CATEGORIES

Rajkummar Rao - The Realistic Hero

The first thing you will notice about Rajkummar Rao, if you are lucky to meet the actor everybody is raving about these days, is his humility. The actor, busy with shoots in Mumbai, displays a calm demeanour as we settle down to what turns out to be an extensive, reveal-all-inner workings interview. The 34-yearold actor is brimming with wisdom on all things cinema as we probe his creative methods.

Will Freelancing Kill Jobs?

Call it on-demand economy, sharing economy, gig economy, freelance economy, peer economy, access economy, or instant gratification economy – sharing of resources accessible instantly is the fundamental change occurring that might well make the concept of ‘owning’ obsolete in few years. And specialized independent human capital aka freelancers are the main beneficiaries of this change, served on freelancing platforms that are democratizing the way businesses would engage with talent in 21st century.

5 Simple Tips To Turn Your Hobby Into A Million-Dollar Business

Passion Pays

Angel Investment Finally Got Some Repair Done

Just 350 – Yes, that’s what approximately total number of angels world’s third largest start-up ecosystem - India, has got. The US, the world’s largest, has around 300,000 angels and around 400 active angel groups. To even think of aiming for that sort of robustness, we categorically need not just more angels but higher flexibility in their ability to raise funds, invest in various stages for portfolio and geographical diversity, and less restriction in carving their exit strategies. The recent changes in the angel fund regulations can be the inflection point for bringing that robustness.

Dunkin' Donuts

The coffee-and-doughnut brand’s tally in the U.S.sounds like a lot—it has more than 8,600 existing shops—but that’s small by the company’s ambitions.

E-commerce Talent On Hire, Again?

Over 15,000 employees, like files from the computer, have been deleted by their e-commerce employers over last 20 months or so. That’s because either businesses went extinct or their employees suffered the ‘restructuring’ pang, courtesy – the drug that kept their spirits ‘high’ became elusive. Now as we expect an uptick in sane capital, would the gold rush in attracting talent stage a comeback? Listen in to India’s top e-commerce headhunters.

Cash - In On The Trash

Cut the crap! What bullshit! What a waste! If only we could use these phrases in a positive context. Changing the dictionary meaning, these business enthusiasts are capitalizing on our trash and we still think our waste is going to the Bermuda triangle, never to return. Want to know what’s in the waste for us? Let’s do some ‘trash-talk’!

Walking A Long Road

Having walked miles in those everlasting shoes has been a great and comfortable journey. Durability, comfort and value for money are the three essential traits based on which legacy footwear brands like Liberty, Metro, Action, Paragon, Relaxo, Khadims, developed their customer base. However, with couture range and global brands being accessible at the tip of our fingers, international trends are driving market trends. To keep up with the changing trends, the Indian brands are constantly improvising in terms of technological innovation, material and design to distinguish themselves from high-street fashion. According to a KPMG report, the footwear sector has the potential to grow up to $80 billion, or eight times its present size by 2030.

Capturing Eye-Balls With Ingenious Ideas

Fund-raising is a key issue that plagues the scaling of startups in India.

Solving The Numberz Puzzle

Small and medium enterprises (SME) have often found themselves at the crossroads of banking giants and unorganised cash lenders, where they have had no option but to opt for the latter. But with the digitization drive, SMEs, too, have been inundated with banking opportunities. Even then, they don’t know how to filter out the best from the mess. ADITYA TULSIAN, founder, Numberz is solving the problem for them.

Naturally Engineered

Riding on the Green wheel, Delhi-NCR based Bamboo India, (BAIN) bikes is Redefining the Green mode of transportation i.e. Bicycle/Bike to a whole new level. These Bikes designed and handcrafted out of Bamboo rather than traditional metal. Perfect for people who are looking to contribute their bit for a greener and healthier lifestyle themselves and the world. ASHUTOSH PRATAP SINGH inspired by Nature has taken a steps in curbing India’s major issues like traffic, pollution (Air, water, land) and personal health with his creation.

Changing The Face Of Indian Education

The rapid adaptation of technology is changing the Indian education model like everything else. With the government making changes like HEERA and NTA, start-ups are also coming up with newer variants every day. RAKESH MEHTA, the Marketing Head of Astral Education, speaks about how they are trying to make education models accessible from home for students preparing for UGC NET examination.

The Real Search Engine Optimizer

Back in 2000, NAVNEET KAUSHAL, straight out of college, got fascinated by how websites’ traffic flow on the Internet. His fascination made him among the pioneers in search engine optimization (SEO) space in India. 15 years later after he launched PageTraffic, Kaushal is quite an authority in SEO business and boasts of leading the market in India.

Dripping In Flavoured Sweetness

A one of its kind innovation in India, DR. SAI ASLESH.T AND DR. LAKSHMI RAJ came up with the idea of serving the mob with pure milk ice-creams only out of love and passion. The commitment and passion has driven then to a stance where they are entrepreneurs by choice and not by profession, helping them setup their dream venture, “Stoned Monkey.”

