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Practical Mantras for Lean Startup

Talk to anyone running a startup or working in a big company turning new idea into products, they would tell you that their journey is fraught with far too many uncertainties

Lore that Lean Startup is a savior for this has spread far and wide but ask these folks and they will nod their head in agreement that they face huge struggle in adopting it. One of the big challenges is that Lean Startup is thought of as new magical management theory which it is surely not; instead it is a methodical approach in reducing market uncertainties. Lean Startup is at best described as codified past best practices by startups and individuals that have been able to successfully reduce customer and market risk.

Adopting Lean Startup is no different from any other behavior change that one goes through personally or in an organization. To change behavior and adopt new practice work on several dimensions is required which includes changed mindset, a clear understanding of principle, devoid of jargons, a simplified set of tools to aid, hands-on practice of the tools and many a times a community of peer support.

What Mindset for Lean?

Most of our life starting from school we have had an execution mindset, we were always given a set of task to do and we were graded on how we executed on them and thus behavior is quite strong. We view everything as an execution problem and solve for it

Ask anyone that has experienced running a startup and they will tell you how everything is a moving target and things change very fast. Almost everything in a startup is an assumption and needs to be fundamentally questioned even when you are executing assuming it to be true

Thus one should have a learning mindset, until key assumptions have been validated

Principle at Work

Studies suggest that the number one reason that startup fail is because they don’t have customer or market. Key principle of Lean Startup suggest that if startups prioritize and focus on eliminating the customer or market risk before others then the odds of failure can be reduced drastically.

Tools for use

Disciplined approach of listing assumption, turning them into experiments to validate, art of talking to customers, prototyping to learn customer behavior and iterating through Build > Measure > Learn loop are some of the tools available practitioners disposal to methodically address market risk

LeanMantr’s bootcamp is designed to hands-on practice scenario with real life startup ideas for folks to learn the benefit of using Lean. Last year alone 6 workshops were held in Bangalore. The next one is happening on 11-13 April (www.leanmantra.explara.com). If you would like to get immersed in the how to, then do join us

Lean Startup Circle Bangalore  monthly meetups are for practitioners to trade notes and offer peer support in this behavior change journey to reduce failures of startups in general.  Join any of the next meetup (attendance is free)

Guest Post by Rammohan Reddy, Lean Startup Evangelist atLeanMantra

 

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Redefining Retail Stores – Weavedin

In our candid conversation with Jose and Jacob founders of Weavedln Technologies Pvt. Ltd., we have discovered a team of four entrepreneurs on their way to transform retail industry with their product – Weaver. They intend to redesign the way retail outlets work, by converting ‘point of sale’ with a smart cloud based device.

The Team: The founding team consists of JoseKuttan , Jacob, Dheepan and Jibin. Jose has done his MS in Telecommunications and Venture Practicum from University of Maryland, Washington. Thereafter he decided to come back to India to pursue his startup dream. He has worked in bunch of Bay Area Companies  along with couple of startups and a VC firm as an associate while in the US. Jacob was in the founding team of the first Incubator in Kerala (southern state of India) by name Innovation Lab. He is a graduate from Govt. Model Engineering College, Cochin and has worked with EMC Corporation prior to WeavedIn.

Dheepan leads technology and backend at WeavedIn. He is a graduate from College of Engineering, Guindy in Tamil Nadu and has experience working with Apigee, Hashcube and other startups. While Jibin leads the mobile side of technology. A hard core techie brings experience working with companies like Infineon particularly in the embedded technology.

weavedin - homeThe Product: Put together their brains they have introduced ‘Weaver’, a new species of product in the retail segment that takes care of virtually everything about a retail store. It has three facet benefit system that solves pressing problems in sales, inventory management and customer experience of retail businesses. Weaver works on native android on the front end and has a powerful web based backend. The technology stack which powers our backend is LEMP (Linux, (E) Nginx, Mysql, Python). The product has a 2048 bit SSL encryption to protect  customer’s data transfers.

Weaver handles store’s key sales problems via cloud based POS system along with its automated inventory management. It helps retail businesses to enhance their store management and in-store customer engagement experience. Their analytically driven dashboard ensures store owners/managers are updated with every single aspect of the store on real time basis on their move. It has in-built facility to generate bills for your sales either on paper or the smarter way through an email or a SMS. It helps in managing accounts, vouchers and other important sheets along with monthly tax data and Profit & Loss statements.

Weaver creates purchase orders, share them with vendors via SMS/Email, updates inventory once the items arrives, links them as components (or whole) to sales catalogue. All this components mapped to keep a watch on inventory status and get automatic alerts if inventory falls below a threshold.

In regards to customer engagement, Weaver helps store managers to stay connected with customers by capturing their details to be able to give them personalized experience. Weaver ensures data is always protected and derives maximum value out of it.

