YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018: Here are the authors to watch out for in 2019

We present YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018, our compilation of emerging thought leaders, whose thoughts and opinions mattered to our readers in 2018 and whose voices, we believe, will gain prominence in 2019 and beyond. We recommend you watch out for these emerging voices in the year ahead to stay informed and inspired by their deep, insightful, and engaging content.

Every year, YourStory brings you thousands of inspirational, insightful and impactful stories of entrepreneurs who’ve defined and continue to shape the narrative of the Indian startup ecosystem. Along with these stories, we also bring you the insights and opinions of expert voices from various fields, whose writings go beyond the world of startups and businesses and delve into pertinent political, social, gender, and environmental issues.

We’ve published hundreds of such in-depth articles and opinions by experts and influencers on YourStory, as well as on our different properties, including HerStory and SocialStory. But among these experts, we have found that every year, there is always a crop of new and emerging voices whose thoughts and opinions are worth watching out for, particularly as they begin to write more frequently on their areas of expertise.

Today, we’re proud to present YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018, our recommendation of experts whose voices will matter in the year 2019 and whose writings, we believe, you should watch out for to stay informed and inspired in the year ahead.

YourStory's 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018 includes entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders, activists, healthcare workers, journalists, authors, and bloggers from across India and the world, who have contributed high-quality, insightful and engaging content for our readers.

Through their writings, they have empowered our readers, by being better informed, learning something new, and being better equipped to handle news and issues at hand.

To compile the list of YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018, we scoured through thousands of articles contributed by specialists in various fields, carefully selecting those that garnered the highest engagement from our readers, using measures such as number of page views, time spent per user, likes, comments and shares.

In essence, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018 is a compilation of emerging thought leaders, whose voices mattered to our readers in 2018, and whose voices, we believe, will gain prominence in the year ahead and matter moreso going forward.

#1. Shailesh Jha, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: For anyone looking for an expert voice on China or the global macroeconomic, business, financial markets, and political landscape, Shailesh Jha’s voice is the one to follow. From his writings on trends emerging in China, to the recent rupee depreciation, to the likely impact of the China-U.S. trade war, to issues that warrant the focus of the upcoming Indian elections, to even a potential recession in the East, Shailesh Jha provides a well-informed, data-driven analysis of world events that matter.

Sample this: “What India decides to do in May is important not just for the country, but for the world. If one sixth of humanity decides to vote for inclusive growth within a democratic set-up, the coming two decades will see global poverty decline and new markets open up for economies across the world, much as China emerged from being the world’s biggest factory in the 1990s to the world’s preferred market in the current decade. Indian youth of today, who comprise more than half of the electorate, have a choice at hand -- 40 years from now, what kind of country they would like to breathe their last in,” Shailesh writes in India 2019 general elections: The critical overs of the power play begin

His story: Shailesh Jha, who hails from Bokaro in Jharkhand, lives in Shanghai, where he is currently pursuing an MBA at the China Europe International Business School. Shailesh is also armed with a dual Master's degree in Finance and Electrical Engineering from BITS Pilani. Shailesh has worked with Credit Suisse's private banking and asset management division, where he worked on long-term thematic investment ideas with the Credit Suisse Research Institute and was promoted as the assistant to the Chief Asia Economist in Singapore. At Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank in the UAE, he advised UAE firms with a significant presence in Asia on economic policy issues, via research notes and briefings.

#2. Puneet Kumar, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Puneet, an investor and tech enthusiast, writes about the trends emerging in the way technology is being adopted across the country. He outlines the opportunity he sees for various sectors, in particular the mobile gaming ecosystem, in India as people across rural India go digital, thanks to the Jio effect. Puneet’s timely article where he lays out a first-hand account of his own observations when playing the highly popular Tencent game PUBG in Rajasthan, was extremely well-loved by our readers and one of our most-read pieces this year.

Sample this:

"When Jio rolled out its nationwide network and slashed wireless broadband prices, it unleashed – among other things – the tailwind needed for the development of the Indian mobile gaming ecosystem. Global games with a massive following in other markets have been waiting on the sidelines for a long time. PUBG, from Tencent, has not only taken the lead in gaining the Indian gaming mindshare but is leading the way for the creation of amazing games for India over the next decade," Puneet writes.

His story: Puneet is Vice President at Nexus Venture Partners, who has tried his hand at entrepreneurship, consulting and advising startups in education, entertainment, SaaS and consumer tech. Prior to Nexus, he led one of McKinsey’s first sales acceleration programs for a leading SaaS startup in India as well as projects that helped companies bring new and disruptive technologies to market in the US, Europe, and India. His most engaging experiences pre-McKinsey include stints at a global macro hedge fund (Passport Capital), and with start-ups in Silicon Valley and India in consumer tech.

#3. Zubin Ajmera, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Zubin is a marketer and founder of two online businesses, who writes on the nuances of starting up and tips on earning an extra income. He also shares his tips on what aspiring entrepreneurs should do next when they have rough ‘business ideas’.

Sample this: “Let me introduce to you a simple litmus test that you can use when you come up with any idea to check if you can proceed with it or not. Motivation is good. Getting excited is good. We all should absolutely love our idea. But I'd rather do a little bit of research on any idea before I start dreaming. In fact, I've developed this invisible skill of always “not loving” my idea first. Meaning, thoroughly dissecting each part of the idea first,” Zubin writes in You have a ‘rough’ business idea in mind. What should you do next?. 

His story: After a 5-year stint in the U.S., Zubin returned to India. He’s a Marketer, Founder of 2 online businesses, and started Progress and Win, a site where he helps working professionals and beginner bloggers start an online side business from scratch, using tested techniques and strategies. He believes in a strict “no-B.S” approach and has been featured on YourStory and other brands.

#4. Harsh Shah, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Harsh writes about his learnings and experiences running an e-commerce business as a co-founder of Fynd, the unique fashion ecommerce portal that brings the latest in-store fashion online. His article on why Fynd took the bold decision to stop Cash on Delivery (COD), which is the lifeline of an e-commerce business, was much-loved by readers seeking to understand the importance of COD for online retailers.

Sample this: “In January 2018, we shut down COD completely. We trusted our genuine customers to still transact with us and shut off the noise of unfulfilled orders which were mere numbers for us. Completely shutting down COD definitely impacted our top line numbers... but we were well prepared for it. In the end, we were okay doing less business with genuine orders than more business with false orders,” Harsh writes in Why we stopped supporting Cash on Delivery (COD) – and are loving it!

His story: Harsh Shah is one of the three co-founders of Fynd, the unique fashion e-commerce portal which brings the latest in-store fashion online. He has a keen interest in consumer-facing technology in the retail sector, and specialises in management consulting. At Fynd, he brings his valuable experience in technology and entrepreneurship to the table, and oversees the supply side of operations, including managing partnering brands and stores.

#5. Siddarth Pai, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Finance is a critical element for any business, be it in large corporations or startups and Siddarth's writings reflect his acute understanding of that critical element, with his solid knowledge of financial models. His writings also serve as a guide for startups to navigate through the complexities of the legal world.

Sample this: “As the entire Startup and Angel Investor ecosystem in India cheers the recent relaxations by the Tax authorities about “no coercive measures” to recover outstanding amounts and a clear deadline for the disposal of pending appeals by 31st March 2018, we must be aware that every silver cloud has a dark lining. While many column inches have been dedicated to the angel tax (section 56(2)(viib)), none have spoken about a far more nefarious section: Section 68 (Unexplained Cash Credits),” Siddarth wrote ominously in February.

His story: Founding Partner and CFO at 3one4 Capital, Siddarth Pai leads a team of finance professionals and business analysts that manage the end-to-end processes from deal evaluations and diligence over legal and financial dimensions to portfolio management operations across the set of deployments. He has successfully closed more than 60 investments in companies through the fund and is regularly consulted by the top audit, accounting, taxation, and legal professionals in the venture investment field in India. Siddarth has also led over 30 investments in other investment vehicles across multiple asset classes in India and the US.

#5. Gagan Singla, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: As trade-related tensions escalate between the US and China, Gagan Singla writes about the likely impact on the Indian and global economies in the event of an implementation of tariffs and a full-blown trade war between the two countries.

Sample this: “Today, the world is witnessing an unprecedented trend of synchronous growth, a growth which is dynamic in nature. Hence, there is a necessity for preparedness for all types of eventualities, as on the other end of the spectrum, if the trade war does not materialise, there is the possibility of tremendous growth in the Indian and world economy,” Gagan writes in The US-China trade war and its possible economic impact on India.

His Story: Gagan Singla is the CMO of AngelBroking, a leading stock broking and wealth management firm in India. He holds a BTech degree (Computer Science) from IIT Delhi and an MBA from IIM, Lucknow. All in all, he has over 15 years of experience in analytics, consulting, and marketing. He has been instrumental in delivering analytics-driven transformations in multiple industry sectors, including banks, insurance, ecommerce, AMCs, and the public sector across numerous geographies, including the US, UK, Europe, Malaysia, India, and Canada. In the last couple of years, he has taken up leadership roles in digital marketing to drive business growth in the new digital age.

#6. Meena Ganesh, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Meena Ganesh writes about entrepreneurship. And as a seasoned entrepreneur herself, she has some great insights to share on the journey of an entrepreneur and offers tips on best practices to adopt to make your entrepreneurial adventure a smooth and easy one.

Sample this: “The most difficult thing is to know when to pivot or stop the journey. Most people tend to get immensely attached to an extent that they transcend economic reasoning. It is hence important to think practically and start over during these times,” Meena writes in her article in HerStory.

Her Story: As the MD and CEO of Portea Medical, Meena heads India’s leading consumer healthcare brand. Meena is also a partner in Growthstory.in, and has co-promoted more than a dozen, new-age Internet / Technology enabled start-ups.

#7. Neerja Birla, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Neerja writes about issues and topics that she is passionate about: children, education, and mental health. She also writes about women empowerment and offers advice on how one can best manage one's mental and physical health. 

Sample this: “Indian women are used to sacrificing their own needs for those of the family. This must stop. Instead, women must actively pursue their personal dreams and goals, and learn to set aside a little bit of “me time”. As they say on flights: “If the oxygen mask deploys in case of an emergency, put your own mask on first before assisting a child or any other passenger.” Similarly, women need to put their own mental health and needs before those of others. They owe it to themselves,” Neerja writes in her article on HerStory.

