BW BUSINESSWORLD-1-14 DEC 2021

www.businessworld.inSUBSCRIBER’S COPY NOT FOR RESALE I RNI NO. 39847/81 I 01-14 DECEMBER 2021

THE WINNERS:Amritha Gaddam,
Pratik Gupta,
Divij Bajaj,
Nikhil Aggarwal,Bhavna Suresh,
Naivedya Agarwal,
2 0 2 1AngadRajain,

Rishabh Goel,
Gaurav Khatri,
Rohit Paranjpe,

Saahil Goel,
Varun Chaudhary,
Vinayak Shrivastav,
Pranit P Shilimkar,

Aakash Vaghela,
Prabhdeep Singh,

YDrKarthikNarayanR,

Dr. Akshay V. Singhal,
Sairaj Dhond,

Vamsi Krishna Gaddam,
Rahul Nainani,

Ashutosh Singla
Rohan Nayak,

Anant Bengani,

I N D I A’ SAnkitGarg,

Kabir Siddiq,
Pranav Saxena,

Upasna Dash,

HOTTESTSunainaHarjai,

Sargam Dhawan
Bhayana,

Pankaj Sunwar,

YOUNGESushantGaur,
ENTREPRENEURS

Pulkit Khurana,

Ujjwal Jain,

Ram Shriram,

Ashutosh Kumar

Rs 100



www.businessworld.in SUBSCRIBER’S COPY NOT FOR RESALE I RNI NO. 39847/81 I 01-14 DECEMBER 2021

INDIA’S

HOTTEST

YOUNG

ENTREPRENEURS

THE WINNERS: (from top to bottom) Divij Bajaj, Nikhil Aggarwal, Angad Rajain, Rishabh Goel, Gaurav Khatri, Rohit Paranjpe,
Saahil Goel, Varun Chaudhary, Vinayak Shrivastav, Pranit P Shilimkar, Aakash Vaghela, Prabhdeep Singh, Dr Karthik Narayan R, Dr.

Akshay V Singhal, Sairaj Dhond, Vamsi Krishna Gaddam, Rahul Nainani, Ashutosh Singla, Rohan Nayak, Anant Bengani,
Ankit Garg, Kabir Siddiq, Pranav Saxena, Upasna Dash, Sunaina Harjai, Sargam Dhawan Bhayana, Pankaj Sunwar, Sushant Gaur,

Amritha Gaddam, Pratik Gupta, Bhavna Suresh, Naivedya Agarwal, Pulkit Khurana, Ujjwal Jain, Ram Shriram, Ashutosh Kumar





EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S NOTE

INDIA’S BRAVE YOUNG HEARTS

ANNURAG BATRA THE PAST 20-MONTHS will be remembered as a challenging spell in the
historyof mankind,asitwillfortheIndianeconomy.Throughthemalaiseof
 [email protected] a raging pandemic that resurfaces in new mutations every day, some sectors
of the economy have actually fared quite well and continue to perform
better with each passing quarter. Albeit, consumers still feel the squeeze
of an uptick in inflation, but the economy as a whole demonstrates some
significant positives. The stock markets, which have yo-yoed through most
of 2021, have touched new heights as the year draws to a close. Every passing
quarter brings in more positive signs of recovery, growth and optimism.

Braving the challenges and hurdles dragged in by the pandemic, the spirit
of entrepreneurship has continued to shine through, however. This year
for instance, will certainly be remembered for the fabulous performance
of startups in India. Incidentally, India has the third largest ecosystem of
startups in the world. At least three new startups on an average are known
to have joined the elite club of Unicorns every month in 2021. Till date, 33
active startups have entered the Unicorn club, which inspired us to shine the
spotlight on these young and enthusiastic enterprisers in our cover feature.

TheBWBusinessworldYoungEntrepreneurAwards (YEA)isaplatform
that highlights the ideas of tomorrow’s Unicorns. An endeavour of BW
Disrupt, the YEA is an annual initiative conceptualised to recognise and
laud India’s most enterprising young minds. For the seventh edition of
the YEA Awards, more than 120 nominations were received, of which
70 shortlisted entrepreneurs presented their story to the jury board, an
eminent panel of industry experts. The winners’ list included 36 dynamic
entrepreneurs.

The panel evaluated these entrepreneurs across diverse parameters
including the key milestones achieved, the market opportunity, their
financial performance and highlights of their entrepreneurial journey, to
name a few. This year’s nominations hugely surpassed last year’s record.
The awards ceremony was preceded by the YEA Summit, a day-long live
event, where industry leaders debated on the growth triggers, digital
transformation, technology and innovations that assist young entrepreneurs
in their everyday decision making and in charting out their long-term plans.

The YEA Summit attracted prominent industry leaders like Manoj Kohli,
Country Head, SoftBank India, Sudhir Sethi, Founder and Chairman,
Chiratae Ventures and Beerud Sheth, CEO and Co-Founder, GupShup,
among others. Many high profile industry leaders and experts joined in to
celebrate India’s dynamic and ever-expanding ecosystem of startups. We
hope you enjoy reading about these young and enterprising business leaders
in the making, who stand a chance to change the world. Of course, we also
bring to you all our regular columns and features. Happy reading!

4 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021



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6 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

SPECIAL TECH DOUBLE EDITION

www.businessworld.in SUBSCRIBER’S COPY NOT FOR RESALE I RNI NO. 39847/81 I NOVEMBER 2021 MAILBOX

Anant Maheshwari, Joseph Sirosh, YOUR COMMENTS
President, Chief Technical Officer,
Compass Inc
Microsoft India

Som Satsangi, Ashwin Yardi,
Managing Director, CEO - India,
Capgemini
Hewlett Packard

Enterprise

Sandip Patel, Megan
MD, IBM India Clarken,
Global CEO,

Criteo

The year marks a radical evolution for the technology sector that RISE OF EDTECH AMID THE PANDEMIC
pushed forth concepts such as hybrid, customised, 5G ready and the
This refers to the editorial (“ Future Of Learning:
like to drive another growth spurt for India’s digital economy It Is All In”, BW, November 14). The author
elucidates on how edtech companies have risen as
Rs 150 the beacon for the democratisation of education
by creating accessibility at relatively affordable
TALKBACK BLIPP costs. Though startups and small businesses
THIS PAGE were hit hard by the pandemic, edtech companies
Submissions to BW |Businessworld TO GIVE US gained significant momentum during this time.
should include the writer’s name and YOUR FEEDBACK It was interesting to know that the Indian online
address and be sent by email to the INSTANTLY education market is expected to reach $1.96 billion
editor at [email protected] by the end of 2021, currently standing at $247
or by mail to 74-75, Scindia House, million with an estimated CAGR of 52 per cent
Connaught Place, New Delhi-110001 alongside an estimated growth of user base from 1.2
million to 9.5 million by the end of 2021 at a CAGR
of 44 per cent. And that primary and secondary
supplementary education is set to be the category
with the largest growth at $773 million, growing at
the CAGR of 60 per cent according to a KPMG 2021
study, while online test preparation is expected to
be the fastest-growing category in online education,
estimated to grow at a CAGR of 64 per cent in the
next five years.

PAWAN GAUR, EMAIL

MAKING TECH THE CENTREPIECE

This refers to the editorial (“The Growing Amity
Between Tech & Biz ”, BW, November 14). The
author rightly points out that technology in current
times is opening up tremendous opportunities for
business. The crisis has shown businesses that the
only way to minimise disruptions and maintain
business continuity is by making technology the
centrepiece of their business. Automation and AI
can help companies introduce agility, flexibility, and
responsiveness, enabling companies to better adapt
to fast-changing situations.

KIRAN JOSHI, EMAIL

7 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021





CONTENTS

VOLUME 41, ISSUE 03 01-14 DECEMBER 2021

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 34 Lagging Behind 30

12 Jottings Manisha Kapoor, Secretary-General, India’s Hottest
Advertising Standards Council of India Entrepreneurs of
The Kremlin chill?; No big deal; A Nobel highlights the huge disconnect between Tomorrow
Cause, and Moving on advertising and its portrayal of Indian
women BW Businessworld’s Young
14 Columns Entrepreneur Awards
36 Beauty & the Feast (YEA) and Summit fetes
Vikas Singh (p. 14); Ashutosh Garg (p. 16); 36 young entrepreneurs
Minhaz Merchant (p. 18); Jairam Plum CEO & Founder Shankar Prasad shows who have the potential to
Easwaran (p. 20) ; Ajai Dayal (p. 22); how the D2C beauty brands of today will be be the business leaders of
Srinath Sridharan (p. 24); Raghav the market leaders of tomorrow tomorrow
Chandra (p. 26); Jerininio Almeida (p. 28);
Praveen Chauhan (p. 88) 84 In Conversation Cover design by DINESH S. BANDUNI
Cover photographs by RITESH SHARMA
30 Growth Centres Vinod Rohira, CEO, Mindspace REIT on how
the hiring done after the pandemic is leading
An indepth study of how Tier-2 and Tier-3 to a renewed demand for grade A office
cities are emerging as the new growth spaces that conform to compliance,
centres for retail brands governance, health, and safety protocols

10 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

80

BW YEA Summit

Industry captains and young

entrepreneurs brainstorm over

what makes tech startups tick in

these times of stress

40 Amrita Gaddam 54 Kabir Sadiq 63 Pratik Gupta

Founder & CEO, The Tribe Concepts CEO & Co-foudner, SleepyCat Co-founder, Zoo Media

41 Anant Bengani 55 Naivedya Agarwal 64 Pulkit Khurana

Director & Co-founder, Zell Education Co-founder, Runaya Co-founder, Battery Smart

42 Angad Rajain 56 Nikhil Aggarwal 65 Rahul Nainani

Global Head - IFM & Chief Strategy CEO, Grip Invest Advisors Co-founder & CEO, Re-Circle
Officer, Tenon Facility Management
India 57 Rohan Nayak 66 Varun Chaudhary

43 Ashutosh Singla Co-founder& CEO, Pocketfm Managing Director. CG Corp Global

Co-founder & CEO, Bikayi 58 Pankaj Sunwar 68 Ram Shriram

44 Ankit Garg Entrepreneur, Amway Founder & CEO, Mahagram

CEO & Co-founder, Wakefit.Co 60 Prabhdeep Singh 69 Rishabh Goel

45 Ashutosh Kumar Founder & CEO, StanPlus Technologies Co-founder & CEO, Credgenics

CEO & Co-founder, Testbook 61 Pranav Saxena 70 Saahil Goel

46 Divij Bajaj Co-founder, The WorldGrad Co-founder & CEO, Shiprocket

CEO, Power Gummies 62 Rohit Paranjpe 71 Vinayak Shrivastav

48 Bhavna Suresh CEO & Co-founder, SugarBox Network CEO, Toch.ai

Co-foundr & CEO, 10club 72 Sairaj Dhond

49 Akshay V Singhal 98 Founder & CEO, Wakao Foods

CEO & Founder, Log 9 Materials Last Word 73 Sunaina Harjai

50 Karthik Narayan R Raj Yog meditation Director, Hats Off Accessories
teacher, spiritual guide
Managing Director, Athulya Assisted and mentor Sister BK 74 Sushant Gaur
Shivani on trust and
Living distrust, resilence and CEO, Adeera Pack
stress, and more
52 Gaurav Khatri 76 Sargam Dhawan

Co-founder, Noise Director, Tressmart Marketing

53 Pranit P Shimlikar 77 Ujjwal Jain

Founder, Fitnesstalks Founder & CEO, WealthDesk

78 Upasna Das

Founder & CEO, Jajabor Brand
Consultancy

90 Photo Essay
96 Astrospeak

TOTAL NO. OF PAGES INCLUDING COVER 100

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma

ThepagesinBW BusinessworldthatarelabelledBWiorPromotionscontainsponsoredcontent.Theyareentirelygeneratedbyanadvertiserorthe
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Thesepagesshouldnotbeconfusedwith BW Businessworld’seditorialcontent.

