Podcasts are one of the best ways to reach people, no matter where they are situated. People can listen to the audio version of the content that you put out anywhere and everywhere. As long as your listeners have a stable connection to the internet and a smart device, you can convey your dreams.
Using podcasts as a business venture is neither a new format nor is it difficult to shift to this media. However, what is complex is engaging your listeners so that you can create leads. Leads will help pave the way for customers who will be willing to pay for your products. This is a more complicated procedure that takes more than just a good episode or two.
In this article, we will be examining how a podcast will benefit your organization. You can learn to set up a podcast under our direction and generate leads and revenue from that. Keep reading to know more about getting the best from a business podcast!
Podcasts are a new entry in helping people spread their content. Instead of confining yourself to limited mediums, you can go for a new look, or rather, sound. Forget long-winded blogs that barely anyone reads anymore. You don’t have to scramble to find something unique for a video that never quite hits the forever-changing algorithm. Podcasts are the in-thing that allows people to listen to your content from any place at any time.
So why are businesses taking advantage of podcasts? Take a look at the following list of reasons to get a better idea of how podcasts help your organization:
You can create a personalized bond among your client base. You can use your podcast to share exciting updates, upcoming events, and more.
Podcasts are extremely easy to operate both for the content creator and the listener. The more convenient and engaging your medium of connecting to people is, the more leads you will be able to generate.
Podcasts offer users the opportunity to share audio on the platform quickly. Forget slaving hours over your blog or editing your video. Record yourself with your gadgets, and upload the audio file. You are good to go!
Podcasts help develop your company internally by involving all members who want to be a part of the process.
By garnering a considerable number of listeners, you can hook in new leads and create a supply. This helps develop newer and considerable avenues of collecting revenue.
Podcasts help increase and engage referral traffic. You can share special promotion codes and in-house shop discounts.
Connect to your clients by sharing insights about how your organization operates with full-fledged transparency.
Wondering how to start a business podcast? Read on below to know!
The first step is to choose a topic suitable for a podcast and then develop it.
You can then decide on the format you want to release your podcasts in for your listeners.
Choose your podcast instruments. High-ended equipment offers a better audio quality than the cheaper products.
Select your podcast software and record the slot you want to release first.
Work on the audio quality.
Use a podcast template or create one with your in-house editor to make artwork for your podcast.
Choose a channel to publish your podcast on and get it listed on the audio brands like Spotify, Apple, Google, etc.
Keep working on your podcast to help it grow and create a base.
Now that you know how you can have a business podcast, learn how you can yield leads right from your podcast episodes.
How to Generate Leads from Your Podcast?
Now we come to the main part of the article where you can see how to generate leads from your podcasts. Take a look at the following pointers to turn your hobby into a business opportunity.
1. Create content that is worth your client’s time
This is the most crucial part of your entire podcast. It all depends on the quality and content of your podcast. If you do not have what it takes to interest your audience, you may as well give up on a podcast. Without worthwhile content, the other points on the list won’t be of use to you.
2. Design magnates to attract leads
Once you produce your podcast episodes, you have to create attractive lead magnets. These are incentives that will help draw in potential customers and transform casual listeners into profitable leads.
3. Encourage email currency
Engage your listeners to share their email addresses in exchange for free guides, promos, and advice.
4. Create an attractive landing page for your customers
When your listeners visit your landing page to get their hands on your offerings, it has to be alluring. Your landing page is key for your listeners to share their email addresses with you.
5. Take advantage of social media to propagate your channel
Working on your podcast and seeing grow as a viable model takes time. A lot depends on the brand, the product you sell, and whether your audience is ready for it at all. Just like any other medium, you need to conduct market research to check the practicality of a podcast for your business.
You need some patience and run a few trial-and-error approaches to see success. Podcasts may be a new technique, but they will hit more than your usual target demographic than any other medium.
FAQs
Can podcasts generate leads?
Podcasting is a powerful lead generation tool. A podcast can serve as an accessible entry point for potential customers to begin engaging with your brand.
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 StepSetGo.
The benefits of fitness go on and on, but you need consistency and discipline in order to stick with a routine long enough to reap those benefits. That’s where technology can help. The right app can act as a virtual personal trainer or training partner to keep you motivated and accountable. Running and jogging help to build strong bones, as it is a weight-bearing exercise, strengthen your muscles, improve cardiovascular fitness, burn plenty of kilojoules and help you maintain a healthy weight.
StepSetGo is one such health and fitness app that lets people earn coins after every walk, which they can redeem in the in-app store for free products or discounts. StepSetGo app aims to get people out of the workout rut by incentivizing the process of walking.PM Modi also recognized this fitness app in his Mann ki Baat address.
With StepSetGo, founders wanted to make fitness simple, engaging, fun, and get as many people as possible to take up the challenge without asking them to do too much. So, walking was something that they knew they could use as an instigator to get users to get moving. It is something that they regularly do, all they needed to do was track it, institute a rewarding system, and make it social.
How StepSetGo works is simple; the app tracks everything from users’ steps, calories lost to the kilometers walked. It then converts those steps into SSG coins which is the currency used to redeem offers from the in-app marketplace called the ‘Bazaar’. Users can earn 1 SSG coin for every thousand steps they take. While fairly simple, earning these coins is purely dependent on the user’s diligence and persistence towards getting those steps in daily.
Once enough coins are accumulated, the user can reward his/her progress with gadgets, apparel, online courses, wellness products, and even bikes from the Bazaar section of the app. StepSetGo has taken things one step further, by heightening the engagement and motivation by introducing a healthy dose of friendly competition through the ‘Arena’ section in the app. There, users can compete with family and friends to reach specific goals, which ultimately encourages the building of healthier communities.
There is no limit to the number of coins a user can collect but limitations are only determined by each individual and also there are daily limitations. Therefore the longer your commitment to fitness is, the more rewards you can earn with StepSetGo. This simple yet viral concept has, in the last two years building its registered user base to nearly 7 Million.
StepSetGo Tools
JIRA, Confluence, Asana, Slack, Whatsapp Web are the few tools StepSetGo uses to ensure business continuity and seamlessness. Additionally, they’ve invested in an Atlassian suite for better communication within the team.
StepSetGo – Industry
2020 has been an extremely transformational year for the fitness industry. The almost overnight churn of traditional to virtual has not only had an impact on the responsiveness of the industry to adapt and evolve but also has molded a new generation of fitness enthusiasts. This new generation has finally been given enough nudges towards making that long-term commitment to their fitness journey and is seeking more accessible means to achieve it. Apps, virtual training, gamification with a combination of traditional offline solutions will chart out the next few years of the industry.
StepSetGo – Founders
StepSetGo was founded by Shivjeet Ghatge, Misaal Turakhia, and Abhay Pai.
StepSetGo Founders – Abhay Pai, Misaal Turakhia, and Shivjeet Ghatge
Abhay, Misaal, and Shivjeet have been friends for a while and they’ve always wanted to work together on something they could call their own. Sports and fitness are shared passions and the trio always knew they wanted to create the next big thing in the Indian fitness space. They all come from varied backgrounds, which came together perfectly to build and launch StepSetGo.
Abhay Pai
Abhay Pai is the Co-founder and CTO at StepSetGo. He holds an M.Tech degree and specializes in building high-scale technology solutions while heading the engineering team that develops, manages, and maintains all server-side infrastructures. He is also involved actively in the development and optimizations of the iOS and Android mobile apps for StepSetGo. While working with high scale tech-driven companies like IBM and BookMyShow, Abhay learned quickly what goes into building and scaling up a platform – which made him the perfect fit at StepSetGo.
Misaal Turakhia is a Co-founder and CPO at StepSetGo. With a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from NMIMS and a Master’s degree in Advanced Computer Science from the University of Leicester, Misaal handles the technical aspects of the product, UI & UX, as well as app development. After switching from a leadership position at Fork Media, Misaal developed a logistics app for his father’s spice trading business, which received a lot of attention and instigated his drive to pursue the next big thing. Watching his father run his own business gave him the inspiration to start his own entrepreneurial journey and that came into motion through StepSetGo.
