invited, Harshita Singh, Business Head of Times Prime and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the subscription economy.

    StartupTalky: Ms Harshita Singh, please tell us about Times Prime. What was the motivation/vision behind it?

    Harshita: A glimpse at your smartphone today will tell you just how many subscription-based services have pervaded our lives. Be it booking a cab, shopping, ordering food, or booking a table at a restaurant, there’s always an app for that. But at some point subscription fatigue has to become a real phenomenon right? This is where Times Prime, the super App from Times Internet, comes into play. Rapidly rising as one of the most preferred lifestyle super-apps, Times Prime offers an extensive range of benefits on a single platform, from shopping to entertainment and lifestyle, brands like Starbucks, Myntra, Uber, Disney+ Hotstar, SonyLIV, Google One, and many more. The idea is simple — instead of paying for different subscription services, pay for one and you can access all of these at once.

    StartupTalky: What new services have been added in the past year? What is/are the USP/s of your service?

    Harshita: To sustain this growth momentum, we will continue to launch exciting benefits and experiences that are valued by the transacting digital natives in the country. We also want to continually upgrade the app experience to better showcase the new categories and to enable discovery of the range of benefits. The beauty of a subscription offering is that people pay you for their own loyalty. As a platform that gives us a lot of leverage to be a launchpad for new subscriptions, D2C offerings, and ticketed events, thus resulting in monetization opportunities beyond the subscription paywall.

    StartupTalky: How has the subscription economy changed in recent years, and how has Times Prime adapted to these changes?

    Harshita: The subscription economy is growing worldwide. We have led the industry for 3 years and continued to do so last year by a far margin. Currently, we have a strong presence in the Online-To-Offline (OTO) space as some of Times Prime’s benefits and experience can only be enjoyed offline. One good example can be our Grooming & Well-being benefits. Similar to this, our members book curated Times Prime experiences & events like Purple Carpet, The Gourmet Table, History & Food Walks, Photography walks, offers on tea & coffee, and mixology sessions on the platform to enjoy them at some of the top venues with other members. We are seeing strong demand for this category and have a number of exclusive properties in the pipeline.


    History, Present, and Future of the Subscription Business Model
    The subscription business model is growing at a fast pace. So, Here’s a deep insight into its history, revenue model and its future.


    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the company’s growth and performance?

    Harshita: We have had an exponential growth of 300% over the last 3 years. Renewals are one of the highest benchmarks, and the beauty of a subscription offering is that people pay you for their own loyalty, and we are happy with the increasing rate of renewals. Most of our early members are in their 3rd cycle with us.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges Times Prime faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Harshita: The country was reeling with COVID last year. But it did not affect Times Prime as the bundle has great breadth and depth. We have a strong OTO portfolio with OTTs, e-commerce partners, and news & learning brands. Times Prime also introduced quite a few digital events for our members and after the first event response, we knew we were on the right track. Due to this, we had no negative impact in fact it had a positive impact on sales.

    StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run Times Prime smoothly?

    Harshita: Times Prime is part of the Times Internet Group of companies and this gives us access to in-house software and tools. These have given us quick access to data that is easily consumable across teams and functions.

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in your industry in India and the world? What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen between India and the world?

    Harshita: The world is shifting to a subscription economy and the same shift is now seen in India. India is a large and diverse country and your marketing tactics change state-wise as well as the size of a town. One shoe does not fit all.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, product, and team base in the future?

    Harshita: The app has been seeing increasing demand from all regions in India. Over-the-top (OTT) and news content are consumed most often, along with services like cabs, restaurants, grooming, and curated events. Initially trying to get brands to buy into the concept was really difficult. But there is a flywheel that exists in bundles- good brands attract more good brands. We also deliver immense value to our partners – scale, user quality, and transactions, and that’s why they choose to be a part of Times Prime year after year.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with people reading this article who want to get into entrepreneurship.

    Harshita: Identifying the Gap in the market is the most valuable advice to avoid misreading the market demand. Your idea should be profitable and aligned with your interests to grow.

    We thank Harshita for spending her valuable time and sharing her learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • EduCrack CEO Anand Bhushan Discusses Innovative Test Prep Solutions for Revolutionizing Education With Technology

    The EdTech industry has grown significantly in recent years as technology has become more widely available and more integrated into education. Edtech products and services are used in a variety of settings, including traditional classroom-based education, online and distance learning, and informal learning environments.

    According to a MarketsandMarkets report, the Edtech and Smart Classrooms market is expected to grow from $125.3 billion in 2022 to $232.9 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 13.2% during the forecast period.

    For this Interview, we invited, Anand Bhushan, CEO of EduCrack, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the ed-tech industry.

    StartupTalky: Mr Anand Bhushan, please tell us about EduCrack. What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Anand Bhushan: The company EduCrack is a Next-Gen EdTech company empowering the Test Prep Industry to help their students to follow their dreams by providing them with best-curated content by mentors, along with unbeatable test series through Technology enabled state of an art platform. The vision behind EduCrack was to leverage Technology to bring Education, specifically Competition preparation to the reach of all aspiring students, so that they can fulfill their dreams. Our Founder Mr Neeraj Sharma has a clear vision that ‘anyone who is willing to gain knowledge should never be left behind irrespective of their geographical and socio-economic conditions.’

    StartupTalky: What other products/features have been added in the past year? What is/are the USP/s of your product?

    Anand Bhushan: A technology platform which is state of the art but easy to use, incorporating AI and ML, Educators who are the best mentors for their respective content and subject, unbeatable test series, and AI-enabled Interview Evaluation and Feedback for preparation of interviews.

    StartupTalky: How has the ed-tech industry changed in recent years, and how has EduCrack adapted to these changes?

    Anand Bhushan: The industry has changed drastically in the last few years. From an industry, which was predominantly in the physical mode of teaching, learned to go online during a pandemic and online teaching with the use of technology became paramount. Post-pandemic, there was an immediate surge of getting back offline and corrections happened for the industry. Big shake-ups happened, and those having overleveraged have suffered in terms of revenue, students, and erosion of profits. Now things are stabilizing and finding a mid-way as a Hybrid model where online is going to complement offline and vice versa. We realized that this shake-up was bound to happen and had prepared ourselves as an academic and technology solution provider to the Test Prep industry across the country so that we are part of the Hybrid, and also in sync with the vision of imparting knowledge to anyone who is willing, irrespective of geographical considerations.

    Anand Bhushan: The basics remain the same. You keep your eyes open, and ears to the ground to hear the rumblings and changes around you. Industry forums are a great way to understand the developments. The web has become a big source of updating oneself with the latest trends, provided you can separate out the wheat from the chaff.