11 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

JOTTINGS

The Covid Chill?

R USSIAN PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin’s summit visits
to India have always had a brisk, business-like
air about them. On 6 December President Putin
landed in Delhi just in time to make it to Hyderabad
House for a 5:30 p. m. meeting with Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and was wheels up at 9:30 p.m. after his solitary
engagement. There have been some muted murmurs
on whether this signalled lack of warmth between the
traditional partners. There were no personalised photo-ops,
nor time for bonding or show of bonhomie between the two
leaders. There was no public engagement. This was Putin’s
first visit to India in four years, although he has met Modi
several times at international events during this period.
The Indian Prime Minister and the Russian President
visit each other’s country in alternate years for the annual
summit. Putin skipped his scheduled 2019 visit to India.
In official communications, as well as in Modi’s welcome
speech, India appreciatively acknowledged that this is
Putin’s second visit out of Russia since the Covid pandemic
began. His only other foreign visit had been to Geneva
for the Russia-US Summit with US President Joe Biden.
“The fact that President Putin has decided to visit India
for our annual Summit is an indication of the importance
he attaches to the bilateral relationship,” was the official
viewpoint in India. — Vishal Thapar

Photograph by PIB/PMINDIA

NO BIG DEAL, THOUGH

SUMMIT MEETINGS with Russia Smerch rocket systems and
are traditionally an occasion for efforts to resolve the impasse
big ticket announcements. But over the Kamov-226 helicopter
the Narendra Modi-Vladimir deal. Even the India-Russia
Putin Summit appeared low-key Reciprocal Logistical Support
in terms of outcomes. The only Agreement (RELOS) was put off.
big take-away from among
28 agreements and MoUs was Observers infer caution
the signing of the contract over the threat of American
for the manufacture of AK- sanctions on deals with Russia.
203 assault rifles at Korwa in The US has still not given India
Amethi. And deals which were a waiver under the Countering
thought to be imminent but found no mention loomed American Adversaries Through
larger. These include pending multi-billion contracts for Sanctions Act (CAATSA), and the high stakes $5.5 billion
21 MiG-29 and 18 Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, and 5,000 Very S-400 missile defence deal with Russia is under the
Short Range Aid Defence (VSHORAD) Igla-S missiles scanner. Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla was at pains to
with 250 launchers. There was silence on proposals for explain the S-400 deal as a legacy contract going back to
light tanks for high-altitude warfare, Extended Range 2018. The wait-and-watch approach has slowed down the
India-Russia momentum. — Vishal Thapar

12 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021 Photograph by Indiapicturebudget

A NOBEL
CAUSE

ALBERT EINSTEIN, who won the Nobel Prize for

Physics in 1921 for his “services to theoretical

physics” also played the violin and ostensibly

regaled guests at his home with violin recitals.

“Life without music is inconceivable to me,”

Einstein is known to have told his sister. Richard

P. Feynman, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for

Physics along with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro

Tomonaga in 1965, for his fundamental work in

quantum electrodynamics, was quite a credible

artist. Feynman began drawing at the age of 44,

took lessons in fine arts and drew and painted as

a pastime.

Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, the 2019 winner

Photograph by A. Mahmoud of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic

Sciences in Honour of Alfred Nobel (yes, yes, the Nobel Prize), along with spouse Esther Duflo and Michael

Kremer for “their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty” is quite an accomplished cook. So

long known for his culinary skills only among his friends and relations, Banerjee has now decided to share

his secret recipes with the world in a compilation titled, Cooking to Save Your Life. Published by Juggernaut,

this collection of recipes, like Banerjee, is international and roves from the lemon flavoured moong dal of the

country of his birth to gourmet French and continental cuisine. Science obviously co-habits easily with the

arts, even of the culinary kind. — Madhumita Chakraborty

MOVING ON IF THERE IS ONE TREND that has drawn attention,
raised eyebrows and led to a tumult of discussions
amongst the media fraternity over the past few
months, it is ‘The Great Migration’ of senior and
mid-level media folks to corresponding sectors
and sometimes to entirely alien terrains from the
firmament of journalism.

One does not know for sure, what the trend
implies, coming as it does in the wake of the massive
contraction of jobs in the media space with the
onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the downturn
that followed. Media jobs, moreover, have been
known to be demanding, leaving little room for
a work-life balance. More than 40 mid to senior
level media professionals have lately embraced
more rewarding opportunities beyond the trodden
path. Some have chosen a purpose for a calling and
decided to give back to society.

As they say, to win the marketplace, one must first
win in the workplace and the flight away from media
may have a lesson embedded in it somewhere.

— Soumya Sehgal

Photograph by Indiapicturebudget 13 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

COLUMN By Vikas Singh

H ISTORY, INSIGHT, AND A LITTLE OBSERVATION tell us that eco- Poverty often depletes, even breaks
nomic growth is the most powerful instrument for scaling the socio- their will, despondency sets in, decision
economic pyramid. It is pivotal to poverty eradication and sustain- fatigue is common. For the deprived
able development. Growth triggers a virtuous circle of prosperity, and the poor, a rupee today is more than
catalyses a progressive ecosystem. It vitalises the quality of life, a hundred rupees tomorrow.
social harmony, equality and opportunity.
Promise makers know they can
Political Class Trade Voters’ Long Term Future for the Next Term ‘escape’ accountability. Most do. In a
Voters expect the state to create the enabling ecosystem to grow the development complex, often high pitched and shrill
pie so every individual may have their fill, making most people self-reliant, inde- electoral milieu it is difficult for voters
pendent of the ephemeral largesse of the state. However, and instead, our political to untwine and disentangle who, and at
leaders especially in election bound states, conveniently divide the pie to the level what level of government, is responsi-
where most are eventually denied. ble for which welfare scheme. The in-
cumbent offers lazy solutions, spends
Elections have a familiar plot. We are witnessing a spectacle where leaders make recklessly. Sops and rag-tag welfare
grand promises, but deliver little. Unrealistic promises, irrational freebies and schemes are the currency to ‘buy’ votes.

Citizens Must
Trade Votes for

Growth

sops are on the rise. The challenger promises much more,
The Indian electorate have been extremely judicious, rejecting the fringe, shun- ‘committed’ to sink the economy when
(if ) elected. It is dangerous.
ning those who plot power, manipulate voters. They instead embrace those who
look ahead, present sustainable development plans. However this has changed in The belief that politicians ben-
the last two decades. efit electorally from freebies and sops
stokes the fire. However there is more
A Crux study across 17 states reveals that about Rs 800 is scattered and ‘invested’ to it that needs redressal both at the
for every electoral vote. However less highlighted, even ignored, is the larger malice level of the individual and (more so)
i.e., electoral short-termism; election-focused welfare schemes, and the ‘targeted’ the system.
freebies that the incumbent spends to lure voters. The challengers respond with
equal vengeance, tempting with taller promises, layering these promises with win- Don’t Look Beyond a Term
nable slogans. Promises they can never keep. Politicians focus more on substantial
(monetary) input and ‘quick’ outcome;
But they promise, nevertheless. less on impact, even less on sustainabil-
ity. The priorities are misplaced; the
Freebies & Sops Benefit Only Individuals. Growth is the Casualty economy suffers. Development is even
It’s a win for both the challengers and the incumbent. Most with ‘shrill and din’ and more relevant to the poorest who have
others with a persuasive tone, reap the benefits of those lofty, but broken promises. been deprived of the benefits of growth,
Public memory is short. Most who do remember, are forgiving. A large part of the denied most other basics.
poor electorates abdicate their responsibility for electoral sops.

The Crux study explains why most poor voters find it difficult to ‘reject’ the offers.

14 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

VOTERS HAVE A ROLE TO
PLAY AS WELL. THEY ARE
THE OWNERS OF THE
RESOURCES AND MUST NOT
TRADE THEM FOR A BICYCLE
OR A GRINDER. EVENTUALLY
FREEBIES MEAN HIGHER
TAXES, AND SEVERAL
SACRIFICES THAT THE
COMMON MAN ENDS UP
MAKING. THEY MUST SEEK
AND DEMAND INVESTMENT

Instead of focussing on creating infrastructure that benefits most, election bound ment agenda includes education, in-
governments ‘float’ sops. As an example, the rural economy benefits more by creat- frastructure, jobs, equality and health.
ing sustainable and robust infrastructure, not loan waivers, which in any case, only They must equally shun those who try
benefit rich farmers. The fertiliser and power subsidies are another case in point. to offer ‘sops for votes’.
In Punjab, and several other states, subsidies are cornered by the larger farmers.
Voters must understand and appre-
Most agricultural sops are at the cost of creating agricultural capital, or ‘tak- ciate that balanced growth strengthens
ing the road to the village’. Agriculture infrastructure provides access to markets, participatory democracy. Similarly a
irrigation and making agriculture sustainable. Infrastructure is empowering. financially stronger state can grow the
economy, enhance living conditions.
Votes are the Only Assets the Poor can Trade for Growth & Development
Similarly politicians eagerly build a hospital, but do not invest in holistic health. Voters are the Key Stockholders
Hospitals fetch votes. Investment in holistic health involves protracted, depressing The voters have a role to play as well.
details. And the votes lag behind. Focus on primary healthcare, Swachh Bharat can After all, they are the owners of the re-
enhance health outcomes, reduce cost. Health and education are economic intan- sources and must not trade them for a
gibles; create value; and a long term multiplier. Similarly skill development, ‘ease’ bicycle or a grinder. Eventually freebies
of doing business and other economic enablers are growth drivers and eventually mean higher taxes, and several sacri-
job creators, accelerating social mobility. fices that ultimately the common man
ends up making. They must seek and
Both the incumbent and their political challengers are reckless. They make demand investment that benefits them
promises that neither addresses real issues, nor meets fiscal norms. While one and the generations next.
government showers marriage ‘gifts’, sarees, others dole out consumer products.
Politicians blame the other party for not allowing it to ‘give’ more. People must reward those with
courage of conviction in sustainable
Parties are Responsible; Ecosystem Must Hold them Accountable reforms, however unpopular. Similarly,
Freebies do spur consumption, but the momentum is weak, spending intensity the leaders must look beyond elections,
feeble and short lived; failing to trigger the virtuous growth cycle. Similarly, sops focus on building trust, and when in
induced growth is low and shallow. On the other hand, investment led growth is power, exceed the expectations of the
balanced, equitable and a catalyst. people.

The Crux study concludes that the shrill voice of the spokesmen, persuasive tone This will strengthen participatory
of the politicians confuse voters no end. democracy.