Shivjeet Ghatge
Shivjeet Ghatge is a Co-founder and CEO at StepSetGo. As CEO, he looks after the finances, marketing, and business development for the platform, which are the areas of his core competence. After graduating from Grenoble Ecole de Management with a degree in international business, he began his journey as a working professional with some extremely reputable agencies like Duval Guillaume, a prominent and well-known advertising agency in Belgium, Publicis Paris, Umbrella Design, and Grey Worldwide. Working with these companies helped him hone his skills in brand marketing and business development, which eventually led him to start his own consulting agency. Working with this new generation of go-getters who were determined to go off the beaten path, in a direction that had not been explored by their predecessors inspired him to do the same.
What started out as a three-person setup, out of a friend’s father’s office space, has now grown to a 32-member team. StepSetGo’s team comprises young, vivacious individuals who work dedicatedly to make the platform reach newer heights in the least amount of time possible. The success of StepSetGo is a joint and collective ambition.
StepSetGo – Startup Story | How was StepSetGo Founded?
Misaal, Abhay, and Shivjeet have always had a passion for fitness, and they knew that was the space they wanted to be in. While the trio went through multiple concepts that went from the idea board to the actual business plan, they knew that they still hadn’t found a hook that would set them apart from the rest. This was when, during a seemingly innocent conversation about their sporadic workout regimens that involved spurts of rigorous workouts with bouts of none at all, Abhay mentioned that if they got paid to exercise, they’d take their commitment to fitness a lot more seriously. That was when StepSetGo was born.
When they were about six months in, at the starting of 2019, they were hesitant about pushing its concept out into the market. After a lot of R&D and testing within their own social circles, they knew that they needed an unbiased sample size in order to get honest and actual feedback. So, they decided to take the leap and on 10th January 2019, they launched the application and did a dipstick at the NMIMS College in Bombay with the students there. Little did they know that by the end of the day StepSetGo would have 200 new registrations and by March 2019, they would be up to about 55,000+ new user registrations.
Their dipstick at NMIMs college launched their first 200 users and from there on their concept has only further catapulted their brand awareness. In the first three months StepSetGo had reached almost 55,000+ registered users a day and today StepSetGo has clocked a total registered users base of nearly 7 million through organic routes.
As people used StepSetGo and saw individuals in their immediate circles reap the rewards, proof of concept was established and ultimately created an almost viral momentum for StepSetGo. Today, the platform has turned into a dinner-table conversation for users and their families.
The organic following StepSetGo acquired a loyal user base that loves using the application, and this helped them cross nearly 7 million registered users in just 20 months. That was a huge accomplishment for them because it was then that they realized that they had a unique concept that had a sense of virality built into it.
StepSetGo – Vision and Mission
The ideation and final launch of StepSetGo involved an immense amount of market research. From their research, they found that there are about 400 million people who were conscious of getting fit. However, only about 45 million were actually doing anything about it. Therefore, their goal was to reach those 350 million or so people and find a way to create something that would not just get them to begin a commitment to their fitness journey or goals but ensure it was a long-term one.
With that in mind and with a joint vision to build a fitter community, they came together to build a platform that would incentivize its users to make a long-term commitment to their fitness journey by providing them with immediate rewards.
StepSetGo – Name, Logo and Tagline
StepSetGo is all about getting started with one’s fitness journey, so they wanted to translate that concept to something that had a lot of energy behind it. The phrases Ready-Set-Go or Get-Set-Go were easy connections for them, considering that, that’s what one says at the start of a competition or race. So, they started to toy with terms that would be a call to action and had a concept of movement to it. That’s how StepSetGo was coined.
Name – StepSetGo
Tagline – Make Every Step Count
StepSetGo Logo
StepSetGo – Business and Revenue Model
The StepSetGo funding is provided by Huddle and ESV. Also, the StepSetGo revenue model as of today is through ad networks like Google, AdMob, and Facebook Audience Network as well as brand partnerships.
StepSetGo – Growth
The initial growth highlights can be summed up by StepSetGo’s social media following, which are:
Instagram – 1,38,000+ Followers
Facebook – 79,294+ people like this
Twitter – 5,162+ Followers
LinkedIn – 2,082+ Followers
StepSetGo – Customers/Clients Acquisition
‘Word of mouth has been its most powerful tool to make a name of StepSetGo in an incredibly cluttered market. Their strategy was very simple i.e. reward users for walking and the concept spoke for itself. In fact, their referral campaign is what has helped them really escalate the momentum at which they grew, because it gave users an easy way to build their SSG coins piggy bank by just getting more people to not just join but start walking and complete a minimum of 5000 steps. Additionally, at the beginning of the lockdown, since it was mandated for people to stay at home, they even instituted an indoor walking rewards system to continue to motivate and incentivize their users to keep up their progress.
Apart from that, marketing hasn’t played a very pivotal role in StepsetGo’s growth, however introducing new gamification features and avenues through which users can interact with social circles, at consistent intervals is what has helped keep things engaging. To enhance the appeal, they’ve collaborated with leading brands like Bajaj Avenger, Bewakoof, Skechers, Puma, and Decathlon among others to reward their users for making an effort to stay fit.
StepSetGo – Partnerships
StepSetGo has seen partnerships, among which the partnership with Symbo on April 28, 2022, is the latest one. The collaboration with Symbo Insurance, a leading insurtech firm, aims to launch a one-of-a-kind health insurance. This health insurance will be available on the app of the award-winning health and fitness industry disruptor, StepSetGo (SSG), which will also help the users earn cashback on their premium. This will make StepSetGo foray into the new segment of insurance. SSG, thus, will not only take care of the health of the users but also insure their health in real-time. This SSG insurance in partnership with Symbo will be cost-friendly, effective, and unique in nature.
The incentives that StepSetGo will likely offer will be awarded as monthly cashback, where the users would be able to earn back a maximum of 25% of the price of the premium by meeting their step goals. For instance, if someone completes 60,000 steps in a month, 2000 steps daily on an average, then he/she will be able to earn a minimum of 10% cashback. Thus, if he/she wants to claim 25% cashback, then 4,50,000 steps must be completed per month, which will make 15,000 steps daily on an average. The users can, in this way, keep track of the total steps they have completed, and the cashback they have earned. This will help them stay motivated and consistent.
The challenge was creating an application that was easy to use for everyone. The founders had to keep in mind the policies required for both Android and iOS systems. Their motive was to target anyone with a smartphone who could understand the concept and smoothly use the app. Building an application for the masses is tougher than it sounds even when one has a great idea.
StepSetGo – Marketing Strategy
StepSetGo’s one and only marketing strategy have been ‘word of mouth’, which was only made possible by a simple concept but had a unique added concept of customer-centric engagement at its core. It helped them get their first 200 users and has continued to help them grow their base to almost 7 million today.
StepSetGo recently won the Atmanribhar Bharat Innovation Challenge under the health & fitness category.
PM Modi also recognized this fitness app in his Mann ki Baat address.
StepSetGo – Future Plans
Userbase: over 7 million registered users
Notable client: The app has also collaborated with leading brands like Bajaj Avenger, Bewakoof, Skechers, Puma, and Decathlon among others
As per Similarweb’s data, StepSetGo ranks second after the Aarogya Setu app in terms of user engagement under India’s free apps’ category. StepSetGo is completely bootstrapped and is less than 2 years old. More than 95% of all of StepSetGo’s users are organically acquired. In September, StepSetGo entered the top 50 free apps under the Indian ‘all’ category and reached the #2 spot in India under the ‘health and fitness category.
There will be more fitness-oriented features that go beyond just walking. More of the gamification that you already see on the app, to keep people motivated. Additionally, there will be quite a few features that are coming up in the bazaar section that is just around the corner.
FAQs
What is StepSetGo?
StepSetGo is fitnessthe app tracks everything from users’ steps, calories lost to the kilometers walked. It then converts those steps into SSG coins which is the currency used to redeem offers from the in-app marketplace called the ‘Bazaar’. Users can earn 1 SSG coin for every thousand steps they take.
How does StepSetGo earn money?
At the moment, StepSetGo gets its revenue from advertisements, which the users can choose to watch to earn coins but a user can earn only up to four coins per day through this.
Who is the founder of Step Set Go?
Shivjeet Ghatge, Misaal Turakhia, and Abhay Pai are the founders of StepSetGo.
Is StepSetGo a Chinese app?