Her Story: Neerja Birla is the Founder and Chairperson of Aditya Birla Education Academy. She is passionate about children, education and mental health. She is actively engaged as the Chairperson of Aditya Birla World Academy, The Aditya Birla Integrated School and Mpower.

#8. ElsaMarie D’ Silva, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Elsa’s writings are focused around women safety and creating safe spaces.

Sample this: “…it can feel overwhelming to think about all the ways there is still gender discrimination. But I believe we can each play a part in changing it by first reflecting on our own lives and where we are on the empowerment scale. No one standard can be applied across the board, as everyone’s experience is different,” Elsa writes in her article that was published on HerStory.

Her Story: ElsaMarie D’Silva is the Founder and CEO of Safecity that crowdmaps sexual harassment in public places, and is a 2015 Aspen New Voices Fellow. Elsa’s work has focused on women and youth empowerment in the area of gender-based violence.

#9. Nikita Bhatia, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: As a Chartered Accountant and company secretary by profession, Nikita’s writings highlight her wide experience and knowledge in topics related to accountancy, taxation and corporate governance.

Sample this: "With a new set of rules that simplify the process of company incorporation, the government aims to make it easier to do business in India. The government is definitely expecting a spur in company incorporations with the new set of rules, which aim at not only simplifying the procedures but also making them foolproof."

Her story: Nikita Bhatia is the co-founder of VenturEasy, an online platform for company registration, book-keeping, accounting, tax consultancy and legal compliances in India. A Chartered Accountant and company secretary by profession, she has wide experience in the fields of audit, accountancy, taxation and corporate governance.

#10. Vinod Kumar Reddy, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: An expert in the e-commerce space and founder of a healthcare startup, Vinod is constantly look out for fresh ideas which can be successfully run as a business. His writings reflect his strong experience in and knowledge of the healthcare sector in the country.

Sample this: “In India, though the healthcare sector is seeing a giant leap in providing services to the consumers, it has still not been able to expand its market in rural areas. Around 75 percent of the rural population is struggling with insufficient infrastructure and technological awareness,” Vinod writes.

His story: Vinod is the founder and CEO of Zoylo Digihealth. He is a constant learner, a perpetual experimenter with ideas, and seasoned business manager with hands-on experience in defining business strategy from scratch. He has an in-depth understanding of what works in the industry and on the web exemplified by successful ventures in Indian eCommerce space handling overseas product procurement, distribution, and fulfilment.

#11. Sanna Vohra, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Armed with an Ivy league degree and experience of working across investment banking, advertising, Sanna had the flair for entrepreneurship right from her college days. Her writings are a valuable guide to all those youngsters who plan to make it big.

Sample this: "If you cannot articulate why what your company is doing is significantly better than anything else in the market, an investor is not going to invest in you (for more on this, read Peter Thiel’s Zero to One). Remember, investors are looking for 10x returns in less than a decade – and if you can’t figure out how you are going to compete, the likelihood of getting those returns diminish in their eyes,” Sanna writes in an article on how to attract investors.  

Her story: Sanna Vohra is the Founder and CEO of The Wedding Brigade, an online portal where users can discover the best wedding content, buy curated wedding fashion, and book verified vendors and services. Prior to The Wedding Brigade, Sanna worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley in New York, and at the advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi X. She discovered her passion for building businesses at Brown University, when she co-founded the largest student-run business at the time, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna cum Laude.

#12.    Vishnu Vengala, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: As a sales professional turned entrepreneur, Vishnu guides young entrepreneurs on how to leverage the various tools available on the internet to build an optimal brand for any new venture.

Sample this: “If you just started an online business, or are thinking of starting one, sooner or later you will worry about productivity, progress, and minimum resources at your disposal to help do things fast. You will be demotivated, and doubts about your abilities will creep in. You may feel lonely and short of help. You will identify some skills missing from you, such as producing great designs, implementing digital marketing campaigns on time, little to no knowledge about SEO, etc. But here’s the kicker – you are not alone.”

His story: Vishnu is a sales professional-turned-entrepreneur, and a cricket fan like most people. He writes about startups and online businesses and focuses on how to excel online using internet tools, on his blog FreshersBuddy.

#13. Faisal Ahmad, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Faisal Ahmad provides an overview of the technological disruptions that is currently underway and helps firms navigate through this maze. His thoughts and solutions on the topic give a glimpse into the way forward for the country.

Sample this: “The explosive economic growth in the last few decades in India has given us much to celebrate, but it has also had its unpleasant consequences. Today, 19 out of the 35 most polluted cities in the world are in India. For the last two years, New Delhi has had the ignominy of being the most polluted city in the world, as a confluence of factors turns the capital’s environment into a haze of smog and potentially lethal pollutants.”

His story: Faisal Ahmad is the founder and CEO of BIS Research, a global market intelligence, research, and advisory company that helps businesses navigate through technological disruption.

#14. Saswata Shankar De, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: The modern world throws up innumerable challenges and mounting pressures for individuals that have the potential to cause people to suffer a breakdown. Saswata’s writings is essential in today’s world as he offers advice on how to navigate through the ups and down you face in life.

Sample this: “Behavioural studies show (and I think we know this already as a team), that the most difficult part to execute is constant context switching (hopping in and out of unrelated tasks). Trying to keep yourself mentally alert and contributing at the highest levels 10-12 hours a day, can turn out to be incredibly stressful indeed. No matter how well versed you are on different subjects, frequent context switching takes a toll on your brain and it starts shutting down. Try to force it beyond a limit, and the result is stress.”

His story: Saswata Shankar De leads SquadVoice (part of Squad), which combines Humans + A.I. to help businesses de-risk large-scale operations and improve their time-to-money cycles. Before this, he has worked as a freelance writer, a procurement manager in one of India’s leading HVAC companies and co-founded two startups. His last startup - The First Meal - was acquired in early 2016.

#15. Vivek Steve Francis, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: As an entrepreneur who started early and has two ventures to his name, Vivek is able to capture the excitement of entrepreneurship in his writings. He also has the knack of spotting new business opportunities through technology.

Sample this: “Blockchain technology has emerged as the talk of town, especially after the recent rollout of the budget. While announcing the Union Budget 2018-19, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stated that the government was looking at adopting blockchain tech for disrupting and streamlining various sectors. While the sprawling financial services landscape seems to be the foremost sector to benefit from this revolutionary technology, other industries also seem poised to benefit from it.”

His story: Vivek Steve Francis is the CEO of Coinome, a Mumbai-based Digital Asset Exchange. Prior to this, Vivek had co-founded and is the Director of MobME Wireless Solutions Ltd. MobME has also yielded two successful spin-offs, in the form of a Startup Village and Chillr. Vivek holds a B-Tech degree in Electronics & Communication from Kerala University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management from International Management Institute, New Delhi.

#16. Ramathreya Krishnamurthi, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Ramathreya offers strategic advice on ensuring the transformation of organisations, particularly in relation to the critical topic of jobs. He writes eloquently about trends unfolding in the job market, whether it is in traditional or new and emerging sectors.

Sample this: “When it comes to today’s blue-collar workforce, it is teeming with semi-skilled or unskilled workers. However, this cannot be the case with coders for coding needs a high level of technical skill for perfect execution. Even though there are employers who strive to make code learning more accessible, it will surely take years to maintain equilibrium between the demand and supply of coders. But looking at the current scenario and considering facts, it can be concluded that those days are not far when coding will fall into the category of blue collar jobs.”

His story: Ramathreya Krishnamurthi is the Business Head at TimesJobs and TechGig. A business strategist and a transformational leader, he is known for his strategic thinking skills along with the art of managing complex transactions with simple and bottom-up solutions.

#17. Soha Moitra, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Soha, in her writings, brings to the fore various social issues afflicting the country. She provides valuable insights on these social issues and taps her grassroots experience to bring depth to her voice. She is committed to bringing about social impact and her writings reflect her deep concern and passion for these issues.

Sample this: “This brings us to the more fundamental question that if the aim is to build more toilets, or is it about getting more people to use them. As of now, the narrative seems to highlight how many toilets are built – often aiming largely at the points of access. However, on-ground experience from the intervention areas of CRY suggests that more focus is needed on changing mindset and behaviour patterns of people, when it comes to using toilets on a regular basis. When schools have proper and usable toilets, its health and hygiene implications are many fold and far-reaching.”

Her story: A post graduate in Social Work from M.S University, Vadodara, Soha Moitra joined CRY in 1997. In her initial years, she worked with the Youth division in Delhi and later the Development Support Division. After gaining experience at the grassroots she went on to anchor the Volunteer Action Division at CRY. Today, she is Regional Director – North.

#18. Prabhakar Mundkur, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Prabhakar has close to four decades of experience in advertising which makes him an authority on branding. However, his insights also extend to topics like net neutrality.

Sample this: “Brands are like people,” said Stephen King, a long time ago. So taking off from that wisdom, if a brand is dying it can be revived. But once it is completely dead it is difficult to revive it. When an individual placed cyanide in Tylenol bottles in the 1980s it almost killed the brand. But Tylenol made it back to the shelves when the company recalled every bottle and introduced 'gelcaps' which were tamper-proof.”         

His story: Prabhakar Mundkur is a Brand Strategy Advisor. He spent 38 years in the advertising business with companies like JWT, Havas and Y & R in India, Africa, and Asia. His favourite platform is LinkedIn where he writes a few times a week. In his spare time, he is a closeted jazz musician.

#19. Arjun Kalyanpur, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Dr Arjun, who is a serial entrepreneur in the healthcare space, has written about lessons that entrepreneur can learn from watching Rafael Nadal train. His writing reflects his unique ability to derive insights for entrepreneurs from a completely unrelated field like sports and offer tips on how one can apply these insights in real-life and business-related situations.

Sample this: “The incredible thing is that even though Rafa is world number one, it is as though his glorious past does not exist for him. He is completely engaged in every tennis practice session as seriously as though he is a neophyte. The learning for the entrepreneur is that the hallmark of true greatness lies in the ability to constantly seek improvement and to be open to feedback. ”

His story: Dr Arjun Kalyanpur is CEO and Founder of Teleradiology Solutions (TRS), a global healthcare company headquartered in Bangalore that reports radiology scans for over 150 Hospitals in the US, Singapore, India, Europe, and Africa. He is also the Co-founder of RxDx, a chain of neighbourhood primary health care clinics in Bangalore. Dr Kalyanpur is a Board-certified and Fellowship-trained radiologist and obtained his medical and radiologic training at AIIMS, New Delhi, Cornell University, and Yale University in the US.