The USPs: Weaver has:

  • Cloud based touch device that integrates multiple activities of a store to a single interface in its hardware plus software package.
  • High level of automation in terms of inventory management that helps the store owners save money
  • Simple user interface design that minimizes the learning curve for employees and promises higher level of customer engagement
  • Scalable model in an affordable package, that gives absolute value of money with pay as you grow model

In this niche segment some of the players like Posiflex, Wincor Nixdorf, IBM catering to the upper segment of the pyramid and are present on an international level. While other players in the international market are Revel Systems, Square Register and Shoppify POS. Indian domestic market has players like Gofrugal, shawman, Lucid, Posist. Posist is a cloud based system that works from a browser and is a near competition in terms of the features.

In the next 12 months Weavedln is focused on sales networks and developing partnerships to enhance the product feature set. Weaver is designed to plug in the brick and mortar stores to the cloud. Productnation team would wish Weavedln team luck in their plans to build a set of features that would leverage the same and would add value to the stores.

Conversation led by Praveen Gupta, Rategain.

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How we funded and developed our products through services (Bootstrapping)

You will find many of the articles on bootstrapping on the web. But today I would like to share with you how we developed our two products Shimbi CMS Budo and ShimBi MyBilling through Bootstrapping.

“The basics of bootstrapping is simple – Earn money, spend less” Jofin Joseph.

When we started ShimBi Labs in 2005;  we had a clear vision that we will develop 4 best products for SMBs (Small and Medium size Businesses). But the situation was that neither we had enough funds to develop our products, nor an idea about products to be developed.

First and foremost challenge before us was to raise funds to build our dream products.

Bootstrapping

We had decided to opt for Bootstrapping (as no other options were available.  Angel investor or VC will not fund any biz without even a product idea!)  So our first focus was to have sufficient funds for the survival of the startup and then to invest in product developments.  For that,  we chose very unconventional market for Indian software company; we decided to focus on Japan as our primary market. Yes, market with high potential and hardly tapped by Indian software industry.  At the same time, not an easy task to enter the industry if we had not lucky enough to get the industry veteran of Japan as our Mentor, who was courteous and introduced us to potential customers.

With 9 years of rich experience in providing services (software development and consultancy) in Japan, we got better insights into the problems that can later evolve into a product.  We understood and learnt how to achieve the highest quality in any software. All this, later helped us build our own products.

While doing this we never forgot our original vision of building products for SMBs. We had to remain extremely careful to keep the service track completely independent of the product track. Thumb rule was: never use the same developer to be working on the services.

Product Ideas

So how we got ideas about Products?

Honestly we never brainstorm. “Necessity is the mother of invention”  Exactly !!! that is what had happened.

1. Content Management System

As a service company, prime necessity is to have an official website with the ability to update it often. Being all techies in the company, as a founder; I was forced to quit coding and focus on all other activities necessary to run the business, which includes regular website updation. For this, I was in need of a website with easy to use CMS (Content Management System).  Surprisingly, instead of using the existing solutions available, we built our own CMS. That’s how CMS Budo taken birth.

2. Online Invoicing Application

Next, it was essential to have Simple Invoicing Application.

Being all engineer company, we were reluctant to learn any accounting software. So I decided to learn few basic things, about how to write an invoice and started making them in Excel. Wow that was a huge mess, almost every second invoice was with some silly mistakes. Tracking them, save them in folders and send reminders was the big pain in the ass.

I decided to repeated the same idea (as CMS Budo) of having our own online invoicing application, instead of availing the solutions that already exists in the market. Later, it was named as ShimBi MyBilling!  First we sold it as license version to 100s of customers, and now we converted it into SaaS (Software as a Service) model.

We realise that these softwares (Web Applications) are useful for us and making a lot of sense. Creating value, increasing efficiency. Now we can spend more time on our core competency.

We also realised that if these softwares (Web Applications) are useful to us then they can be useful to other SMBs too.

Find customers before you build

To validate our idea we started to communicate with our existing customers, and many of them were readily convinced.  They asked us for demos; it was a great chance for us & we made use of the opportunity without any delay. Right after the demo, several feedbacks and customisations’ requests flooded in our mailbox.  Hence, we decided to make CMS Budo and MyBilling generalize & convert them as a product useful to all. We convinced some of our customers to fund in the customisation and development of the product and in turn offered them a copy of the full product at a nominal price.

As a result, today both the products had crossed several iterations and versions in the market. All by bootstrapping. I strongly believe that the product must create value for small businesses than excite VCs.

  • ShimBi MyBilling is available as SaaS
  • and CMS Budo will be soon available as SaaS

Goal is to build Innovative Solutions … Simple, Powerful yet Affordable

Please share your experience of bootstrapping with us.

Guest Blog Post by Siddharth Deshmukh, Founder and CEO at ShimBi Labs. A passionate about product building. Single minded, manic, in pursuit of quality and excellence … I am an entrepreneur building our product – MyBilling and CMS Budo.

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Why Startups are opting for Ruby to build their MVPs

“By the time that product is ready to be distributed widely, it will already have established customers”~ From the pages of “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries.

It is essentially true that by the time you finish building your product completely, your customers are already looking for something new! Demands of your customers change in a snap. So, in order to match this lightening speed of change in demands, you need to be pro-active in identifying the problem and develop a minimum viable product (MVP) so that the product refinement process can be jumpstarted.