No, StepSetGo is an Indian app headquartered in Mumbai.
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 TagHive.
The Indian education system is the largest in the world with 170 miliion students and 1.5 million schools. Education sector in India is growing at a huge pace as it makes the foundation of social and economic growth of the Nation.
The School systems in India are getting Tech-Savy with the technological transformation. The use of technology in the education system stimulates student engagement in learning. TagHive has brought Class Saathi app for helping students improve their performance and competency.
Read to know more about TagHive, founder, the startup story, and more.
TagHive Inc., is a Samsung-funded education technology company, incorporated on April 25, 2017 is headquartered in South Korea and has an office in India. The company’s offerings include AI-powered self-assessment solutions and clicker-based classroom response systems. The company offers its solutions under the “Class Saathi” brand in India and under the “Class Key” brand globally.
TagHive has 22 registered patents and trademarks and 10 others are pending. The company’s solutions are used in over 1,000 schools (adding 2-3 schools daily) and over 340,000 students have downloaded the Class Saathi self-assessment solution.
Their vision is to be the learning platform of choice for schools around the world, by building a unified platform that connects all stakeholders in the education ecosystem to improve learning outcomes. They believe that education is the greatest equalizer, and that technology shouldn’t be only for students for privileged backgrounds. Class Saathi is designed to empower the current system rather than disrupt it.
TagHive – Industry
There are over 1 million public schools in India, with over 170 million students; who on an average, do not have access to resources to learn that a majority of more expensive private school students do. With an average per student spend of Rs. 15,000 from Governments per year, there is little to no space for solutions that aren’t built to be low cost.
Class Saathi is designed to work exactly in this space, for teachers, administrators and parents to create a supportive ecosystem of learning for students who, if not attended to, could be at risk of dropping out. A report by KPMG shows that India is the second largest market for edtech in the world, behind the United States. By 2030, the Indian edtech industry is poised to become $30 billion in size, but this current trend is focused on the private and higher paying segment of customers. Students in higher need across public schools are not a focus area, which is exactly what Class Saathi focuses on.
TagHive – Founder and Team
Pankaj Agarwal – Founder of TagHive
TagHive Inc. currently has 25 full time employees, 9 in Korea and 16 in India. Primarily, the Indian team looks at partnerships, operations, development and communications; while the Korean team focuses on research, innovations and operations beyond India.
They believe that trust and ownership is paramount, which is why even though the Indian team is fully remote, they have full liberty to lead and be accountable for their role. They are an organization on a mission and truly value people with passion and drive to transform the education ecosystem. It is a long and difficult journey, but if anyone is ready to walk on this path with us, we’re more than happy to have them!
Pankaj Agarwal about TagHive Startup Story
TagHive – The Idea and Startup Story
As a student who began his journey in a small school in a village in Bihar, I had the incredible opportunities to then study at IIT Kanpur, Seoul National University, and Harvard Business School. Studying in 3 countries made Pankaj Agarwal the person he is. Education is always highly valued by him.
When Pankaj Agarwal started TagHive in South Korea, one visit brought him back to the school where he studied, and even after decades, he realized that hardly anything there had changed. He was surprised to see that while the world had changed, schools remained the same, and students were still not getting the resources they needed. This was when he decided to create Class Saathi to be used in schools even without internet and electricity. They took inputs and got feedback from teachers and government officials in the space, and built features and functions according to what they need, and the response was great because most solutions weren’t designed to be used in under-resourced schools and classrooms.
The ‘TagHive’ name came from their original idea to use physical (hardware) and software ‘tags’ to enhance experiences across the real and virtual world in pretty much all domains, including but not limited to play, education, entertainment, fitness, and more. They wanted to represent energy and connectedness, which is why they chose that name.
The ‘Class Saathi’ name however, surprisingly was something that came to me in a dream. Originally it was something the founder had put as a placeholder, but as they continued developing the product, it turned out that their users actually resonated with it, and despite their reservations about it not sounding ‘global’; the idea behind it was something even TagHive’s investors and supporters in Korea loved.
TagHive – Products and Service
Class Saathi is a clicker based smart classroom platform that makes formative assessment easy and fast.
Class Saathi is a combination of a clicker device for each student and a mobile application for teachers, parents and administrators. After teaching a concept in a class, the teacher can ask a few questions using Class Saathi to gauge the understanding level of each and every student. The administrators and the parents can also see the learning data on their respective screens. Class Saathi app has over 50,000 questions (in English and Hindi combined) on Maths and Science for students of Class 6 to Class 10 and is based on NCERT curriculum. Over 6.2 million questions have been solved on Class Saathi as of April 5, 2022.
Class Saathi is aligned with New Education Policy’s objectives of micro-learning and continuous assessments. “Data First” approach ensures greater accountability at all levels. It is the world’s first and only clicker solution that works on a mobile phone, and doesn’t require internet or electricity to function inside classrooms. This enables it to be used across absolutely any context, especially in schools with the highest need in rural contexts.
The app is also powered by AI, enabling Personalized Adaptive Learning (PAL) for students beyond the classroom. It adapts to student learning levels to give them questions that can challenge them and help them learn, which allows for learning to happen at home without any teacher assistance. Parents are also able to understand student progress through the rich data dashboards, and support their children in learning.
TagHive – Business Model
Class Saathi primarily works with governments and organizations to achieve scale and impact. Through funding by either the government bodies themselves, grants, or private channel partners, they implement its solutions across a wide range of schools.
TagHive – Customer Acquisition
They started directly working with governments because that was their target group, and because they were developing the solution with their on-ground feedback. Through this, they were able to reach out to their first set of users, and word of mouth helped us scale up and get even more users.
They didn’t focus on paid marketing to spread the word about Class Saathi, but rather let their impact do the talking. Being a unique solution addressing age-old challenges in the Indian education ecosystem, they were able to begin conversations with like-minded early adopters from Governments and organizations, who then helped us begin pilots.
These pilots were able to show impact in a very short amount of time (learning outcomes and attendance increased by 8% and 10% respectively in 30 days alone), which then enabled us to continue with larger-scale implementation and also spread the word about the potential of the solution. Additionally, since Class Saathi is extremely affordable and constantly evolving based on need, they were able to invest stakeholders who saw the value in it.
TagHive – Challenges Faced
One of the biggest challenges was to show stakeholders in the education system like teachers and administrators the value of Class Saathi. Most, if not all of them had already worked with some other education technology solution and were always of the opinion that it would be an additional burden. However, since Class Saathi is designed to empower rather than disrupt, they had to do multiple conversations to invest in Class Saathi and help them see that it will only help them.
They truly believe that teachers are still the cornerstones of a great education, and their idea has always been to make life easier for them so that they can strategically focus on the learning outcomes of their students, armed with data and a platform that lets them build a more conducive learning environment.
TagHive – Funding
Date
Stage
Amount
Investors
June, 2017
Seed Funding
$0.5 Million
Samsung Ventures
December, 2021
Series A
$2.5 Million
Forest Partners
Funding and support from Samsung Ventures and Forest Partners has allowed us to expand their development to create an even better product that truly addresses the needs of stakeholders in the education system today; and to build a high-performing team to multiply and expand this impact across India.
TagHive – Advisors and Mentors
Yes, they have multiple advisors and mentors from India and Korea, who’ve helped us with challenging their assumptions and connecting us to people and resources they need. They come from a variety of backgrounds and have been instrumental in helping us grow.
TagHive – Competitors
While there are other edtech companies in India and globally, their solution is uniquely addressing problems in the public education ecosystem. Having said that however, some of their competitors are:
TagHive Competitors in India:
ConveGenius
EI Mindspark
Gooru Navigator
TagHive Competitors Globally:
AssessPrep
EdCite
ClassKick
Formative
TagHive – Tools Used in the Company
The tools they use in TagHive are:
Google Suite
Asana
Slack
Trello
WhatsApp
Zoom
TagHive – Recognition and Achievements
Many awards and recognition has been received by TagHive:
TagHive was Asia Pacific finalist in the Harvard NVC in March 2021
Won the 2020 Time2Leap Award (presented by Ministry of SME, Govt. of India)
Recognized by India AI as top 5 startups reinventing Education in India with AI
Awarded Education Startup of the Year 2019 at DIDAC India, Asia’s largest and India’s only exhibition and conference for education
Founder & CEO was on the Fortune India 40 Under 40 list released in June 2021
1000+ schools in Korea
TagHive – Future Plans
TagHive operates in South Korea and India, and works with partners like The Ford Foundation, Kaivalya Education Foundation, HCL, Google, Samsung, and the Governments of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha, with even more in the pipeline.