    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the company’s growth and performance?

    Anand Bhushan: The key metrics are both tangible and non-tangible. A few of them being the acquisition of number of students and institutes, the number of courses being added, refinement in the tech platform, usage of AI-enabled interview process, quality of the test series and what the market is saying about it, happiness quotient of the partners being associated with us and the growth in revenues and student acquisition for them.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges EduCrack faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Anand Bhushan: With the opening up of restrictions post-pandemic, students vying more for offline classes on the rebound was a big challenge. EduCrack overcame it in two ways, one by the usage of social media for pushing in and showing to the students, the quality of our content and mentors as well as free tests for them to gauge the relevance and quality of test series. And secondly turning as an Academic and Technology Solutions provider to the predominantly offline test prep industry, so as to enable them to run a hybrid model and disseminate knowledge to more students.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

    Anand Bhushan: Strategies for most of the edtech companies remain the same. It is the effectiveness with which you execute them that creates the difference in the market. One of the things which were effective for us was a six-hour marathon problem-solving session on all three sections of CAT by our mentors, in front of a live audience of students and also being streamed live directly. The program was much appreciated by our competitors as well.

    StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run EduCrack smoothly?

    Anand Bhushan: Without getting into the specifics, I would like to say that almost all of the digital technology EduCrack uses is developed in-house, including the LMS. We have also developed, in association with our partners, an AI-enabled Interview assessment and feedback tool, which assess on the broad parameters of verbal, and non-verbal cues and sentiment analysis. In addition, we use tools like Google meet, Google Docs, Zoom, etc.

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in your industry in India and the world? What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen within states in India?

    Anand Bhushan: Growth potential and opportunities are going to be there both in India and World. Some shake-ups are bound to happen, but the resilient will stay, adapt and grow. With the coming of Web 3.0, there would be a lot of positive changes happening in the education industry, and new possibilities opening up. In India, with the NEP being implemented, changes will happen in the way the education industry is being run today. Metros as usual will be the first to react and respond to the changed behavior of the markets. In the Corporate world also, despite the talk of global recession, India hopefully will not be much impacted and growth will continue leading to more hiring and better hiring solution requirement.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year and how will these inform your future plans and strategies?

    Anand Bhushan: The biggest lesson in the past year was that markets are going to be dynamic and fluid. Agility is going to be the key with fast decision-making and low turnaround time. Lean teams are the norm of the day and going forward too, with multitasking skills to look for in each employee.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, product, and team base in the future?

    Anand Bhushan: Our expansion is going to be in two domains.

    One as an Academic Content and Technology solution provider to the Test Prep industry. Providing them with a robust platform to augment their offline classes and helping them with online tests and content, so as to make it easier for them to cater to a larger student base with quality and convenience at their fingertips.

    The second domain will be as a Recruitment solution provider to the Corporates, by way of providing them AI-enabled interview process for recruitment screening.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with people reading this article who want to get into entrepreneurship.

    Anand Bhushan: There is never a shortcut to success. It’s going to be a long haul. Strategies get overturned, revamped, and re-executed but you have to be resilient, once you have chosen a way forward, which your research has shown to be the right path. And finally. Never ignore your gut instinct.

    We thank Anand Bhushan for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • Pakistan’s Economic Crisis – Explained

    The Islamic Republic of Pakistan was formed in 1947 after the partition of the British Indian Empire. The country was, initially, a dominion of the British Commonwealth until 1956, when it drafted and framed its own constitution. Ranked among the emerging and growth-leading economies through its rapidly growing middle class, the country’s political history since independence is characterized by periods of significant economic and military growth as well as economic and political instability.

    Pakistan is geographically, ethnically, and linguistically diverse and is a member of the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Commonwealth of Nations, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, and the Islamic Military Counter-Terrorism Coalition.

    Current Economic Crisis
    Bail-Out Loans & History
    Talks With IMF For Loans
    Conclusion

    Current Economic Crisis

    It was Pakistan’s rising economic crisis that led to a political stand-off between the then Prime Minister Imran Khan and the current Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who took office in April 2022.  However, the country’s economy has been steadily dwindling as its forex reserves fell to a 9-year low reaching below USD 3 billion in early February 2023. The country’s currency, the Pakistani Rupee, has seen a steep fall to reach Rs. 271.50 against one US dollar. Inflation within the country is at a 48-year high with just enough foreign reserves to cover imports for less than a month. The country’s consumer price index in January 2023 had increased by 27.6% and the wholesale price index increased by 28.5%.

    What are the 5 Main Causes of Inflation?
    Inflation can make or break a country’s economy. But, what causes inflation? Read this article to find the causes and consequences of Inflation.

    Unsurprisingly, the rising inflation has led to an exponential price increase in essential commodities like wheat, onions, gas cylinders, etc. To add to its woes, the oil companies of the country are on the verge of collapse due to the ongoing economic crises and its currency devaluation. This has also led to a lot of petrol pumps running out of fuel disrupting everyday life. The breakdown of the national electricity grid of the country also led to nationwide power outages, specifically affecting Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, and Peshawar.

    Pakistan’s rising expenses are adding to its troubles as the country’s high borrowing led to total debt and liability of Pakistani Rupees 59,697.7 billion in FY ’22. This amount was approximately 89% of the country’s total GDP. Unemployment and poverty are proving huge hindrances to food, healthcare, and wages for the citizens of the country.

    Bail-Out Loans & History

    By the year 2008, Pakistan’s external debt was Pakistani Rs. 6435 billion. Being an election year, Pakistan People’s Party came to power in that year and during its five-year tenure, increased the country’s debt by 135% to reach Pakistani Rupees 15096 billion by the year 2013. This amounted to 64% of the country’s GDP. A large increase in this debt was domestic with external debt increasing by 22%. Hence the external debt which was at USD 42.8 billion in 2008 reached USD 52.4 billion in 2013.

    Pakistan’s Economic Crisis Deepens

    The elections of 2013 brought Nawaz Sharif to power under whose rule, the external debt increased by 226.8% from USD 52.4 billion to USD 75.3 billion. The primary reason for this debt increase was the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor through which Pakistan procured loans from China and, in return, awarded contracts to only Chinese companies. This also resulted in high imports from China. Imran Khan came to power in 2018 and subsequently added to the increasing external debt to USD 110.6 billion during his rule.

    As per IMF data, it has disbursed 21 loans to Pakistan over the years, the first request emerging from the country as early as 1958. Since then, IMF had agreed to disburse a total loan amount of USD 31.73 billion of which USD 20 billion has been disbursed through different transactions like Stand by Arrangements (SBA), Extended Fund Facility (EFF), Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and Structural Adjustment Facility Commitment (SAFC). An IMF loan is released in these different installments based on certain norms that are set by the lender.