The Election Commission, the media and several election watchers must cre- The author is an economist and columnist
ate a framework and a scorecard that ‘maps’ and matches the promises with the The views expressed are personal and do not
available resources and call their bluff. Voters must embrace those whose develop-
reflect those of BW Businessworld

Photograph by Indiapicturebudget 15 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

COLUMN Ashutosh Garg

F AILURE − A WORD THAT HAS MANY DIFFERENT MEANINGS, many dif- that some jobs are good and what em-
ferent connotations and many different interpretations. Failure is used powers us as parents to decide what we
for individuals, organisations, products, experiences and actions. think is good for our children?
Failure and Success are two sides of the same coin.
Both are relative to one another. One person can be seen to have Parents have a Role to Play
failed because they did not succeed. Another person can be seen to Parents have a big role to play. Most
have succeeded because they did not fail. With understanding failure parents from the developing world
and putting it into context, success means nothing. Success has to be in relation to teach their children the importance of
someone or something else. We have succeeded because another person did not “winning”. They want us to come “first”
succeed or failed. in class. To be at the front of the pack.
Failure is understood and interpreted in different ways by people who are faced To get ahead. All this, without consider-
with failure and by those who know the individual. It is handled in different ways ing the impact this would have on the

It is
Okay to

Fail

by the person who is faced with failure. ure or the impact of failure. thinking of their children. My parents
Failure is analysed by people who ob- No one thinks of the impact on the told me this and I told the same to my
serve and comment upon the person sons. As I look back, I know this was a
who has failed. person who has failed or is likely to fail. mistake.
Everyone observing the failure is quick
Necessary for Success to pass judgement on the failure and This repeated reinforcement by our
We say that failure is painful and that the person who has failed. Everyone has parents and elders manifests itself into
it causes emotional turmoil and upset, a reason, their own interpretation, of our behaviour patterns in society.
and inflicts agonizing pangs of guilt, why the failure has happened.
regret, and remorse. But those who The oldest and strongest emotion
have experienced true failure, and have I have often wondered why Indian of human beings is fear, and the oldest
bounced back from it, understand that parents are so ambitious for their chil- and strongest kind of fear is fear of the
failure is necessary for success. Yes of dren and what is it that we are always unknown. Have we ever wondered why
course, failing hurts. In fact, it cuts trying to achieve through our children? all of us seem to have an identical set
deep like a razor, slicing its way to our Is it our own unachieved ambitions or of values when it comes to looking at
inner core. Yet, it is necessary. is it a genuine desire to see our children ourselves in similar situations? Is this
succeed and prosper in the very com- behaviour happening because of our
Very seldom has anyone attempted petitive environment that is so preva- fear of failure?
to get to understand the reason for fail- lent in our country?
We love Success! Nobody wishes to
What prompts us to first determine fail. We are embarrassed even if we

16 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

FAILURE MUST BE A
TEACHER FOR EACH ONE
OF US. AND WE MUST BE
GRATEFUL TO THIS
TEACHER. AS SOMEONE
COMMENTED “FAILURE IS
A COMMA, NOT A FULL
STOP”. THIS TOO SHALL
PASS ... (BUT) REMEMBER
THAT REPEATED FAILURE
IS NOT ACCEPTABLE

commit a silly mistake. azines, journals and writings on ‘How lI could have done this, but I did not.
to be Successful’, ‘Keys to Success,’ ‘Se- l I might have done this, but I did
Stories from our Scriptures crets of Successful People,’ and so on. not.
We can relate with stories of success l I should have done this, but I did
from our scriptures. Stories of the tri- I am not suggesting that pursuing not.
umph of good over evil in the Rama- success is wrong. Success is good. How-
yana. Stories of the Mahabharata, ever, focusing only on success is incom- Failure as a Teacher
where Lord Krishna asks Arjun to fight plete if we do not talk about failure and We must remember that sorrow is a
and win the battle because that is his how to face it. part of everyone’s life but the bigger
duty. Stories from the Bible of David blessing we have is that we have the
and Goliath, Moses parting the Red Sea Nobody wants to talk about failure. strength and ability to forget our sor-
and the legend of Saint John slaying We do not like failure. We hate it so rows and move on.
the Dragon. much that we even scorn those who
fail. Even worse, we tend to dislike our- The same applies to failure.
We never remember stories of fail- selves when we fail. Failure is a part of Failure must be a teacher for each
ures or disasters. There are plenty. We life and everyone has faced failure. The one of us. And we must be grateful to
do not remember the villains in these manner in which each person handles this teacher. As someone commented
scriptures. There are many. failure is different. “Failure is a comma, not a full stop”.
This too shall pass.
We expect success from ourselves Unexpected, Unavoidable At the same time, we must remember
and from others. We celebrate suc- Failure is and always will be unexpect- that repeated failure is not acceptable.
cess. We strive for success. We encour- ed, unavoidable, uncomfortable and Failure cannot be a romantic notion.
age one another towards success. We universal. We need to understand how “To err is human, but if the eraser
hold success in high regard. Our en- to face it. More importantly, we must wears out before the pencil, you are
tire mindset is wired towards success understand how we can use failure as a overdoing it.”
which is the goal. We are constantly force of change.
bombarded with ideas about success. The author is an executive coach, an angel
Our movies glorify success and gener- Do not fear failure so much that you investor and Founder Chairman of Guardian
ally have a happily ever after fairy tale refuse to try new things. Pharmacies. He has authored six best-selling
like ending.
I have often said that we must not books, including The Brand Called You
Our bookshelves are filled with mag- reach the end of our life’s journey with
three regrets.

Photograph by Indiapicturebudget 17 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Economy’sCOLUMN Minhaz Merchant
Inflection Point
T HE INDIAN ECONOMY faces a pivotal moment. A post-pandemic
MINHAZ MERCHANT bounce is visible. But there are headwinds on the horizon as well.
IS THE BIOGRAPHER Key economic indicators are up: exports, foreign direct investment
(FDI), Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), Index of Industrial Produc-
OF RAJIV GANDHI AND tion (IIP), GST, direct tax revenue and corporate profits.
ADITYA BIRLA AND The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has been embraced
by domestic and international companies. It now extends to over a
AUTHOR OF THE NEW dozen sectors.
CLASH OF Indian startups are attracting big-ticket investment from foreign
funds. India is rapidly becoming a global leader in fintech, edtech and
CIVILIZATIONS (RUPA, SaaS (software as a service). The transformation to digital and cloud, catalysed by struc-
2014). HE IS FOUNDER tural changes in the way international companies operate in a post-Covid environment,
could prove another Y2K moment for Indian infotech companies.
OF STERLING
NEWSPAPERS, WHICH Consumer confidence too is returning. So is hiring. The usually circumspect Mahesh
Vyas, Managing Director of Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), conceded
WAS ACQUIRED BY in his Business Standard column on October 12, 2021: “An optimism of sorts is in the
THE INDIAN EXPRESS air. Perhaps it is a reflection of an economic turnaround. Recent data suggests that the
economy is reviving. Tax collections, foreign trade, electricity generation have all been
GROUP convincingly and consistently buoyant so far in this fiscal year. Employment conditions
and consumer sentiments also improved dramatically in September.

“Further, in the week ended October 10, consumer sentiments vaulted by an extraor-
dinary 9.8 per cent. To benchmark this, note that the mean weekly change in consumer
sentiment has been 0.6 per cent and the median 0.5 per cent over the past one year. A
near-ten per cent increase is, therefore, worth taking notice of, particularly as it comes
on top of three consecutive months of steadily improving sentiments. The growth seen
in macroeconomic indicators seems to be in harmony with the direction in which the
mood of households is veering. Something seems to be working for Indian consumers.

“The index of consumer sentiments scaled up by a handsome 7.9 per cent in Sep-
tember. This came on top of a 1.7 per cent increase in August and a massive 11.1 per cent
jump in July. The cumulative gain in the past three months was, therefore, impressive.”

Vyas has been a consistent critic of the Narendra Modi government’s economic poli-
cies, especially the failure to generate jobs. His change of tone is significant.

And yet with headwinds on the horizon, there is reason to keep the country’s guard up.
Crude oil and fuel prices continue to rise. Coal shortages can hobble industrial produc-
tion unless they are sorted out quickly. Inflation is under control – for now. But a rise in
commodity prices, which have so far been largely absorbed by industry, can stoke prices
and dent the rising consumption graph.

Global chip shortages have already hit production of automobiles and electronics.
China’s unprecedented power crisis has affected supply chains across the world.

Someof thegranularnumbersfromtheControllerGeneralofAccounts(CGA)how-
ever offer clues to the future trajectory of the Indian economy. Corporation tax revenue
has grown 51.2 per cent from pre-pandemic levels. That is a reflection of cost ration-
alisation by companies during the pandemic as well as lower corporate tax rates that

18 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

kicked in from the last fiscal. Income-tax At current prices Rural markets hold the key to India’s economic suc-
revenue has risen by 20.5 per cent from therefore cess. And the signs here are propitious. For the quarter
a pre-pandemic base. Direct taxes have (factoring in ended September 2021, FMCG sales in rural India rose
grown even faster at 32.8 per cent. 58.2 per cent over the year-ago quarter compared to a

Reforms are now on the fast track. an average more moderate growth during this period of 27.7 per
After seven years of relative ennui, the consumer price cent in urban India, according to a survey by the track-
Narendra Modi government has turbo- ing firm Bizom.
charged privatisation. Following Air In- index of around
dia’s sale to the Tata group, several public Meanwhile, the core sector has grown steadily as well.
sector units (PSUs) will be privatised be-
fore March 31, 2022. 5 per cent in In August 2021, the IIP shot up by 11.5 per cent over
FY21 and FY22), August 2020. With good tax numbers, the fiscal deficit
The most important of these obvious- nominal GDP in in 2021-22 is likely to be at least one percentage point
ly is Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). lower than Union Budget estimates.
When listed, it is expected to have a mar-
ket capitalisation in the range of Tata March 2022 will Finally, then to GDP numbers. Most investment
Consultancy Services (TCS) and Reliance be around Rs banks are sticking to their forecast of 9.5 per cent real
Industries. Several foreign marquee in- 225 lakh crore ... GDP growth in 2021-22. NITI Aayog Vice- Chairman
vestors are lining up to bid for a stake in Rajiv Kumar is more bullish: he expects GDP this year
LIC. The LIC’s privatisation could fire up
the stock market and pave the wave for that translates to rise by 10.5 per cent. With GDP dipping by 7.3 per
more privatisation among over 80 cur- into $3 trillion cent in 2020-21 due to the total national lockdown that
rently listed PSUs. Many like Bharat Pe- lasted for over two months, Indian GDP in March 2022
troleum and Hindustan Petroleum have
top-of-the-line assets. will nonetheless be only a shade above the level of March

Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) have set 2020. However, nominal GDP, which factors in infla-
a new record. Between January and Sep-
tember 2021, according to EY, 72 IPOs tion, will raise the GDP number significantly.
garnered $9.7 billion in initial sales – the
highest for a nine-month period in two At current prices therefore (factoring in an average consumer price index of around
decades.
5 per cent in FY21 and FY22), nominal GDP in March 2022 will be around Rs. 225 lakh

crore. At an exchange rate of Rs. 75 to a dollar, that translates into $3 trillion.

India has lost a year’s growth due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But with reforms like

the Gati Shakti masterplan to coalesce and boost projects under the $1.5 trillion Na-

tional Infrastructure Pipeline and a turbocharged PLI scheme to make India an export

hub, the country could make up for lost time faster than anyone could have rationally

expected a year go.

Photograph by Indiapicturebudget 19 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

ANECDOTES By Jayaram Easwaran

possessed. He worked 16 hours a day and
travelled extensively. He chose to spend
time with startup founders and his in-
vestors. His only objective − increase his
valuations.

The Midas RUDE AWAKENING
Touch – Boon or For the first time he slept well on his
flight from New York. The deal he had
Curse just closed would take his company’s
valuation to over two billion dollars. He
V ANDANA AND PRANAV lived in a small rented apartment after planned to buy that house at The Palms,
marriage. They relished the little things in life like selecting and buy- Jumeirah for Vandana on her next birth-
ing furniture for their flat and trying to balance their budgets. On day.
weekends they would either go on long drives on his scooter or have
their friends over. They were a happy couple. As his Maybach entered their gate,
Pranav noticed an Uber in the driveway.
Some years later Pranav had this crazy idea to start a fintech com- The lights in the main drawing room
were on. Vandana and the two kids
pany. Vandana was naturally worried but Pranav assured her, “Some of my IIT friends were all dressed up and seated next to
the three large packed suitcases.
will also contribute to the seed capital. If things do not work out by year two, I will
“What’s happening Vandana?” asked
pick up a regular job.” a shocked Pranav.

Seeing his enthusiasm, Vandana said, “So long as our minimum expenses are pro- “The kids and I are leaving you. I
wanted to personally say bye.”
tected, I think you must give it a shot.”
“Why?”
When the first level funding came in, Pranav fell out with his IIT friends because “Money has blinded you. You are no
longer the man I married. Do you realize
he returned their money with interest instead of delivering the promised shares. we have no real friends now? You ditched
even your IIT friends who supported
The next five years saw a series of funding into Pranav’s company that increased its you,” she sounded anguished.
“I just closed this deal in New York and
valuation to a billion dollars – another unicorn. am planning to buy you that house in
Dubai for your birthday,” said Pranav.
A MEDIA HERO “See you are again not listening Pra-
They now lived in their own bungalow at Vasant Vihar in New Delhi. The kids were nav. I never married you for all this. You
ferried to and fro from school in Vandana’s ‘E’ class Benz. are so busy making money and living up
to your image of having the Midas touch
The media hailed Pranav as a person with the ‘Midas touch’ and he was like a man that we have become strangers. Even our
children don’t know you.”
“Don’t say that Vandana. You know I
am doing all this only for my family,” he
pleaded.
“You may have the Midas touch but
remember how that story ended. Even
King Midas’s daughter turned to gold.
All for what − just greed,” she said.
As the Uber pulled out of the gate,
Pranav felt his world collapse around
him.