#20. Professor U Dinesh Kumar, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: As part of the IIM Bangalore faculty, Professor Dinesh Kumar exudes a deep understanding of technology and writes about how this can benefit the nation as a whole, provided the right measures are taken.

Sample this: “Countries such as India can benefit a lot from the use of AI by focusing on sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure etc. Another area we need to focus upon is the use of AI in defence. Issues such as tax evasion, money laundering etc can be easily addressed using AI. The government will play an important role in encouraging AI research among Indian scientific community. "

His story: Professor U Dinesh Kumar, Faculty, Decision Sciences & Information Systems, IIM Bangalore. His research interests include areas such as Business Analytics and Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning Algorithms, Stochastic models (Reinforcement Learning Algorithms), Reliability, Optimization, Six Sigma and Performance Based Logistics. He has published several research articles in reputed academic journals. He has authored a book titled, “Business Analytics – The Science of Data Driven Decision Making”.

#21. Sumit Ghosh, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Sumit Ghosh writes about marketing on platforms like Facebook. He guides entrepreneurs and small businesses on what they need to do to make sure their ads stand out on Facebook and generate the most leads. From single video ads to carousel ads to slideshow ads, Sumit provides a detailed guide on the best practices to follow when posting Facebook ads. He has also written about the fast growing innovation ecosystem in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Sample this“In your Facebook ads, the kind of images you use is also important. Contextually relevant images are e: specially preferred if you want your Facebook ads to work. It is always better to select and include those images which properly deliver the message of your brand and depict the label well. Do avoid using random stock images,” Sumit writes in his article.

His Story: Sumit Ghosh is a serial entrepreneur, who started his entrepreneurial career with an IT Services company Globussoft and scaled it to USD 2 million in annual revenues. His second venture Socioboard is into building automation products for digital marketing space. The Socioboard product suite, which includes PowerAdSpy, has MRR of $150,000 and comprises of desktop apps, three SAAS products, and mobile apps which have more than 1 million downloads and 300,000+ daily active users.

#22. Aravind S, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Aravind has deep knowledge of finance world and this makes him the ideal candidate to guide startups on how to handle money in their business. Besides, he also has the added advantage of an acute understanding of law.

Sample this: “There are various factors that determine the valuation of a startup, like number of users of the platform or product, revenue forecasted, market size, technology and its future, etc. Traditional valuations are usually based on the forecasted revenue and profit the company can make. However, in the current age, various other factors determine the valuation.”

His story: Aravind S is the Founder of QED Corporate Advisors LLP and The Filings.in. He is a specialist in Corporate restructuring and M&As. He is a Startup enthusiast and takes care of the Tax, Startup and FEMA Advisory services of the firm.

#23. Amit Dua, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: As an entrepreneur running a technology company since 2009, Amit helps startups navigate the various challenges of IT. He writes extensively about new and emerging technologies such as chatbots, AI and IoT.

Sample this: “Through this combination of artificial intelligence and the internet of things, we can teach decision making to machines. Hence, empowered machines will act as smart assistants for us. These smart assistants could be devices like Alexa telling the devices in a smart house what to do. For example, a smart home will be managed by a smart assistant device which manages the devices at home.”

His story: Amit Dua is Co-Founder and CEO at Signity Solutions, a technology consulting company since 2009. He also has the experience of working with telecom companies.

#24. Hemendra Mathur, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Hemendra Mathur has assumed many roles and this is very lucidly evident in his writings, especially on the subject of startups. His articles provide deep insights on agritech – a complex yet emerging sector of interest in the startup world.

Sample this: “India is witnessing an agritech revolution spurred by a bunch of about 300 entrepreneurs who are trying to disrupt the agricultural supply chain with their innovations. A majority of them are trying to make intervention to make supply chain efficient, transparent, market-driven and traceable. Technology is at the core of most new-age innovations that are enabling access of high-quality inputs to farmers, farmers’ linkages to the market, reduction of post-harvest losses and addition of the extra dose of nutrition in the food we eat.”

His story: Hemendra is working as Venture Partner with Bharat Innovations Fund. He has over 21 years of experience in venture capital, private equity, management consulting and investment banking. Hemendra has investing experience across sectors in the Indian agricultural supply chain from farm to fork. He also mentors many agtech start-ups with innovations in agri-inputs, market linkages, mechanization, data and farmer financing.

#25. Samir Lambay, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

Sample this: “The Indian logistics sector, regarded as the backbone of a healthy economy, is highly fragmented and unorganised. As a result, the logistics spend in India currently amounts to 14-15 percent of GDP compared to the 5-6 percent of the GDP spend in developed economies. However, with focused initiatives on manufacturing, like the Make in India campaign, and thrust on digitisation with the Digital India campaign, the Indian logistics sector has slowly begun its disruptive transformation.”

His story: After working in the shipping and logistics industry across both family businesses and multinational companies, Samir Lambay, Co-Founder & CEO of FreightCrate Technologies, launched the company in September 2017. His goal is to improve business productivity, save cost, and improve delivery schedules for customers while simultaneously increasing revenue and optimizing quote management for the vendors.

#26. Tarun Pasricha, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Tarun Pasricha, who has more than two decades of experience in the corporate world, writes authoritatively to help organisations and individuals navigate through various growth challenges.

Sample this: “Having worked in the corporate sector for over 25 years, I can say with certainty that the best on-the-job learning comes from startup environments, where you are building something from scratch. If you join a well-oiled and established organization, you are merely a cog in the wheel. Somebody in the distant past did all the hard work in building the organisation and your role is merely sustaining the momentum.”

His story: Dr Tarun Pasricha is a Professor of Marketing at the S.P. Jain School of Global Management, Mumbai. He has over 30 years of corporate experience in senior leadership positions in FMCG majors such as ITC, Pepsi, Dr Scholl’s, and Boots Healthcare. His PhD thesis was on Foreign Direct Investment in Retail Markets of India and its Impact on Key Stakeholders.

#27. Vivek Kumar, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

Sample this: “The focus of data science is to delve into data to unravel useful insights and use those insights creatively to drive the growth of businesses and organizations. As more and more enterprises continue to join the Big Data bandwagon, the demand for skilled and trained professionals such as data scientists, data architects, data analysts, and data engineers is on the rise.” How Data Intelligence and Analytics are changing the Indian business landscape

His story: Vivek Kumar is MD, India at Springboard. He was previously the President of Consumer Revenue at UpGrad, an online education platform providing industry-oriented courses like Artificial Intelligence in collaboration with world-class institutes, some of which are MICA, IIIT Bangalore, and BIT

#28. Varun Manian, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

Sample this: “Green building is a futuristic idea, to begin with, as structures devour 14 percent of consumable water, 40 percent of crude materials, and 39 percent of energy consumption in the US alone, as indicated by the US Green Building Council. That is 15 trillion gallons of water and three billion tons of crude materials every year.”

His story: Varun Manian is the Managing Director of Radiance Realty and Radiance Media Group all of which are a part of the Radiance Group of Companies. A graduate of New York University, he decided to return to his roots and joined the family’s business, NAPC Construction Ltd. In 2012, Varun Manian entered the residential real estate business with the inception of Radiance Realty Developers India Limited. Radiance Realty, is a property development firm based in Chennai and it focuses on building luxury residential projects.

#29.    Bhupinder Singh, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Operating in the fintech space, Bhupinder has his ears to the ground as far as lending goes. His columns give deep insights from ground zero, as it were.

Sample this: “A big reason for the success that NBFCs have registered in India of late has been their unique value proposition. Most NBFCs, whether online or offline, leverage alternative and tech-driven credit appraisal methodologies to gauge the creditworthiness of prospective borrowers."

His story: A graduate of IIMA, Bhupinder Singh is the Founder and CEO of InCred. Singh was formerly the head of the Corporate Finance division of Deutsche Bank. InCred is a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) in India and focuses on consumer loan, home loan, education loan, and SME lending. It is headquartered in Mumbai.

#30.    James Altucher, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: If you are ever at the crossroads and wonder which way to turn, James Altucher’s writings can come in handy. From inspirational to informative, James has it all covered. How you can start a business with $ 100 to how to come up with a billion dollar idea, James never disappoints.

Sample this: “I've been involved in many slices of life over the past 30 years. For me, a new subculture is both an escape and a passion. When you combine escapes with passions, money is a side effect. And love is a side effect."

His story: James Altucher is an American hedge fund manager, entrepreneur, and bestselling author. He has founded or co-founded over 20 companies, including Reset Inc. and StockPickr and claims to have failed at 17 of them. He has published 11 books, and is a frequent contributor to publications, including ‘The Financial Times’, ‘TheStreet.com’, ‘Seeking Alpha’, ‘Thought Catalog’, and ‘The Huffington Post’.

#31.     Tirumala Vedurumudi, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Who would have ever thought that you could get paid for spending time on social media. Different times call for different skills. Digital marketing is here to stay and Tirumala shares his thoughts on that landscape with our readers.

Sample this: “There is a wide gap of talent in digital marketing not only in India but the entire world. Studies show that 66 percent of Indian business leaders feel finding the right digital talent is a challenge."

His story: Tirumala Vedurumudi is an account-based and inbound marketing strategy practice lead at The SMarketers, an India-based inbound and account-based marketing agency that helps B2B companies achieve marketing and sales goals. He is also a contributor for popular business and marketing websites like Jeff Bullas and Business2Community.

#32.    Gaurav Burman, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: If you look at it, there are two types of people. One that believes in the protection of the environment, and the other that thinks climate change is a myth. Gaurav Burman clearly belongs to the former type. Talk to him about eco-innovation if you happen to bump into him.

Sample this: “India’s innovation potential is grossly underutilised and has largely bypassed its younger population, especially in the field of eco-innovation. India needs to build capacities for researching, inventing, adapting, or adopting new technologies. Doing so is prudent not only from an environmental perspective but also from an economic one.”

