Words startups use: did your ‘Chief Outside Officer’ suggest you try ‘nanolocal’ commerce?

If in a few days, months or even years later you hear these words, will you remember where you read them? Those of us engaging with the startup community, along with listening to some kickass ideas, are also privy to innovative concepts and new words being coined daily.

Here are a couple of terms I overheard at startup engagements this past week.

Do you have a Chief Outside Officer?

No, this isn’t about someone who has recently been fired. Nor is this person required to be sitting outside the office during work.

This role was mentioned by startup advisor, Ashok Lalla, at a Pan IIM Alumni meet-up in Bengaluru. The former Infosys global head of digital marketing brought this up while elaborating on the importance of an ‘outsider’s viewpoint’ in the marketing world.

A ‘Chief Outside Officer’ can be an asset to startups. He or she can bring in new perspectives and advice on marketing investments and potential growth areas, as well as brand positioning and customer feedback -- all as seen by an outsider.

This C-Outside-O role need not just be restricted to the sharing of insights, but could also be extended to help operationalise the suggestions, and further progress with a stake in the company’s growth. An experienced hands-on person with a proven track record who shows genuine interest in your business might make for a good ‘Chief Outside Officer’.

Has your neighbourhood solution turned ‘nano-local’?

You have heard of hyper-local startups, whose technologies and activities revolve around a well-defined community, and focus on solving challenges of that community. Just when one thought hyper-local startups were the trend, there comes another disruptive form of startup -- the nano-local startup.

‘Nanolocal’ solutions are all about information that is real-time or near-real-time, and are primarily based on one’s needs and intent. They are always contextual, according to BountyApp (formerly Medine) Founder Satish Medapati. The BountyApp team has managed to register a trademark for this term.

Nanolocal deals with real-time insights, adding to the personalisation and contextual information that some other forms of localised services offer. There are many use cases that are seeing the emergence of the nanolocal world through. They are not necessarily from large corporations.

Citing an example of a nano-local solution, Satish asks to imagine visiting a physical store where clothes can be touched and tried. Upon liking the product the consumer can purchase it on the mobile app. The purchase then gets delivered to the home address, excusing the customer of the hassle of queues or the carrying of bags. Further, the payment options and reward points can also be seamlessly integrated into this experience.

Have you heard of more such coinages from the startup community? Do let us know. You can also expect to hear many a useful insight and discoveries during the upcoming MobileSparks event.

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