The writer is a consultant and an Independent

Board Director at Jindal Stainless Ltd and author

of the best selling book - Inside the C- Suite

20 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021



COLUMN

Surrogate
Advertising in
the Meta Age
W
HILE RECENTLY DRIVING DOWN a highway somewhere between
Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, I was amused by a large hoard-
ing in the middle of nowhere screaming out to passing traffic
− ‘Sharab peena swaasthya ke liye haanikarak hai’ − ‘Drinking
alcohol is injurious to health’. Under the bold letters was a big

arrow pointing in the direction of the liquor store which had put

up the board. It really highlighted how futile and ineffective the

current raft of rules regarding advertising of alcohol are. People have found increasingly

creative ways of getting their message across.

Since advertising of cigarette brands went dark in 2003, the products now feature

Ajai Kumar Dayal prominent large health warnings on neutral packs, and yet sales continue and very prof-

The author has over 30 itably. A Euromonitor report showed that though sales started dropping from 2015,
years’ experience
managing and consulting the country still sold 81 million sticks in 2019. (The lockdowns of 2020 are expected
with brands on retail,
ecommerce and to have had a significant impact on the sales).
marketing. He has been
a commentator and As products disappeared visibly, marketing efforts were also driven down to ground
columnist in many
leading publications. level with sampling, sponsorships and other such techniques, which really can’t match

the mass power of above the line marketing channels like TV, Press Radio and Outdoor.

Alcohol and personal consumption tobacco products like gutka and some panmasalas

have been identified as causes of serious illness and even death and are ostensibly not

allowed to advertise their products. But the whole eco-system is happily thriving with

the phenomenon of surrogate and extension advertising evolving into an art form in

the country.

Everyone is Happy

All parties seem to be happy with this state of affairs. Consumers, mostly innocent,
are being bombarded with misleading names and similar looking products, getting
brainwashed and confused in the process; producers are selling increasing volumes
of their original products; media channels are collecting a good part of their revenues
from these brands; celebrities and models are happily making millions while salving
their consciences with the argument that they are not lending their voice to ‘those
products’ and of course, governments are filling their coffers with revenues that they
will anyway find hard to replace.

The Advertising Standards Council of India has tried to make some rules to preempt
the vacuous use of alternate, often silly surrogate or extension products as we see today.
A brand needs to have a minimum sale of Rs 20 lakh a month and an investment of at
least Rs 10 crore in assets, to be allowed to be the extension of an existing brand name,

22 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

enough, it’s going to become even

more of a challenge to enforce

the rules with more social media

influencers in the mix. Accord-

ing to a report in The Economic

Times, the overall Indian Influ-

encer market is valued at Rs 900

crore for 2021 and is expected to

grow to Rs 2,200 crore in 2025,

growing the share of alcohol and

tobacco as well. The sheer di-

versity of the canvas will make

it tough to monitor and control

the content. On top of that will be the problem of fake

content, spotting which would be tricky. And since

we are on the subject, is it possible that people could

market products like cannabis or other narcotics

with surrogate ads? How are our agencies and laws

geared up to face these challenges?

We know social media marketing is particularly

adept at directly targeting audiences, a major seg-

ment of which is younger people. Addressing fol-

lowers in a language and style that they identify with,

an Influencer’s content can easily be shared further

by followers, seriously multiplying the reach of the

communication.

This issue has been exercising authorities around

Consumers are being bombarded with the world, and according to a WHO report on alcohol
marketing, Finland came up with what seemed to

misleading names and similar looking be some practical rules. Influencer content shared
products, getting brainwashed and confused online, reviews and appraisals of products that they
have written, or funny videos, pictures, puzzles,

in the process; producers are selling games or other user generated content cannot be
reposted, or used by the brands, thus limiting the
increasing volumes of their original products; spread of the messages.

media channels are collecting a good part of In most regulated markets, the penalties for
their revenues from these brands; broaching rules are levied from both the Influencer
as well as the brand. And the fines can be pretty hefty.

Furthermore, the rules around declaration of paid

or a surrogate for it. But you just have to content or free products received are being enforced in many countries, leaving fol-

observe the production values of the ad- lowers to decide if they feel the messages that they are receiving are independent and

vertisements and note their frequency authentic. Three prominent Italian influencers, along with the giant BAT, are under

and spread across media outlets to know investigation for posts on their timelines with tags and hashtags promoting a BAT

that these restrictions are far from ef- product without indicating that they were paid posts.

fective. The sales of many of the original While the possible negative effects of social media on society have been the subject of

products are so high that they can easily much discussion and debate lately, this aspect of social media marketing has perhaps

spend to meet the criteria and qualify for not received enough attention and needs to be regulated as well.

approval. A study showed a few years ago, If we believe that these products are actually the cause for illness, bad health or even

that the amount spent on advertising of death, perhaps they should not be allowed to have advertisements – direct, extension

some masquerading brands, was more or surrogate.

than their actual sales revenue. Otherwise, we need to keep creating an increasingly complicated and likely ineffec-

Enter Social Media tive web of regulations and systems to control the phenomenon. And while the merry
charade goes on, everyone will be laughing their way to the bank.

As if the situation is not complicated Except the customer of course.

23 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

AMUSE & (M)USINGS By Srinath Sridharan

S reminded him of the frenzied print ads and street-side PoPs
that state lotteries used to have a few years ago. That makes
ad, it’s an ad. My bad, I can’t me wonder if the opposite of a digital-native could well be a
understand a thing ! ) ‘digital-naive’?!

IT STRUCK ME WHEN a friend com- Consumed by Consumption
mented that in the just-concluded Almost all those advertisements ‘told’ viewers how to spend
India-Pakistan T20 cricket match, the money on themselves (if you really insist, will replace the
telecast mostly had advertisements for word ‘spend’ with ‘invest’, subject to regulators clearing the
digitally-led products including crypto, word #invest ). None of them seemed to explain what these
game of skills (if they so insist in the advertisements were about, and almost everyone gave the
court of law), etc.; and that he, as like impression that the Indian (domestic market) viewers were
flush with funds and more importantly, were knowledgeable
of digital products and services; and as if they are all set to
just spend and spend. It was a feeling that the ‘consumption
economy had consumed us’!

The media planners, well to their credit, would have burned
up sufficient computer processing power and their time and

Jest in
Chime. Or is
it a Meme?

all non-digital-natives, did not under- a few swigs of energy-drinks, to arrive at the media plans for
stand any of those ads or the relevance some of these slick – or a few sick – advertisements. As long as
of the so-called need for most of those the client can pay up those burns – sorry, ad spends – on time
products advertised. and if possible, get some awards for wonderful advertising or
superbly executed campaign, how did it matter?
Except probably the one which boasts
to the viewers that they can simply out- After all, it’s good to have clients who are “best marketeers”
source their kids’ education to them! or “India’s top 100 CMO”, or even “Lifetime achievement
And that life will be happy ever-after. award” winners. Boosting clients’ ego or vanity, always helps,
Or just about to that effect. even for digitally-native clients.

The Digital Naives The Dream, Cream & Scream
Another friend, equally a non-digital- It is remarkable that some of these ads are emotionally so tug-
native, but one who is fairly versed with ging, that one forgets that they are selling a dream, and not
digital products, commented that some the cream as they understood. Anyways, many of these ads
of these digital platform advertisements also simply scream; scream celebrities with the assumption

24 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

that the ad would work. Are the Indian All effective many of the ads seem to meander all around, fuelled hap-
viewers so gullible? ads need pily by the private investors’ venture funding. Mostly with
not be the focused intent to change consumer behaviour. Even if
Sponsored Messages memorable! some call it brain washing or scaring them into making the
Ads have to have one or many of these In the digital purchase decision, it’s a scientific process of understanding
attributes – be enjoyable, be relatable, advertising the (potential) customer and consumer, and of signaling a
be informative and trigger call-to-ac- business, ‘need’ to drive them – up the wall? No, drive them to click or
tion. That’s for every type of consumer, they say that swipe, to buy.
despite age or any classification that’s “If you’re not
drilled into the minds of marketing and the customer, Consumer or Product?
advertising trainees. you’re the All effective advertisements need not be memorable! In the
product.” digital advertising business, they say that “If you’re not the
Over the last decade, thanks to digi- Till I am customer, you’re the product.” Till I am convinced by these
tal advertising, we have added a pleth- convinced ads that I should buy for myself, let me jest enjoy the ads and
ora of terminologies to the advertising by these ads do them jestice. Of course, I meant just and justice! Should
lexicon (the word cannot be split as lexi that I should I? Or should I not?
- con ). We’ve added phrases like “spon- buy, let me
sored message”, “trusted recommen- jest enjoy the If even a minor part of the Indian television advertisements
dation”, “promotion”, “word of mouth” ads ... do their job, then it might be worth handing over the key re-
(in a digital or print ad – really?), “en- sponsibilities of any literacy-initiative that the government
dorsed information”. And more will get wants to do. I mean literately. Oops, sorry literally! Now which
added. brand was that on TV that can help me get my vocalberries
right? Or is it vocabulary? Damn, who is going to pay for my
Drive Them Up the Wall enrolment now?
While the deep consumer research that
also understand social signals are done The author is a Corporate Advisor & independent
continuously by serious marketeers, markets commentator

Photograph by Indiapicturebudget 25 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

COLUMN By Raghav Chandra

T HE COP-26 CLIMATE power. It’s Beatrice offshore wind farm climate change abatement sensitiv-
Summit ended on a has 84 turbines – each with three 75m ity is Aberdeen, a port city in northeast
mixed note. Like the (246 feet) blades, capable of generating Scotland, where the Dee and Don rivers
rolling highlands of enough power for 450,000 homes. meet the North Sea. With an offshore
Scotland, the outcome petroleum industry, the city is home to
has both its highs Another such wind farm under con- an international population. It has com-
and lows. There were struction off Angus, is slated to be even mitted to becoming a zero-emission city.
grand and rosy com- bigger and be able to power 1.3 million It had recently bid out for a hydrogen
mitments by world leaders and yet there homes. Even as the number of new elec- partnership which has been bagged
were disappointments for activists de- tric and hybrid cars registered in the by BP. Aberdeen City Council had em-
manding a phase-out of unabated use UK rose steeply the availability of pub- barked upon its hydrogen journey more
of coal and of inefficient subsidies for licly-available charge points in Scotland than ten years ago and has already dem-
fossil fuels. grew to match that requirement ahead onstrated how demand can be created
of time. Most trees planted in the UK within cities, using the zero emission
Scotland, the venue of the confer- have been planted in Scotland – 11,000 fuel to power a fleet of 25 buses, 60 pub-
ence, has found its place in climate his- of the 13,700 hectares planted in 2019- lic sector vehicles and waste trucks, as
tory. The Scottish government has al- 20. By 2024, the Scottish government well as the P&J Live events complex.
ready set a legally-binding target to cut aims to be creating 18,000 hectares of

