'If you have a dream, give it a chance to happen' - your startup fix to start the week

Bet you don’t know Richard DeVos? But bet you know Amway. The self-made billionaire and co-founder of Amway, DeVos changed the way the world looked at marketing, one sale after another. And from the very beginning, he believed that life “tends to respond to our outlook, to shape itself to meet our expectations”.

DeVos' multi-level marketing company was founded in 1959, and we all know where that went. We believe there’s much we can learn from this self-made man.

For starters: “If I had to select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick the trait of persistence. Determination. The will to endure to the end, to get knocked down seventy times and get up off the floor saying, ‘Here comes number seventy-one’!”

After all, it’s not “how well you handle the good days that determine how well you do in life; it’s how well you handle the bad days”. True, innit?

Inspired much? If not, we have a bunch of startup stories that will get you dreaming.

Hooked on books, but can't spend all your moolah on them? Here's how a 24-year-old entrepreneur from Delhi is luring broke bibliophiles with her startup. Book Thela is one of India's largest second-hand bookstores on the web, and sells thousands of pre-owned books to readers across the country. The platform claims to have over 90,000 registered users.

Looking for some car seva? Delhi startup CheckMyGaadi helps buyers evaluate used cars, and wants to be the OYO of car servicing. Founded by Ram Jaiswal, the startup, which began started as a pre-purchase car inspection platform, is now a one-stop servicing platform for multiple car needs, from annual maintenance and minor repairs to major replacements and routine servicing.

Tablets in cabs have been there for a while now. But Bengaluru-based Trioo is bringing them to autorickshaws now and changing gears for advertising. The bootstrapped startup enables local businesses and brands to connect with commuters by advertising through tablet computers installed in auto rickshaws.

Nutrition is recognised as the “cornerstone” of an athlete’s diet. Reason enough for Samit Mehta to launch a sports nutrition startup that helps athletes and the fitness-conscious stay at the top of their game. Pune-based UTH Beverage offers sports nutrition products ‘of international quality at Indian prices’ under its Six Pack Nutrition brand.

When they were at school, they created their school's website. And now these twin brothers have built India's first startup that made it to Techstars. CometChat, the Mumbai-based enterprise messaging startup founded by Anant and Anuj Garg, allows developers to seamlessly add voice, video, and text chat to their mobile apps and/or websites to increase customer engagement and improve monetisation.  

When there is an ever-lasting sun, why shouldn't India go solar? That's what Magenta Power wants to show the world. Magenta Power, founded by Maxson Lewis, offers clean energy solutions and aims to change the future of mobility by “Uberising” solar power. The startup is on track to set up a complete solar grid and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

For decades, women in the hills have knitted to keep their families warm during the harsh winter. But a Gurugram-based startup is now helping women in villages across Himachal knit a brighter future. Founded by Kanchan Vaidya, The Original Knit is creating livelihoods for women in Himachal villages and selling handmade woollen wear for babies and toddlers online and offline.

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