Over the next 3 years, their goals are to:
Implement Class Saathi (both at-home learning app and in-classroom assessment solution) in State Government and Central Government run schools and networks (State Board Schools, Kendriya Vidyalayas, Tribal Welfare Schools, and more) in India first and then go global
Integrate into NDEAR, NEP 2020 implementation, and relevant National Education Technology frameworks through technology platform sharing, service provision, or technology partnerships
Partner with large scale nonprofits and foundations to implement Class Saathi across their school networks
They are currently and constantly developing new features based on requirements and feedback from their stakeholders on the ground. By April end, they will have a completely revamped teacher-facing app, which adds in a wealth of features that they have been asked for. They are also developing new dashboards and reporting functionalities to further ease the lives of their administrators.
FAQs
When was TagHive founded?
TagHive was founded in 2017.
Who is the founder of TagHive?
Pankaj Agarwal is the founder of TagHive.
Who invested in TagHive?
TagHive is funded by Samsung Ventures and Forest Partners.
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 SpaceX.
Love the word ‘space’? Passionate about astronauts? Like newly designed products? Want to gain knowledge about the launching of rockets? Then you have a chance to know all about it by learning about the spacetech industry. SpaceX is right in the centre of events that occurs in the spacetech ecosystem.
Technology is evolving, which is bringing in all the change and the space that was unknown to all of us, is now brought closer to us by many organizations that are researching and making steps to make space exploration possible and hassle-free. SpaceX is one of such companies that is bringing in the change or the revolution, as we might fittingly call it.
SpaceX is a private aerospace company. It was launched in the year 2002. It is a very successful startup. It has been in the list of multibillion-dollar startups right from the first and with a valuation of $100 bn, which it touched in October 2021, the Elon Musk-led company is now the second-most valuable private company.
Read the SpaceX success story below to know all about the Elon Musk-founded company along with everything about its Founder and Team, Industry, Business and Revneue Model, Mission and Vision, Growth and more.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., trading as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company. It is a strong brand now. It is a well known and well-established company. Elon Musk is the man behind the company’s prominence. They started with a mission to reduce space transportation costs and have since developed various launching vehicles. It is the first private company known to all, which sent a spacecraft to the International Space Station in the year 2012. It is also the first private company to reuse an orbital rocket. The company is significantly advancing in space technology.
SpaceX – Industry
SpaceX belongs to the spacetech industry. A little was known of the spacetech industry before SpaceX was founded and started to take giant strides towards bringing the space that surrounds us, near us. The spacetech industry has been deemed to be constantly growing, and as per the last (FY21 Q3) reports, the same sector was valued at $4.7 trillion in 2021 and will further grow to $10 trillion by the year 2030.
Elon Musk is an engineer, technology entrepreneur, industrial engineer, philanthropist, and meme lord on Twitter. He is the founder and CEO and chief designer of SpaceX. He looks after the development of rockets and spacecraft specially designed for missions to Earth’s orbit and also to other planets. Musk was born in the year 1971 on 28th June. Adding to all these, he is also the non-executive chairman and principal shareholder of SolarCity. SolarCity is a company that is presently the leading provider of solar power systems in the United States. The founder of SpaceX and arguably the biggest entrepreneur in the world today, is now also the owner of Twitter, one of the most popular social media platforms.
Elon Musk, CEO, Founder, SpaceX
SpaceX – Startup Story
The SpaceX startup story began in 2002 by Elon Musk, an entrepreneur, who is the world’s richest person now. He started the private company with hopes of revolutionizing the aerospace industry and making affordable spacecraft into a reality. In the beginning, the company started in a 75,000 square feet warehouse in El Segundo, California. 15 months after the company started there was a plan to launch Falcon 1 in November 2003. In the year 2009, SpaceX announced the opening of its Astronaut Safety and Mission Assurance Department. They also hired Ken Bowersox, a former NASA astronaut. He was appointed as the Vice President of the company to look after the new department.
SpaceX – Mission and Vision
SpaceX’s mission statement is “The Company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.”
Human spaceflight remains the core mission of SpaceX. The company takes seriously the responsibility that NASA has entrusted in them, and believes in safely carrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
“To advance the future,” is the vision statement of SpaceX.
SpaceX – Logo
SpaceX Logo
SpaceX – Business Model
The business model of SpaceX lies in a special customer segment. SpaceX offers a deal to the public and private organisations that they want to transport items to space. Projects like commercial satellite launch, space station resupply and government national security missions are included here. The company has created accessibility to space travel which is relatively inexpensive. This idea has enabled opportunities for many organisations looking for exploration.
The company has got a value-driven structure. The main motive of the company is to provide a proposition through product enhancements and private service. The largest cost-driven area of the company is the cost of the raw materials. Other major areas are development, research, marketing, and sales. SpaceX earns through its branded T-shirts and accessories. Products have got a wide range of varieties available on the company’s website as well as in the stores. Sales of the satellites, rockets, and merchandise that it manufactures are a part of the SpaceX revenue model as well.
Branded T-shirts, SpaceX
SpaceX – Funding and Investors
SpaceX has raised a total amount of $7.8 billion over 63 funding rounds that it saw to date.
Date
Transaction Name
Money Raised
Lead Investor
April 21, 2022
Grant
$70 Million
NASA
December 30, 2021
Venture Round
$337.4 Million
–
October 18, 2021
Secondary Market
–
–
October 14, 2021
Venture Round
–
–
October 8, 2021
Secondary Market
$755 Million
–
September 24, 2021
Grant
$14.5 Million
United States Space Force
August 25, 2021
Secondary Market
–
–
July 30, 2021
Secondary Market
–
–
April 14, 2021
Venture Round
$350 Billion
–
April 14, 2021
Funding Round
–
–
February 16, 2021
Venture Round
$850 million
–
November 1, 2020
Secondary Market
–
–
September 1, 2020
Venture Round
–
–
August 18, 2020
Venture Round
$1.9 billion
–
May 26, 2020
Venture Round
$346.2 million
–
April 6, 2020
Secondary Market
–
–
October 3, 2019
Grant
$3 million
NASA
August 9, 2019
Secondary Market
–
–
June 27, 2019
Venture Round
–
Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan
May 24, 2019
Venture Round
$535.7 million
–
December 19, 2018
Series J
$486.2 million
Baillie Gifford
November 20, 2018
Debt Financing
$250 million
Bank of America
SpaceX is funded by over 65 investors. Stack Capital and NASA are the most recent investors.
SpaceX – Growth
Being a revolutionary idea from a genius entrepreneur, Elon Musk, SpaceX has seen quite a growth since it was founded in May 2002. SpaceX started with only a few employees, the count of which was estimated to be 160 in 2015. This grew year-on-year to become 500+ by 2008, 1100+ in 2010, 1800+ in early 2012, and 3000+ in early 2013. The total employees of SpaceX has long crossed the 5000 mark, back in 2015-2016.
In the year 2019, the company launched 2 NASA astronauts. A significant progress is seen even in the launching segment. The company is currently valued over $100 bn, whcih means it has scaled extremely well today, standing as the second most-valued private company.
According to the SpaceX API data, 1919+ satellites of SpaceX are revolving around the Earth today. In the past 18 months, a report dated March 1, 2022, said that the company had increased its internet satellites by over 185%. Starlink by SpaceX, the largest satellite internet constellation planned by Elon Musk, is now expected to provide high-speed internet connection to over 60 million US people living in the urban and rural areas of the United States.
The Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy have been launched by SpaceX 153 times. This resulted in 151 full mission successes, 1 partial success, and 1 in-flight failure.
Billionaire entrepreneur, Yusaku Maezawa, was announced to be the first commercial passenger to a flyby around the moon. This mission is to be taking place not before 2023, as per the latest updates.