    Talks With IMF For Loans

    Nathan Porter, leading the IMF mission began talks with the Pakistan government represented by their finance minister, Ishaq Dar, on January 31st, 2023. The talks failed to reach a satisfactory conclusion for Pakistan regarding its immediate requirement of USD 1.1 billion loan amount to prevent the country’s bankruptcy. The country is on the verge of defaulting on its external liabilities and is heavily dependent on the IMF’s loan. The loan amount is a part of the USD 6.5 billion loan program. IMF said – “Virtual discussions will continue in the coming days to finalize the implementation details of these policies.”

    Conclusion

    As inflation mounts and poverty rules the country, Pakistan is in dire need of monetary help from the IMF. However, this loan is also feared to increase inflation and price hikes for the common citizens of the country, further increasing their burdens. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine hostilities are adding to rising inflation around the globe as well. It remains to be seen, how the current government of Pakistan handles the ongoing economic crisis.

    FAQs

    Why is Pakistan in an economic crisis?

    Pakistan’s economic crisis is caused by economic mismanagement, political uncertainty, high inflation and energy prices, and urgent foreign debt payments.

    What role can international organizations, such as the IMF, play in helping Pakistan navigate its economic crisis?

    IMF and other international organizations can help Pakistan by providing financial assistance, technical expertise, policy advice, and coordination to support economic growth, but such assistance may come with conditions that could be politically and socially difficult to implement.

    What impact has the economic crisis had on the daily lives of Pakistani citizens, particularly those living in poverty?

    The economic crisis in Pakistan has made it harder for people, particularly those in poverty, to afford basic necessities like food and healthcare due to rising inflation, unemployment, and expensive imported goods.

    What is the impact of the economic crisis on Pakistan’s job market?

    The economic crisis in Pakistan has led to rising unemployment rates, limited job opportunities, and job losses in the manufacturing, construction, and public sectors.

  • Can the Airbus-Boeing Duopoly Be Broken?

    The term ‘duopoly’ essentially refers to the intense competition between the European multinational Airbus SE and the American Giant Boeing Company within the jet airliner industry. Both companies are in the process of designing and manufacturing civil and military aerospace products. Between the two companies, Boeing is currently leading the market with a market share of 52%, closely followed by Airbus with 48%.

    Formation of the Duopoly
    Can the Duopoly be Broken?
    Conclusion

    Formation of the Duopoly

    Companies that began to grow, and expanded quickly became market leaders and fierce competitors. The origin of the duopoly could be attributed to a series of mergers and acquisitions within the global aerospace industry. A deeper understanding can be gleaned from understanding the journey of both these companies independently.

    Why Airbus and Boeing Dominate the Sky

    The Boeing Company

    Initially founded as Aero Products Company in Seattle, Washington in the year 1916 by lumber industrialist William E. Boeing, it was renamed Boeing Airplane Company a year later. The company initially supplied military aircraft for World War I. The company was also engaged in ferrying mail due to its profitability. In the year 1928, William Boeing formed another company named Boeing Airplane and Transport Corporation. He renamed it United Aircraft and Transport Corporation in 1929. United Aircraft and Transport Corporation went on an acquisition spree of several aircraft makers including Avion, Chance Vought, Sikorsky Aviation, Stearman Aircraft, Pratt & Whitney, and Hamilton Metalplane.  In 1931, the group merged its four small airlines under one umbrella – United Airlines.

    Boeing 777X
    Boeing 777X

    The Airmail Act, which came into force in 1934, effectively prevented companies from simultaneously delivering mail and manufacturing airplanes. This resulted in the company restructuring itself and United Aircraft and Transport was dissolved and three separate entities emerged from it – Boeing Airplane Company, United Aircraft, and United Airlines.

    Between the 1960s and 1970s Boeing Airplane Company went on an expansion spree beginning with purchasing Vertol Aircraft Corporation, which was the biggest independent helicopter manufacturer of the time. Subsequently, it diversified its business interests into different industries like outer space travel, marine craft, agriculture, energy production, and transit systems, slowly and surely gaining a monopoly within the industry.

    Since then, the company has consistently grown by partnering with Russian, Ukrainian, and Anglo-Norwegian organizations in 1995, to create Sea Launch that provided commercial launch services to geostationary orbit from floating platforms. It also acquired the satellite segment of Hughes Electronics in 2000. Boeing also completed its merger with McDonnell Douglas in August 1997. By 2001, Boeing moved its corporate headquarters from Seattle to Chicago and by the year 2018, it opened its first factory in Europe at Sheffield along with a research partnership with The University of Sheffield.

    Airbus SE

    The European multinational aerospace corporation primarily with three major divisions – Commercial Aircraft under Airbus S.A.S., Defence and Space, and Helicopters. The company was launched in 1970 as Airbus Industrie GIE as a pan-European (countries included were Germany, France, Britain, and Spain) effort to combat the rising Boeing monopoly globally.  The company got its first break with the A300 in the year 1977. Registered in Leiden, Netherlands the ‘SE’ in its name means ‘societas Europaea’ which, essentially, allows the company to be registered as a European corporation as opposed to a national corporation. Through various corporate changes and restructuring, the company got its present name, Airbus SE in the year 2017.

    Airbus A380
    Airbus A380

    Building on the resounding success of its A300, which also essentially decimated its competition within the continent, the company launched the A320 which continues to enjoy commercial success even today. By the 1990s, commercial airline manufacturing was already a duopoly between these two giants, that continues to this day.

    Between 2007 and 2016, both companies were fiercely competing with each other with Airbus receiving 9985 new aircraft orders and delivering 5644 aircraft and Boeing receiving 8978 new aircraft orders and delivering 5718.

    Can the Duopoly be Broken?

    Boeing and Airbus have dominated the commercial aviation market for almost three decades. Valued at approximately USD 190 billion, this market is considered to be the biggest and the most profitable in the world. Even though over time both these companies have faced issues with their aircraft, these giants together occupy 99% of the global market for large commercial airliners.

    Although possible, the duopoly is extremely difficult to break due to various reasons –

    1.      The global market for medium and large commercial airlines is not big enough to support more than 2 players.

    2.      The entry barrier within the business is extremely high in terms of capital, expertise, and talent requirement not to mention the consistent operational maintenance required.

    3.      Initial investment recovery period is very long.

    4.      Business trust is extremely difficult to build in this industry that already has players with a proven track record.