Once your MVP is ready, your startup can now work on modulating the engine and move ahead. Since speed is what a startup looks for when building a product, most developers are now turning to Ruby for web application development. Ruby can give you speed and ease in building your MVP. It is extremely efficient in assisting you to build a highly scalable app.

There are a number of reasons why Ruby is the top choice for developers building a minimum viable product for their startups. In case you are wondering why Ruby and not other languages, then –

  • Ruby comes with a low “learning curve”, which means that once you have crossed the initial hiccups, it is the most natural language to work with.

  • Ruby is a mature language with features like OOP, functional programming, multi-platform compatibility (WIndows, UNIX variants, Linux, BeOS, MS-DOS), minimum exceptions, Garbage Collection.

  • With flexible syntax and without any pointers, Ruby has great web development frameworks (like Rails, Sinatra).

  • Ruby does not incur any cost if you want to copy, modify, distribute and use it.Since coders can modify it according to their needs, coding does not seem restricted anymore.

  • Ruby has a vibrant open source community and a great support system. You can have a look at the source of the code, or suggest a patch, or get connected to helpful user communities as well the creator.

Ruby definitely comes handy to a startup trying to build a MVP. Time constraint is always there on startups. In such a state if a programming language comes with too many restrictions, it makes the task more difficult.There is no denial that startups with their MVPs are actually making it big. Any developer competent with Ruby language is the first choice of a startup. If you want to be in the coding world, Ruby should be the first language to learn. Not just because it is simple, but because it is rewarding as well. It has features that are convincing and can handle almost all exception well with its robust nature.

So, without delay, join Venturesity’s Ruby course. It is comprehensive in its course modules and is taught by industry experts. Expect the best guidance from our instructors who teach our students over live classes. What can be better than a hands-on training, an interactive class and project work to validate your learning! Register with us soon before time runs out!

“Startup success can be engineered by following the process, which means it can be learned, which means it can be taught” ~ Eric Ries

Guest Post by Pritha Bose, Content Writer for Venturesity

 

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If a picture speaks a thousand words, a video does that 24 times per second.

Video advertising is increasingly becoming a necessity for a business in today’s fast paced world. Gone are the days when you would pen down tons of text in the “About Us” section of your website. A crisp video about your start-up can definitely make you go a long way in explaining what you offer to the right set of target audience. There are lot of tools like Powtoon, GoAnimate, Wideo etc available online where you can create your own awesome videos. However, always remember that a Video is not just yet another creative asset, it’s a packaged marketing message and if carefully drafted, can make a lot of difference to your business. So, spend your thoughts and time generously to get this right.

Here are 5 tips to keep in mind to ensure that the impact of your video reaches its maximum potential.

1: Get the Narrative Right

Should the video be humorous, informative or emotional? It is very important to think about the target audience thoroughly. If humour can connect to some people, some prospective customers look for a straight-forward problem-solution approach. You should always put yourself in a customer’s shoes and try to understand whether the video would appeal to him or not. While it is important to depict the salient features of your product or service, the video should not be overloaded with information. Demographics such as age, geography, gender, profession etc along with the kind of product/service offered by you should be well considered in choosing the right appeal for the video.

2: Pay Attention to the Building Blocks

Narration, music, visuals and voices are the building blocks of a video. It’s very important to choose a right combination based on the appeal you want. While a product video might look good with a strong and engaging narration about the features of the product, an emotional video with just background music and a strong visual story could go viral on social media.

3: Say It Quick

Brevity is the soul of wit. With so much happening on internet, your audience will switch tabs as soon as you start stuffing them with information they don’t need. Ideally, a video of not more than 90 seconds should be able to tell your message to a prospective customer.

4: Call to Action: Convert those Views into Leads

This is one of the most forgotten, but crucial elements: Focus your message on the task or action you would like your viewer to do. Whether you are getting them to visit your website or download your app from the play store, get the message out clear and simple, and tell them how to do it. Remember, the aim of the video is not just to get appreciation, but to also get more leads and customers.

5: Campaigns can Capture Minds

If you are looking for brand retention in viewer’s minds, you can consider circulating a series of really short videos (20-30 seconds) with different use-cases about your product/service, but keeping a unique appeal and structure. The advantage in this approach is the anticipation among the audience who have already seen your previous videos. This also creates an imprint of your brand deep inside the viewer’s mind and will definitely help your business in the long run.

So stop writing long documents about your brand and ‘Videofy’ your idea. A video of 90 seconds is all you need to tell your story to the world.

Guest Post by Jatin Rastogi, co-founder of WildBeez, a video solutions start-up that has produced corporate videos for brands such as OlaCabs, Fabmart, InMobi and more.

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Meet the Rickshaw Rising Challenge Winners!

The Rickshaw Rising Challenge finale took place in the first week of February 2014 in Mumbai. Fourteen entrepreneurs representing 8 teams went through a two day long boot-camp. Read more about Day-1 and Day-2.

unnamedOn Day 3, they pitched their business to Robin Chase (ZipCar), Harish Hande (SELCO), Judith Pollock (Shell Foundation), and Madhav Pai (EMBARQ India).
We are truly excited to announce the results of the Rickshaw Rising Challenge.

