Working in a startup: times are changing

The world’s becoming more tech-driven with each passing day, and only those businesses that learn to effectively harness the massive disruptive power of technology will survive.

The advent of disruption-driven startups was as much a harbinger of change for the established market arrangement in India as it was on a global level.

It would have been easy to dismiss the startup revolution as a bubble, but they have managed to survive and continue to thrive in an extremely competitive ecosystem.

The reason behind their success is their focus on technology, which has been revolutionising everything that it even remotely crosses paths with. Artificial intelligence, augmented reality, data mining, cloud computing, blockchain – you name it, they have it.

100 percent efficiency: An ordinary day at work

Startups have been able to go toe-to-toe with established businesses because they have integrated technology into every process possible, and everywhere it is financially feasible. This tech-led approach has allowed them to be more agile, efficient, and effective while maintaining lean operations. But while the market-side applications of these technologies are well-known today, what’s more fascinating is how they are changing work cultures within the startups themselves.

• Artificial Intelligence: AI is a burgeoning industry that’s expected to grow from its current market size of about $2.4 billion to $59.7 billion by 2025. In addition to revolutionising the way the world operates, this state-of-the-art technology is also helping startups become inventive for across-the-board operations, including management of people and processes. Knowlarity, a cloud communications service provider, for instance, is using AI in its HR-based chatbot to address and resolve employee concerns.

This is done by having a meaningful conversation with employees through a Machine Learning-based chatbot. It also provides first-hand HR analytics to the management and helps them develop a more conducive work environment.

• Geo-location tracking: As opposed to corporate businesses, where a professional is allowed to work from home only for a limited number of days, some startups are managing productivity by entirely basing themselves on a ‘work-from-home’ module. FA Webtech, an IT company based in Hapur (Uttar Pradesh), works on a similar concept of making employees’ residences their workplaces. Many ventures also track their human resources using geo-location to ensure that they are working from ‘home’. This novel approach not only brings down the operational costs for the organisation, but also enables the individual to become more productive by decreasing the number of hours that they have to spend travelling.
• Mirroring Technology: As smaller businesses move towards Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) for decreasing their infrastructural and operational expenditure, personal devices can often cause tangible loss of productivity in a business meeting due to device incompatibility issues and projection equipment malfunction. This challenge is being addressed by advanced cloud-based mirroring solutions such as Barco ClickShare, which facilitate seamless audio-visual media broadcasting on network-connected devices such as smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, and laptops. Such solutions also feature enhanced moderator control, an on-screen preview of devices, and locking down capabilities for a transmitting device, along with an additional layer of security, including access code-based login and enterprise-level encryption. Their USB guest access, moreover, allows guest presenters to connect and present in a matter of seconds.

Startups operate on lean business models and severe budgetary restrictions, making it imperative for them to optimise every process, efficiently utilise every resource, and extract the maximum value from every business initiative. There is little to no elbow room for them, and no scope of slipping up. This is what makes technology so vital to their operations. Not only can it help startups in unlocking unparalleled efficiencies across the board, but also allow them to become even more effective when it comes to addressing the prevalent challenges and reaching their end goals.

More and more startups are now integrating state-of-the-art technologies into their end-user offerings and in-house processes. Doing so is no longer a luxury, but an urgent necessity.

With the world becoming more tech-driven with each passing day, only those businesses which learn to effectively harness the massive disruptive power of technology will be able to survive and thrive in this increasingly hyper-competitive, digital-first business ecosystem.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)