    Having said all this, the new Chinese passenger jet made by the aerospace company COMAC and named C919, showed itself off on its maiden flight at an airshow in November 2020. With its feature and its lower operating cost, it can, ultimately, make its place on the global stage and give stiff competition to the duopoly of Airbus and Boeing.

    India Aviation Industry – Market size, Major players, Future Developments
    The Indian aviation industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in India. Here’s a deep insight into the Indian Aviation Industry and its Development

    Conclusion

    When it comes to aviation, safety is paramount in whichever airplane flies in the skies. Hence, whichever player, be it a new entrant or a veteran, can offer a safe flight will win the global war. The duopoly can very well become a triopoly within the next decade.

    FAQs

    Who is bigger, Airbus or Boeing?

    The Airbus A380-800 is the world’s largest passenger aircraft with a maximum capacity of 853.

    Boeing’s most popular commercial airplane model is the Boeing 737. It has been in production since 1967 and is widely used by airlines around the world.

    What is the name of the fighter jet that Boeing manufactures for the US military?

    The name of the fighter jet that Boeing manufactures for the US military is the F/A-18 Super Hornet. It is a twin-engine, supersonic, all-weather fighter jet used by the US Navy and Marine Corps.

    The name of Airbus’s most popular commercial airplane model is the Airbus A320. It can seat up to 240 passengers.

    What is the name of the Airbus aircraft that is currently the world’s largest passenger airliner?

    The name of the Airbus aircraft that is currently the world’s largest passenger airliner is the Airbus A380. It is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine aircraft that can carry up to 853 passengers in a single-class configuration, making it the largest commercial aircraft in the world.

  • Understanding the On-Demand Business Model With Its Application to Sell Customized Products/Services

    As said, “Success is not final and failure is not fatal”, Businesses nowadays have grown exponentially. Business organizations and their players ought to play by the rules while being ferocious at times whenever required. The willingness to take extraordinary chances assists them in achieving more than those who play safe.

    With immediate actions, the need for getting immediate services is also dominating the market. With the introduction of on-demand businesses, the immediate supply of a service is expected.

    Startups like Zomato, Ola, and Uber are dominating society due to their on-demand business model. But what is meant by an on-demand business model and how one can create their own print-on-demand business are shared below.

    What Is an On-Demand Business Model?
    Examples of On-Demand Services
    Impact of On-Demand Business Model
    Application of On-Demand Business Model to Sell Customized Products and Services
    Tips for Marketing Customized Products More Effectively

    What Is an On-Demand Business Model?

    The on-demand business model has revolutionized the way businesses work. It has replaced the traditional business models (i.e., B2B, B2C, C2B, C2C) a lot quicker than predicted.

    It is nowadays becoming the choice of customers, because the on-demand business model is focused on speedy deliveries, enhancing convenience for the sellers as well as the customers, accuracy in the services provided, and most important maintaining healthy competition through delivering quality goods and services.

    This model may be defined as how businesses rely on various social media platforms or any other websites or applications to deliver their products and services to their end users.

    It enables the users to get hassle-free access to the services provided by the business without getting into contact with a support professional or any staff to avail of the services, instead, the customer or user can do it themselves manually through any of the following means depending on the type of business.

    For Example:

    1. Ola and Uber use the application as their means to deliver their respective services to their end users. An individual can book a cab from their mobile phone and the cab service arrives at their doorstep instantly.

    2. Flipkart, Myntra, and Amazon use applications as well as websites to deliver their services to their customers. Customers can buy products online through these portals and the products are delivered to them in no time.

    3. Small-scale retailers as well as wholesale sellers use the Facebook marketplace and various other social media websites to advertise their products for sale.

    Examples of On-Demand Services

    On-demand Delivery Service

    Examples of On-Demand Delivery Startups
    Examples of On-Demand Delivery Startups

    It is a way of delivering the demands of the customers instantly to lure customers. These types of solutions are best suited for customers who want a quick, accessible, and simpler way of shopping for their needs. Most e-commerce platforms are reliable on this model to enhance their responsibility toward customer satisfaction.

    On-demand Transportation Services

    On-Demand Transportation Service Example

    Transportation plays a great role in creating the demand for any product or service offered online. Let us suppose two companies are offering similar kinds of products, but the customer will be inclined towards the company that delivers the product faster than the other. Hence, transportation is a critical aspect of any business.

    Another aspect of utilizing such types of business models is Uber and Ola. They have revolutionized the way taxi and cab facilities used to work in the market. Now an individual can book a book from their mobile phone with utmost transparency of the costs and avail of the service in no time.

    The transparency of the cost has also enabled people from getting to struggle for bargaining the fare. All these factors combined have created a much more trouble-free experience for them altogether.

    On-demand Food Services

    On Demand Food Services Example
    On-Demand Food Services Example

    If an individual is stuck in a situation where cooking food is not an option and traditional ways of cooking seem harmful to the environment, the on-demand food services are the saviors.

    Some startups operate globally and are creating an environment where people do not have to struggle with hunger anymore and take out the time from their busy schedules to plan and go to a restaurant. Instead, order food online and it is delivered to your step.


    How Much Commission Do Food Delivery Apps Like Zomato and Swiggy Charge
    Have you ever noticed the difference in prices between restaurant and food delivery apps? Let’s understand why your food costs more.


    Impact of On-Demand Business Model

    The above graph shows the Estimated Revenue of an On Demand Service Industry in US Billion Dollars for three alternate years
    The above graph shows the Estimated Revenue of an On Demand Service Industry in US Billion Dollars for three alternate years

    This model has left a drastic impact on how businesses work. It has enabled businesses in understanding that getting access to deliver their services is a much more productive approach than ownership.

    Earlier businesses used to work on the principle of ownership but nowadays things have revolutionized to the extent that customers prefer services that are quickly delivered to them or even available at their fingertips. With the increase in demand for such types of services, businesses must constantly struggle and keep on working on ways to improve their services to stay on top of the list for their customers.

    For example, consider that a product is available on Flipkart, and it takes 5 days to get it delivered to the customer’s location. A similar product is available on Amazon, and it gets delivered within 1 or 2 days. Then the customer would prefer buying it from Amazon even if the product is a bit costlier than Flipkart.

    The above example proves that Amazon is more efficient than Flipkart in delivering products to its end customers. This suggests that Flipkart, to retain its customers, must focus on improving its mechanism for the delivery of its products and services.

    The on-demand business model has also increased competition in the market. With the help of this model, owning a business and running it smoothly is no more a hassle, from setting up the firm to developing a delivery mechanism, it is all very accessible and under budget.

