Fintech, media, collaboration: Test your business creativity with Edition 14 of our quiz
This insightful feature from YourStory tests and strengthens your business acumen. Here are five questions to kick off this fourteenth quiz. Are you ready?
This weekly quiz from YourStory tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see last week’s quiz here). In this fourteenth edition of the quiz, we present five issues tackled by real-life entrepreneurs in their startup journeys.
What would you do if you were in their shoes? At the end of the quiz, you will find out what the entrepreneurs themselves actually did. Would you do things differently?
Check out YourStory’s Book Review section as well, with takeaways from over 320 titles on creativity and entrepreneurship, and our weekend PhotoSparks section on creativity in the arts.
Q1: Electric mobility
The case for electric vehicles is compelling – a move away from fossil fuels, easier to manufacture, and growing market interest. Challenges to be overcome include distribution of charging stations and cost-effective battery swapping. What’s another key challenge?
Q2: Media models
The pandemic has driven rapid uptake of online media consumption, such as streaming media. However, it has also spurred the fortunes of another form of digital communication. In fact, its pre-digital form even predates the newspaper. Which media form is this?
Q3: Solutions for better health
India’s youth population is one of the largest in the world (in absolute and relative terms), and much attention in the health sector focus on solutions for this growing demographic. But it is also vital to address health solutions for another segment – which one is this?
Q4: The fintech opportunity
Much of fintech activity focuses on upper and middle-income urban markets, which is well-served by traditional firms. But how can costs be lowered so that other segments can be addressed? Which other communities can be served better, and how?
Q5: The future of collaboration
The pandemic has accelerated the use of Work From Home (WFH) models, even to WFHT (work from home town) and WFA (work from anywhere). Virtual solutions for distributed work need to be secure, collaborative and easy to use. What’s another crucial feature for WFH solutions?
Answers!
Congratulations on having come this far! But there’s more to come – answers to these five questions (below), as well as links to articles with more details on the entrepreneurs’ solutions. Happy reading, happy learning – and happy creating!
A1: Electric mobility
“As electric mobility is seeing rapid adoption in India, lack of financing options remains the largest roadblock,” explains Sameer Aggarwal, Founder of RevFin. The Delhi-based digital e-mobility consumer lending platform serves the financially excluded and underserved segments.
RevFin has recently raised $4 million in pre-Series A funding round in both equity and debt and aims to be a market-leading EV financier in India. Read more about RevFin’s plans here.
A2: Media models
“The resurgence of the newsletter industry is a global phenomenon accelerated by the new normal of digital screens becoming our windows to the world,” explains Priyam Sharma, Founder of The Jurni, a travel and culture newsletter.
Interestingly, newsletters are some of the oldest forms of group communication and predate newspapers, with roots back to government communication in ancient Rome. Ubiquitous smartphones and cheap data in countries like India make digital newsletters a viable media form, particularly for youth. Read more about Priyam’s work here.
A3: Solutions for better health
“We need to get involved in the age-tech ecosystem and explore solutions that could improve our parents' and grandparents' wellbeing,” urges Tapan Mishra, Founder of Seniority, India’s largest shopping destination for senior citizens, and Evergreen Club, a holistic wellness app for older adults.
Though India is known for its large youth base, people aged 55+ represent more than 15 percent of the total population, he cautions. Hence the importance of addressing ‘Gen S’ – especially the online segment, also called ‘Seenagers.’ This space has already attracted investors worldwide and in India, Tapan adds. Read more here.
A4: The fintech opportunity
“There are about 100 million families and 300 million individuals residing in 4,000+ small towns of India. The urban segment is extensively targeted by banks and fintechs but there are no unique products for small towns,” according to Vishal Chopra and Himanshu Gupta, Founders of WeRize.
The high-cost branch-based distribution model of traditional firms makes it hard for them to serve small towns. Leveraging the digital model, WeRize offers customised credit, group insurance, and savings products to users residing in small towns in India. Read more of their journey here.
A5: The future of collaboration
“The pandemic has established that the future of collaboration is video,” explains Aditya Pisupati, Founder and CEO of Ving (the startup's name itself comes from ‘videoing').
“The future of workspaces is flexible, secure and collaborative,” adds co-founder Amitabh Patney. The hybrid work model combines flexibility with productivity. The startup’s solutions enable seamless collaborations and accessible distraction-free workspaces. Read more about Ving here.
YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).
Edited by Suman Singh
