This weekly quiz from YourStory tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see the previous edition here). In this 31st edition of the quiz, we present issues tackled by real-life entrepreneurs in their startup journeys.
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What would you do if you were in their shoes? At the end of the quiz, you will find out what the entrepreneurs and innovators themselves actually did. Would you do things differently?
Check out YourStory’s Book Review section as well, with takeaways from over 330 titles on creativity and entrepreneurship, and our weekend PhotoSparks section on creativity in the arts.
Q1: Local foods
Quick-serve foods around the world have spread beyond the early wave of burgers and pizzas, with localised toppings and flavours taking the lead. In India, biryani, samosas and momos have also been delivered in a D2C model. What’s the next frontier for delivering local foods online?
Q2: Electric mobility
With a compelling case for simplicity and less environmental impact, electric cars and scooters can be a promising opportunity in the mobility market. Ubiquitous charging stations that are dynamically searchable can be further enablers. What’s another route to affordability and adoption of EVs?
Q3: The investment journey
Getting product-market fit and building an effective team are key milestones in the startup journey. Getting investor support can also help scale and grow the market. But investment comes with its own challenges for founders – what are they?
Q4: Customer analytics
Website logs and app downloads are starting points for customer analytics. Frequency of interactions, volume of transactions, and repeat purchases offer deeper insights into customer behaviour. What’s another area ripe for mining of customer intent and interactions?
Q5: Music scores
Accompanying and background music can greatly enhance the experience of consuming digital content. But it is a challenge to find the right music for videos, particularly at affordable rates. What’s a good way to tap the business opportunity here?
Answers!
Congratulations on having come this far! But there’s more to come – answers to these five questions (below), as well as links to articles with more details on the entrepreneurs’ solutions. Happy reading, happy learning – and happy creating!
A1: Local foods
“Street foods carry a wider appeal compared to burgers, pizzas, or momos, but still there is no big brand or chain trying to uplift them in an organised segment,” explains Gaurav Gupta, Co-founder of MOPP Foods, a D2C startup.
It claims to be clocking about 25,000 orders a month with a GMV ARR of Rs 8 crore. Its brands include Mad Over Parathas and Pakodas, Mealy, and Mad Over Curry. Its special pakodas are made to not become soggy but remain crispy on delivery. Read more about their offerings here.
A2: Electric mobility
“Battery swapping has emerged as the catalyst that will catapult EVs into the popular category,” explains Varun Goenka, Co-Founder and CEO of Chargeup, a battery-swapping network for e-rickshaws.
Barriers to electric vehicle adoption include absence of adequate and speedy charging options, and cost of owning and maintaining EV batteries. Renting and swapping batteries can thus be a viable option here. Read more about EV battery dynamics here.
A3: The investment journey
“The challenge [of getting investment] is that you have to work with someone else’s sense of speed and scale of growth. And a good pressure to build on your promises,” explains Rashi Narang, Heads Up for Tails. Read more of her journey, which includes a $37 million Series A round, here.
“If you think fundraising is highly energetic and takes a lot and very demanding, then an exit is at least three times,” adds Rohit Anand, Founder of 1DigitalStack. He urges founders do go for an exit only when they are absolutely certain about it. Read more of his tips here.
A4: Customer analytics
“Conversational analytics takes the guesswork out by providing hardcore data to substantiate choices,” explains Naren Vijay, Executive Vice President of Lumenore.
From text-based email and social media, algorithmic intelligence can evolve to context-aware voice interface technology. Read more here about the use of conversational platforms to build user interfaces, chatbots, and virtual assistants. They can be integrated into messaging platforms, social media, SMS, website chat.
A5: Music scores
Over the years, the struggle of acquiring and licensing music has led to a huge waste of time and resources within the creative workforce, according to Mansoor Rahimat Khan, Co-founder of Beatoven.ai.
The AI-powered music tech startup helps content creators by giving them access to royalty-free, affordable, mood-based, and premium quality music. The compositions are created by using a tech mix of AI and music theory. Read more about how the startup creates original soundtracks based on the user’s preferences here.
YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).