    Application of On-Demand Business Model to Sell Customized Products and Services

    Working of an On-Demand Business Model
    Working of an On-Demand Business Model

    With the availability of millions of products and services online, customers do not prefer buying or using similar types of products. They are always in search of things that are unique in nature.

    Hence, customized products and services play a great role in enhancing the experience of customers. While selling customized products, the business additionally drives-in customers’ loyalty by enhancing the satisfaction level of the customers.

    Roadmap to this guide:

    Choose what to sell

    One of the most difficult tasks in selling customized products is to choose the most profitable items in the markets that are also in high demand. With the gradually changing needs and demands of the customers, it is difficult for a seller to choose what sort of item would be best to sustain the business.

    These items must be evergreen, trending, and profitable at the same time. Businesses should focus on targeting a specific market in order to grab genuine customers rather the generalized ones.

    For starters, ideas could be drawn from other leading websites already running in the market that could be their potential rivals. The on-demand business model would assist the business in this regard.

    Choose the platform to offer customized products

    The traditional ways of selling and marketing products are long gone. People have now learned that new ways such as the on-demand business model are a lot more effective in selling products. The core belief is to emphasize more accessibility than ownership.

    Nobody wants to stand in queue and wait for a taxi, no one wants to wait for weeks to get their parcel, and no one wants to cook, when and if these services are just a click away. Every business nowadays wants to focus on developing applications or relying on e-commerce platforms for showcasing its products and services.

    Incorporating mobile applications and websites into their business models is an essential and reliable option for businesses if they want to grow exponentially. On a similar note, selling customized products would be much more convenient if the above-mentioned means are utilized.

    Choose the most effective delivery partner

    It is very critical to find a popular and reliable partner to collaborate with to deliver products to their destination in a transparent, simple, quick, and trouble-free manner.

    Automate the workflow

    Automation in any work done is in high demand these days. People love to see tech around them. Working with AI-enabled services not only gives an extraordinary experience to the business as well as the end-users yet additionally enhances the productivity of the tasks.

    AI-enabled services at warehouses enable the supervisor to manage the stocks efficiently and locate the vacant spaces that need to be refilled again with the stocks. AI-enabled tools that are managed by the backend helps in comprehending the categories of item that are high in demand.

    By executing automation, businesses can undoubtedly get orders, characterize work processes and occupations, produce tickets, plan out works, oversee, and follow them, and get them finished for definite deliveries.


    10 Indian Startups That Are Leading The AI Race | 2021 List
    AI-enabled companies have enhanced every part of life, from medical to agriculture. Here is a list of Indian Startups that are leading AI race.


    Tips for Marketing Customized Products More Effectively

    Creating official pages across all the social media platforms and staying up to date with the trend. Sharing blogs regarding their products and services, news, or any sort of update regarding the business to keep the customers engaged with it.

    Additional to the above point, being responsive to almost all the genuine comments of a customer over any post is critical to developing a healthy relationship between the customer and the firm. The website should be search engine optimized to gain traffic.

    Collaborate with big e-commerce platforms to increase the awareness of the brands. Paid marketing campaigns are also a good strategy to gain popularity in less span of time.

    Become more competitive while also showcasing the uniqueness of your product as compared to the competitor’s products. Identifying the target audience and making up the marketing plans accordingly also helps in effectively increasing the marketing of customized products. Keep refining the plan from time to time and induce necessary changes required with respect to time.

    Conclusion

    On-demand business is one that works to provide services to its customers as per their needs. There are many types of on-demand businesses seen in common places. One of the best examples of an on-demand business is the ride-sharing business “Ola”.

    The on-demand business works with the minimum possible time to complete the consumer’s needs. Hence, the business model of on-demand services also needs to be planned accordingly. The above article contains a guide on how to get started with customized products selling on-demand business models and other relevant information.

    FAQs

    What is customized selling?

    Customized selling is an option preferred by manufacturers where a selling style is coordinated with customers’ selling patterns as well as the requirement of the situation.

    What is personalized print on demand?

    Print-on-demand is a process where a manufacturer complies with the customer to print white-label products with the selected brand design.

    What is an on-demand business model?

    The on-demand business model comprises the fact that the essential things are delivered to the customers at the most appropriate time of their need. It works on the basic principle of three factors speed, accessibility, and convenience.

    What are some examples of on-demand companies?

    Some of the best on-demand companies are Uber, Airbnb, Upwork, etc.

  • Skillshare Success Story – How the Online Learning Platform Became a Global Marketplace for Creative Education

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Skillshare.

    To live in this era of a highly competitive world, one must be highly skilled as well. Gaining knowledge and having a hunger for developing your skills play a central role in modern civilization.

    Today, with easy access to the internet and technology in our hands, online learning has become very convenient. In other words, ed-tech, or educational technology, is a major thing right now. The combination of software and educational theories with the help of the internet has given people a new way to consume knowledge in a much more uncomplicated manner.

    Skillshare is an American online-based learning community whose website went live in 2011. It is one of the leading platforms for online education, with over 12 million registered members. The online learning platform is accessible to the majority of countries and offers a wide range of creative skills and courses.

    Let’s dig into the details of Skillshare’s success story in this article, where you will learn about its business and revenue model, funding details, growth, and more.

    Skillshare – Company Highlights

    Company Name Skillshare
    Headquarters New York, USA
    Sector E-learning, Ed-tech
    Founder Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Malcolm Ong
    Founded 2010
    Website skillshare.com

    Skillshare – About
    Skillshare – Industry
    Skillshare – Founders and Team
    Skillshare – Startup Story
    Skillshare – Mission and Vision
    Skillshare – Name, Tagline, and Logo
    Skillshare – Business and Revenue Model
    Skillshare – Funding and Investors
    Skillshare – Growth
    Skillshare – Competitors
    Skillshare – Future Plans

    Skillshare – About

    Skillshare is a US-based online learning community platform for people who want to learn from educational videos. It offers thousands of courses that enhance a person’s creative journey. The majority of courses emphasize interaction rather than lecturing, with the primary goal of learning through project completion. Anyone can take or offer online classes on the Skillshare platform.

    Skillshare is used by organizations like Staples, Mailchimp, Evernote, and Disney for the professional development of their employees in addition to the millions of individual learners on the platform.

    Creative arts, design & illustration, video, entrepreneurship, lifestyle, and technology are some of the main course categories.

    Skillshare – Industry

    As of today, Skillshare is considered one of the leading players in the ed-tech industry.

    The global education segment is estimated to have a value of US$7.08 billion in 2022. It is projected that the segment will experience an annual growth rate of 6.95% from 2022 to 2027, resulting in a market volume of US$10.50 billion by 2027.