After sending Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on the first manned flight of the Falcon 9 on May 30, 2020, SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk revealed the first private customer to ride around the Moon in his project called Dear Moon on SpaceX’s future massive rocket, the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), woudl be Yusaku. On September 17, 2018, SpaceX announced fashion innovator and globally recognized art curator Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese billionaire and founder of Zozotown, will be SpaceX’s first private passenger to fly around the Moon in 2023 after successful Falcon 9 voyage.
This first private lunar passenger flight, featuring a flyby of the Moon as part of a week-long mission, will help fund development of SpaceX’s Starship and Super Heavy. It will be an important step in enabling access for everyday people who dream of flying to space. You can watch Elon Musk announcing the details about first private space voyage around the Moon in following video:
Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese retail entrepreneur and art collector’s first words were “I choose to go to the moon.” Standing in front of a small crowd in SpaceX’s corporate office, he announced that he wants artists of different background and specialities – director, painter, dancer, novelist, musician, fashion designer, sculptor, photographer, and architect, to accompany him to the moon. He is yet to select the invitees on the trip which will take about a week.
The Japanese billionaire, Yusaku Maezawa said, “I would like to invite six to eight artists from around the world to join me on this mission to the Moon. These artists will be asked to create something after they return to Earth, and these masterpieces will inspire the dreamer within all of us.”
Maezawa didn’t comment on how much he paid but said that the trip will be free for the artists accompanying him. According to Forbes, Yusaku Maezawa is the 18th-richest person, with a net worth estimated at $2.7 billion, in Japan and the head of the e-commerce company Start Today, which is worth $12 billion. Earlier this July Maezawa’s Zozotown unveiled its first in-house line of clothes in 72 countries, including the US.
The estimated cost of the BFR is around $5 billion and SpaceX have heaps of work to complete before the aspiration can be materialized. “We have to set some kind of date. If everything goes 100 percent right, then this is the date. But there are many uncertainties,” Elon Musk said.
The SpaceX’s latest variation of the BFR has the payload capacity to Earth orbit of at least 100,000 kg which makes it a super-heavy-lift launch vehicle.
Elon Musk has always been outspoken about his aspiration for human beings to colonize Mars. The idea was conceived by the conceptualization of Mars Oasis, a project to land miniature versions of experimental greenhouse and grow plants on Mars in a bid to make the planet habitable.
SpaceX – Acquisitions
SpaceX has acquired 1 company to date, which goes by the name, Swarm Technologies.
Name of the Acquired Company
Date of Acquisition
Deal Value
Swarm Technologies
August 6, 2021
–
SpaceX – Competitors
The top competitors of the company are Boeing, BlueOrigin and VirginGalactic.
Boeing is one of the top competitors of SpaceX. The company was founded in Chicago, Illinois in the year 2016. This company generates more revenue than SpaceX.
Blue Origin is the #2 competitor of SpaceX. It is headquartered in Washington. This company competes with SpaceX in the Aerospace industry. It has got fewer employees than SpaceX.
Virgin Galactic is the #3 competitor of SpaceX. It is headquartered in New Mexico and was founded in the year 2004.
Life on Mars is still a dream of many scientists and common people. There are people in the world who want to wake up in the morning and listen, “life on Mars is possible!” For such people as well and as well as for the company Elon Musk has plans to send a rocket to Mars with cargo by the year 2022. They want to build a city on Mars. For the year 2024, he has plans to send crew along with the cargo to Mars. And by 2050, he wants to send millions of people to the planet Mars. And Just recently, NASA picked SpaceX to win their $2.9 Billion contracr for moon lading which is just one step closer to Elon Musk’s goal!
FAQs
What is SpaceX?
SpaceX is a spacetech company founded by Elon Musk in May 2002.
Where is SpaceX headquartered?
SpaceX is headquartered in Hawthorne, California, United States.
What is Starlink?
Starlink is a satellite internet constellation being constructed by SpaceX providing satellite Internet access.
When was SpaceX founded?
SpaceX was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk.
What is the Falcon 9?
Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond. Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital-class reusable rocket. It has been launched a total of 112 times to date (April 2021).
Anil Kapoor is one of the most loved stars of Hindi cinema. Having delivered some of the most iconic dialogues and songs since the 90s, Anil Kapoor continues to shine. I mean who doesn’t remember the iconic “Jhakaas’ ‘ and who hasn’t watched Mr. India.
Being called Bollywood’s fitness icon, because of the secret youth potion that basically makes him younger by age, actor Anil Kapoor is a complete package of enthusiasm, fame, and humility. Throughout his entire career of 40 years in Hindi cinema, Kapoor has endorsed a large variety of brands. But it is very recent that a noticeable rise in his endorsements is seen. Meanwhile, he has and continues to benefit all these brands with his charm and popularity over the years.
He is also best known for taking up unique and challenging projects and brands under his umbrella. This way Kapoor has become one of the favorite faces in the advertisement industry. Many such brands that he endorsed are mentioned here.
Spotify featured Anil Kapoor in a cool series of advertisements along with Ishaan Khattar. Anil Kapoor has been seen appearing as a parent to Ishaan Khattar in this endorsement. Music Streaming App, Spotify doesn’t fail to show how cool Anil Kapoor is for a typical parent. He is seen adapting to modernity. The series of Spotify ads really justifies the evergreen title given to him. Presenting himself as a cooler version of dad, he was caught in various interesting situations with Ishaan Khattar which are delightful to watch. The sketch is humorous in its kind. These ads are as hit as his movies.
Anil Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter Spotify Ad
Cred
Anil Kapoor Cred Ad
The versatile credit card bill payment app, CRED gained instant attention with its series of quirky ads. One of them features Anil Kapoor who has been seen dancing in his iconic Lakhan character from an actor’s famous movie- Ram Lakhan. His delightful performance with Lakhan’s charm compels the viewers to come back and watch the commercial again and again. With catchy background music highlighting the brand and Anil Kapoor’s outstanding Lakhan dance, the advertisement catches the eyes of the viewers. Seeing exciting energy showcased by Anil Kapoor makes the customers curious about the product.
A unique smart grid technology patented sleeping solution mattress brand- The Sleep Company focuses on the comfort of the customer. Being a D2C business, the sleep company directly targets the buyer. As per reports, Anil Kapoor is a personal fan of the mattress brand as he is impressed by the comfort it provides. His belief in the product makes the customer really like the brand. With the tagline “backed by science,” the advertisement featuring Anil Kapoor is smart and sophisticated.
Anil Kapoor The Sleep Company Ad
Malabar Gold and Diamond
Anil Kapoor Malabar Gold and Diamonds Ad
With a handful of big Bollywood names already associated with the brand ambassador list, Kerala-based expensive metal retailer brand- Malabar Gold and Diamonds sparkled as bright as the jewels it offered when Anil Kapoor stepped in as brand ambassador. The actor was seen in the series of ads with great elegance. With the never-ending demand for gold in Indian households, It got a lot easier for the brand to capture the customers when popular personalities like Anil Kapoor appeared as its face. undoubtedly, he poured every ounce of elegance into the ads. As we all can see in the ad, Anil Kapoor did a great job representing it.
Licious
Licious is a fast emerging online meat delivery startup. The brand focuses on the delivery of fresh meat at the doorstep. It features Anil Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor. In the advertisement, both of them are seen cooking and enjoying fresh fish with the message of Consumption of fresh meat. The Popularity element brought in by the duo with 4 million views on Youtube helped Licious become the Favorite meat brand of Indian households.
KFC
With over 1 million views on YouTube itself and comments filled with love and appreciation, this endorsement seems to be the most fun. This endorsement done by Anil Kapoor stands out from every other ad he did. It is a striking ad where the actor is seen wearing an equally striking silver outfit. Funny and quirky dialogues in the KFC advertisement caught people’s attention. Audiences are in awe of the advertisement which ends with his iconic dialogue “Jhakaas”.
With the mainstream goal of spreading health awareness, health ok offers multivitamin food supplements. It has the most perfect combination of stars to endorse it- Anil Kapoor and Ranveer Singh. Both of them are looked upon as powerhouses of Bollywood for the unlimited energy they carry. Having the looks and physique of a 30-year-old while being 65. Anil Kapoor has proved how deeply he encourages fitness and the pathway leading to it. He fits right in this endorsement encouraging people to fulfill their vitamin deficiencies by taking food supplements.