Climate
Leadership
in Scotland

greenhouse gas emissions to net zero new woodlands per year, with the ulti- More than two million passengers have
by 2045, five years ahead of the date set mate goal of having 21 per cent of Scot- travelled on the city’s hydrogen buses,
for the UK as a whole, having already land’s land covered by forest by 2032 and CO2 savings to date are in excess of
reduced them to about half of what they – compared to 19 per cent today. 100 tons over the last six years. This city
were 30 years ago. Scotland plans re- wants to develop an integrated, end-to-
newable energy generation to account The Glasgow Declaration for Zero- end energy system for the city based on
for 50 per cent of energy demand across Emission Cars and Vans aims to end the green hydrogen. The hub will build on
electricity, heat and transport by 2030 sale of internal combustion engines by Aberdeen’s leading position as a global
and has set a target of generating the 2035 in leading markets, and by 2040 energy excellence centre, particularly
equivalent of 100 per cent of its electric- worldwide. This is an honour for Glas- one for hydrogen technology.
ity demand from renewables by 2022. gow, a port city on the River Clyde in
The country has been moving away Scotland’s western Lowlands, famed Cities across the world have much
from burning fossil fuels, with the last for its Victorian and art nouveau archi- to learn from their peers in Scotland.
coal-fired power station, Longannet, tecture, to be remembered now for the In India, too, we must encourage cities
closing in 2016. Onshore wind deliv- climate change conference. to think green and act smart – by using
ers about 70 per cent of capacity, fol- clean energy.
lowed by hydro and offshore wind as Another stellar example of Scottish
Scotland’s main sources of renewable
The author is a former Secretary, Government of India
The views expressed are personal

26 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021



COLUMN By Jeroninio Almeida

I N TODAY’S WORLD most people billionaires, entrepreneurs, movie or sweet-talking, duplicity, pussyfooting,
in their personal and professional sports celebrities, journalists, educa- diplomacy and all those words they
dimensions can think of several tors, politicians-in-power including use to cover up their lack of integrity/
situations everyday where they elected Heads of Nations) who are in- credibility to talk straight, that they just
have felt like others were beating secure, immature and lack common- cannot accept it when they meet some-
around the bush and indulging sense, are intimidated by people who one who talks straight.
in double-talking, pussy-footing, are secure, mature and demonstrate
soft-pedalling, diplomacy (the words commonsense, where people who lack Many ask me in my ‘Leadership root-
they use to cover-up their blatant lies, self-esteem/self-confidence feel threat- ed in Trust’ talks/workshops if Talking
half-truths, falsehoods, glib-talk and ened by people with great self-esteem/ Straight would not be detrimental for
spin-doctoring), obfuscating tergi- self-confidence and where passive their career growth and job security.
versation and strange circumlocution duplicitous, hypocritical people feel My answer is, “Well your boss and col-
about facts, truths, viewpoints, in- exposed by assertive, honest, truthful leagues know exactly who you are and
tentions, ideas, opinions or agendas. people, talking-straight is a behaviour what you do in one place is noticed by
While distorting facts and omitting that is difficult to practice and notice. others in another place. So, when you
information may sound legally/tech- spin and pussyfoot, they know that you
nically correct, this practice will lead People who are not used to talking- are not trustworthy”.
to wrong impressions, and will never straight, feel that straight-talk and
inspire trust. plain-speak is rude and harsh! In re- I simply ask them. “Do you trust all
ality, straight talk is the # 1 behaviour those political spokespeople or News-
readers who lie to cover up all the

Talking-Straight -
The # 1 Behaviour

Of High-Trust
Leaders

While not being outright deceptive, and trait of High Trust People. Talking wrongs done by their political masters?
certain communication styles, such as straight is absolutely refreshing and No, right? So, if you don’t trust them, do
spinning, posturing, positioning, du- heart-warming in a world that is full of you think others would trust you when
plicity, flattery, sweet-talk, politically- jiggery-poggery, hypocrisy, duplicity, they see you soft-pedalling and sweet-
correct language and mincing words, apathy and fakery. It is in fact liberating talking?”
may serve to manipulate others but will and inspiring and makes people trust-
significantly diminish trust. worthy. Remember the truth will set Research shows that Talking-
you free and liberate you. straight is the #1 behaviour of high
Truth-be-told, only 40 per cent of trust leaders. Be honest. Tell the truth.
employees believe that their bosses However, many people become un- Speak straight. Let people know where
communicate honestly, according to a comfortable and defensive when peo- you stand.
Mercer Management Consulting study, ple talk straight to them. They feel un-
2005. In 2021, I feel only 10 per cent be- comfortable and defensive because it Use simple language. Call things
lieve that their bosses talk-straight. exposes their own core and lack of char- what they are. Demonstrate integrity.
acter and integrity to talk straight. They Don’t manipulate people or distort
In a day and age when people (no are so used to their versions of spinning, facts. Don’t spin the truth. Don’t leave
matter how high in the hierarchy or so- false impressions.
cial strata they may be as CEOs/CXOs,
working-executives, professionals, The author is the moJOsh inspirator, a management & OD consultant & business leadership & life coach

28 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 November 2021

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MARKETING AND ADVERTISING

INDEPTH

SMALLER “With a low cost of
CITIES OFFER operation and a fresh
SCOPE,
SHEKELS target audience,
these markets are
Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are surely and certainly offering a new scope
emerging as the new growth centres for retail brands
By Soumya Sehgal of profitability”

HARKIRAT SINGH,

MANAGING DIRECTOR, AERO CLUB

WITH RENEWED availability of easy bank Founder & CEO, Bombay
buoyancy in finances, infrastruc- Shaving Company sees
consump- ture support, lower real these cities contributing
tion, brand salience and estate cost, expansion nearly 50 per cent of their
offerings following two of logistics networks by sales by volume, primar-
tempestuous years, the ecommerce players and ily because of social
market is finally ooz- deeper penetration of media, social commerce
ing positive sentiments mobile internet, these and local influencers.
across sectors, especially cities are hotbeds for “Optimism around Tier-2
retail. A huge slice of growth and opening up and Tier-3 cities has
this contribution is seen powerful opportunities been around for some
coming from Tier-2 and for all sorts of brands to time now but has really
Tier-3 cities such as Jai- engage and expand. “This spiked in the last couple
pur, Chandigarh, Kanpur, is especially evident in of years or so. The non-
Surat, Vishakhapatnam, the share of luxury retail metro customer we are
Raipur, Vijayawada, spending, which grew serving today is far more
Kozhikode and Nasik, from around 9 per cent in experimental, aware
considering that the share 2013 to 55-60 per cent in and equipped than past
of organised retail beyond 2018 in non-metro cities, years,” he adds.
the top 20 metros is low. especially Jaipur, Udai-
pur, and Chandigarh,” This market disrup-
Backed by high pur- states the Kearney India tion has visibly triggered
chasing power on discre- Retail Index. significant changes in the
tionary items, increase retail sector, accelerating
in disposable incomes, Shantanu Deshpande, shifts that were already

30 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

underway, while inspir- EYEING TO EXPAND
ing a new era of retail
innovation. These trends Clearly, consumers have
are translating into new become well educated
priorities for retailers when it comes to their
wanting to keep up with shopping lists. With
shopper expectations. increasing keen-sighted-
Retailers are looking ness and consumption of
beyond the top 100 cities, digital media, awareness
in view of an incremental is at a peak high and set
rise in consumers’ ap- to keep increasing. As the
petite for branded goods, world is consuming more
improvement in backend information, consumers
processes and demand for are maturing to become
quality retail infrastruc- more educated about
ture. With this evolution the brands and products
in the retail lifecycle, and want to own them.
retail brands are identi- Even the brand culture
fying newer avenues to has seeped in meaningful
expand, optimising their points as consumers are
footprint and rearing immediately recognising
to ride the next wave of brands and craving to
growth. invest in them.

Also, since the major

31 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

MARKETING AND ADVERTISING

INDEPTH with local cultural influ-
ences playing a major role
“The non- in consumer behaviour.
metro This creates challenges
for marketers looking to
customer engage with consumers
today is far effectively. The Tier-2 and
Tier-3 districts are largely
more dominated by small local
experimental, retailers, proprietors or
even kirana shops, mak-
aware and ing it further difficult for
equipped than brands to foray into these
in past years” segments effectively.
In order to cater to the
SHANTANU regional and peripheral
cities, plenty of brands
DESHPANDE, FOUNDER are now working hand-
in-glove with hyperlocal
& CEO, BOMBAY applications to appeal to
their next billion cus-
SHAVING COMPNAY tomers from the remote
regions of India. As tradi-
Tier-1 city brands are hav- eration and a fresh target analysis need to be done tional marketing strate-
ing a lot of competition, audience, these markets before investing.” gies such as broadcast
Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are offering a new scope advertisements or mass
are offering brands a new of profitability.” For Sameer Amte, campaigns have not been
untapped market and a Managing Director and successful in attracting
chance to grow their pres- Ramesh Kapoor, Chief Lead – Retail, Accenture niche segments lately,
ence at a much lower cost. Finance Officer, Numero in India, it is amply clear partnering with local
Uno also sees these cities that Tier-2 and Tier-3 apps has become the new
Harkirat Singh, Man- as a playground for brands cities will drive the next way to engage with local
aging Director, Aero Club to expand and make a phase of growth in the communities. Brands
agrees that these cities are profit. He expects brands retail sector. “We are wit- this way are crafting
becoming productive for to make the first move and nessing a shift from unor- interactive experiences
brands. “Consumers to- win over their competitors. ganised retail to organ- by tapping the relevant
day are also well informed “India is an ever-growing ised retail in these cities. audience through their
about the brand offerings market with Tier-2 and Retailers are looking at favourite platforms and
and are ready and try to Tier-3 cities deemed to expanding beyond the top applications.
have a branded experi- be securities for growth. cities to take advantage of
ence. This is also evident So, it’s better to see and these emerging markets,” One of the apps unlock-
by the steady growth of tap these opportunities he says. ing the true benefits of
the branded product mar- early. Of course, proper digitalisation in consum-
ket. With a low cost of op- research and market The Indian market is ers’ preferred language is
highly diverse in nature, the Lokal App. It allows
users to connect with
their community on
the app and exchange
information relevant to
them. Since users in Tier-
2 and Tier-3 cities have
limited access to infor-

32 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

mation and resources, around convenience and ers have already realised future as India’s retail
hyperlocal apps become assortment. They now the potential of expand- industry is expected to
their go-to platforms for expect enhanced fulfil- ing beyond metros and reach $1.5 trillion by
daily updates. Brands are ment services, like BOPIS Tier-1 cities. For example, 2030, and evaluating the
recognising the power of and curbside or drive-up around 65 per cent of the market penetration in
community mapping, and pickup, to be given as a leading apparel ecom- these regions will play an
are exploring multiple av- regular part of business, merce platforms’ revenue important role for retail-
enues to engage with the not just as pandemic-era comes from Tier-2 and ers to plan strategically,”
customers on a personal solutions. smaller cities, claims the states Dilli Babu Nanda-
level. “One of the major Kearney report. rapu, Founder & CEO,
reasons that brands are Zebra’s Global Shopper Shopconnect.
anchoring their mar- Study reveals that up to Likewise, luxury
keting efforts through 92 per cent of decision- retail is penetrating into These Tier-2 and Tier-3
hyperlocal apps is on makers agree that more these cities speedily and cities have also attracted
account of the trust and shoppers are using mobile seamlessly. Conspicuous five times more invest-
reliability they enjoy from ordering than ever before. consumption is fuelling ments in retail infra-
the target audience,” says structure compared to
Jani Pasha, Co-founder, Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are metro cities. More than
Lokal App. offering brands an untapped 40 funded startups have
market and a chance to grow their headquarters in
The app enjoys a better Jaipur currently. Other
user density at Tier-2 and their presence at a much popular hubs where start-
Tier-3 cities and towns lower cost ups are headquartered
compared to many news- are Chandigarh (14), Goa
papers and other digital Prior to the pandemic, demand and people are (12), Indore (20), Kochi
platforms by virtue of retailers were already fac- gradually drifting from (18), and Vadodara (11).
their user-generated ing heightened customer the ‘need’ to the ‘want’ The cities witnessed a
content focusing at a expectations because game. much higher investment
hyperlocal location. of digital / ecommerce of $6.2 billion between
disruption. Technology here 2006 and 2017, as against
EMBRACING NEW remains a cornerstone $1.3 billion of the same in
Over the past few of brands’ expansion Tier-1 metro cities during
PLATFORMS & TOOLS years, the contribution of objectives as they adapt the same period, accord-
Shoppers — like the retail metros and Tier-1 cities to digital tools to cater to ing to a CII-JLL report.
sector itself — have been toward the growth of consumer needs. A pleth-
thrust into a new real- India’s retail industry ora of ecommerce players It is expected that
ity. They have adjusted has been shrinking, as are betting big in smaller brands will continue to
to market disruption evident from the 8 per cities accounting for be bullish about these
with the adoption of new cent per capita trade nearly 60 per cent of retail markets and execute
shopping habits. More activities GVA growth spending. Online fashion several strategic moves to
segments have expanded in Tier-1 versus 10 per sales have reported triple- be relevant and attrac-
online, and shoppers can cent growth in Tier-2–4 digit growth from Tier-2 tive to consumers in the
now go to e-commerce cities. Tier-2 and smaller and Tier-3 cities vis-à-vis cities. They will continue
or mobile platforms to cities are emerging as new less than 20 per cent in to invest in strengthening
purchase everything destinations for organ- metros, say experts. their distributor network,
from groceries to ap- ised retailers where the train local promoters, and
parel and pick it up or leading ecommerce play- “I believe this trend empower their sales force
have it delivered within will continue to grow in in these cities and towns
hours. Retailers too have with sharp promotion
adjusted operations to tools, to touch as many
meet these new demands. households as possible.
This has heightened
shoppers’ expectations  [email protected]

33 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

MARKETING AND ADVERTISING

GUEST COLUMN off-road conditions.