His story: Gaurav Burman is the VP and Country President of 75F India. His previous position was with Schneider Electric, as their Director – Marketing, where he was also a part of the Management Team of Schneider Electric, South Asia. Gaurav has handled diverse portfolios in his career, including product management, alliances, channel sales, and enterprise sales. Prior to marketing, Gaurav spent 20 years of his life in sales and worked with companies like PCL, IBM, L&T, APC, and Schneider Electric. He was recently recognised as one of the 50 Most Talented CMOs in India in 2013, and one of the 100 Most Talented CMOs in the World by the US-based CMO Council.

#33.    Vineet K Singh, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Wouldn’t we all want to know the reasons why startups fail. Is there a magic formula to succeed? We’ve all heard that 80 percent of startups fail within the first three years. Read Vineet Singh’s columns to get insights into the startup world.

Sample this: “Till you are bootstrapping, founders running the show is fine. But, the moment you raise funding, founders should do a hard skill-competency-interest appraisal of themselves and decide what roles they will assign to themselves... The faster founders discover their strengths, the faster they will get the right people on board.”

His story: Vineet K Singh is a renowned industry veteran, who has led success journeys of many leading startups such as MobiKwik, 99acres, and Naukri.com. In his last role, Vineet was the Chief Business Officer at MobiKwik. Prior to MobiKwik, Vineet was the Co-founder, CEO, and MD of Buildzar.com. He has more than 16 years of experience in the consumer internet industry. Prior to Buildzar, he was EVP & Business Head of multiple businesses in Info Edge, including Naukri.com, 99acres.com, JeevanSaathi.com, and NaukriGulf.com. He worked closely with promoters of Info Edge while having built businesses from the ground up to top line of over 500 crores and a market cap of over $2 billion. Vineet is a renowned consumer internet and housing expert, as well as an excellent people manager, communicator, and relationship builder.

#34.    Kunal Kislay, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Want to know why all this fuss about Artificial Intelligence? Kunal does a deep dive to simplify the concept and takes the reader to the new frontiers of innovation.

Sample this: “The next generation of technology is seeing exponential growth. The overall picture is blurry though, due to the extremes we need to be navigating. To crunch some numbers, according to reports, there are more than 200 AI-based start-ups in India."

His story: Kunal Kislay, Co-founder and CEO of Integration Wizards, is a B Tech IIT Mumbai alumnus. His responsibilities in the company include strategic planning, developing the product roadmap and features and technical mentoring among others. He has architected the company with a steadfast vision to build a Google for enterprises through the organisation. He envisions helping companies to “generate”, “organise” and “consume” enterprise data efficiently and more meaningfully. His academically proficient family includes his father, HOD, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay, his mother, a Professor of Philosophy, and his wife, a Co-founder of IW and an author.

#35.    Vartika Kashyap, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Tips for online marketing, must-have digital tools for startups, how to go after success, and many more such topics that the digital-savvy reader is looking for.

Sample this: “Do you know what’s common between Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, and Sania Mirza? Each one of them knew their ‘success’ before they actually started chasing it. Just imagine if someone told Sania to play cricket instead of tennis. Would she be that successful in cricket? You know the answer, don’t you? That is why it’s essential to define what success means to you and then start chasing it."

Her story: Vartika Kashyap is Marketing Manager at ProofHub . She is a seasoned marketing professional who is an expert in digital marketing and entrepreneurship. She’s been featured among LinkedIn’s Top Voices for the year 2016 and is also a contributor for ‘The Next Web’ and ‘Huffington Post’. She is also a top writer on leadership and productivity on Medium.

#36.     Vishwas Mudagal, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Having seen all the shades of the startup life, Vishwas takes the reader on the roller coaster journey of an entrepreneur’s life.

Sample this: “Here’s another question on startup challenges. ‘I think I am working for a startup that is heading towards failure. Their focus and execution seem to be so incorrect. The reward to risk ratio is just too low for me. Should I just quit?’ This is a very interesting question. Firstly, I want to tell everyone that startups come with their own risks and rewards. A lot of your sweat and hard work goes into creating a great product or service for your company, but at the same time, you also need to know when to quit.”

His story: A successful entrepreneur, a professional CEO, a #1 best-selling author, an angel investor and a motivation speaker, Vishwas Mudagal has a proven record of building brands and products and a history of creating sustainable companies. He comes with over a decade of diverse experience across entrepreneurial & corporate spheres. In 2013, Vishwas co-founded GoodWorkLabs, a software, design and mobile app development company. Under his able leadership, GoodWorkLabs is now ranked as the 5th fastest growing tech company in India by Deloitte. LinkedIn/Twitter

#37.     Prashant Soni, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Operating in the logistics space, Prashant is well versed with the nuances of how things work here. Watch out for his informative columns.

Sample this: “Introduction of a single e-way bill would be a masterstroke for today and times to come. E-way bill conceptualised by the GST Council has to be generated before the shipment starts its journey. This will establish a direct correlation between what is declared and what is actually moved. On one hand, it will help the movement of goods without hassle between consignor and consignee, on the other hand, it will help tax officers establish whether the shipment is accurately accounted for. ”

His story: Prashant Soni is the Director - Business Development at BlackBuck (Zinka Logistics). He holds an engineering degree from IIT Bombay and was also a part of the innovation team at Stanford India Bio-Design. Being at the interface of product and business, he has built teams and companies from scratch in the field of medical devices, upstream oil, gas and logistics. He loves reading biographies and has a keen interest in ancient and medieval history.

#38.    Sarvesh Agrawal, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Sarvesh has been a part of the education industry for over seven years now and feels there might come a time when the conventional and near-obsolete Indian college education system will be replaced with e-learning. He is a great champion of internships for women who are restarting their careers.

Sample this: “E-learning is bringing universities and professors to your homes and hostels through mobiles and computers. Certain skills like artificial intelligence and machine learning are upcoming in India but these fields are not accessible to a lot of students owing to different constraints. E-learning is an easy approach to tackle this problem and to cater to students as the educators can’t be present everywhere, especially in rural areas and Tier-II/III cities. ”

His story: Sarvesh Agrawal is the founder & CEO of Internshala – an internship and training platform. An alumnus of IIT Madras, Sarvesh worked with Capital One, Barclays, and Aviva plc before starting up. From the past seven years, he has been on a mission to build a ‘world-full of opportunities’ for students by providing meaningful internships and reducing the skill gap between the industry and the students.

#39.    Murari Sridharan, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: With over two decades of experience in the industry, he has seen the highs and lows from the dotcom boom and bust to voice-enabled digital assistants. A self-confessed arbiter of crisis with a background of developing and implementing crucial high-performance initiatives successfully and on tight deadlines, he is the man whose columns you must be reading.

Sample this: “In the financial services business, the cost of acquisition is extremely high. The game changer in reducing the cost of acquisition is digitisation. It is cheaper and more easily scalable than traditional models. Fintech today is trying to provide customers a simple, frictionless experience. With the help of great UX and categorisation, products can be easily researched and compared, or serendipitously discovered just like on an e-commerce website.”

His story: Murari is the Chief Technology Officer at BankBazaar.com. Prior to BankBazaar, he was with Microsoft Redmond, where he ran the team that launched Cortana, Microsoft’s digital assistant. He has chaired working groups at the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). He was also the co-chair of the Internet Congestion Control Research Group (ICCRG) and co-authored research papers on TCP congestion control. Murari leads the technology initiatives pioneered by BankBazaar.com, such as the paperless application process, to the next level.

#40.  Dr Rishi Mohan Bhatnagar, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: An expert in the Internet of Things (IoT) space, Dr Rishi Mohan Bhatnagar crystallises his expertise to draw out the trends in the sector.

Sample this: “As the technology powering and enabling IoT become less complex, tech pundits are turning more realistic about the actual potential of IoT. As newer solutions will get deployed, the focus will shift from number of IoT connections to actual deployments and value generated. ”

His story: Dr Rishi Mohan Bhatnagar, President, Aeris India and Chairperson of The Institution of Engineering and Technology - IoT panel for India.

#41. Vartika Manasvi, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Vartika’s eight years of interdisciplinary marketing background brings together the artistic plus scientific method to finding answers with data insights and practical marketing communications skills. She can help you see what to focus on to ensure your company grows.

Sample this: “If you’re considering expansion in the North American markets, Canada’s ecosystem could be an ideal option for you. The rise of AI and deep tech is playing to Canada’s strengths with its talent pool, and opening up opportunities for scale-up in North America. The country has many attractive traits: diversity, skill-based immigration, open culture, remote work, sophisticated cloud platforms, and new investment vehicles. It also offers a great quality of life, top-tier tech schools, art and design, a supportive government, great healthcare, and an evolving young tech ecosystem. "

Her story: Vartika is the Founder & CEO, StackRaft Inc. and has 10 years of community building experience. Have built 3 products, and sold 1 and now helping Indian tech talent get cross-border opportunities. She last served as Entrepreneur in Residence with NVIDIA and Ex. NASSCOM. 

#42.  Anshuman Dutta, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: All things digital, marketing, and social media.

Sample this: “SMS marketing is increasingly becoming an essential core multi-channel marketing channel to target customers. It is also considered as a channel of communication with higher return on investment. The myth that target a specific set of customers, on the go, is not a possibility is busted by the fact that an SMS can not only reach to the target group with very high precision but can also initiate two-way communication with the customer and the company. If done through legal means by respecting the privacy of the customer, SMS marketing is one of the best way to receive customer feedback through surveys and building brand resonance and accountability.”

His story: Anshuman is an engineer by default, marketer by opportunity, seeker of knowledge by choice. He believes that enlightenment so far has been a myth, who is amazed at the pace with which technology is galloping. Just like a 'jajabor' (wanderer), Anshuman trusts that the journey will one day lead to a culmination of micro moments of truth and happiness.

#43.    Tina Garg, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What they wrote about: Digital marketing is like that toy that looks easy and attractive to play with but not everyone is able to grasp its total potential. Tina shows the readers how to make the most of it.

Sample this: “Chatbots, Alexa, androids, and tablets — even as little as 10 years ago, these innovations were just figments of our imagination. But in 2018, there’s very little that can surprise us. Now cars can drive themselves, watches can track calories, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can predict a consumer’s every move – almost like it’s reading minds! But for the most part, AI’s remarkably helpful. It’s used to personalise our binge-watching sessions (Netflix and Hotstar recommendations, anyone?), make video games more immersive, and make our shopping experiences smoother! While these examples focus more on the personal than the professional front, it’s in the arena of business that AI truly shines.”