Ubida
The first award of $50,000 and 6-months business support went to Mukesh Jha and Janardan Prasad of Ubida from Pune. The company addresses auto rickshaw hailing problems on the consumer side and optimizes rides and income for drivers.

AutoRaja
The second award of $25,000 and 6-months business support went to Aishwarya Raman and Anubhav Agarwal of AutoRaja from Chennai. AutoRaja runs auto-rickshaws on call with the aim of creating dignified lives for drivers by increasing business and facilitating access to finance, healthcare, and education.

Three Wheels United
The third award of $25,000 and 6-months business support went to Ramesh Prabhu of Three Wheels United from Bangalore. TWU addresses problems in the auto-rickshaw ecosystem through financial services, alternate channels of revenue, and bringing in a shift to cleaner engines.
We would also like to congratulate our 5 other finalists and 38 other applicants to the Challenge.

We look forward to finding other channels to support and work with you.

Guest Post by Jyot Chadha, Embarq India.

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Sales Wisdom from Million Dollar Product Companies

Why Buy Mine? This is the question I have kept asking myself ever since Pallav and Paras did their “Global Lean Sales” session at the #PNCamp in November. I used to send a long email before and often had to explain a lot to why we charge higher. Now I just use the below message and it does the job. There is nothing different from what we were doing earlier. But our message to our market is now very different and converts them into trusting buyers faster .

“Industry Leaders like Freshdesk ( Customer HelpDesk ), WebEngage ( On-site Customer Engagement), Flipkart’s Payzippy ( Online Payments) have chosen MyPromoVideos for their videos because we were able to consistently deliver “magic” to our client’s brands, not just videos.”

I was so much in love with two of their slides from their presentation that our team here decided to do a beautiful “Info-Graphic” around the same. If you are not satisfied with just 10% growth every month and want to grow exponentially on steroids, you need to build your sales team. This is the infographic to keep by your desktop.

Sales Evolution - Wingify and FusionCharts (1)Thanks to Pallav, Paras and the Product Nation for helping Entrepreneurs succeed.

Guest Post by Gopal Krishnan, MyPromoVideos. Gopal is the Co-Founder of www.MyPromoVideos.com and takes care of Sales and Marketing. He builds trust with his Sales Systems and brings in the customers

for MyPromoVideos
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Ezmove – Redefining the Movers and Packers Services

Businesses succeed with a mission to serve customers and related ecosystem. Ezmove is following the same path.

I recently got a chance to catch-up with Ezmove co-founders – Anand & Vishwajeet. Ezmove aims to be a guiding agent, to whom consumers can just outsource their movers & packers requirements.

Q:Why do you guys feel there is need of guiding agent?

Founders: Most Movers & Packers lack professionalism, accountability and efficiency. Also, Majority of players are not equipped with solution to deliver as per customer preferences. We are here to address all such basic issues.

Q: How Ezmove plans to deliver? Any success till now?

Founders:To begin with, we have been able to process 200 Moves till now in 3 months. Here, I can talk about the process we followed to deliver these movements.

On behalf of consumers, EZMove filteredmovers through stringent screening.  A dedicated Relocation manager took care of the movementfrom request until completion. In addition, we have built CRM & Enterprise products for our vendors to achieve backward integration& produce cost benefits for the industry. Hence, our aim is to make our vendors more efficient through technology. In turn, producing value for the customers.

Q: How big is this market?  What’s the average revenue per customer?

Founders :In India, We believe its $2 billion to $5 billion. AverageTicket size is about $300.

Q: What’s the customer conversion rate till now?

Founders: Conversion rate is around 24%

Q: Considering such a huge market, what are your plans?

Founders: Our focus is to resolve problems & set new trends with innovation. We wish to empower the customers as well as Packers and Movers with better tracking & communication tools.  Team has a vision to introduce the usage of data analytics techniques to foresee demand & make estimates.

Last but not least, Ezmove plan to make your relocation or home shifting or vehicle transfer a promising and optimal experience.

Guest Post by Gaurav Lakhani 

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Raja of v-shesh on how social impact can be “greater through a business model”

Mr. P Rajasekharan (Raja) is the founder of v-shesh, a social impact enterprise that enables people with disabilities find employment. Working with both job-seekers and employers, v-shesh has placed over 90% of its trainees in banks, ITES, hospitality and manufacturing sectors. Prior to founding v-shesh, Raja worked in development sector and project finance at Japan Bank for Regional Cooperation (JICA) and IDBI. He is also the India advisor to American nonprofit Corstone. He has an MS in Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, an MBA from NMIMS, Mumbai and is an engineer from VJTI, Mumbai.

[Innovate Delhi] What prompted you to start v-shesh? Tell us about your idea to start a for-profit social enterprise for people with disability?

Raja-e1352368409931-150x150[Raja] Shashaank and I knew each other, both personally and professionally for a long time but we had had no idea regarding what we wanted to do. We always thought that we should do something that resolves the dichotomy that we see all the time in India but we never decided on anything for several years. Both of us were doing well professionally – Shashaank was a corporate banker and I had a cushy job in a development bank. We wanted to do something that was professionally challenging, had a clear impact element and was run business like because that is where our strengths lay.