WAKE UP, Progressive Or Not?
ADVERTISING! Many ‘progressive’ ads
show women struggling to
Advertising continues to reinforce implicit codes in its achieve basic freedoms and
portrayal of women even though the real women no longer tend to celebrate the ‘be-
represent those stereotypes stower’ of these freedoms,
By Manisha Kapoor often the father, husband
or a male sibling.
— The film opens with a moved miles ahead, a long new tasks but continu-
family at breakfast. Each time ago! ing to bear the burden of By over-celebrating the
member has a different domestic chores. Often man, ads that intend to
demand. No problem! The The Stubbornness of the professional women break stereotypes only end
packaged instant food in ads are shown return- up reinforcing that such
brand lets her whip it up Implicit Codes ing home, rarely in a work situations are so excep-
in minutes, that too, with Ad after ad, we see pat- setting. Being a doctor tional that they deserve a
chutney and a smile. terns that, on closer ex- or a teacher ultimately round of applause. How
— A pile of dishes clutters amination, reveal implicit seems to help her only to about showing men shar-
the sink. The man decides codes that advertising be a better mother, one ing domestic labour with-
to come to the rescue and reinforces. Whether it is who knows how to get rid out dramatic fanfare, or
take on the load. His wife the housewife bearing the of germs in clothes or who showing women enjoying
is so impressed, she praises burden of domestic labour helps her kids brush their a breezy relationship with
him to the point of being with a fixed smile or a teeth well! financial products? If new
indebted. young woman gleefully portrayals are presented
— A lady gets into a cab. accepting a stranger’s While more women as normal, rather than an
Dazzled by her beauty, the gaze, whether it’s women make an appearance in aberration, then that might
driver can’t help but stare being educated by male financial product ads, they go a long way in addressing
at her. And she just coyly authority, or their bodies are more likely to be shown some of these issues.
smiles.social media crisis used to add sensual ap- as spenders, carrying shop-
strategy, peal to products ranging ping bags. In contrast, it is Advertisers and creators
from biscuits to phones; difficult to think of a finan- may argue that what they
Sounds familiar? some tropes in advertis- cial product ad featuring do is a mere reflection of
These are ads that ing seem to have survived men with overstuffed society, but that is not how
have been flashed in decades of evolution in shopping bags. Women advertising works. Adver-
our faces, so much so that society. Ads that depict in automobile ads usually tising images are pervasive
we don’t even give them a women in ‘progressive’ occupy the passenger seat, and repetitive. Ad after ad,
second look. But who are roles reveal these im- with childlike expressions category after category,
these women they repre- plicit biases even more as they are driven around. and decade after decade,
sent because real women -- because they tend to They are rarely given the some images and codes are
showcase women doing wheel or shown driving in constantly reinforced. And
once the problematic ste-
reotypes are pointed out,
not pushing for change can
only be considered willful
or lazy.

The Change in Real

Women
The change in real women
is perhaps one of the most
dramatic shifts that our so-
ciety has seen over the past

34 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

The change in real women is feels advertising can be a So, What Now?
perhaps one of the most valuable ally. By instruct- Of course, bringing about
dramatic shifts that our ing and inspiring those change is easier said than
society has seen over the around her to change and done. So many of the ste-
past decade being her partners in a reotypes are deeply seeded
common path to progress. implicit codes that they
decade. And for those who and enthusiasm for her Enabling this collective don’t even appear incorrect
feel that this is restricted newfound ways of living. progress, where the needs at a casual glance. That
to only the top few cities, She is often now the ‘bring- of her family and ecosys- is precisely where Gen-
you only have to look at er of newness’ in house- tem are accommodated, derNext comes in.
the energy of small-town holds across the country. without sacrificing her
young women, housewives, The women we spoke to own, is where she believes One of ASCI’s key initia-
entrepreneurs, profes- in our GenderNext study advertising can help. Ad- tives this year, the Gen-
sionals, and fashionistas across ten centres clearly vertising can demonstrate derNext study, was to look
through their social media said that they thought of what a supporting ecosys- at the depiction of women
streams. These women are themselves ahead of oth- tem looks like, and how in advertising and support
now portraying themselves ers, and in fact it was their progress is a normalised advertisers to create more
in ways that are vibrant fervent desire that others phenomenon. In doing so, responsible and relevant
and authentic. Husbands, see life as she does- full of it helps move the needle of ads. GenderNext aims
parents, colleagues, in-laws possibilities, progress and collective perception. As to call out the uninten-
and kids all feature in the opportunities to shine. Dr. Ranjana Kumari writes tional messaging that has
videos in evident support in the GenderNext fore- become intrinsic to ad
And this is where she word “I have seen that true creators’ psyche and offers
change for women is not ways of imagining the
possible without a collec- target audiences in more
tive change in perceptions aspirational ways through
about women’s roles and the SEA framework.
priorities.” The 3S screener lists out
the stereotypical repre-
sentations that can help
avoid these creeping into
scripting, casting as well
as in production areas like
costumes and styling.

The study shows that
the change required is
subtle, but demands deep-
er attention to stubborn
tropes and patterns that
have made advertising
their home. It allows ad-
vertisers and advertising
to catch up with women’s
own imaginations. The
‘Emerging Indian woman’
has long since emerged,
and advertising needs to
account for this.

 KapoorisSecretary-

General, The Advertising

Standards Council of India

35 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

MARKETING AND ADVERTISING

GUEST COLUMN emerging brands today
are solving for speed and
BEAUTY & THE FEAST agility (defined as flexibil-
ity and speed of response).
Will the D2C beauty Sustainability of the ap-
brands of today be proach, margin stability
the market leaders of and resilience in the face
tomorrow? of extreme market swings
By Shankar (on both supply — or de-
Prasad mand —side) are yet being
developed. Several brands
A lot is being writ- the consumer applies accounts for 10 per cent or are expected to reach a
ten and said the product on face, lips, less of the overall beauty somewhat mature stage
about direct-to- hair or body. And for the market in India. It is over the next 2-5 years,
consumer (D2C) brands in compliments she gets believed that the online and those that are able
general, and D2C beauty from friends or family or share in China and the to put in place scalable
brands in particular. Low colleagues, which is a key US is closer to 50 per cent, systems and processes
entry barriers, relative factor in driving overall even with the post-Covid across functions (market-
ease of consumer targeting delight with the product. acceleration. It’s clear, ing, distribution, supply
through online channels therefore, that in the chain etc) would be the
and a burgeoning beauty Being able to consis- medium term, any brand ones poised to make the
market overall have led tently deliver on inter- with scale ambitions has to leap into the big league.
to a veritable explosion of esting promises, while be able to succeed in both
beauty brands that have keeping up with rap- online as well as brick- The Landscape in 2026
followed an online-only idly evolving tastes and and-mortar distribution The inherent strength of
(or online-first) approach trends, is the No. 1 critical environments. The two the incumbent brands in
to product marketing. Can success factor for new-age could not be more differ- terms of brand, distribu-
these brands eventually brands looking to become ent from each other and tion and product capa-
replace some of the incum- market leaders. This takes need diverse sets of skills bilities notwithstanding, it
bents today as the market a motley combination of and capabilities to be can be safely said that the
leaders of tomorrow? The agility, patience, long- developed. The arrival and dynamics of the industry
answer (the easy one, as term commitment and the maturing of distribution have changed forever. Con-
always) — it depends. On right innovation approach aggregator apps might sumers are open to (and in
what? Three key factors: to get the marketing mix make this a little easier for fact, hungry for) fresh ideas
right — again and again. newer brands, though. and delightful new experi-
Product Strength and ences, and a lesser-known
Omnichannel Scalable Systems, brand is no longer a barrier.
Innovation Capabilities The market is likely to be
Marketing gets the Expansion Processes no longer dominated by
customer; the product Despite explosive growth, Most of the (well-funded) a handful of brands but
keeps her. Any amount of the online channel still would indeed have a “fat
smart and shiny market- middle” of similar-sized
ing (made all the easier brands, best known for a
through creator apps) few categories each. To get
will not substitute for the there, and stay there, new-
moment of truth when age brands have their work
cut out along the above
three dimensions.

 PrasadisCEO&Co-
founder, Plum

36 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021



ESSAY Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

CELEBRATING The Seventh edition of
BW Businessworld’s

FUTURE READY Young Entrepreneur
Awards (YEA) and
Summit honoured 36

ENTREPRENEURS youngentrepreneurs
whose business ideas
are rocking the world
BY TEAM BW

2021 T YEA Methodology eminent industry leaders such as
Sandeep Naik, Managing Direc-
HE GREGORIAN CALENDAR will The methodology for selecting the tor, Head of India and Asia Pacific,
record 2021 as a defining year for the best of the crop was rigorous. In 2021 General Atlantic, Prashant Prakash,
startup ecosystem in India, which is business and industry organisations Partner, Accel Partners, Anup Jain,
the third largest in the world. Three submitted nominations for CEO’S, Managing Partner, Orion Venture,
new startups have reportedly joined founders and co-founders with seven Sanjeev Aggarwal, Founder and
the elite club of Unicorns every years’ experience or less. Applications Senior Managing Director, Helion,
month on an average of late. In 2021 received were put through a multi- Preeti Vyas, Chairperson and Chief
around 33 active startups entered the tier screening process. More than 120 Creative Officer at Vyas Giannetti
Unicorn club. nominations were received, of which Creative, Anupriya Acharya, Chief
70 shortlisted entrepreneurs were in- Executive Officer, South Asia, Pub-
So the Seventh edition of BW Busi- vited to present their case to the jury licis Groupe and Rajesh Srivastava,
nessworld’s Young Entrepreneur board, which comprised a panel of Chairman and Managing Director,
Awards and Summit could scarcely industry experts. Rabo Equity Advisors.
ignore this dynamic young legion
of Indian entrepreneurs. While the The winners’ list included 36 The awards ceremony was pre-
annual Young Entrepreneur Awards entrepreneurs. The panel evaluated ceded by a day-long summit, where
2021 recognized, acknowledged and these entrepreneurs on parameters industry leaders pinpointed the
celebrated India’s enthusiastic young such as the key milestones of the growth triggers, digital transforma-
entrepreneurs of 2021, the summit company, the market opportunity, tion, technology and innovations
opened up a platform for a debate on financial performance and high- that assist young entrepreneurs in
India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. lights of the entrepreneurial journey. their everyday decision making and
Following the screening process, a in charting out long term plans. The
team of experts evaluated the eligi- YEA summit too attracted prominent
ble nominations on parameters such industry leaders like Manoj Kohli,
as business idea and model, long Country Head, SoftBank India, Su-
term potential, social impact, lead- dhir Sethi, Founder and Chairman,
ership team, the role of the entre- Chiratae Ventures and Beerud Sheth,
preneur and growth, to arrive at a CEO and Co-Founder, GupShup.
shortlist.
More than 30 other high profile
The Jury Board was led by Jury industry leaders and experts joined
Chair Sudhir Sethi, Founder and in to celebrate India’s nascent, by dy-
Chairman, Chiratae Venture India namic startup ecosystem.
Advisor. The Jury Panel comprised