Teachmint
Anil Kapoor Teachmint Ad
Teachmint’s advertisement featuring Anil Kapoor can be called the smoothest and the most beautiful advertisement on tv. In the ad, He’s seen as the principal of a school that uses the software. Teachmint is an educational startup based in Bangalore The tagline of ‘Naye Zamaane Ki Nai Schooling’ focuses on digitalizing the educational ecosystem in India. With popular faces like Anil Kapoor on board, Teachmint is already establishing its position in the educational sector of India. Being a versatile educational software with a versatile actor endorsing it, it surely is winning the hearts of people.
Softovac
Anil Kapoor Softovac Ad
Softovac is a Bowel Regulator Powder, known to treat digestive problems like constipation and indigestion. This product is popular amongst middle-aged people and senior citizens. The brand made a wise choice by letting Anil Kapoor represent it as its target customers belong to the era of Anil Kapoor.
Ariel
Anil Kapoor and Sanjeev Kapoor Ariel Ad
A duo of two Kapoors, one a superhit actor and another a superhit chef, Anil Kapoor, and Sanjeev Kapoor are seen in the series of advertisements for the brand. Ariel- A laundry detergent brand, despite being a global brand, it did a stupendous job establishing its noticeable presence in the Indian market. It has become one of the important brands for Indian households.
Scott Eyewear
Scott eyewear offers a chic range of optical eyewear and sunglasses. In this endorsement, Anil Kapoor is seen tagging along with his daughter Sonam Kapoor both known as fashion icons of Bollywood. This factor makes the advertisement highly glamorous.
Anil Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor Scott Eyewear Ad
Puro Salt
Anil Kapoor Puro Salt Ad
Having Anil Kapoor quote “100% Natural and 100% Kudrati” in the endorsement Puro Salt claims to be India’s 1st healthy salt with no additives or chemicals. Being an uncrowned fitness king himself, Anil Kapoor fits just right in this endorsement.
Renault
Anil Kapoor Renault Ad
For the most successful and versatile actor in Indian cinema that he is, Anil Kapoor naturally becomes the choice of the most powerful brands. This multinational automobile manufacturer has gotten a lot of positive remarks in the automobile industry just because of Kapoor’s presence in its advertisement.
Mastercard
Anil Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor Mastercard Ad
Like many other brands, Mastercard, the ultimate payment processor portrays the most famous Bollywood father-daughter duo. The advertisement aims at showing the parent-child relationship in the most sophisticated and elegant manner and how MasterCard can help fulfill the gaps in the relationship.
Godrej is a brand known for its wide range of products. It is famous as one of the leading hair color brands. Godrej expert hair color is popular for its quality and easy application. Anil Kapoor endorsed the product most elegantly. In the ad, he is seen well clad and very charming, making it a beautifully convincing advertisement.
Anil Kapoor Godrej Expert Ad
Conclusion
Brands endorsed by Anil Kapoor gain instant popularity. His multifaceted acting ability never fails to charm the audience. The actor has been seen doing numerous ads and his fantastic skill to blend perfectly into each of them hasn’t gone unnoticed.
The evergreen star and producer Anil Kapoor needless to say has a solid fan following. Popular for his ever-young look and enigmatic energy he is best known for the value he brings to the brand he endorses.
Needless to say, Anil Kapoor’s ads leave a smile on the viewer’s faces.
FAQs
What is Anil Kapoor’s age?
Anil Kapoor is 65 years old. He was born on 24 December 1956.
Who is the brand ambassador of The Sleep Company?
Anil Kapoor is the brand ambassador of The Sleep Company.
What are the top brands endorsed by Anil Kapoor?
Some of the top brands endorsed by Anil Kapoor are:
Spotify
Cred
The Sleep Company
Malabar Gold and Diamond
Licious
KFC
Health Ok
Teachmint
How much does Anil Kapoor charge for an ad?
Anil Kapoor’s brand endorsement fee is around 55 Lakhs.
Is Anil Kapoor a brand ambassador of Malabar Gold and Diamonds?
Anil Kapoor was Brand Ambassador of Malabar Gold and Diamonds in 2019.
The article is contributed by Jaya Jha, Chief Product Officer, MoEVing.
During recent years, we have witnessed some of the most encouraging signs for women in entrepreneurship, with 2021 being the year when the most number of women-led startups turned unicorns (8 out of 46 unicorns in 2021 were led by women), but there’s a lot more progress to be made. For instance, female workforce participation in our country remains among the lowest in South Asia at about 20% (as against about 56% among men), as per the Periodic Labour Force Survey. Even at startups helmed by the younger generations, these numbers don’t get any better. While less than 15% of all entrepreneurs in the country are women, the number of women at the senior level or even as employees in startups, especially in technology companies, remains abysmal. With this reality, we witness companies actively looking to hire diverse talent, which is a positive first step. The biggest question to address here is, how can employers make their workplaces fit for their female employees to thrive? The answer to this includes a manifold effort at levelling the playing field.
The common association with startups around the world remains the ‘hustle’ culture propounded by many male founders, who set their own working hours, many times late into the midnight hours, and whose colleagues are mostly men who live similar lifestyles. This culture of youngsters extending their college life only signifies a lack of empathy for not just different gender workforce but also older employees with families.
Instead, what startups need in order to allow all their employees of all genders to grow is promoting a good work ethic, responsibility and flexibility. Setting minimal processes and bureaucracy can help startups make each of their employees stronger and more confident in what they bring to the table. With minimal processes, it takes a responsible team member to get things done efficiently — which is one of the ways of supporting women and people with family responsibilities to thrive.
Getting Women Employees in Early Stage
Women cannot be just token representatives in a startup, which often happens when diversity is more of an afterthought for companies. In order to make a workplace truly inclusive, it is important to have female employees in senior positions right from an early stage of the company. This not only helps women have more role models but also shapes the company’s growth, decisions and policies in a manner that takes all employees into purview. While having more female representation in leadership roles is not a silver bullet, it definitely helps the cause of supporting women employees to grow in their career trajectories.
It is also crucial for both men and women in senior management roles to be conscious of their biases while hiring – such as putting down a female candidate who’s had a career break over a male candidate. In fact, during my career spanning 15 years as a Product Manager, some of the best hires I have made were women with career breaks who had the potential and passion to give their best. Even at MoEVing, our first few tech hires were women and we are proud to have several women on our product team as well as in the company leadership.
Supporting Both Men & Women in Achieving Work-Life Balance
We have been witnessing the current work from home routines adding a lot more onto women’s plates around the world, with women shouldering more responsibilities when it comes to family and household work. So, unless men start stepping back from their workplaces in order to step up for their female partners to fulfil their familial responsibilities, supporting women will only be lip service. We need to normalise men availing their paternity leaves so that women going on maternity leaves are not seen as a hindrance to their careers.
It is interconnected that when we support male employees of a startup in achieving their work-life balance, we also in turn support female employees at other startups achieve the same. Work policies should be aimed at supporting all employees to achieve this balance, instead of leaving women disadvantaged at growing in their roles at work because of household or familial responsibilities.
Closing the Gender Pay Gap
Women’s way of working is often infantilised in startups as women often do not negotiate as much for their salaries, compared to men who are aggressive at it. This aggressiveness at negotiating for salaries or a raise has been made a virtue out of, resulting in several women not being paid what they are worth. As of 2020, women globally earned just 81 cents of every dollar earned by men, with the pandemic worsening the situation as a Deloitte ‘Women at Work’ report found.
To bridge this gap requires managers and startups to identify and value women employees for their performance. It requires companies to think about getting women on board right from the moment they start to lay their foundations and pay them what they rightly deserve.
The article is contributed by Gauri Bhatia – Founder and Director, The Unveiled Sagas.
Everyone dreams of igniting inspiration through their career trajectory. I too, for that matter often boasted about having only ‘twenty-five rupees in my pocket’ when I started The Unveiled Sagas. My business partner was in a financial fix, and I being the (kind-of) only child in my family had lied to my parents to start my own business. Somewhere along the line, I feel we added all this masala to make our life seem only a little bit more dramatic.