Then came the question of what we wanted to do. Coincidentally, we got an opportunity to spend time with each other through an assignment not related to our day jobs. That is when we decided that jobs or something that allows people to earn income is very powerful. Additionally, it has a very strong ripple effect among one’s peers, cohorts and society. By providing income to people, we could bridge the opportunity divide that exists in the society around us.

We came back from the assignment with the seed planted in our heads. From there on, it took 5 months for v-shesh to materialize. I worked on the weekends and holidays. By working remotely and part time, we gained some traction and realized that these are issues required far more engagement and close interactions. After 6 months of running small projects we decided to go full time. I quit my job and took up v-shesh full time. I moved to Chennai and the story started in 2008.

Frankly, we were always highly confident and highly motivated. There was no question of failing. We had to succeed.

Did you intend to go full time? Or did you gain traction along the way that inspired you to go full time?

We always intended to go full time. It was a question of when. The only issue I had to resolve was financial security for my family and myself. To study in the US, I had taken some loans. I essentially had to get rid of my loans before I could make the jump!

What other challenges you faced while starting v-shesh?

Being an entrepreneur in India is itself a challenge. Selling the story to your family- your parents, your spouse – is very difficult. It did take a while. As an entrepreneur, you are essentially a loner. So getting the family onboard is nice but also challenging. Ofcourse there were other challenges in building the enterprise but getting the consensus from family was the most important and difficult one.

While having your family alongside you is critical, what is the importance of having a professional network before starting one’s venture?

Both of us did well in our jobs and had good professional relationships that gave us the confidence to go ahead with our plans. We knew that they were people we could fall back on incase something went wrong. Frankly, we were always highly confident and highly motivated. There was no question of failing. We had to succeed. Only health reasons would prevent us from doing so and for that scenario we have insurance. There was a good support base that we were able to leverage in the start.

And once you started, was that network of people helpful or did you have to build a new network of people who were more embedded in the entrepreneurship ecosystem? Were there crossovers in those sets of people?

As bankers we had no idea about disability, hiring, HR and such. But we had our networks that we used to build newer networks. I still continue to have networks from jobs I had fifteen years ago in JICA and IDBI. So it was a combination of the two.

v-shesh is a for profit enterprise which is a relatively new model for social enterprises in India. How did you resolve the for-profit v/s non-profit debate and what would be your adice to an entrepreneur who wants to start a social enterprise?

For us, there was no debate. For profit was what we knew. We knew how markets worked, how to acquire customers, how to deliver goods. At the same time, having worked for a development bank, I knew the structure of NGOs as a legal entity did not serve the needs of the people at the required scale. We knew that our impact would be greater through a business model.But for people entering the system, my advice always has been that it is upto the individual to make the decision. Whatever model you choose, nonprofit or for-profit, the end goal – to serve the customer – should be met. For us, profit was the best way to attract the best talent and capital. So we chose that route.

We knew that our impact would be greater through a business model.

What is the culture at v-shesh? How do you ensure that your big picture values translate into day-to-day operations and you don’t lose sight of your larger goal in dealing with the red tape?

That’s an excellent question! Maintaining the culture of the organization is the biggest responsibility of the founder, especially for an impact enterprise. We are a team of 20 and we are 5 years old. I am proud to say that we have no attrition. Nobody quit v-shesh. We look at people who have passion for serving the unreached segment and some skillset that we can hone over a period of time. We want that careful blend of understanding the customer’s needs as well as that of the workplace, because our job is to put people in the workplace. Usually, everyone spends 3-4 months familiarizing themselves with the culture before the final offer comes. While we have social harmony, we are also a very diverse group. We have six people with disability, people from different geographical regions and people speaking different languages. We know 30 languages amongst my team!

I am proud to say that we have no attrition. Nobody quit v-shesh.

If you were a judge at Innovate Delhi, what would be the top three qualities you will look for in an entrepreneur?

I will look for people with a spirit of enterprise. Secondly, a sound understanding of how to run a business. One need not have done an MBA or an accounting degree but understanding of the basics, such as cashflows, is critical to keep the business running. The third is the ability to build a team. It’s all about the power of the people. If someone can’t build a good team, he can’t build a good enterprise.

What do you when you are not building an equitable workplace?

Spend time with my daughter! Frankly I do v-shesh all the time and the only time I spend away from it is when I am with my daughters and my family. I have very happy brought what I do into my kids and they like what I do which makes it much easier for me.

This blog post was written by Sonal J Goyal for Innovate Delhi Entrepreneurship Academy. Innovate Delhi is a three-week long academy that works with aspiring entrepreneurs to hone their skills in innovation, team-building, and strategy. Applications are due on 1st February. Apply at www.innovatedelhi.com/apply

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iSPIRT wishes you a Happy New Year!

Since our inception a year ago, we have been relentlessly working toward the cause of creating an amenable ecosystem for software products development in India. We greatly appreciate your support in helping us reach where we are in such a short time.