38 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR AWARD 2021 WINNERS

NAME DESIGNATION ORGANISATION
Divij Bajaj CEO Power Gummies
Nikhil Aggarwal CEO Grip Invest Advisors
Angad Rajain Global Head-IFM & Chief Tenon Facility
Strategy Officer Management India
Rishabh Goel Co-founder & CEO Credgenics
Gaurav Khatri Co-Founder Noise
Rohit Paranjpe CEO & Co-Founder SugarBox Network
Saahil Goel Co- Founder and CEO Shiprocket
Varun Chaudhary Managing Director CG Corp Global
Vinayak Shrivastav CEO Toch.ai
Pranit P Shilimkar Founder Fitnesstalks
Aakash Vaghela Founder AV Organics LLP / Evocus
Prabhdeep Singh Founder and CEO StanPlus Technologies

Dr Karthik Narayan R. Managing Director Athulya Assisted
Living
Dr. Akshay V Singhal CEO & Founder Log 9 Materials
Sairaj Dhond Founder & CEO Wakao Foods
Vamsi Krishna Gaddam Founder & CEO Atumobile

Rahul Nainani Co-Founder & CEO ReCircle

Ashutosh Co-Founder & CTO Bikayi
Rohan Nayak Co-Founder & CEO
Picket FM
Anant Bengani Director and Co-Founder
Zell Education
Ankit Garg CEO & Co-Founder
Kabir Siddiq CEO & Founder Wakefit.co
Pranav Saxena Co-Founder SleepyCat
Upasna Dash Founder & CEO The WorldGrad
Sunaina Harjai Director Jajabor Brand Consultancy
Sargam Dhawan Director Hats Off Accessories
Bhayana Tressmart Marketing
Pankaj Sunwar Entrepreneur
Sushant Gaur CEO Amway
Amritha Gaddam Founder & CEO Adeera Packaging
Pratik Gupta Co-Founder The Tribe Concepts
Bhavna Suresh Co-Founder & CEO Zoo Media
Naivedya Agarwal Co-Founder 10club
Pulkit Khurana Co-Founder Runaya
Ujjwal Jain Founder & CEO Battery Smart
Ram Shriram Founder & CEO WealthDesk
Ashutosh Kumar CEO & Co-Founder Mahagram

Testbook

39 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

ByResham Suhail people do not know about. We wanted
to bring them before the world and the
A NATURAL credit for it goes to technology. Up until
ALTERNATIVE last month, we were a 100 per cent on-
line store. Technology really helped get
2021 T homegrown social media focused brand our message and product out into the
and today our customers have played a market,” she said. “We are 100 per cent
HE TRIBE CONCEPTS is India’s first major role in spreading positive word natural; we use sustainable packaging for
plant-based Ayurvedic and organic skin of mouth about the brand,” she told BW our products in reusable steel tins or glass
care brand. “We don’t have added pre- Businessworld. jars to do our part for the environment,”
servatives, no chemicals, no artificial Gaddam said proudly.
colours. It is a pure plant-based prod- What, we asked her, was the secret of
uct,” said Amritha Gaddam, Founder and the success of the two-year-old brand. Women had been a quintes-
CEO, The Tribe Concepts. “Performance of natural products and
collaborating with right influencers sential part of the brand’s journey, she
The brand’s vision is to pro- has majorly helped the brand move for- emphasised. As much as 80 per cent
ward,” said Gaddam. A critical contribu- of the workforce of The Tribe Con-
vide natural alternatives to skin and hair tion to the entrepreneurship space, she cepts comprise women. The company,
care using traditional Indian herbs. “It is felt, had been information technology, quipped Gaddam, had been founded by
India’s first plant-based Ayurvedic and which had allowed consumers to look women. The Tribe Concepts advocates
organic skincare brand,”said Gaddam, beyond the big brands and build trust the ‘women in business’ notion and
adding, “Our unique formulations are in startups. provides support to women at all levels
so potent and pure that they transcend – from handpicking the ingredients to
the trends.” According to her, if used in “There are Indian ingredients that shaping up a product.
the right proportions, the pure organic
extracts from plants and roots can be an Gaddam revealed that the ingredi-
effective alternative to conventional skin ents of the company’s products were
and hair care products. sourced from the most fertile soils of the
Godavari Belt. The soil in the region is
“Most of our products are in pure or- pesticide-free and the environment too
ganic powder forms or cold-pressed oil is pollution-free. “We follow sustainable
forms. The business is largely driven sourcing practices from Girijan corpo-
by social media. We started small as a rations and local farmers. Formulating
in the right combinations is key to our
AMRITHA performing products,” she said.
GADDAM
Gaddam conceded that the last one-
Founder & CEO and-a-half years had been difficult for the
company like most businesses. “There
The Tribe
Concepts were logistical issues. For example,
sourcing tin jars and glass bottles dur-
ing the lockdown restrictions was
challenging. The flip side was the
growth of e-commerce. We were
able to see a rise in digital reach
as everything was online,” she
pointed out.
“Digital is the biggest change during

the pandemic and this change is only go-
ing to beautify and multiply over the next
two years, not only from a brand perspec-
tive but also from the consumers’ point of
view,” said Gaddam. We wish her team all
the very best for the future.

[email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 40 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Sugandh Bahl

TRANSFORMING
CAREERS

S ANANT
BENGANI

Co-Founder

Zell Education

2021 TRIVING TO BECOME India’s leading & best educational practices,” he adds.
training centre, Zell Education is aiming Unlike other business models where the
at transforming careers by making skill initial investment is usually a hefty sum pling their employee strength by the end
upgradation effective, affordable and ac- of money, Bengani and his co-founder of the current financial year. The current
cessible. Anant Bengani, Co-Founder began with just Rs 10,000, and a lot of company strength of 80 employees would
of Zell Education recalls, “The primary sweat and hard work. Today, Zell Educa- be scaled up to reach 250 employees by
focus of our staff is on training the stu- tion boasts of over 50 faculty members the end of this financial year. Reportedly,
dents in the subject of accountancy and and over 80 employees. All these num- Zell will be deploying around Rs 7 crore
finance. It all began in 2015 when I and bers are multiplying at a faster pace. Zell for the said expansion.
my partner decided to walk the path of Education also boasts of an active student
entrepreneurship.” base upwards of 5,000. And all this has Additionally, the company has said
happened within the past six years. it will be offering ESOPs to the senior
Financial Activities: Bengani employees working at their organiza-
“We have always understood that edu- tion. The company says that with its cur-
says a career as a finance professional cation has to be a niche because it has to rent team it has efficiently managed to
today is vastly different than it used to be presented in a much specialised for- achieve a student satisfaction ratio of 95
be years ago. The study and analysis of mat. A student coming to us, from whom per cent.
today’s markets, financial products and we would charge a considerable amount, “Our core values include creativity, col-
other financially related sectors of the should feel the value of his money and it laboration, culture and customer ori-
business world are the foundation of fi- must give them some value above and be- entation. We are looking for employees
nancial activities as on date, he adds. “ yond,” says Bengani. who have the similar values and can col-
laborate with us to reach our mission,”
A stockbroker, a financial planner, Zell believes that today’s digital tools Bengani adds.
and an investment banker are just a can support the effective delivery of fi-
few examples of jobs that may be cho- nancial education and can certainly help [email protected]
sen when pursuing a career in finance. policy makers address the need of target
As finance grows year on year, being audiences through tailored approaches.
accurate and up to date with financial “They can better support money man-
information and financial techniques agement skills while reinforcing financial
is an absolute essential,” says Bengani. literacy core competencies and can also
be used to address some of the most com-
Quality Education: The idea mon behavioural biases that consumers
experience when dealing with financial
behind establishing Zell Education came decisions,” he says.
to Bengani during his years of Articleship
under a Chartered Accountancy firm. “At Employee Strength: Last
Zell, our primary goal is to deliver high
quality education & skill upgradation month, Zell Education announced tri-
in collaboration with industry experts

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 41 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Urvi Shrivastav Rajain recalls that around seven to
eight years ago, when there was an influx

UNIQUE IDEA OF of companies setting offices with the in-
tent of scaling up the businesses, he was
largely working with the unorganised

DISRUPTION sector.
“The challenge was of bringing about

some amount of structure, sophistication,
and technology into it. In addition, it was

also required to convince the customers,

ness my father started 26 years ago. My as well as companies that they could be

W involvement has been on the real estate a partner and service their portfolio,” he
side,” says Rajain. adds.

Initially Tenon Facility Management Customised Services: To
(FM) was focused on physical security,
but Rajain was interested in real estate. stand out as a differentiator, Tenon FM

“We found a segment where Tenon FM needed services that were unique, and

HILE THE BUSINESS of real estate may could be started as a unique venture,” he not perceived as coming from a standard

2021 bearoundfordecadesandisconvention- adds. cookie cutter. The company had to focus

ally associated with builders and brokers, on customised services solutions for indi-

TenonFMisdisruptingthespace.Infact, The Strongest Link: Theprod- vidual clients.

it has already carved a niche for itself. uct is as unique as its name, where Tenon

“Wearenotinaspacewherewegoand essentially means ‘the strongest link’ in a Re-adaptation: The last one-

build properties for our customers. We woodwork joint. and-a-half years have been unique for

come into the space when the client has Tenon FM.

already chosen and developed the prop- Covid changed the business with re-

erty. The largest investment that goes spect to corporate real

into it is sustaining the property over the ANGAD estate, not just with the
course of business. existing portfolio but

Tenon FM came in with specialists, and RAJAIN also the business in the
then went on and partnered with original pipeline. “We did not

equipment manufacturers, “ says Angad Global Head & CSO know if IT/ITeS would

Rajain, Global Head – Integrated Facil- Tenon Facility come back. We did not
ity Management (IFM) & Chief Strat- Management know how the world
egy Officer (CSO), Tenon Facility would look like a year

Management. and a half later. What

we did realise was there

Facility Management: would be a re-adaptation of the real estate

With these unique ideas they portfolio,” says Rajain.

manage 250 million square feet

of space presently. The company Resurgence: Today there is a

has reinvented the way market strong resurgence of people coming back

looks at the facility management to work across sectors and the corporate

and the real estate business. clients are a big part of the portfolio.

Recently, it has been awarded ISO Additionally, e-commerce businesses

41001:2018 certificate for its quality are asking for double or triple the space

facility management system. they originally asked for a year ago.

In fact, Tenon FM is the one of the The big learning from Rajain’s journey

few facility management companies is that there would always be demand for

inIndia to beawarded this accredita- quality space, customised solutions and

tion. personalised service offerings.

Rajain has been in Tenon Facility Man-

agement for seven years now. “It is a busi- [email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 42 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

IN CONVERSATION

by Pooja Malik programme for reaching out to our
merchants and devised strategies
‘Today Bikayi is helping to boost their businesses on digital
50 lakh merchants’ platforms.

