This weekly quiz from YourStory tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see the previous edition here). In this 32nd 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: Tech for the environment
Digital technologies and tools can be effectively used in wildlife conservation efforts. Satellites and mapping data help chart out environments at risk. Big data analytics, ML and AI can help detect changing patterns and propose corrective actions. What’s another useful technology that can contribute to wildlife conservation?
Q2: Organisational performance
Awards, rewards and recognition can boost employee performance in many cases. Stock options and performance-based bonuses help as well. Clear career progression paths help new employees plan their future. But what’s the real secret sauce for organisational excellence?
Q3: From local to global
What are some unique symbols and contributions of India on the global stage? Its food, practices like yoga, and cultural exports like Bollywood immediately come to mind, as well as clothing like the sari and kurta. But there’s one more apparel item that is really popular – what is that?
Q4: Road to resilience
Many entrepreneurs falter in their journey, and the fear of failure hangs over the head of several aspiring founders as well. So what’s a good way to frame the possibility of failure, and bounce back from setbacks?
Q5: Environmental impact
Many green initiatives have emerged to tackle environmental pollution, such as recycling plastic bottles or refusing to buy single-use plastic bottles. Other approaches have emerged for plastic bags. But one more widely-used plastic product category needs to be tackled – what is that?
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: Tech for the environment
“Drones can cover vast areas cost-effectively in just a few minutes without disturbing nature,” explains Mukesh Kwatra, environmentalist and Founder of the green initiative 'SmilingTree'.
Drones can be used across rugged terrains, and track poachers. They can also provide supplies during park floods, and track wildfires as well. Read more about drone contributions to the wildlife and farming sectors here.
A2: Organisational performance
“Culture often is a highly valued yet poorly articulated asset of a company. And most engineers, when asked what a great workplace culture looks like, are unable to describe it beyond the cliché,” observes Rahul Chari, Co-founder of PhonePe.
A good culture stimulates learning, promotes candid conversations, and brings out the best in people. However, cultural promotion should go beyond “motherhood statements,” he cautions. Read more about the culture in this dynamic startup here.
A3: From local to global
“Not just in India, but the demand for dupattas exists worldwide,” observes Gaurav Garg, Founder of Dupatta Bazaar. The former equity research analyst got into the dupatta business in 2011 in Mumbai.
A decade later, he has exported dupattas to countries around the world. Gaurav helped convince Flipkart to create a separate e-commerce category for the product. Read about the dupatta’s demand from Mexico to Zimbabwe here.
A4: Road to resilience
“Seeing failure as a temporary disruptor, and as an opportunity to grow, is liberating,” explains Sonya Barlow, Founder of Like Minded Females Network (LMF). The social enterprise enables and educates women and minorities in tech and business sectors.
She herself bounced back from challenges such as the failure of her first LMF brunch. “Get great at failing. Being an entrepreneur, running a business or starting anything new will come with failures and setbacks,” Somya adds. Read more about her inspiring journey here.
A5: Environmental impact
“There are not many means of recycling plastic toys at present. Parents also aren't aware of how they could dispose of these toys,” explains ten-year old entrepreneur Siyona Vikram. She is creating awareness about plastic pollution among children through her podcasts.
Through her initiative called Little WISE Club, she intends to inspire kids to use toys made of sustainable and biodegradable materials. Read more about this inspiring young entrepreneur-activist 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).
Edited by Anju Narayanan