We have done a great deal over the last one year to implement and achieve our goals and the pursuit of our vision is our primary and unwavering focus. Whether you have been an iSPIRT member or are just following us, we want to assure you that our first priority is to serve the cause of software product industry in India.

As we welcome 2014, we are both proud and grateful for all we have achieved thus far with your invaluable support – be it in terms of ideas, inspiration, guidance or feedback and look forward to our mutual successes in the future.

With best wishes,
The iSPIRT ProductNation Team

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“Potential of Software Products from India” – Insights from an interview with Prof. Rishikesha T Krishnan, IIM Bangalore

In an interview with Govindraj Ethiraj on the changing paradigm of the Indian software industry, Professor Rishikesha T Krishnan, IIM, Bangalore, talks about how the software industry is getting transformed from a services oriented model to creating successful products. He cites FusionCharts as a great example of finding a niche market and moving to the cloud as an efficient mechanism to deliver and service customers.

 

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CricketNation to ProductNation

Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement was a event marked with a great outpouring for the man and for Indian Cricket. Our cricket team has come a long way and we are both the commercial power and in many format ; the leader.

Sanjay Anandaram shared an article which has a more balanced take on Tendulkar.

It is useful for us to be realistic in our appreciation as well as criticisms. Infosys a former darling is getting the harsher treatment these days and that too for plunging into “non-linear-growth-strategy” a tad early!!

Product business is a marathon race and odds of having a difficult time getting growth are fairly high. But with the right ecosystem and preparation and teamwork we can make a difference.

I would invite comments on what we can learn from Cricket. There are many. One that I wanted to pull out is the expanded team. In modern cricket a whole ecosystem is needed. It is interesting to see the support staff for limited over’s Cricket . See Mumbai Indians

Chief mentor: Anil Kumble

Head Coach:  John Wright

Assistant Coach : Robin Singh

Fielding Coach : Jonty Rhods

PhysioTherapist: Nitin Patel

Trainer: Paul Chapman

Video Analyst: N Harishankar

Team Manager: Rahul Sanghvi

The #PNCamp promises to be a good addition to the support system  for Product companies.

However the defining change is the “can do” attitude and ability to fight back. In my younger days We thought of the Indian team as snatching-defeat-from-jaws-of-victory as they crumbled one too many times.  A mischievous observation is the changing nature of our cricket icons:

Nobility : Tiger Pataudi
Diplomat: Gaveskar

Fine Guy : Sachin
Gentelman: Dravid

Rustic agression: MS Dhoni

BadAss ( Attitude) : Virat Kohli

Lets watch the poster boys of India’s Product Community to see the evolution….

Guest Post by Arvind Tiwari, Founder at SangEnnovate

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The Emergence of a Product Nation

In the last ten years, IBM, perhaps the world’s most iconic maker of the personal computer did two things that made people sit up and take notice. First, in 2004, it sold its PC division to China-based Lenovo Group in a deal valued at $1.75 billion. Then, around nine years later, it sold Daksh, its voice-based BPO to Synnex Corp. Both sales had one glaring similarity: They both involved flogging commoditized businesses with increasingly low margins and a questionable future.

growth_rateToday, both the computer hardware business as well as the voice-based BPO business is in peril. Computer sales have flattened while smartphones and tablets are experiencing scorching growth rates in excess of 150% in Asia. Meanwhile, the BPO business continues to face the twin challenge of rising costs in India and new, competitive destinations like the Philippines who continue to place more downward pressure on prices for voice services.

IBM’s experience is a crucial one to internalize, as the kind of upheaval that has taken place in the PC industry and the BPO one is going to inevitably rock the foundations of yet another which leverages cheaper labour as its core competitive advantage—namely, software services. The one harbinger of this change: The rise of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), also known as ‘the cloud’ that has revolutionized how we use software today.

Much like India churned out world-class software services firms in the 1990s and 2000s, it is already proving to be a major generator of globally competitive SaaS companies across all spheres—in the enterprise space, the B2C arena as well as those targeting SMBs. These are companies with small teams and unique products sold under their own brand—strikingly dissimilar from their IT services predecessors that have dominated the technology space so far.

In other words, these are companies that have climbed up the value chain where their core offerings are not so easily disrupted by a cheaper wage rate. Here, the elegance of the product, the stability and novelty of its solution and, most importantly, the unvarnished benefit that allows the customer to become infinitely more efficient for as little a cost as possible through enterprise software is what is making this revolution a reality. And India, with its legions of technology graduates, a vibrant app developer community and a coterie of battle-hardened entrepreneurs is pushing the envelope even further. Suddenly, a 40-member team can churn out a platform or a service that can compete on the global stage with the likes of an Oracle or an IBM.