    Skillshare – Founders and Team

    SkillShare is founded by Michael Karnjanaprakorn and Malcolm Ong in New York in 2010.

    Michael Karnjanaprakorn

    Michael Karnjanaprakorn - Co-founder of Skillshare
    Michael Karnjanaprakorn – Co-founder of Skillshare

    Michael Karnjanaprakorn is an entrepreneur, investor, and creator. He has attended the University of Virginia. Along with Skillshare, Micheal also founded Otis in 2018, which is an investment platform. Otis was acquired by Public in 2022. Before establishing Skillshare, Micheal has been associated with companies like Behance (acquired by Adobe) and Hot Potato (acquired by Facebook). Micheal has angel invested in companies like Street FC, Notion, 88Rising, and Polkadot.

    Malcolm Ong

    Malcolm Ong - Co-founder of Skillshare
    Malcolm Ong – Co-founder of Skillshare

    Malcolm Ong graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a B.S. in Computer Science, a double major in Business Administration, and a minor in E-commerce. He was a Senior VP of Product at South China Morning Post SCMP for four years. Malcolm has worked in various organizations like IBM, Lyft, Razorfish, 500 Global, and OMGPOP. Malcolm has also co-founded Sandstorm and was the CEO of the same in 2014 for one year.

    Matt Cooper

    Matt Cooper - CEO of Skillshare
    Matt Cooper – CEO of Skillshare

    Matt Cooper is an experienced entrepreneur and business executive who currently serves as the CEO of Skillshare. Prior to Skillshare, he held leadership positions at several companies, including Visually and Upwork. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics with a concentration in Mathematics from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a double concentration in Finance and Accounting from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management.

    Skillshare – Startup Story

    Skillshare’s journey began when its site went live in 2011, almost after a year after Michael Karnjanaprakorn and Malcolm Ong founded Skillshare in New York in November 2010. In August 2012, Skillshare launched 15 self-paced online courses in which students collaborated to complete a project. It hosted over 250 courses by November 2013 and launched its School of Design. Eventually, Skillshare partnered with Levi’s to launch the School of MakeOurMark, which focused on individual creativity through courses in photography, tattooing, and various forms of illustration.

    Over 27,000 premium classes and more than 2,000 free classes were available on Skillshare during March 2019. With the platform’s new ‘Groups’ feature, users could collaborate with other creators, share their work, and advance their skills through stimulating conversations and challenges. However, Skillshare stopped offering classes for free in September 2021 and started mandating users to sign up for either a paid membership or a free trial to access all courses (including classes that were previously available for free).


    Top 12 Best Platforms for Creating and Selling Courses in 2022
    Do you want to earn a side income by creating courses? Here are some of the best platforms where you can manage and sell courses easily.


    Skillshare – Mission and Vision

    The goal of Skillshare is to empower teachers and democratize learning. It wishes to create a society in which anyone can teach anything, supported by a never-ending cycle of sharing knowledge and interests. The platform wants to transform each neighborhood into a campus, each address into a classroom, and each resident into a learner and a teacher. Skillshare epitomizes the modern educational landscape because it is for doers rather than scholars or theorists.

    Skillshare Logo
    Skillshare Logo

    The name “Skillshare” was inspired by the concept of a “skill share” where people come together to share their skills and knowledge. The name reflects the company’s mission to make education more accessible and engaging through a collaborative platform.

    Skillshare is known for providing multiple courses that mainly focus on people’s creative side and evolve their skills. Thus, the tagline of Skillshare is “Inspiring discovery through creativity.”

    Skillshare – Business and Revenue Model

    Since skillshare is an online-based learning platform that allows anyone to either teach or learn in various creative fields, it operates on a marketplace business model. It also offers scholarships for college and university students. As mentioned earlier, Skillshare used to offer classes for free, but it stopped its free service and made it a paid-based platform in a manner similar to Netflix or Amazon Prime.

    Monthly, yearly, and enterprise subscriptions account for the majority of its income. In addition, Skillshare receives commissions from the related products it displays to customers who subscribe for a year.

    Skillshare can be said to have two sections through which it operates its business and makes money:

    Subscription-fee

    Through subscription fees, students get unrestricted access to thousands of courses in virtually every subject area. Additionally, students will be able to take part in group projects. Initially, the platform allows a free trial, after which users will have to pay certain fees. It is then available for a monthly membership fee of $32, and an annual Premium membership fee of $168 (roughly $14 per month).

    These monthly and yearly subscriptions account for the majority of Skillshare’s income, with 30% of the revenue going to the teacher royalty pool, which rewards instructors for creating engaging courses based on factors such as the number of minutes watched and the number of new students enrolled.

    Referral-fee

    The other way Skillshare does business is through referrals. It makes money from referral fees for promoting other products in addition to subscription income.

    Skillshare – Funding and Investors

    Skillshare has raised total funding worth $136.8 million in over 11 rounds. Its funding details are as follows:

    Date Funding Round Amount Investors
    Nov 2, 2020 Private Equity Round
    Oct 5, 2020 Series D
    Aug 10, 2020 Series D $66 million OMERS Growth Equity
    Jan 1, 2019 Debt Financing $20 million
    Jul 23, 2018 Debt Financing $8 million
    Jul 23, 2018 Series C $20 million Union Square Ventures
    May 26, 2016 Series B $12 million Amasia, Omidyar Network
    Feb 28, 2014 Venture Round $6.1 million Spark Capital, Union Square Ventures
    Jan 31, 2013 Venture Round $1 million VTF Capital
    Aug 16, 2011 Series A $3.1 million Spark Capital, Union Square Ventures

    Skillshare – Growth

    To improve the quantity and quality of its lessons as well as to refocus on its strengths, Skillshare has continuously tweaked and updated both its chronicle and its platform. The business does define creativity broadly and includes lessons in all forms of art, including writing, design, animation, filmmaking, photography, and content creation.

    Skillshare shifted the majority of its attention to creative lessons for its brand relaunch in 2020. The platform saw significant growth during mid-march 2020 as a result of social distancing and Covid-19 guidelines that made many people sit indoors.

    The company claims that it is expanding and becoming popular outside the borders of the United States. It further adds that India is Skillshare’s fastest-growing market without any support from local teachers or location-based content.

    Today, Skillshare has over 13 million registered members and more than 11,000 teachers, and 34,000+ classes.

    Skillshare – Competitors

    The top competitors of SkillShare are:

    Skillshare – Future Plans

    Skillshare has mentioned that it plans to stay focused on English content in the coming future. Furthermore, the company is planning to accept payments in different currencies and support subtitles in various languages to promote global viewership.

    Skillshare – FAQs

    What is Skillshare?

