It was not a calculated move. And Archit Gupta knew it. But in 2011, what mattered most for the software engineer—a 27-year-old startup employee in the Bay Area in San Francisco—was to back his counter-intuitive instinct. The early-stage firm Gupta worked for was acquired, and the IIT-Guwahati alumnus didn’t want another job; the idea of starting on his own began to brew in his mind. The logical move would have been to set something up in the Bay Area itself, the Mecca of startups. The less predictable move was to go back to India and take fresh guard. A quick chat with his father, a chartered accountant, made Gupta see the elephant in the room: Vexing tax problems for consumers and enterprises. “I knew there was a problem, which meant an opportunity,” he says.
The volley of problems was as diverse as the country to which he was planning to go back to. First, in India, taxpayers accounted for a meagre one percent of the population; this meant a limited market to cater to. Second, most of those filing taxes were doing it with the help of a chartered accountant. This meant there was no technology used in the process, either by the government or by consumers. Fintech, in fact, was an alien word. Third, instilling trust among taxpayers to use an online platform for paying taxes was well-nigh impossible. Fourth, feedback from both colleagues in the Bay Area as well as friends back in India was unanimously dissuading.
Esta historia es de la edición November 6, 2020 de Forbes India.
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Esta historia es de la edición November 6, 2020 de Forbes India.
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Home-Cooked Meal Is Now Greatly Valued
The pandemic has also brought with it an improved focus on hygiene, use of technology in dining, rise of cloud kitchens and resurgence in popularity of Indian ingredients
Paytm 3.0 - Reaching Near Breakeven In Two Years
As of 2020, Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s super app for financial services had run up losses in thousands of crores. Now, as digital payments gets yet another boost courtesy Covid-19, he’s hopeful of reaching near breakeven in two years
THE PANDEMIC HAS CAUSED WOMEN GREATER LABOUR PAIN
Covid-19 has shown that women are more likely to face the brunt of job losses than men, and find fewer opportunities when they want to resume. That apart, several have to deal with increased hours of unpaid work at home and even domestic abuse
LEADERSHIP WILL BE ABOUT SEEING THE BIGGER PICTURE
Leaders must not only guard their teams first during a crisis, but also deal with stakeholders with respect and dignity. And apart from pursuing business goals, they should remain committed to our planet and the environment
PHILANTHROPY SHOULD BE HUMBLE, BUT NOT MODEST
Apart from building a flexible and resilient framework for the future, philanthropists, civil society and the government must work in tandem so that every rupee is absorbed on the ground
INTEGRATED HEALTH CARE, TECH WILL DISRUPT SECTOR
While clinical research will get a boost, having a skilled workforce and public spending on health care will be challenges in the near term
DIGITALISATION WILL HELP IN VALUE CREATION
As the pandemic brings technology and innovation to the core of business and daily life, the next decade will see about 150 million digital-first families in India
Industry 4.0: Climate Revolution?
Augmenting sustainability alongside digital capabilities is an economic, competitive and global opportunity for India’s businesses, but regulations need to reflect intent
EV Dream Still Miles Away
Electric vehicles have remained a buzzword in India for years. But not much has moved on ground due to high upfront costs, range anxiety and charging infrastructure
Living Waters
A virus has caused us to scramble for oxygen but our chokehold on the environment is slowly strangling the very waters that breathe life into us. The virus is a timely reminder: We are merely consumers, not producers of life’s breath on this planet