This is a brave new world for buying and selling things. For one thing, the internet has become a dominant channel used to either sell products or attract and engage new customers. This means that marketers need to widen their net through plug-and-play IT solutions that are at their fingertips rather than waiting for their IT department to weigh in. They now have to deal with new ways of managing customer relationships, orchestrating cross channel marketing, and implementing digital advertising

Then, there is the aspect of nimbleness. Winners and losers today are determined by solutions that have as quick a time to market as possible, with unlimited scalability and access to reports on the mobile. Enabling this imperative are sophisticated tools to mine and analyze volumes of data arising from these activities to improve decision-making. Therefore, embedding technology in every business process is more than just an effort to stay competitive—it’s a basic survival ploy that allows for faster turnaround, better customer service and improved monitoring of the health of the organization.

pay_asTill now, though, being able to do all of this meant heavy in-house customization and up-front capex spends. The ‘pay as you’ go and ‘rent versus buy’ approach of SaaS has upended that reliance on customization, making even the most complex operations available on the net and easily integrated with other tools and apps for a fraction of the price. A company can now also try as many tools as possible rather than be handcuffed to a single one.

In a product revolution sweeping the country unlike no other, the makers of many of the world’s most innovative products are right here in India. Whether it is the collaboration space, enterprise applications or business intelligence in the cloud, for the first time in India’s history, software products are being made for the global audience and widely appreciated and used by global consumers.

Here’s a snapshot at some of the players who are leading this charge:

 

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Deepinder Goyal of Zomato on “ethics, respect, attitude and skill”

Deepinder Goyal is the founder and CEO of Zomato, India’s first online food guide to go global. Founded in 2008, Zomato recently raised Rs. 227 crore from Sequoia Capital and InfoEdge in one of the largest funding rounds for a consumer internet company in India. This deal values the company at over Rs 900 crore ($150 million) and has “best positioned” Goyal “to build a formidable global internet company out of India.” Prior to founding Zomato, Goyal was a management consultant at Bain and Company. He holds an integrated masters in Mathematics and Computing from IIT Delhi.

This post was conducted by Innovate Delhi, a three-week long academy that works with aspiring entrepreneurs to hone their skills in innovation, team-building, and strategy. Applications are due on 1st February at innovatedelhi.com/apply

[Innovate Delhi] What prompted you to start Zomato? What made a graduate from one of the most prestigious colleges in the country working at one of the prestigious companies in the world start a restaurant discovery website and mobile app?

[Deepinder Goyal] Back in 2008, I was working at Bain and Company, one of the largest management consulting firms in the world. At Bain, I noticed that my colleagues used to line up to view the stack of restaurant menu cards in the cafeteria during lunch hour. There was a rule that you cannot take the menus to your desk since people generally ended up losing these menus causing inconvenience for everyone. Looking at the queue, and to save the trouble for everyone, I just scanned these menus cards and put them online for everyone to use. This small intranet website started getting a substantial number of hits from people within Bain. That is when we realized that we can build a business out of scanned menus. That is how Zomato was born.

Deepinder-zomato-Pankaj

You told your parents about your decision to quit Bain only after quitting. What was their initial reaction? As an entrepreneur, how important is having family on your side?
My parents don’t really think about things once they have happened. So when I told them that I had quit my job, their reaction was “Ok, whatever”. They asked me to tell them if things get difficult for me financially. My wife Kanchan has supported me right through – she is a big believer in Zomato. It is important having family’s support in your entrepreneurial pursuits. If one is focused on their goals, everything eventually falls into plan.

To preview out next interview with P Rajasekharan of v-shesh, we found out that he frequently brings his daughter to his office. Do you see yourself bringing your daughter to Zomato and blending your personal and professional lives?
I don’t know. I don’t plan such things. If it does happen, it will not be because I planned it to be that way. It will be because it has to be that way.

One thing that sets apart an Indian company from US-based companies is that Indians are willing to work harder. People here can and would work 24×7 to accomplish something. That’s the sort of advantage we have here in India in terms of people.

You believe in hiring “good people.” What has been the best and worst hiring decision you have made?
We look for qualities like ethics, respect, attitude and skill – in that order. Looking back, all the people that we have asked to leave have either failed at Level 1 (Ethics) or Level 3 (Attitude). Mostly at Level 3. Similarly, the best hiring decisions we have made have been in being able to identify people with energy, focus and persistence.

Deep Kalra, our first interview for the Innovate Delhi blog, told us that an entrepreneur should be ready to do anything and everything in the initial years. What have been some memorably crazy challenges that you have met and not met?
The major challenge we have faced so far has been making sure that we have covered each and every street in the cities where we launch and have information for each restaurant in the city. Ideas can sometimes matter less than the execution. Hiring the right people has also been a major challenge. When we hire, we try our best to ensure that people are cultural fits – skill alone does not cut it for us.

For global internet corporations too, India is now the preferred choice for new investments.

In your corporate and entrepreneurial journey, how do you think the Indian entrepreneurial space has evolved and what are the most promising trends today?
A lot has changed in India over the past few years. Let’s look at three things first: Start ups, venture capitalists (VCs) and the market. There are a lot of good start ups that we see nowadays. We have many role model firms and entrepreneurs today and people are looking up to these role models to build up their companies. The ecosystem has evolved quite a lot, though it still needs to do much more. In terms of VCs, there are many entry-stage and growth funds coming in and they are more willing now to take risks with their money than they were earlier. Thirdly, the local market has changed a lot. Earlier, consumers were very rare to find. But now, it’s relatively easy to hit scale.