Eight years since, the dawning realization that life didn’t have to be that difficult has pushed me to take the simple(st) path, and I am here to tell you that no, the entrepreneurial journey is not filled with toil and heartbreak. It is simply a profession, just as easy as you make it.
First and foremost – don’t do it because you hate working for someone else.
Contrary to popular belief, you are not ‘boss-less’ or working on your own terms. You don’t make the rules, and you don’t have a ready team ready to drop everything for you. From working for one manager or one corporate, I have diversified my attention to working to meet my company’s revenue requirements, 110 clients’ needs, moral and political preferences, my team’s obdurate party needs and my friends’ social obligations. Not to mention, working for a start-up means that my parents can get me to run errands more often.
Despite all of this, I cannot deny the eager anticipation that overflows when we close a big client, or when the client closes a big client because of our efforts.
How do you optimize your journey then to ensure as smooth a ride as possible.
Don’t be afraid to hire- or to build an office
Optimizing cost convinced us to save on seats, and on people. For the first three years, we operated on on-call employees and garage-offices to ensure that in the time of adversity (case and point, the pandemic), our company should have clear and free-flow liquid funds.
This was one of the worst decisions we’d ever made.
I have nothing against freelancers and smaller offices, but operating with a team that barely saw your face deliberately questioned the strength of our company. There was a huge, visible difference between the first ‘manager material’ freelancer we hired, and the first ‘manager’ manager we brought on board. The first, was apprehensive about the opportunity- the second, aggressive and passionate about leading our team of barely three.
Similarly, working from the garage or the extra room at home lead to an extinguished productivity, and burnouts that frequented us more often. Rather, purchasing even a flexi-seating arrangement at a co-working space boosted inter-employee morale and trust to a level that was immovable.
Hire Young Blood
An adamant advocate of freshers, I myself was an aggressive intern when I was in college, delving into 3 jobs besides my inter-college sports and academic career.
Apart from that, a fresher is often moldable and flexible to learn. Experienced professionals often have a set mindset that launches them into a certain systemized career trajectory that can be inflexible. Ask a 20-year-old writer, however, to build a website and the only answer you’ll get is “I don’t know how to do it yet, but give me an hour and a Youtube connection”.
Also, they love power, money, and authority. Their priorities are set right, and if not them, there is no hope to set the world right.
Diversify your corporate portfolio- and don’t be afraid of seeking ‘cool’
Not only through your start-up and its internal clientele, but also through external portfolios. My business partner and I have had successful (and many failed) start-ups in travel, blockchain, manufacturing, skincare, marketing and AI.
We’re blessed to have a diversified clientele that keeps us on our toes, enabling us to seek whatever seems ‘cool’- real-life experience begins where research ends, and there’s a different kind of flair in challenging your knowledge.
Sampling through the clientele
Our first ‘other’ start-up was through a client who wanted to diversify into manufacturing. We’d written a plethora of books and articles on the topic, but to live It first-hand was a different ballgame altogether. Convincing the client of our genius didn’t take much time- in a couple of months, we had attained a fund for marketing and hiring, and used our weekends to set up his factory and his ecommerce infrastructure.
More often than not, founders love to stay within their comfort zones because of their mental block- “I can’t go international because I don’t have the funds”, “I cant expand my verticals because I don’t have the manpower”, or even “I cant get into manufacturing because I’m into marketing” (okay, the last one is me). Inhibiting experiences because of these small, mortal limitations is anticlimactic considering the profession that you’ve chosen. Entrepreneurs do what they want to, and then find a way to enable the journey.
Although I advocate the hustle culture, I firmly believe that incessantly torturing yourself is not the way to attain financial stability.
Constructive criticism and hard to please clients often believe in your potential, and make you push yourself until you give them what they want. Compare them to people who suddenly turn into bad payers and over-critiquing audience as soon as the invoice hits their inbox, and you have a recipe for a migraine on your hands.
I don’t often mind bargains, but after ten years in the industry and an optimized rate that I consider cheap, if I find someone who tries to cut corners, I prefer to drop them. Look for people who seek results, and not a deal, even if you are in an industry that essentially functions on discounts and quantity.
Conclusion
To end my argument, never forget that a start-up is the gateway to the limits of human potential, and containing childish whims like travelling the world, becoming a billionaire or even enabling world peace and hunger is nowhere near impossible. Be kind, seek innovation and test your limits.
The article is contributed by Andesh Bhatti – Angel Investor & Founder of Collectcent.
Seed investors usually invest for one of three reasons – indulgent, humanitarian, and utilitarian. They invest either because they believe the idea will bring a transformation in the market, uplift the community, or the most evident and widespread – bring in a good ROI. Even though every seed investor has a specific reason for investment, they are all driven by market trends.
For instance, even though financial, industrial, and technology-related businesses are currently dominating India’s stock market, attracting both local and global investors, the historic highs of the MSCI India index which received twice the global index returns in the last year have been fuelled by demographic trends, government and fiscal policies and geopolitical shifts of the global economy post the pandemic.
This is the phenomenon that has resulted in a boom in the established networks and syndicates, as well as individual investors who can provide essential seed funding– and bootstrapped start-ups have especially caught their interest.
Why should bootstrapped start-ups matter for seed investors?
Bootstrapped businesses attract investors because they have already made it through the ‘valley of death’, found product-market fit, and most probably (although due diligence will reveal the specifics of it) generated enough revenue to keep the firm de-risked. Not to mention, that because they don’t have the buffer of investment capital to fall back on, bootstrapped start-ups are also more creative and confident. There are other advantages to funding a bootstrapped start-up as well.
Entrepreneurial self-confidence is fostered when people are pushed to think outside the box, come up with original solutions, and make essential trade-offs. This is significant for investors who are looking for innovative ideas to invest in.
Plus, bootstrapped start-ups usually exclusively look for and work with people who are willing to have a stake in the company’s success, and are dedicated to seeing it succeed. This fosters a sense of belonging and commitment within the team.
Building a firm without investment capital also forces you to be more resourceful and deliberate. You’re careful with hiring and outsourcing, wanting to accomplish more with fewer resources.
What happens when bootstrapped start-ups and seed investors align?
Start-up founders and investors both benefit from an investment. Right from the start, when the investment is made, deficit spending has the potential to significantly enhance growth if done correctly. Investment allows the bootstrapped start-up to expand faster than it would have been able to without. Founders are essentially giving up partial ownership in exchange for greater growth and ultimate value. Overall, it is a great prospect for investors and a great way for start-up founders to spend or share their equity- but first, both parties need to reach the optimum place for action.
Building a team, testing the concept, establishing an online presence, garnering attention, finding consumers, and filing for intellectual property protection are all examples of major steps in the start-up development process. Once these are achieved, bootstrapped start-ups begin to look to raise capital to meet a new set of milestones.
In the end, it all essentially comes down to important milestones and pivotal junctures called inflection points. An inflection point occurs when the value of a firm rises suddenly because of factors that include reduced risks, sanctioned standards, and verified predictions. It is when investors see that these key milestones have been met and the company’s valuation gets a boost, that the investors are ready to take a closer look at it.
Early-stage Funding Activities are getting busier
Indian investors’ profiles are evolving rapidly, as when more money flows in, more start-ups take-off, and exits get even more attractive and innovative. It is no longer only senior executives and affluent firm owners who are flocking to investment networks and writing checks to get in on the action; it is also mid-level employees, well-paid tech aficionados, and traditional stock market investors. They are the main drivers of the frenzied activity taking place in the early-stage funding market. In the past year, for instance, 455 start-ups received seed and Series A funding.
The biggest complaint in the investment landscape in India has always been that while there are many ideas and people with potential, access to capital is still not as easy as it is in other developed economies. However, now as things appear to be changing, a large number of previously rejected proposals are likely to be funded, provided of course that they have value to offer.
This implies that an entirely new chapter is about to begin and bootstrapped companies, already well-adjusted to market risks and possessing proven potential for growth (and responsible growth at that) will see great opportunities.
The article is contributed by DR. PARAG AGARWAL, Founder & CEO, JanaJal.