Her story: Tina Garg is the Founder and CEO of Pink Lemonade, a creative agency specialising in communication, content, and design. A strong creative spark, a passion for design, and her love for all things creative are the reasons behind Tina’s entrepreneurial success. She started the organisation formally in 2011 and has grown the business from a single employee to over 80 individuals today. As CEO, she is the firm’s key strategist and planner, working with CXO-level and senior leaders across client organisations to develop effective market strategies and communication. Under her leadership, the firm has won numerous awards and has earned the recognition as one of the city’s leading full-service communication agencies.

#44.    Dr Suneel Sharma, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: There is considerable hype around data science. Social media is flooded with articles on Big Data, Data Science, and Data Analytics. Get a low down on these as well as the life of a professional data scientist in Dr Sharma’s columns.

Sample this: “The average salary for a data scientist is about $111,000, and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that jobs in this field will grow by 11 percent by 2024. With all that market buzz around, Indian parents and their children have concluded that data science is the most lucrative field and has the best ROI on child’s education. Parents are sending their kids to foreign universities with two expectations – one, level of education is perceived very high, and second, STEM-specific rules will help the kid get the job and citizenship as regulations at US, UK, and Australia favour data science in a big way.”

His story: Dr Suneel Sharma is a faculty in Information Technology and heads Professional Technology Programs and Big Data & Visual Analytics at SP Jain School of Global Management.

#45.    Viswanath Raju, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Everyone is a traveller these days, and this has opened up a lot of potential in the travel sector. Whether it is solo travel, adventure travel, religious travel, or just travel for travel’s sake, Viswanath has the right insight.

Sample this: “The trends in travel and tourism are changing in sync with the changing role of travellers into adventurers. One is no more merely a traveller who enjoys the beauty of a stunning landscape; instead, he/she is the new-age adventurer who dives straight into the depth of an ocean or becomes a part of the dense forest located in remote areas of Africa to feel the thrill. Therefore, the popularity of experiential travel destinations is increasing if compared to the traditional vacation destinations.”

His story: Viswanath Raju is the Co-founder of an adventure travel marketplace, Mojhi, where he currently heads the marketing and sales functions. He holds a Btech degree from IIT-Roorkee and an MBA degree from IIM-Indore. Before embarking on his entrepreneurial journey with Mojhi, Viswanath worked for multinationals like IBM, Wipro, and Vizury. At Vizury, he worked with marquee accounts like Amazon, Flipkart, and Ctrip for their remarketing campaigns.

#46.     Rachit Chawla, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Raising money and interacting with investors are tasks that all entrepreneurs by default have to take up. Rachit writes about all this and more.

Sample this: “Irregularity is part of everyone’s life, but it is the discipline and stringent dedication that help tackle life smoothly. The volatility in the investment markets has even resulted in a great slowdown for investors, despite having great run scores. However, those working with a systematic approach of pitching in money held the right investments and earned judicious returns with time. Hence, it is prudent to have patience and follow a disciplined investment approach besides keeping the long-term scenario in mind."

His story: Rachit Chawla is the Founder and CEO of Finway Capital. Always focused, committed, and ambitious, Rachit is keen to humanise the lending process in India. The graduate in Business & Management from Aston University, Birmingham, UK, has a cumulative experience of 10 years in finance, real estate, and logistics. Prior to kickstarting his entrepreneurship journey, he was employed with Intel Corporation at its EMEA headquarters based in Swindon, the United Kingdom, as a Pricing Analyst. But the charm of corporate life couldn’t supersede his businessman spirit and he returned to his home country to shape his dreams.

#47.    Rajendra K Sinha, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Given the complexity of Indian economy, bitcoins may turn out to be a boon to India or a disaster. Breaking all barriers and taking the economy by storm these days are bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies -- subjects that Rajendra writes on.

Sample this: “China, a year ago dominated the bitcoin global volume with about 90 percent share, had a complete crackdown on bitcoins in the recent past, banning initial coin offerings known as ICOs. On the other side, Japan has regulated bitcoin, and the regulations ensure exchanges to maintain capital reserves, keep customer funds separate, and implement KYC procedures; and now the country accounts for more than half the volume of global bitcoin trade, while the US accounts for a quarter. In the Indian context, the issues have been mostly legal: using bitcoins in money laundering and transactions for acts of terrorism are the challenges in the use of bitcoin as legal tender.”

His story: Rajendra K Sinha is a Professor and Chairperson of Centre for Excellence in Banking, IFIM Institutions.

#48.    Atul Temurnikar, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Atul Temurnikar writes about how education is relying on Big Data and Data Analytics to bring development and innovation.

Sample this: “Big Data and Data Analytics are no longer strangers to the world of sports. In fact, big premier leagues have come of age and have been successful in delivering optimum performance; thanks to data analytics. For example in the IPL -- From auctioning for the best player to predicting who can win the final, everything is supported with data analytics. The same system is now being used by premier educational institutions to transform a student from being an ordinary player to being an extraordinary one."

His story: Atul is the Co-founder & Executive Chairman at Global Schools Foundation (Singapore)

#49.    Zaid Abbasi, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Zaid writes about workplaces and how organisations can hire employees to build the dream startup team. 

Sample this: “With a huge millennial and Gen Z population, workplaces need to cater to their working style and requirements. Open-planned concepts with privacy pods shaped the perfect office layout of 2017. In 2018, offices will merge eccentric and modern designs into their premises. The idea behind this is to bring colleagues together, help improve employee productivity and attract younger talent through vibrant themes and fun elements. ”

His story: Zaid Abbasi leads People Growth at Squad - Powering business operations using Humans plus Artificial Intelligence.

#50.     Ishan Thacker, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: With a new generation entering the workplace, their expectations vary from their predecessors. To maintain their interest and commitment, workplace design is critical. This can help shape any organisation’s performance, says Ishan in his piece.

Sample this: “Inside is the new outside – this concept is here to stay. Biophilic designs will continue to be the choice of the year. Investments in air units to improve air quality and larger window panes will be promoted. Offices can also add splashes of green with living walls, and water curtains to bring in the natural look and boost light levels. Overall, elements that will add greenery in a space and reduce the carbon footprint will be preferred.”

His story: Ishan Thacker works as a Design Consultant for Vector Projects (I) Pvt. Ltd. As a professional in Architecture and Project Management within commercial and residential design constructions, his expertise includes project designing, managing, and end-to- end execution of multidisciplinary interior design projects.

#51.     Devendra Agarwal, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Co-working spaces have become a trump card for not just startups but also SMBs. With the gig economy taking off in a big way, shared working spaces are much in demand. Devendra knows the nitty-gritties of the business.

Sample this: “With a change in lifestyle, increase in the time spent on commuting, technological advancement, and growing importance of health and wellness, the focus is shifting from a traditional office to a modern and convenient office setup.”

His story: Devendra Agarwal is the Founder of two companies, Dexter Capital Advisors & InstaOffice. Dexter Capital is a boutique investment bank, which has closed 20+ transactions aggregating over $500M in the last four years. Currently, he is focusing on scaling InstaOffice to make it India's leading chain of co-working spaces.

#52. Rashmi Shenoy, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: As Head of Talent Acquisition at Cleartrip, Rashmi is the go-to person for everything you wanted to know about but did not know who to ask.

Sample this: “Your story should be contextual: Imagine that you are the recruiter. Whom would you more likely hire? Someone with mundane experience and ambiguity about the impact they will be able to make in the role? Or someone who is able to clearly articulate how their experience is relevant? The second one right? When faced with the question – “tell me about yourself,” do not end up repeating your resume. The recruiter has read that anyway. Your story should focus on – “this is why I am reasonably confident that I make a good fit for this role”.

Her story: Rashmi is Head of Talent Acquisition, Cleartrip, a global online travel company. The company operates an online travel aggregator website for booking flights and train tickets, hotel reservations, and activities in India and the Middle East countries. It has offices across India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

#53. Garima Juneja, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: As a content and social media professional, Garima has deep insights on any topics related to this area. She can articulate trends in digital marketing with ease.

Sample this: “It is becoming harder by the day to sell without a story. That trend will grow in 2018, and we could see more “BTS” or Behind the Scenes by big brands. If you are managing a brand, it would be great if you state candid facts about the brand, along with CTA posts."

Her story: Garima Juneja is the founder of Viralcurry, a digital marketing firm, which was established in 2013. She is a content and social media professional.

#54. Grand Master Akshar, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: An acclaimed Yoga guru, Grand Master Akshar writes about keeping the mind and body fit. His advice comes in handy in today’s high-stress life.

Sample this: “The title “boss” comes with a lot of responsibility. Being a boss is like being an exceptional pearl necklace. Instead of pearls, it strings characteristics together. A dynamic personality, inspiring, courageous and packed with beautiful rock-your-world-ideas, seamlessly held together with a thread woven by wisdom. "

His story: Himalayan Yogi Grand Master Akshar is a nationally and internationally acclaimed Yoga master, spiritual beacon and philosopher. He is the Founder, Chairman and Course Director for Akshar Yoga and International Representative of World Yoga Organisation. He is a regular columnist, writer for national and international magazines and newspapers both online and offline, and has been featured in international bestseller book, ‘Lead or Bleed as an Inspiring Leader.’ 

#55. Vikram Rangnekar, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: For anybody interested in making a career in technology or looking for opportunities outside of the United States, then Vikram’s writings provide these much needed insights. He can give you a ringside view of what is like to work in Silicon Valley, but adds that there is a twist. A better place would its neighbour – Canada, he says.

Sample this: “Silicon Valley is the best place for someone in tech, but it’s not the only place. It pays the highest salaries, but takes a lot of that money back in terms of taxes and cost of living. You have no permanence, your spouse can’t work, and you have to deal with stressful visa renewals every few years. Finally, good luck with finding a place to live.”

His story: He studied Computer Science in the US and have lived in Singapore, California and now Toronto. He was a co-founder of a startup Socialwok and worked as a software engineer at Linkedin. Vikram has also published a book called How to Build the Future on building products using the Google Cloud. His blog MOV North has turned into a mini-movement that’s bringing tech talent to Canada and he is also passionate about helping build Canada into a global tech centre.

#56.   Rashmi R Padhy, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Rashmi is all about variety as his writings span across deep technology, e-commerce and building businesses. He is somebody who can connect the dots when there is an information overload while providing critical insights.

Sample this: "If we need to stay relevant in the new digital age, we must have the building blocks of digital life, Search and Social.”