The 'Three Musketeers' of Woldcraft

EVER WONDERED WHAT IT TAKES TO BUILD A BRAND? WELL SOME REAL INTEREST, LOADS OF PASSION, LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE AKA CO-FOUNDERS COMING TOGETHER, TIME FOR SOME PIVOT, SHAKE IT AND MIX IT WELL TILL YOU GET YOUR DESIRED BRAND IN RESULT. WELL THAT’S HOW THE STORY SUMS UP FOR WILD CRAFT. ENTREPRENEUR EXPLORES THE JOURNEY BEHIND THE BRAND.

Venture Funding is a Shot in the Dark

Group thinking, herd mentality, or bandwagon effect - one of the most serious cognitive biases leveled against venture capitalists by entrepreneurs in the consumer space for picking already “proven” business models over otherwise “new, and innovative ideas” with no global precedence. The argument hence is that such an act is stifling innovation one of the reasons why a consumer Internet start-up with a global footprint is yet to emerge from the world’s third largest start-up ecosystem.

It's A Yes For Fintech Start-Ups

The country’s fifth largest private sector bank, YES Bank, is among the first-of-its-kind ‘companies offering banking-as-a-service’, as it positions itself as a technology company in the business of banking. In its digital-first banking strategy, based on its Alliances, Relationships & Technology (ART) approach, the bank’s fintech accelerator – YES Fintech, launched in January this year, is letting it take its customer services to a new level while being the gateway for start-ups to the financial ecosystem. Entrepreneur spoke to the man himself - Rana Kapoor, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, YES Bank; and Chairman, YES Global Institute, for the low-down.

Innovation And Ideas At Its Best

The Entrepreneur Startup Summit 2017 recently held in Bengaluru, brought together a diverse group of individuals, starting from leaders of established companies to young risk takers that are on testing waterbeds with their innovative ideas.

The Hunger Game

Deepinder Goyal, Founder and CEO, Zomato

Making Maximum Impact

Rahul Sharma, Co-Founder, Micromax

For EXIM, It Is Products And Services And Not Region

The Export-Import Bank of India or the Exim Bank may not be serving the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) directly but every time, they need to venture overseas – by market expansion or capacity expansion, it extends a helping hand. In an exclusive conversation with Entrepreneur, DEBASISH MALLICK, Deputy Managing Director, Exim Bank, shares about its agnostic support to the SMEs, its effort towards digitization and various other initiatives.

The Start-Up Superhero

Spanning passion and ambition, rebel and instinct, with a dose of creativity and energy, Akshay Kumar has created a niche as an actor for using entertainment as a medium of moving the society to a better place.

Maha-power To Women Entrepreneurs

Before 2017 could end, Maharashtra Government approved an industrial policy to boost and encourage women entrepreneurship in the state. Claiming it to be first such policy in the country, Subhash Desai, Minister of Industries, Maharashtra, talks about the motive behind the policy and how women entrepreneurs can avail its benefits.

Crunching Numbers In The Cloud

For long in India, small and medium enterprises (SME) have always been business driven. Increasing revenue is what drives a startup and small business owner to work every day, slug it out and survive another day of managing clients and operations.

The Access Code Rewritten

Under the government’s nose to maintain the sanctity of net neutrality and ‘gated’ principles of Facebook’s Free Basics for the farce called affordable Internet, there are few start-ups that are truly democratizing it.

Going Back To The Whiteboard

Hacker Earth helped companies hire better developers, grew at $1 million run rate, employed over 100 people and had no trouble in sight. But after four years doing so, its CEO Sachin Gupta knew that he has completely messed it up.

Strong With The Wind

DEVANSH JAIN l 30, Director, Inox Wind Limited

Providing an Ecosystem for Ideation

In his role to develop disruptive start-ups culture in Karnataka, Priyank Kharge, Minister of State, IT, BT and Tourism, Government of Karnataka, has been much more than an ‘ordinary minister’. Apart from announcing start-up friendly policies, he is directly in contact with all the ventures the government had supported over the years. A people’s person is what Kharge can be called, as he approaches the start-ups by asking for updates just like a regular venture capitalist or fund. Here’s the new-age minister with the attitude of an investor and mindset of a leader.

When ‘‘ Doing Good'' Isn't Good Enough

A social entrepreneur’s product flops, so he finds a new way to keep his cause alive.

Marketing Folks At Start-Ups The New-Age Evangelists

Marketing in the world of start-ups is a tad bit different from those at large organizations. A marketing officer at a start-up, who at times is termed as an evangelist, has the task of canvassing a plan for a brand new set up. The person in command ends up donning multiple hats and most often is the sole person in charge of the task!