    Skillshare is a US-based online learning community for people who want to learn from educational videos. It offers thousands of courses that enhance a person’s creative journey.

    Who is the founder of Skillshare?

    Michael Karnjanaprakorn and Malcolm Ong are the founders of Skillshare.

    Who is the CEO of Skillshare?

    Matt Cooper is the CEO of Skillshare.

    Who are the top competitors of Skillshare?

    The top competitors of SkillShare include Udemy, Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, edX, Khan Academy, MasterClass, and CBT Nuggets.

  • The Rise of Organic Food Brands in India

    An agricultural system that avoids the use and application of man-made fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, and livestock feed additives produces organic food. The label on the food packet that reads ‘organic food’ is a reassurance to consumers that toxic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) aren’t utilized in meal production, and the cattle have now no longer been fed antibiotics. In addition to this, organic food is also an assurance that strict cultivation standards have been adhered to concerning the impact on soil, water, and air. Organic food cultivation is a great support for environmental protection.

    India introduced the organic farming policy in 2005. Since then, organic foods’ public profile has been continuously rising as more and more consumers see the connection between diet, health, and the environment.

    What Drives the Indian Organic Food Market
    Market Overview
    Best Organic Brands, Foods, and Distribution Channels
    Challenges Faced by the Indian Organic Food Market
    Conclusion

    What Drives the Indian Organic Food Market

    The Indian government’s strong support for organic farming is acting as a catalyst for the rise in demand for organic food. The government is providing financial support to farmers who are adopting organic farming, under various government schemes like the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), etc.

    The major factor driving the growth of organic food in India is the increasing awareness about health in the country. The rising demand for organic food is due to the attention that Indian consumers are now giving to the nutrient content and the quality of the food they consume. Moreover, the increasing consumer expenditure on health and wellness products is also driven by strong economic growth, urbanization, and rising income levels.

    Organic Brands Bloom in the Indian Food Market

    Market Overview

    While still in its nascent stages, the Indian organic food industry has a promising future. It has received a major boost post the covid-19 pandemic. Currently, India ranks first in Asia and fifth in the world with 23 lakh hectares of land under organic farming as per the Organics International Report of 2021 by IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements).

    Indian Organic Food Industry: Insights, Growth & Statistics
    Are you interested in Organic Foods? Well, the demand for organic food is increasing, which is a healthier and better option for both the environment and humans.

    The Indian Organic Food Market has steadily grown from USD 200 million in 2018 to USD 820 million in 2020. The omnichannel presence of organic food stores has also registered huge growth due to consumers moving to digital grocery shopping. While the pre-covid revenue split of the organic food brands was 5% online and 95% in-store, this number went up to 20% online and 80% in-store during the peak of the pandemic.

    In the future, the organic food market in India is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 25.25% between the years 2022 and 2027.

    💡
    Sikkim is India’s first fully organic state.

    Best Organic Brands, Foods, and Distribution Channels

    The idea behind the consumption of organic food is to go back to survival basics which prompted sustenance on natural food. Organic Food brands in India have grown over the years and registered the highest growth in the pandemic and post-pandemic era. The best domestic organic food brands that have withstood the time and quality test are –

    1. Organic Tattva – Brand owned by Mehrotra Consumer Products Pvt. Ltd.
    2. 24 Mantra – Brand owned by Sresta Natural Bioproducts Pvt. Ltd.
    3. Praakritik – Brand owned by Praakritik Natural and Organics LLP
    4. Organic India – Brand owned by Organic India
    5. Pure and Sure – Brand owned by Phalada Agro Research Foundations Pvt. Ltd.
    6. Nutriorg – Brand owned by Rattan Organic Foods Pvt. Ltd.
    7. Nourish Organics – Brand owned by Nourish Organics
    8. Adya Organics – Brand owned by Adya Organics
    9. Avadata Organics – Brand owned by Avadata Organics Pvt. Ltd.
    10. Pro Nature – Brand owned by Pro Nature Organic Foods Pvt. Ltd.

    Through these brands, various types of organic food items are now freely available in the market through Hypermarkets, Supermarkets, Specialty Stores, Convenience Stores, Online stores, and other channels.  The organic food item list consists of –

    1. Organic Beverages
    2. Organic Cereal and Food Grains
    3. Organic Meat, Poultry and Dairy
    4. Organic Spices and Pulses
    5. Organic Processed Food
    6. Organic Fruits and Vegetables

    Challenges Faced by the Indian Organic Food Market

    As growth-oriented the organic food market is within the country, it faces real challenges in terms of scalability, growth, and market share.

    Limited Awareness

    The current level of prejudice in Indian society has made organic food a status sign and luxury rather than a basic staple. The word-of-mouth publicity has increased awareness about the word ‘organic’ but not as a sustainable solution.

    Choice of a Lower-Priced Product

    The Indian consumer is price sensitive. This is also because of the huge variance in disposable income capability. This means that the automatic choice of product is led by price than quality, resulting in a large fraction opting out of the organic food market products.

    Non-Friendly Retail Market

    Retailers, understandably, prefer to fill shelves with fast-moving products. The lesser-known organic brands do not get premium shelf spaces or even a large amount of shelf space. This creates a gap between the buyer and the seller of organic foods.

    Traditional Farming Habits

    The results of chemical fertilizer-driven farming are quick and lucrative. Farmers are wary of the results of the organic way of farming. This is, however, slowly changing as the Indian government is taking steps to support farmers who are shifting to organic farming.

    Demand and Supply Gaps

    The supply of organic foods, currently, is not in tandem with the demand. Many times, the gap is quite visible with more supply than demand, or more demand than supply. This gap needs to be covered and balanced so as to even out the demand-supply scenario.

    Conclusion

    The Indian Organic Food Market has a long way to go. Currently, it is highly fragmented with the presence of several small and large players competing for price and quality. However, the past few years have seen organic brands gaining the spotlight and popularity. In the coming years, India is set to not only register growth in Organic Food brands but also innovatively deal with the challenges posing in front of this industry.

    FAQs

    Which organic food brand is best in India?

    The top organic food brands in India are –

    • Organic Tattva
    • Prakritik
    • Nutriorg
    • Organic India
    • Nourish Organics
    • Adya Organics
    • Avadata Organics
    • Pro Nature
    • 24 Mantra
    • Pure and Sure

    Pesticides and chemicals in Indian agriculture contaminate water and soil. To address this, companies are emphasizing organic farming, which promotes food security, improves farmers’ livelihoods, and eliminates harmful chemicals.

    Is organic farming the future of India?