His story: Rashmi R Padhy is an entrepreneur and a product manager. He is the founder of the social shopping platform Yappily. He is especially interested in growth aspect of a product. He is currently co-leading the product practice at ThoughtWorks India.

#57.   Dr. Ayesha Chaudhary, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Dr Chaudhary has always been curious and willing to experiment with new things. She did a very intense research into diabetes as a Ph.D and later branched into biomedical engineering, and is armed with her own mini entrepreneurial experience.

Sample this: “With 50 percent of Indian population under 25 years of age, India’s way forward is to empower her young children with latest technologies. Several government initiatives are focusing on harnessing and nurturing the scientific and innovative mindset of children.”

Her story: Dr. Ayesha Chaudhary is with Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog. She likes to experiment with life and step outside her comfort zone, to get an all rounded experience. She started her innovation journey with research and technology development in Biomedical Engineering, with a Ph.D. in Diabetes from IIT Bombay. Then she moved on to exploring productisation of any technology with Stanford Biodesign Innovation Fellowship and started a Medtech company. Later, she explored the corporate world to understand how to create and access any healthcare market, with a stint at Baxter International in the Business Model Innovation group, which was like a mini-startup in a Corporate.

#58.   Neerav Jain, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: A business graduate who has a strong affinity for anything related to furniture, Neerav has traversed a couple of startups and companies before finally settling into starting his own venture. This has given him deep insights into what can be expected when starting out on your own.

Sample this: “Shared or Gig Economy, and though often misunderstood and believed to relate only to big brands such as Uber and Zipcar, is actually a broad concept that includes a variety of sharing. It empowers people to create, trade, swop, access and share goods, services and resources among themselves; it recognises tri-part value — economic, social, and environmental. In a true sharing economy, all are monetised and counted and this makes the concept of shared economy magical.”

His story: Neerav is currently the founder & CEO of ‘CityFurnish', a furniture rental brand providing one stop solution for furniture and appliances Rental.Their services is currently available in Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune. He has been in this role for the last three years and prior to this, had certain short stints in other companies.

#59.   Rana Vikram Anand, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: As a career banker who had long stints in different kinds of financial institutions, a jump into a fintech venture is certainly a bold step. He guides people on how to manage money for your business by leveraging technology.

Sample this: “Increased working capital from technology-driven credit platforms can be used strategically to resolve working capital problems in the long-term. Small retailers can increase their categories and stocking, looking to procure more fast-selling items with higher margins to create more turnover and margins. Further, having more working capital at hand helps retailers plan their inventory orders more efficiently, and negotiate better margins with their distributors because of their improved bargaining position.”

His story: Rana Vikram Anand is President at Indifi, a technology-based debt financing platform for small businesses. Indifi helps small businesses grow by offering loans to those that have potential and intent. Rana is a career banker, with experience in retail and commercial banking leadership roles at ANZ Grindlays Bank, ABN AMRO Bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and RBL Bank. He was a pivotal stakeholder in creating and executing the RBS India Retail & Commercial (R&C) Change and Transformation strategy.

#60.  Shivjeet Kullar, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: A multi-faceted personality whose career was largely spent in advertising, theatre and author, Shivjeet brings you a 360-degree view of these fields, while also giving you practical wisdom. His writings are a blend of creativity and rationalism.

Sample this: “Don’t start off on the wrong foot. By giving up too much equity early in the game, you’re relinquishing control of your business, and diminishing the chances of raising additional money later. If you’re a minority shareholder in your own company, it’s no longer your own company as taking and executing key business decisions becomes near impossible. So think twice before giving away 50 percent of your baby to the guy with deep pockets.”

His story: Shivjeet Kullar is the Council Leader of SuperStartUps Asia and CEO of NFX Digital, a research startup situated in New Delhi that focuses on providing relevant insights through their innovative portal Adytude. He has won close to 100 national and international awards for his work in advertising. Furthermore, he is also an acclaimed playwright (‘Shiva Calling’, ’50 Words’) and author (‘Taking the Taj’).

#61.   Mayank Khanduja, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: As a venture capitalist, Mayank is able to spot early the investment opportunities in new age companies. He is also able to lucidly explain the reasons why investors should bet on these opportunities. He also shares his outlook on trends in the area of consumer internet, SaaS, and real estate, among others.

Sample this: "As the web welcomes the newest and most diverse set of consumers it has ever seen, the demand for relevant content will far exceed the supply for a few years to come. While there will be horizontal platforms like Sharechat that will serve the needs of multiple types of users, we believe that there is enough demand in the market to support platforms that serve a specific type of user. We thus use the N.I.K.E. Framework to define content needs for varied users.” By the way, N.I.K.E stands for news, information, knowledge and entertainment.

His story: Mayank Khanduja is currently Principal at SAIF Partners. His primary area of focus is in early-stage investments in consumer internet, SaaS, mobile, and healthcare. Some of the startups in his portfolio are ShareChat, Treebo, Proptiger, Nobroker, Ixigo, and Travel Triangle, amongst others. Prior to joining SAIF, Mayank was an Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company, where he focused in the high-tech and telecom industries. Mayank received his MBA from IIM Calcutta and an engineering degree from Indraprastha University. 

#62.   Neil Joglekar, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: All startups have many questions and challenges staring them in the face on the path forward. This naturally creates considerable confusion and Neil’s writing cuts through this maze to provide that clarity to any entrepreneur.

Sample this: “From my experience, teams waste the most time when they iterate so deeply on potential solutions that they lose sight of the original problem. The most straightforward solution that we use at BrowserStack is to separate the problem definition from the solution. In the problem definition, the team answers key questions like: what is the problem, who is facing the problem, and how do you measure success.”

His story: Neil Joglekar is an entrepreneur and startup advisor. He currently works as VP Product at BrowserStack, the industry-leading mobile and web testing platform trusted by 40,000 companies globally. Neil is a Stanford, Y Combinator, and Shark Tank alum. His work has been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, the Boston Globe and the New York Times.

#63.   Verun Rastogii, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: As an entrepreneur, Verun shares his take on the challenges it takes for entrepreneurs to build a new company. Given his understanding on the e-commerce industry, Verun is also able to forecast the different trends that are set to unfold.

Sample this: “The effects of ecommerce on the physical landscape are just beginning. So far, the most notable changes have been in rich countries, and particularly in India and China. As demand for physical shops ebbs, that for warehouses will surge. But what will happen to the shops that no longer have enough customers, and where will the new warehouses go? There is no easy way of turning one into the other. Companies want to build warehouses close to consumer hubs, but the malls are also the ones most likely to shut down.”

His story: Verun Rastogii, Founder and CEO, Mufubu, has a BSc Hons in Business and Management from School of Management, University of Bradford, UK. In his current capacity at Mufubu, Varun looks after new product development and key marketing activities for the brand.

#64.   Pradeep Chopra, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: As the world move towards digital, it becomes all the more important that people understand its power and how to leverage it. Pradeep’s years of experience in digital marketing puts him in the optimal position to talk about trends, impact and the future roadmap.

Sample this: “Most small business owners are confused whether digital marketing would work for their business or not. We are doing business in times when the audience is constantly glued to the Internet, especially, social media channels. You can easily find any type of information online. This trend poses a huge opportunity for businesses to reach out to their audience, quickly and effectively."

His story: Pradeep Chopra is CEO, Digital Vidya. Among the pioneers of Digital Marketing, Pradeep has been part of the Internet Industry since 2000. He has been a serial entrepreneur for last 17 years and is currently a Co-founder & CEO of Digital Vidya, a leading Digital Marketing and Big Data & Data Analytics training company. A graduate of IIT Delhi and a recipient of Adobe Content100, Pradeep is one of the most sought-after international speakers on Digital Marketing and Entrepreneurship.

#65.   Manish Goel, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: A qualified company secretary with degrees in international trade and finance, Manish helps entrepreneurs and startups from the ground up to build their business with a core focus on generating revenues.

Sample this: “Smart technology has thrown open immense opportunities for investors to invest. Minimal human intervention, paperless and cashless service delivery, etc. have led to a centralised database and avoidance of multiple submissions of the same information. With KYC norms and services like Aadhaar-based electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) and eSign facilities, more investments are being facilitated.”

His story: Manish Goel is a Founder-Director at Research and Ranking. A qualified Company Secretary, Law Graduate, and Masters in International Trade and Finance, he has more than a decade of experience in nurturing teams and growing businesses successfully from a startup stage. He was associated as Finance Director with ICCON Limited, a London-based company advising clients on real estate investments in the UK and other European countries. He set up Equentis Capital Pvt. Ltd. to pursue his vision of offering high-quality, cost-effective, and hassle-free equity advisory services in India.

#66.   Nabeel Merchant, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Nabeel Merchant has the interesting mix of working with large corporates and founding two startups. This gives Nabeel a very good platform to understand what opportunities lie ahead for budding entrepreneurs.

Sample this: “Strong, capable of adapting and resilient, the on-demand economy continues to grow organically alongside technology. Bred for immediacy, agile startups evolved really quickly based on real-time feedback all built on one foundation - the smartphone. The on-demand economy rewards those that are brave enough to not only innovate but also to compete with companies and already established industries. "

His story: Nabeel is founder and CEO of HOWL - A full stack E-Comm + Digital Marketing. Nabeel has spent nearly 8 years in the Digital Marketing Space and has worked with some of the largest clients like HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Quick Heal technologies, Maruti Suzuki and many more. Earlier, he was the co-founder of an On-demand Home Maintenance and Repair services startup called 'Fixy' which raised it's seed investment from Venture Nursery, the fund that invested in Oyo Rooms way back in 2013.

#67.   Balachandar R, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: As an entrepreneur himself, Balachander writes about his learnings as a founder. He shares valuable insights on what it means to be an entrepreneur and what aspiring entrepreneurs have to brace themselves for when they look to start their own venture.

Sample this: “Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal toiled it out for 10 long years - believe me it’s a marathon running a business and it nowhere is a sprint or a short term dash. Be prepared for the long haul, conserve your energy, deliver when it matters and most importantly don’t run out of steam,” Bala writes in 10 key takeaways for entrepreneurs who have started and are looking to start up.

