Livelihood, AI, insights: test your business creativity with Edition 217 of our weekly quiz!
This insightful feature from YourStory tests and strengthens your business acumen! Here are 5 questions to kick off this 217th quiz. Ready?
Lateral Sparks, the weekly quiz from YourStory, tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see the previous edition here). In this 217th edition of the quiz, we present 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 and innovators themselves actually did. Would you do things differently?
Check out YourStory’s Book Review section as well, with takeaways from over 355 titles on creativity and entrepreneurship, and our weekend PhotoSparks section on creativity in the arts.
Q1: Loan payments
Collecting loan payments is a massive task, with large teams to handle phone calls, emails and messages with borrowers. Borrowers also need empathetic engagement during hard times. How can these challenges be addressed at scale, without sacrificing quality?
Q2: Electric vehicles
A good ownership experience for products like electric vehicles goes beyond the performance of the product. What other factors come into play that can impact the financial dimensions of a purchase?
Q3: Document insights
Many large firms have substantial document flow in the form of purchase orders, invoices and regulatory files, but most of this information stays locked inside traditional legacy systems. How can their business value be unlocked?
Q4: The D2C opportunity
Many D2C brands launched in large cities with flashy Instagram ads, celebrity influencers, and hefty venture money. However, this model does not work as well in smaller towns – what may be a better approach here?
Q5: Blue collar recruitment
The hiring market for blue and grey collar employment is highly fragmented, particularly in smaller cities. SMEs also face challenges in managing HR tasks. How can technology help here?
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: Loan payments
Founded by Shantanu Gangal and Sangram Raje, Prodigal leverages AI to enable empathy-driven customer service at scale. Its agentic AI platform for loan servicing and debt collection autonomously manages customer interactions across channels to generate customised collection strategies and predictive insights.
Its three-tier architecture includes foundation models, compliance and collections expertise, and customer-specific customisation. Read more here about how it has raised funds from Y Combinator, Accel and Menlo Ventures,
A2: Electric vehicles
Insurance is a critical part of the EV ownership journey today, according to Ravneet Singh Phokela, Chief Business Officer, Ather Energy. “By bringing insurance distribution closer to the Ather ecosystem, we can make it simpler, more transparent, and better aligned with how our customers actually use their vehicles,” he explains.
Working with partners can also help design auto insurance products that reflect real EV usage. Read more here about Ather’s strategy to build an integrated ecosystem around its two-wheelers, which includes charging infrastructure, accessories and insurance services via a wholly owned subsidiary.
A3: Document insights
Founded by Rajeev Jamaiyar, Anirban Adak and Mohit Tripathi, NineBit has developed an AI-powered intelligence layer that sits on top of a company’s existing document systems. It uses large language models that can read documents, learn patterns, and extract useful information without manual effort.
The startup is experiencing strong demand for its products from sectors like logistics and finance. Read more here about how it has clients in the US and Australia, and charges between $10,000 and $20,000 per project.
A4: The D2C opportunity
Comprised of college representatives, salon owners, and micro-ambassadors, neighbourhood squads on WhatsApp can be leveraged by D2C brands to run hyperlocal sampling drives. They can also rely on nano creators who actually know their audience.
Micro-events, community, content, and trust are more important than paid virality to enable cheaper acquisition and better retention. Read more here about how Indonesian brands like Somethinc, Emina and Scarlett have leveraged this playbook.
A5: Blue collar recruitment
WorkIndia is a recruitment platform for blue and grey collar workers, particularly in smaller cities and towns. It offers employment opportunities across more than 50 categories, including delivery services, retail, telecalling, field sales and warehouse operations.
“Our mission is simple: create a transparent, tech-driven job platform for this workforce,” Co-founder Nilesh Dungarwal explains. Read more here about how it offers structured recruitment options to small businesses that lack dedicated HR teams, and its Series B investment by Aavishkaar Capital.
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).