Space, literacy, apparel: Test your business creativity with Edition 250 of our weekly quiz!
This insightful feature from YourStory tests and strengthens your business acumen! Here are 5 questions to kick off this 250th 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 250th 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: Literacy
For millions of children, access to a classroom, teacher or book remains out of reach. What are some ways in which education can be brought to such underserved communities?
Q2: Circular economy
There are many sustainability solutions that deliver circular economy benefits at a small or local scale. How can such solutions be scaled up to the national level and beyond?
Q3: Accessories and design
Many consumers want beautiful, well-made accessories but are faced either with luxury imports or low-cost products. Where is the entrepreneurial opportunity here?
Q4: Ethnic wear
Children’s ethnic-wear clothes are often priced either at premium levels or low costs with low quality. How can better products be positioned here?
Q5: Space and data
Offering optical imaging solutions is a good entry path into the space-tech market. What kinds of new offerings can be layered on top of this foundation?
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: Literacy
There are a number of ways in which literacy can extend far beyond textbooks, such as Akash Tandon’s Pehchaan The Street School which brings education to slum children via volunteer teachers. Ngurang Meena and Reena founded The Street Library Initiative in Arunachal Pradesh, with 26 free-standing libraries across three districts.
Madhavi Shastri, K Srinivas Rao, and Shefali Rao, started the Food4Thought Foundation which has 622 libraries with books received from 425 donors. Read more here about Than Singh Ki Pathshala in Delhi, and Mission Ankur’s ways of teaching mathematics through songs and activities.
A2: Circular economy
Founded by Devang Kumar, Greenwave Circularity has developed a circular plastic recycling facility in Odisha. It can convert post-consumer bottle scrap into recycled resin and flakes for the FMCG industry.
The company’s joint venture partners include Jainarain Fabtech and Moon Beverage, a franchise bottler of Coca-Cola. Read more here about its solar power system, green-building certification, partnerships for scale, employment opportunities, and recent fundraise.
A3: Accessories
Founded by Sarthak Aggarwal, Vikram Jain, Karan Jain, and Shruti Aggarwal, Theater is positioned as a mass-premium brand for footwear, stockings, perfumes, and bags. It is priced for a generation that cares deeply about design but does not want to pay luxury prices.
“Consumers are willing to pay for products that have a point of view,” Jain observes. Read more here about its design-led options for consumers, and its recent fundraise from Prath Ventures.
A4: Ethnic wear
Founded by Rachana and Mihir Shah, Desi Tales makes pure cotton clothes with design details that avoid poking and itching. They can withstand children’s everyday wear and tear rather than being used only for festive occasions.
The “ethnic plus quirk” designs are partly handmade by women artisans in Gujarat and Rajasthan using Sanganeri block printing, and the rest is made through contract manufacturers. Read more here about how this D2C brand has served close to 40,000 customers over four years.
A5: Space and data
Founded by Awais Ahmed, Pixxel began with offerings in hyperspectral imaging, which captures information across many wavelengths of light. It is now expanding its focus to an earth intelligence software platform and sovereign earth observation systems.
Pixxel is scaling up its combination of software, datasets and satellite systems for commercial and government missions. Read more here about its recent fundraise, and its selection to lead India’s first public-private Earth observation constellation of 12 satellites under IN-SPACe.
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.