His story: Balachandar is the Founder & CEO of Wassup Ondemand, India’s leading ondemand laundry and drycleaning brand. Bala is also the Honorary President of the Nextgen Retailers Association which is a group of young retail leaders and CEOs. A Dun & Bradstreet Gold Medallist in his Masters in International Business (IIFT - PSG Tech Program), Bala has also enjoyed a successful 15 year career in Retail, with one of his stints being as Head Retail Business for luxury accessories brand Hidesign.

#68.   Soham Thacker, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: As somebody who has straddled multiple avatars, Soham brings valuable insights into the new age way of working, which is the gig economy. Lifetime employment is slowly becoming a thing of the past and it is freelancers who will rule the roost, he says.

Sample this: “As a freelancer, you have the choice of taking up projects as per your schedule. You can do it at any time of the day – be it business hours, late at night, or even early morning. Irrespective of when you choose to work, you must be careful to not take up more than you can handle.”

His story: Soham Thacker, an Electrical and Computer Enginner from Rutgers University, NJ, USA has worked for multinational companies such as Motorolla, Johnson & Johnson and Colgate Palmolive. In 2011 Soham decided to leave his high paying salary and against the run of flow, move back to India to fulfill his entrepreneurial dream. He started his journey with a couple of failed ventures, followed by a successful venture called Just Mexican (a Mexican fast-food chain across Gujarat). In 2016 Soham decided to come back to technology with Fix pocket (an internet-based startup for digital services). Soham has been performing seminars and workshops across different areas of India to generate awareness among the rural audience pertaining to the world of digital services.

#69.   Gagan Vermani, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Gagan Vermani has more than two decades of experience cutting across startups, large Indian and global corporates. His significant expertise in solar energy helps him provide those critical insights into building such businesses.

Sample this: “For India’s renewable energy dreams to be achieved, it must engage more meaningfully with the country’s potential to translate its geographical position to its advantage. It must also develop a positive, retail lead ecosystem and ease the process that helps speed up adoption – especially in rooftop solar, which is the most price-sensitive and most crucial sub-sector to achieve the critical mass required to replace fossil-fuel based power generation, making solar the household name.”

His story: Gagan Vermani is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer at MYSUN (Eastern Light & Power Pvt Ltd) – an innovative technology backed rooftop solar solutions, services, and technology company. Offering a pioneering customer experience and redefining the way solar energy systems are bought and sold in India, MYSUN utilizes the latest technology to assure a high quality performing solar system.

#70.   Hiren Kumar Bose, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Hiren covers social stories, with a focus on the agriculture sector. His writings examples of additional farm income successes.

Sample this: “Perfectly adapted to dry land farming, the nutrient-rich moringa has become the crop of choice for many farmers in Solapur, earning them a steady income through the year. Among the early adaptors of moringa, this post-graduate introduced the perennially fruiting plant in 2012, and grows it with an intercrop of chilies, papaya, pomegranate and guava, besides marigold, which has been traditionally used to control pests. The farm produces 50 tonne of drumsticks every year, which sells for Rs 30 to Rs 80 a kg in the wholesale market, fetching approximately Rs 6 lakh a year.”

His story: Hiren Kumar Bose is a journalist based in Thane, Maharashtra. He doubles up as a weekend farmer.

#71.    Pooja Mehta, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Pooja writes about the organic food business in India.

Sample this: “Consumer consciousness of natural, healthy and safe foods is on the rise, new food safety legislation is also working towards improving the safety standards of food and at the same time consumers are increasingly willing to pay for organic foods as their disposable incomes rise.”

Her Story: Pooja Mehta is a YourStory Contributor.

#72.   Athar Parvaiz, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Athar covers agriculture, infrastructure and social stories about rural Kashmir.

Sample this: “Although the health department emphasises on the health status of people in rural areas, the countryside is poorly served, as healthcare facilities, both public and private, are largely concentrated in the cities of Srinagar and Jammu.”

His Story: Athar Parvaiz is a Srinagar-based journalist.

#73.   Chithra Ajith, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Chithra covers social stories that highlight organic farming and traditional livelihood options in South India.

Sample this: “Increasing farm input costs and low yields, increasing farm suicides and health issues sent the villagers of Enabavi on a retrospective mode. They decided to shun chemicals and embrace organic cultivation.”

Her Story: Chithra Ajith is a YourStory Contributor, who loves nature, people and places and cannot imagine a world without travel and friends. She thinks writing is a social service and her favourite topics are village stories, travelogues and those related to women and society.

#74.   Abhinav Tyagi, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Abhinav writes about chatbots and ways to implement Swachh Bharat Mission.

Sample this: “Trust me when I say this… anyone can build one. I built DogBot, a Facebook Messenger chatbot with practically zero experience. No! A fully functional trial bot can be easily made in 10 minutes (I am not kidding you), but it can take anything between seven and 30 days to make and deploy a bot performing meaningful work.”

His Story: Abhinav Tyagi is CEO and Founder of Petdom, an application to adopt a dog and buy a subscription box called PaWish for their dog. He has 3 years of the product management experience with companies like TIL and CarWale.

#75. Ashwini Vittalachar, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Ashwini writes about decoding sexual harassment in the workplace, steps to seek redressal under anti-sexual harassment laws and anti-sexual harassment laws i.e. the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 and the rules therein (POSH Laws).

Sample this: “Enabling a safe, secure and inclusive work environment for women is a collective responsibility not just of the employer, but every employee in the organisation.”

Her Story: Ashwini is a partner at Samvād Partners and has been instrumental in the establishment of the New Delhi office of the Firm. She has more than a decade’s experience in advising on private equity and venture capital transactions; as well as acquisitions and joint ventures.

#76. Dr Rachna Singh, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Dr Rachna writes about the effects of work stress - how it’s harmful to both physical and emotional health. She tells us how to deal with and manage stress and maintain both physical and mental wellbeing.

Sample this: “Many of us make job stress worse with negative thoughts and behaviour. If you can turn around these self-defeating habits, you’ll find employer-imposed stress easier to handle.”

Her Story: Dr Rachna Singh is a doctor in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology department at CK Birla Hospital. She has over 15 years of experience with corporate private sector hospitals of repute including Paras and Max Hospitals. She has also worked with the Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, Singapore. Her areas of interest include critical care obstetrics; laparoscopic gynaecological surgeries, menopausal health, and adolescent health.

#77. Krishnan Dharmarajan, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Krishnan Dharmarajan writes about financial inclusion and financial literacy as a means of empowering women and helping them to get access to formal credit for gainful occupation, giving them economic freedom and power.

Sample this: “Financial literacy can empower women to develop a financial identity even with their small and micro household savings, and help them to get access to formal credit for gainful occupation giving them economic freedom and power.”

His Story: Krishnan Dharmarajan heads the Centre for Digital Financial Inclusion (CDFI), Institute for Financial Management and Research as its Executive Director. The Centre aims to develop and scale digital payment innovations and digital financial products and platforms aimed at poor or otherwise excluded population segments.

#78. Seema Vijay Singh, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Seema writes on gender-based equality and the need to build a diverse workplace with equal representation of women.

Sample this: “In today’s world of open source technologies, available online courses, networking opportunities, there are no excuses for not staying informed. While preparing for job interviews, these individuals who seek to come back and become part of corporate workforce, need to focus on their own development, same as they did when they were graduating out of college.”

Her Story: Seema Vijay Singh is Chief Human Resources Officer at Nestaway.

#79. Ruchi Sharma, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Ruchi writes mostly on technology and believes that while the tech industry has made huge progress to meet the needs of women demographic, not much has been done to ensure a better representation of women in tech.

Sample this: “We can contribute to change by supporting and pushing for equal pay, to project a more welcoming and enticing culture in tech.”

Her Story: Ruchi Sharma is Human Resources Head, Foodpanda India.

#80. Shravani Prakash, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Shravani takes a look at what’s preventing the progression of women’s careers after motherhood, understanding what they really need and assessing how the ecosystem can evolve to meet their demands.

Sample this: “In addition to caring for their families, most mothers also aspire to become career achievers without the burden of feeling “guilt and having to make extra-ordinary “sacrifices” in life. Unfortunately, the ecosystem around women has not evolved enough to support their ambitions.”

Her Story: Shravani Prakash is Founder of elleNomics, as a think-tank and research-to-action alliance focussing on building an enabling environment for women to advance and thrive in. She is an Economist with more than 10 years’ experience in policy research with organisations like ICRIER and World Bank in New Delhi.

#81. Pranav Jain, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Pranav is passionate about electric vehicles and how it can save the environment, currently a dire need for the world. His writings, which are indepth pieces on trends in the global auto industry, highlight the kind of impact electric vehicles can have in a country like India.

Sample this: “About one-fifth part of the total air pollution in India is caused by vehicular pollution presently. Considering the growing trends in rural and urban consumption, by 2025, manufacturers in India will aim to produce around 65 million vehicles. Recognising the implementation of stricter emission norms by 2020 as well as possible volumes of vehicles on road running on those norms, the share of pollution generated by vehicles would come up to one-fourth.”

His story: Being an avid believer of futuristic technologies, Pranav’s aim is to challenge the status quo by assisting and consulting ambitious automotive companies. His lateral thinking and ability to dig solutions equipped by the deep understanding of the sector and its scopes are the strengths that he brings to the table for a company that is looking to disrupt and optimise its resources.

#82.      Amita Bhaduri, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: As Kerala came to grips with the worst floods in recent history, Amita took a look at what led to the calamity and what can be done to avoid it in the future.

Sample this: “If only Kerala had taken up reservoir operation and management more seriously, the loss from the floods would’ve been mitigated. The Gadgil panel report calls for government intervention to curb activities such as quarrying, mining, land clearance or construction in ecologically-sensitive zones such as those close to riverbanks and violation of Wetlands Protection Rules too need to be looked into,” she writes in her article.

Her story: Amita Bhaduri writes for India Water Portal, a website that shares knowledge and builds communities around water and related issues in India. Managed by Arghyam, the portal is a valuable archive of resources, working papers, reports, data, articles, news, events, opportunities and discussions on water.

#83. Sheela Seharawat, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Sheela writes on studies that reveal that a nutritious diet rich in antioxidants is highly beneficial in the prevention of cancer.

Sample this: “Though in recent times cancer has grown as an epidemic, understanding cancer and the measures that we can adopt through our diet will certainly prevent this insidious disease from spreading.”

Her Story: Sheela Seharawat established the Diet Clinic in 2006 and is a registered dietician under IDA. The Diet clinic, currently has 36 branches running successfully all over the country.