Access to safe water for all is a fundamental human right and the water sector in conjunction with local administrative bodies are striving to achieve this goal. However, the sector is encountering numerous challenges such as continued unregulated industrial discharge into water bodies besides contaminating ground water tables, lack of adequate sewage treatment plants, etc. In addition to these, there is considerable variation in the quality of raw water across different parts of the same District that does not permit use of any single uniform solution to treat water and make it available to people. In the endeavour to deliver safe water to all, use of cutting-edge technology-based solutions in an agnostic manner can be incredibly beneficial for the sector. Such an approach can transform the water sector through increased optimization and driving efficiency in their performance.
India is currently witnessing the world’s largest initiative in the form of Jal Jeevan Mission that aims to make safe water available to 1.3 Billion people by 2024. Millions of people have already benefitted from this initiative through pipelines being built to deliver water to homes. Though the progress is slow, it has been most commendable. However, dependence on pipelines can never cater to 100% of the people and provide comprehensive coverage as desired by the administration whether in urban, semi-urban or rural areas.
The Government of India has already approved innovative water treatment and safe water distribution technologies that can help bridge this gap. The Jal Jeevan Mission is a two-pronged initiative; Nal se Jal and Har Ghar Jal. While Nal se Jal is piped water to households, Har Ghar Jal allows for the adoption of these innovative technologies that deliver water to the doorstep of households through IOT technology controlled last mile delivery solutions. Clean fuel-powered three-wheelers using CNG or Lithium-ion batteries that are completely IOT monitored and supervised for GPS location, quality of water, and quantity of water have the power to not only make safe water a reality in the lives of people but also help create jobs, social entrepreneurship opportunities, skill development, women empowerment and above all, better health and wellness for people. The uberisation of water is here to stay and perhaps the only way to deliver safe water to 1.3 Billion people in India.
Only suitable use of technology has the potential to mitigate the issue and facilitate the purpose of the sector to guarantee the availability and accessibility of clean water for all.
The world has adequate water, but very little of it is portable and fit for consumption. After all, the availability of water can only be stretched through maximizing management and minimizing wastage. A better future can be ensured with the immediate use of such innovative technologies.
Google for Startups is an accelerator program by Google for supporting Startups and helping them grow. It provides mentorships, training, and, guides entrepreneurs to find solutions for the challenges they face in building and growing their startups. StartupTalky took an initiative to know the details of the program – Selection Procedure, challenges to be addressed, help for women entrepreneurs, and more.
Here are insights into Google for Startups by Paul Ravindranath G – Program Manager, Developer Relations & Head of Google Accelerator at Google India, Bangalore.
How is Google for startups different from the traditional accelerator model?
The Google for Startups Accelerator helps startups build successful products and businesses by focusing on 360* needs of the company and founders. Our needs analysis for selected startups helps us define a custom support plan for each of the startups that meet them at their point of need. Not only is there focus on solid tech, product strategy and growth but also on people and leadership.
How is the selection procedure for startups?
When applications open, startups can apply directly at the accelerator tab of Google for Startups.
GFS Accelerator looks for startups that are meaningfully and scalably solving for the challenges of the current times. The program is vertical agnostic, but given the need to further innovation in an increasingly digital-first world, we are carefully considering verticals such as Edtech, Healthtech, Fintech, Retail & Logistics, Media & Entertainment, Agritech and Gaming.
The 3 months mentorship program selection process has some basic eligibility criteria such as:
Startups need to be based out of India
Should preferably in the seed to Series A, B stages
Deep understanding/application of new-age technology
What areas do most startups at the program struggle with/ What problems do they expect you to address?
The program’s focus is a founder-first, founder-friendly approach to support startups in solving their business, operational, and technology challenges.
Startups face a varied set of challenges at different stages of growth and maturity. Since the accelerator is a stage agnostic program, it presents the opportunity to work with startups facing diverse challenges. With a strong mentor base and methodologies to help with various areas, the program can address key challenges faced by founders.
User Experience/User Interface, Product Strategy, Tech Architecture, Growth and Marketing and People Development tend to be the main areas where the program can add value to startups.
Additionally, we also provide them with extensive training on leadership along with robust strategies for building company and product capabilities. As part of this program, founders outline the top challenges facing their startups and are then paired with relevant experts from Google and the industry to solve those challenges.
Is the support more tech-centric or spread across different domains? Do you plan to expand the horizon?
Accelerator helps startups scale and be successful with strong product strategy and a robust and scalable technology approach. The 360* approach we take helps address all the key areas of concern for a startup. The goal is to constantly look to add on expertise and methodologies to help startups thrive.
Every startup is unique and has different needs, how do you address their needs individually?
With every class batch we attempt to identify some unique and interesting startups. Each of these businesses have different requirements and different business challenges. The accelerator is looking for startups at all stages of development that are not only using cutting-edge technology but are also helping India, and potentially the rest of the world, adapt and move forward especially in a post pandemic world.
At the very beginning of the program, selected startups go through a complete needs analysis with a panel of experts and mentors. This exercise helps us build distinct goals and objectives for every startup that are addressed through a mentoring bootcamp, access to mentors and Google teams to help in moving their goals.
What are few areas which Google for startups provide a unique value? Does it help in connecting partners with govt agencies or a few of the best customers?
Startups are connected to mentors from all over the world through the accelerator programme. As part of the programme, we have over 20 Google teams and hundreds of industry experts who assist with operational, technology, and business difficulties. Mentors bring expertise across a wide range of areas such as User Experience and User Research, Technology covering Android, Cloud, Web and more. Marketing & Growth, Leadership are other key areas.
Additionally, the startups also find themselves to be eligible for the following perks, once they are part of the Google for Startups Accelerator Programme.
Equity-free support
Technical training on design, people, product, and growth marketing
Support on high-level company and product strategy
Google product credits and early access to new services
What’s the format/curriculum of the program? Does it change every year?
Google for Startups Accelerator India is a three-month cohort based program. There are typically 2 cohorts a year. While the accelerator team is based out of Bengaluru, the scope of the programme expands over the country where we handpick the best and the most promising startups to be a part of the batches.
In light of the constraints posed by the pandemic, the accelerator currently runs as a fully digital program but is hopeful of going hybrid as things improve. During the beginning of the program, we work with the startups selected into the accelerator to determine each startup’s challenges and support required from the program. Then these startups go through an intensive Bootcamp around topics such as Product, Design, Technology, People & Growth, followed by the OKR (Objective Key Results) workshop to define their objective for the next 3 months.
Have you ever considered a program specifically for women entrepreneurs or tier2 or tier 3 city startups?
Despite the many strides in diversity and inclusion efforts in different industries in India and the world, we remain at some distance from true and proportionate representation of women in the workforce – be it in leadership, entrepreneurship or otherwise.
This is a gap that we are committed to closing through various efforts within Google and beyond, across all the communities we support. Our ongoing efforts to support women entrepreneurs are one of these. To showcase our belief in the Indian women entrepreneurs, for our 6th batch we have selected around 35% of women-led startups in the mix and comprising a mix of B2B & B2C startups between Seed and Series A stages.
Do the alumni startups contribute in any way to the program?
With over 100 startups graduating from the program, we have a broad set of alumni, including unicorns like Sharechat. Several Alumni give back to the program with their recommendations of great upcoming startups. They come forward to support the cohorts as mentors, speakers and more.
Could you please share some insight on the success rates of the startups after the program?
The Google for Startups Accelerator has mentored over 116 startups, who have collectively raised over $2 billion in funding and contributed significantly to India being one of the world’s largest startup ecosystems.
Startups solving for key large-scale opportunities that India presents such as Drivezy, Nestaway, Sharechat were part of our early cohorts. Several companies like Niramai that apply cutting edge AI/ML tech in healthcare, specifically early detection of breast cancer have benefited with our technology input.
These startups, along with all the others in the previous batches of GFSA, continue to make an impact in the country.
Few things we (the whole startup community) can do to support startups across India?
The Indian startup community is currently witnessing a maturing cycle and even through the pandemic, growth has been solid. As a startup ecosystem few trends present an opportunity for us all to make a difference.
So also is the area of helping founders understand how to build great teams. Employability and access to good talent have been a challenge for seed to series A companies.
Enabling startups with insights, research and access is going to be key as they innovate and solve for India and the world.
The biggest support that we can provide each other in this thriving ecosystem, is collaboration across the ecosystem. Collaboration with a founder first, founder-friendly community approach can make a true impact as startups help accelerate our economy.
Ramya S