One thing that sets apart an Indian company from US-based companies is that Indians are willing to work harder. People here can and would work 24×7 to accomplish something. That’s the sort of advantage we have here in India in terms of people.

Now with the growth of internet penetration with over 200 million Indians logging onto the internet, there is a huge opportunity for web-based start-ups in the consumer space. VC money flows to markets which have large problems to be solved with start ups solving them, India is one such market. For global internet corporations too, India is now the preferred choice for new investments.

One of our key goals for Innovate Delhi is to build a community of like-minded entrepreneurial individuals. To that end, how have you fostered and maintained your professional relationships throughout your career? How has the changed or evolved since you started Zomato?
Networking and building strong professional relationships is important for any entrepreneur. I have built a strong network over the years that has been very helpful. It always starts with alumni networks and grows from there.

If you were a judge at our program, what would be the top three qualities you will look for in an aspiring entrepreneur?
Focus and clarity on what needs to be achieved. It has been the one principle we have followed in everything at Zomato right from product to sales to hiring. Well, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’. Persistence and consistent effort are required in order to translate an idea into a business. Also, to follow through is important – to deliver on what you set out to do.

Well, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’. Persistence and consistent effort are required in order to translate an idea into a business.

This blog post was written by Sonal J Goyal for Innovate Delhi Entrepreneurship Academy. Innovate Delhi is a three-week long academy that works with aspiring entrepreneurs to hone their skills in innovation, team-building, and strategy. Applications are due on 1st February at innovatedelhi.com/apply

 

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Breaking the Status Quo: Takeaways from a Revolution Taking Wings #PNCamp

It’s not often I find myself in a roomful of people driven by a shared vision. Inspiration was inevitably seeping in. It took me not more than a couple of minutes to realise that I should count myself lucky as I was in the same room as the bravehearts who were changing the world one product at a time.

The inaugural ProductNation Camp at Pune was a movement taking shape. More than 120 startups were brought together in the most unique of formats resulting in 2 days of high-quality discussions, learnings and mindshare.

The message behind the format was loud and clear. “No sage on stage”. Entrepreneurs never learn based on a pre-defined syllabi structure. They love to disrupt, destroy and re-build. The 2 days were filled with gems of knowledge, actionable insights and conversations from the heart.

What follows are some which hit me hard:

  • Pick your battle and fight it out: A product can’t solve all the problems of the world. Shashank ND, Co-founder at Practo emphasised the fact that a startup needs to focus on a single problem to solve first and fight it out in the market with that one product. This approach ensures a laser sharp focus and allows for the best of resources to be spent towards creating value for the customer.

 

  • Tell your own story, avoid drawing an analogy: I heard few founders introduce themselves saying “I run a startup ____ which is like ____ but with ____. Think of it as Dropbox meets YouTube meets Facebook.” Such a narrow vision or outlook of one’s own product has huge ramifications in the way people react. Not the best way to build trust and confidence. Write your own story, be proud of it and build on it.

 

  • Build an experience, delight the user: The most successful of web products have delightful and simple design at their centre. Harshit Desai insisted that designer(s) and developers should work closely in a team to build the product. Have an inclusive design, avoid focussing too narrowly on a set user profile. 

 

  • Being shameless is truly being human: Entrepreneurs are not a differentiated human race. They are brought up in the same systems, and often many of them carry the “What will others think” baggage.  “Self-doubt and fear of failure take many down”, said Kunal, Founder at Freecharge.in. Being true to your product and your vision is about losing the baggage and being ‘shameless’. Perhaps a sales attitude often overlooked.

 

  • Two wheels and an engine, the sales hack: Shashank led perhaps the best session of the camp as he dived into the sales philosophy and concepts which he believes in. A photograph of his bike was up on a slide (he still uses it to reach customers). Hit the ground running, talk to customers, no one refuses a cup of coffee. “Spend a lot of time with the end-user of your product and convince them that it’s THE solution they seek.”

 

  • An engaging story comes before a good copy: “Good storytellers, writers are born, not trained”, said Girish, Founder at Freshdesk. Experience counts for little if you are looking to create content as a marketing strategy. Don’t just talk about your product, share your ideas, opinions and learnings with a broader context. With content, be there out-to-educate, not out-sell.

 

  • Technologists are great sellers by-the-way: Ashish Gupta, Senior MD at Helion Ventures is a technologist to the core and he took upon himself to convince us that selling is a challenge and not a handicap. Look around… Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs! Something common? – all techies who rose up to the challenge of selling products (isn’t it about that at the end of the day?).  

 

If I can speak up for many like me, we couldn’t believe that we were in a room of like-minded individuals who shared similar challenges, had fought through and risen up with their head held high. I guess that was the vision behind the format. These startups are sure to change the world in their own little/big ways. As the camp drew to its inevitable close, I was invigorated by the inherited treasure house of learnings, experiences and friendships. The team behind the initiative should be proud and I hope the movement only gets stronger by the day.

Guest Post by Tejaswi Raghurama  who is helping build Entrepreneur Academy at the National Entrepreneurship Network.