#84. Aditi Balbir, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Aditi writes on women entrepreneurship and leadership.

Sample this: “A startup is the toughest of all businesses, and it takes every ounce of courage, willpower, and a strong foundation to bring it to success. As a founder of a funded business, you will be required to move faster, execute better, and essentially beat your competitors who are usually more experienced and have more capital.”

Her Story: Aditi Balbir is the founder and CEO of V Resorts. The company is a platform offering consistent experiences to Indians in the leisure travel space across India. A powerful voice in the advocacy of fostering entrepreneurship in women, she has been selected as ‘Dell Foundation’s 200 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs In The World’ in 2016.

#85. Dr. Vijay Chandru, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Vijay writes on how, amid the rising incidence of cancer among women in India, genetic testing may be able to significantly reduce the suffering of an at-risk individual.

Sample this: “Genetic testing can be an important methodology to detect mutations that cause hereditary breast and ovarian cancers.”

His Story: Dr Vijay Chandru co-founded Strand Life Sciences, a pioneering company in computational and translational biology and market-leading provider of genomics-based precision medicine services across India from its offices and laboratories in Bengaluru.

#86. Ratna Chadha, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Ratna writes on how tech solutions ensure increased participation of women in the global business landscape.

Sample this: “While communication is seen as the most important attribute of good leaders by both sexes, women are more likely to perceive this skill in terms of listening and engaging in two-way dialogue, while men are more likely to focus on broadcasting messages.”

Her story: The CEO, TIRUN Travel Marketing, Ratna Chadha has been at the helm of introducing various global travel products and pioneered the concept of cruise vacations in India over the past two decades. As an entrepreneur who is today an established industry veteran, she has harnessed her innate business growth abilities to change the way India vacations. She has over 39 years of experience within the travel industry, having worked with various leading travel brands during her career.

#87. Vinay Kanchan, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Startup journey is not just about having a business plan but also about employing creative techniques, according to Vinay, who gleans creative thoughts and insights from various things, events and people, including the FIFA World Cup and a genius like Stephen Hawking.

Sample this: “Mexico-86 is remembered for two Maradona moments, both in the same game against England. First, the brilliant but devious Argentine used his hand to score an unfair goal. Then, four minutes later, perhaps thinking about his legacy, he essayed a jaw-dropping solo goal which showed all his talents in the right light. The essence of this tale is in quickly and immediately righting a wrong. In the mad rush to make a name in the markets, startups often stumble and stutter, especially when it comes to customer experience. But rather than viewing these as setbacks, the company’s think tank should ponder over how these events could be used as opportunities to overcompensate.”

His story: Vinay Kanchan is the author of ‘Lessons from the Playground' and ‘The Madness Starts at 9’. He is an independent trainer in the art of creative thinking.

#88. Neha Bagaria, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Neha writes about women returning to work, bringing women back to work and the importance of women in the workforce.

Sample this: “There is a need for women returnees to have strong mentors. Having a strong mentor is the need of the hour. Today, we are mindful of the reasons why women drop out of work, and are collectively working to solve this challenge. We’re cognizant of the many barriers that exist at home and at work, for women to scale new heights professionally. It’s only when we are truly aware of cause and effect, that we can truly affect change.”

Her Story: Neha Bagaria is an entrepreneur at heart, a Wharton grad, a wife, a mother-of-two and a woman who restarted her career, thus founding JobsForHer. JobsForHer.com is an online portal to enable women to restart their careers post marriage, motherhood, elderly care, etc. Through this portal, women can apply to suitable job opportunities and companies can recruit experienced female talent.

#89. Dr. Namita Pandey, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Dr. Namita writes about the ways in which cancer care for women can be improved, by highlighting issues of affordability, screening and awareness.

Sample this: “There is a need for a holistic approach towards cancer treatment in India. We need a well-planned treatment pathway - from prevention to early detection and complete treatment, apart from affordability and accessibility.”

Her Story: Dr Namita Pandey is a Breast-Onco surgeon at L H Hiranandani Hospital, Mumbai. Her expertise lies in breast cancer, age-related and malignant disorders. She has completed her specialty skills in breast disease management and surgery from Glasgow in 2005 (MBBS, MRCS).

#90. Neha Yaduvanshi, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Neha Yaduvanshi writes about how social networks have emerged as the most common platform for sales generation and brand/services recognition and ways in which social media engagement can help grow your business.

Sample this: “Despite social and cultural progress and wide digitalisation impact, leadership and equality is still a challenge for women in India, especially in semi-urban and rural areas. Major challenges include family-work conflicts, discrimination at workplace, gender-biases, unequal pay, mental/physical harassment and insufficient maternity leave.”

Her Story: Neha Yaduvanshi is the founder and CEO at Vastada Consulting, India's leading strategy and communication consulting firm for private, public, government and social sector organizations. she believes in building customised PR and communication strategy for clients focusing on the power of concept generation, rich and original content and storytelling. She had efficiently ran one of the most successful social media campaigns in India for a leading political party. She had efficiently ran one of the most successful social media campaigns in India for a leading political party.

#91. Dr. Shameem S, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Shameen writes about equal opportunities for women employees in leadership roles.

Sample this: “Women have different leadership styles and bring substantive diversity to company boards in terms of their composition, skill sets and experiences."

Her Story: Dr. Shameem S is an Assistant Professor, Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai.

#92. Nandita Jayaraj, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Nandita writes stories that highlight the successes and struggles of Indian women in science.

Sample this: She has written about Jis Sebastian, a conservation ecologist, Koel Das, an electrical engineer turned cognitive neuroscientist, Rosy Mondal, a cancer researcher, and Kavita Vemuri, a brain sciences researcher.

Her Story: Nandita Jayaraj is a freelance science journalist and co-founder of thelifeofscience.com. She studied journalism at Asian College of Journalism and has written for many publications. The Life of Science is an independent science and feminist media project highlighting the stories of success and struggle of Indian women in science.

#93. Shiivani Aggarwal, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Shivani writes about mobility management and relocation services and how these strategies can make diverse workplaces more gender sensitive.

Sample this: “We are moving towards a global workforce which points to the significance of understanding cultural differences, accepting varying thought-systems, sharing knowledge, and emerging as warriors countering age-old stereotypes and restrictive norms which limit our cumulative growth.”

Her Story: Shiivani Aggarwal is CEO of the Formula Group. A part of the company’s journey since its inception, Shiivani has been associated with Formula Group for the past 15 years. She has helped in building the organisational infrastructure and developing business processes from scratch and possesses an in-depth knowledge of each service and vertical in the company.

#94. Santanu Mishra, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What he writes about: Santanu writes about women empowerment through girl child empowerment.

Sample this: “It is essential to adopt a lifecycle approach for girls, as the needs vary in each phase of their lives – right nutrition at birth and very young ages, quality early childhood education and care, capacity to address discrimination and help them recognise their rights.”

His Story: Santanu Mishra is the Co-Founder and Executive Trustee of Smile Foundation. r. Smile Foundation began its journey formally in 2002, pioneering the principles of good governance in the non-profits and the innovative concept of Social Venture Philanthropy (SVP), with the latter handholding grassroots NGOs to achieve accountability, scalability, sustainability and leadership. In the year 2005, Mr Mishra quit his full-time corporate career and got completely involved in making Smile Foundation a structured and successful non-profit organisation.

#95. Christina Ruggiero, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Christina writes about women’s influence on economy and society.

Sample this: “And finally at a purely personal level, the narrative around how much women can influence a society, remains the same – whether in India or US.”

Her Story: Christina is the CEO of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd. She relocated to India to operate out of Hindustan Coca-Cola’s headquarters in Bangalore in mid-2017.

#96. Jamie Becket, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Jamie writes about artificial intelligence and the way it’s being developed for use in healthcare.

Sample this: Jamie writes about how Dr Dexter Hadley of University of California, San Francisco, hopes to study five million mammograms to develop AI for precision imaging of breast cancer. AI is being developed for precision imaging of breast cancer. She also writes about how GPU-accelerated deep learning is also being used to predict the most effective depression treatments for patients based on their symptoms, demographics, and the results of certain medical tests.

Her Story: Jamie covers artificial intelligence (especially deep learning) and science for the NVIDIA blog. Before NVIDIA, she was director of communications at Stanford’s School of Engineering, and previously served as managing editor for Cisco’s newsroom and for HP Labs’ website. Earlier, she worked at the Stamford Advocate, in Connecticut, where she was part of a team that was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

#97. Ritu Gupta, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Ritu writes about how women are starting to improve their businesses, reach leadership positions, and drive greater prosperity and synergy in India, Inc.

Sample this: “Today, the changing Indian corporate scenario has helped bring more and more women in prominent leadership roles. Their big gains and contributions to entrepreneurship and job growth have paved the path for thousands of other motivated women and challenged the ‘boys’ club’ approach of conducting business in India and abroad.”

Her Story:  Ritu Gupta is a Co-founder & COO of Trak N Tell. Trak N Tell is an IoT startup providing sophisticated vehicle telematics solutions

#98. Hansi Mehrotra, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Hansi writes about wealth management and portfolio construction in India on her site MoneyManagementIndia.net. Hansi also writes about personal finance for non-professional investors at themoneyhans.com.

Sample this: “My learning is that I could be more effective as an educator, helping investors to ask better questions, than as a researcher providing answers.”

Her Story: Hansi Mehrotra has a passion for boosting financial literacy among the common people and runs a financial education blog at The Money Hans. She has over two decades of experience in finance and consulting.

#99.  Shweta Shetty, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Shweta writes about gender inequality in the tech companies and also about entrepreneurship.

Sample this: “One of the industries which is still far from seeing gender equality is the tech industry. The tech space is still male-dominated and women are still lagging behind.”

Her Story: Shweta Shetty is a YourStory Contributor.

#100. Sangeeta Giri, YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018

What she writes about: Sangeeta writes about women in the workforce and how companies can nurture a truly inclusive culture.

Sample this: “The new generation of women techies are bold and confident and slowly but steadily growing in numbers. It is now up to the organisations to give them the support and freedom they need to flourish further.”

Her Story: Sangeeta Giri is the Sales Director, End User Computing at VMware India. She is responsible for the Enterprise and Government Segment in India while leading regional teams to manage the end customer revenue.

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(With design and research support from Aghila Alex, Shikha Dave, Anisha Tulika, and Shafeeq R)