    Organic farming has seen a drastic overall development in almost every crop type due to an increase in awareness of food security and environmental safety. Health-conscious consumers today will support the growth of the organic agricultural sector in many ways.

    What are the challenges faced by the Indian Organic Food market?

    A few challenges faced by the Indian Organic Food market are –

    • Limited Awareness
    • Demand and Supply Gaps
    • Non-Friendly Retail Market
    • Choice of Lower-Priced Product
    • Traditional Farming Habits
  • Harley Davidson: Riding High, Falling Hard

    This is a name that needs no introduction. Harley-Davidson Inc. was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in USA. It is one of the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturers and a brand with a loyal following. The iconic brand is famous for the chopper motorcycle style with manufacturing factories spread over York-Pennsylvania, Milwaukee-Wisconsin, Manaus-Brazil, Bawal-India, and Pluak Daeng-Thailand. Not only does the company market its products globally, but it also licenses and markets merchandise like apparel, home décor, ornaments, accessories, toys, scale models of its motorcycles, and video games based on its motorcycle line under the Harley-Davidson brand.

    The Begining
    The Recent History
    The Fall
    Conclusion

    The Begining

    The first motor-bicycle was built by 20-year-old William S. Harley along with his friend Arthur Davidson by using the northside Milwaukee machine shop which was located at the home of their friend Henry Melk. The finished bike in 1903 did not have the power to climb hills without pedal assistance and the makers wrote off their first attempt as a learning curve.

    Their second attempt was successful with a bike that featured a bigger engine and loop-frame design as it marked their path to future designs of motorcycles. This prototype of the new loop-frame Harley-Davidson was functional by September 8, 1904. It, then, competed in a Milwaukee motorcycle race and was placed fourth.

    By January 1905, Harley-Davidson placed small advertisements in the Automobile and Cycle Trade Journal. These advertisements offered bare engines for do-it-yourself projects. The business did well and by April of the same year, the company was producing a limited stock of completed motorcycles.

    Within a year, by 1906, Harley and the Davidson brothers built their first single-storey, wooden structure factory on Chestnut Street and produced 50 motorcycles. Chestnut Street was later renamed Juneau Avenue, which also serves as the current location for the Harley-Davidson Corporate Headquarters.

    History of Harley Davidson Motorcycle

    By 1907, the company expanded its factory and increased its annual motorcycle production to 150 motorcycles. It was also the year that the company was officially incorporated. The company began selling its bikes to police departments as well.

    Over the next few years, Harley-Davidson continued making improvements to the engine and the bike design and by the year 1914, Harley-Davidson was pulling ahead of Indian-dominated motorcycle racing and also increased their bike production numbers to 16,284 machines.

    World War I proved to be a major sales push for the company as the military demanded motorcycles as the US entered WWI in 1917. It purchased more than 20,000 motorcycles from the company. To recruit more domestic customers for its motorcycles, the company launched a line of bicycles in the same year but discontinued it in 1923 due to disappointing sales. However, by the year 1920, Harley-Davidson had grown to be the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world with dealers in 67 countries. They were producing a whopping 28,189 machines annually.

    A few years later, The Great Depression began which negatively impacted the company and its sales dropped from 21,000 machines in 1929 to 3703 machines in 1933. It emerged from the Great Depression scathed but alive and was only one of the two American motorcycle manufacturers that survived. It again rose to its former prominence as it reproduced a large number of machines for the US army during World War II. Harley-Davidson received two Army-Navy ‘E’ Awards, in 1943 and 1945 respectively, for ‘Excellence in Production’. It also resumed civilian production of large V-twin motorcycles that were successful on racetracks and with private buyers.

    The company evolved and by 1970, it become a lifestyle brand that sold jackets, vests, T-shirts, and various memorabilia to commemorate the Harley-Davidson lifestyle. By the 1980s, people were economically progressing after a long financial hiatus that led to soaring sales for the company.

    A Screenshot from the Harley Davidson Website
    A Screenshot from the Harley Davidson Website

    The Recent History

    The decade of the 1980s proved to be immensely profitable for the company. The group that consisted of Harley-Davidson motorcycle owners grew to 90,000 members and the company registered a profit of approximately USD 3 million in 1984. This number rose by another USD 1.5 million within a few short years. Harley Davidson continued on its growth trajectory right into the 21st century. By the year 2006, it reported a profit of approximately USD 1 billion as its core owners’ group reached middle age and the stock price of the company peaked. However, it was also the last successful year of the company.

    The Fall

    The iconic company that had survived and grown through two world wars and The Great Depression fell victim to the economic recession of 2007 and it struggled with sales and stock prices plummeting between 2007 and 2009. This abruptly stopped the company’s new efforts to market its product to a younger and new audience that included women and children.

    To survive this newest threat of the economic downturn, it reverted to producing bikes that its existing customer base wanted, resulting in loud, chopper styles and bulky motorbikes.

    Harley Davidson - Total Worldwide Retail Sales
    Harley Davidson – Total Worldwide Retail Sales

    What they failed to take into account was that their current core customer base was aging and the brand had missed its chance of evolving with the times. By 2008, the average age of a Harley-Davidson owner was 50 years and the younger generation did not identify with the company’s bike styles or ethos. This was in addition to the high price point of the motorbike which made it unaffordable for the younger generation that did not have such high disposable incomes. The third strike against the brand was that its image was associated with middle-aged men and father figures.

    Conclusion

    The iconic company that, at one time, was at its peak and the leading manufacturer of motorbikes across the world, has failed to recover post the 2007 recession. Although its sales are better, it has not been able to capture its pre-recession numbers. The main issue is that their bikes do not attract the millennials at all. Today, a company that has survived multiple ownership arrangements, subsidiary arrangements, intense global competition, and periods of economic health and product quality is struggling for survival. Only time will tell if the company will succeed in reversing its fortunes.

    Droom Company Profile – India’s 1st Online Market Place for Automobiles
    Droom is an online marketplace to buy and sell new and used automobiles. Read about Droom, business model, founders, revenue, competitors, funding.

    FAQs

    Harley-Davidson motorcycles are built to with sturdy construction and innovative engines. Many parts are also easily replaceable, allowing riders to keep their bikes in top shape without needing to replace the entire machine.

    What was the first Harley Davidson model ever produced?

    The first Harley-Davidson motorcycle was built in 1903 and was named the Harley-Davidson Model 1.

    Does Harley-Davidson sell lifestyle products?

    Yes, Harley-Davidson sells lifestyle products like jackets, vests, T-shirts, and various memorabilia like home décor, ornaments, accessories, toys, and video games based on its motorcycle line.

    Some of the most popular Harley-Davidson models include the Sportster, Dyna, and Softail.