BIKAYI,ane-commerceplatform,aimstoempowerall How do you expecting the year
businesseswithaffordabletoolstoenablethemtothriveon 2022 to be for Bikayi?
theonlinemarketplace.AshutoshSingla,Co-founder&CEO, The year 2022 looks very promising
Bikayi,talksofhowtheinitiativebegananditsfutureprospects for social ecommerce as an emerging
sector. Small businesses have picked
2021 How does Bikayi benefit small up lately as more customers are open
businesses? to the idea of buying from small mer-
Bikayi provides a complete set of ASHUTOSH chants. The services offered by small
features including payment, delivery SINGLA merchants is equivalent to those of-
integration, and marketing services fered by e-commerce giants today.
which help digital savvy business Co-founder & CEO
owners and entrepreneurs, to launch How do you look at the Indian
and expand their businesses. Bikayi startup ecosystem from the stand-
point of entrepreneurship?
The online platform didn’t exist as selling their products on Bikayi as an The shift has already happened and
a distribution channel for Small and alternative source of income. will continue to grow further in the
Medium Businesses (SMBs) a cou- coming years. From the standpoint
ple of years ago. Now, the scenario Our merchants, who were driving of an Indian startup ecosystem, in the
has changed completely. The entire their business through mom-n-pop past year alone there have been 40
ecosystem, whether it is for financial stores, started riding on the ‘contact- startups that turned into unicorns.
products or delivery companies, has less’ and ‘digital’ selling wagon with Certainly, we can soon expect to see
become more open to small busi- us. Today, Bikayi is helping 50 lakh more startups turn into unicorns and
nesses. merchants become a brand of their even become Decacorns (a company
own. We had an extensive outreach valued at over $10 billion).
Also, SMBs have access to smart-
phones and internet connectivity. How do you feel about winning the
That helps. For example, Bikayi helps Young Entrepreneur Award?
SMBs set up a Whatsapp-integrated I am humbled and grateful to receive
shop, so that they can sell products the BW Businessworld Young Entre-
on WhatsApp. We strongly believe preneur Award. The struggle of small
that if you are not promoting your businesses that we had witnessed
products on Facebook and What- in the pre-pandemic era with fast-
sapp, you will be missing out on a tracking of digitisation was the main
huge customer base. trigger for me and my co-founder So-
nakshi Nathani to start Bikayi.
How did Bikayi manage to cope
with the pandemic? How do such initiatives help entre-
Within six months of launching Bi- preneurs?
kayi, the pandemic struck. At the This initiative brought by BW Busi-
time when many businesses were nessworld helps entrepreneurs like
staring at potential job losses and us gain recognition among our peers,
pay-cuts, our platform came as a sav- and other stakeholders (investors,
iour to the salaried class who started partners, customers) for the work we
are doing.

I am hoping this will further open
doors for many brand collaborations.

[email protected]

43 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Pooja Malik huge untapped market. The size of the
global mattress market is also expected
BANKING ON A GOOD to accelerate, fuelled by a rising demand
NIGHT’S SLEEP for customised mattresses and enhanced
experience.
2021 A production capabilities as well as distri-
bution networks across Indian markets “Leveraging our first-mover advan-
GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP is a precondition and expanding product lines to include tage as the first D2C brand in the sleep
to wellbeing. An adequate eight hours lighting, decor, furnishings, and more, and home solutions space, we have been
of sleep and sleeping well are known to in addition to sleep and furniture prod- able to address the unmet needs of Indian
improve memory, help weight loss and ucts.” customers in a previously unorganised
improve the human immune system. An industry that was fraught with inflated
uncomfortable mattress can be a hin- The industry itself has massive head- costs, middlemen, and minimal innova-
drance to a good night’s sleep and this room for growth, given that there is a tion,” said Garg.
notion inspired a company called Wake-
fit.co. ANKIT The idea of the factory- to-the-home
GARG delivery of mattresses was fuelled by the
Said Ankit Garg, Co-Founder and growing popularity of e-commerce. Garg
CEO, Wakefit.co “With over ten years of Co-Founder & CEO came up with the idea of an online startup
experience in the professional domain, I where products manufactured at a cen-
initiated Wakefit’s journey in 2015. Prior Wakefit.co trally located plant, could be shipped di-
to that, I served in the new product devel- rectly to customer households. Garg had
opment wing at Bayer Chemicals. I was previously worked in the foam industry
also associated with Tapzo in the process and realised that there was a huge unful-
excellence department.” filled demand in the mattress industry.

Even so, Garg was undoubtedly, born His biggest insight was that
to be an entrepreneur. He developed a
product through research and innova- customer service was poor among mat-
tion and a model of business that makes tress manufacturers. There was little to
the product available to customers at the no innovation in the industry and cus-
lowest possible cost. Wakefit.co adopts tomers always ended up paying more for
a direct-from-factory model of de- a mattress. Brainstorming on these issues
livery that lowers the cost of its mat- with his co-founder led to the inception
tresses for customers. of Wakefit.co.

Talking of Wakefit. Garg attributed the reasons behind his
co’s vision Garg said, “We have brand’s success to opting to sell Wakefit.
co products online. “The most important
transformed from simply being a decision we took was to go the direct-to-
sleep solutions company to a sleep and customer way, ensuring that we did not
home solutions company. At Wakefit. lose sleep over the middlemen increasing
co, our vision is to become a pioneering, costs and decreasing quality. Choosing
one-stop shop for all sleep and home so- to sell our products online worked in our
lutions in India. Our future plans entail favour and it also helped regulate quality
strengthening the brand and ramping up and prices far more easily.”

Garg and his team are now excited to
set up larger experience centres both in
the cities in which they exist and new

cities. The decision, he said, was in re-
sponse to growing customer feedback,
demanding more ‘experience centres’
so that customers may experience the
look and feel of the products before pur-
chasing them”.

[email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 44 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

ByPooja Malik and save notes, clear their doubts, etc..
The strong analytics engine recom-
GIVES A LEG UP TO
JOB ASPIRANTS mends to students what to focus on to get
maximum impact for their preparation.
2021 A Agrawal, Praveen Agrawal and Manoj “We are using a scalable microservice
Munna. According to Kumar, Testbook’s architecture with Golang, Redis, Rab-
SHUTOSH KUMAR launched Testbook in innovations are geared towards making bitmq, and MongoDB for its backend.
2014 to transform the way prospective the life of students from tier-2 and tier-3 For the Angular framework for Web and
job aspirants prepare, especially for pub- cities easier by removing entry barriers, for the Android platform, we use native
lic sector jobs. The Testbook Co-founder like affordability, internet connectivity, Kotlin development with MVVM (Mod-
and Chief Executive Officer wanted to languages, and the quality of education. el-view-ViewModel) architecture,” said
transform the examination preparation Basically, Testbook aims to democratise Kumar.
process into a tech-driven, automated
system. The goal was to enable students ASHUTOSH Testbook has also builtmul-
and job aspirants to learn, absorb and KUMAR
prepare for these examinations at their tiple in-house tech platforms for the most
own pace. Co-Founder & CEO cost-efficient and data-driven operations
which include Analytics Engine, Live
“I started my career as a physics TestBook Class Streaming Infra, Assessment En-
teacher for JEE aspirants in 2007 while
pursuing the first year of my dual degree the examinations preparation process for gine, Sales CRM (ML Powered), Teacher
of B. Tech and M. Tech in Metallurgical the less fortunate. Teaching Platform, Class Scheduling Sys-
Engineering and Material Science from tem, and Learning Management System
IIT Bombay,” recalled Kumar. Kumar’s Testbook has successfully deployed (LMS which is ML-powered).
entrepreneurial journey, however, be- technology to enable seamless live video
gan with Recharge 123, an aggregator lecture streaming and mock test practice Kumar firmly believes that digitisation
platform for mobile phone recharging even without active internet, which has of education in India will be the key to the
in 2009, while he was in the third year at become a very powerful value proposition future framework of education. “It is as-
IIT, Bombay. for students preparing on the platform tonishing to perceive how innovation has
from smaller towns and villages of India. become more brilliant and is changing
Kumar co-foundedExcelmen- The core of all Testbook technology is the the educational system of the country,”
Testbook Learning App and website. said Kumar, adding, “It is additionally
tors.com in 2012, a platform that provid- helping in researching the idea of collec-
ed mentorship to JEE aspirants by IIT The app and the website are backed tive learning ...”
students who were trained as mentors. by world-class assessment and learning
The EdTech startup, Testbook, emerged products with a host of features to help [email protected]
from his vision to ensure careers for the students take live interactive classes,
more than 100 million youth around the practice questions, take mock tests, read
country by providing them with a highly
personalised learning and assessment
platform for preparing for government
job examinations.

Ashutosh Kumar co-founded the plat-
form with three fellow IITians, Narendra

45 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Vasudha Mukherjee health. Gummies are easier to swallow
and taste better, making them popular
W across the globe and also available in
India,” adds Bajaj.
2021 HY CAN’T TABLETS AND intake of sup-
plements be fun? That’s where the idea He says unlike traditional products,
for Power Gummies came about. Power Power Gummies are vitamin-packed
Gummies is one of the first companies in supplements and are not messy, inva-
India to undertake clinical trials in the sive or complicated. “Instead our Power
supplement category. Divij Bajaj, CEO Gummies are chewable, tasty, and effec-
and Founder, Power Gummies explains: tive and just like happiness, they work
“Each and every composition that we do from inside your body,” says Bajaj.
is built on theoretical deep-dive studies,
wherein there are a lot of research insti- Power Gummies supplements are cru-
tutes involved.” elty free, sugar free, vegan and come clini-
cally tested. Currently available in three
These clinical trials have shown that variants—Gorgeous Hair and Nails Vi-
Power Gummies hair and nails sup- tamin, Beachbody, weight management
plement are the best in Asia in terms vitamins and That Time of The Month,
of results, reportedly providing 65 per vitamins for those who menstruate.
cent hair fall reduction and 22 per cent
hair growth acceleration in 90 days of Supplement Market: Ba-
consumption. This is just one example
of the composition science building, jaj believes that the Coronavirus pan-
followed by clinical trials to prove the
DIVIJ
SUPPLEMENTING BAJAJ
HEALTH
CEO & Founder
efficacy of the product. and nutrition is not consciously ob-
served.” Many supplements, especially Power Gummies
Gum Theory: Divij broke into the ones for pain relief come with side ef-
fects that can also be harmful with long Sector: Nutraceuticals
nutraceutical scene in 2018 with Power term use. And not to forget a fact that
Gummies, a tasty chewable hair vitamin many have trouble swallowing tablets, demic played a major role in creating
supplement. Power Gummies became an issue that is addressed by pharma- awareness of the supplement market.
among the top selling products on Ama- ceuticals when manufacturing medi- Prior to this creating awareness on the
zon as per its official website. cine for children, but not for adults. importance of supplements, bringing
“This is the gap that Power Gummies focus to nutrition and the gaps in the
But why gummies? And why get into was looking to fill. Not for children Indian diet was a challenge, especially
this competitive space? Bajaj explains: but for adults, making health a prior- for new players in the industry. Con-
“Most diets cannot provide the human ity, without making it burden. Power sumer education required a lot of at-
body with all the necessary vitamins Gummies aims to creating a more posi- tention and investment, which is no
in the correct proportion as required. tive and even fun experience around longer the case. Bajaj says, “Covid has
This is especially true in the Indian diet made people appreciate and under-
where food is generally overcooked, stand the role played by nutraceutical
in one’s immunity. Consumer mindset
has completely shifted and people are
enthusiastic to learn more about the
various options out there.

Bajaj is out there with his Power Gum-
mies with the motto: ‘Let’s make medi-
cation pleasurable!’ Let’s wish the team
more power!

[email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 46 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021



Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

IN CONVERSATION

By Pooja Malik

“Scalability Is About apparel and have it delivered to their
homes in a matter of hours.

My second entrepreneurial stint

Capacity, Capability” was in the Philippines where I head-
ed a real estate tech platform, suc-
cessfully leading it to an exit. Post
that Joel Ayala and I got to talking

about the e-commerce potential in

BHAVNASURESH,Co-founder&CEOof10clubthat India and once we rounded up Deep-
acquires,operatesandscalesecommerce-first ak Nair, 10club was born.
businesses,hasbeenaserial entrepreneur.Inachat
Entrepreneurship is tough, more
so for women. My journey has not

2021 withBWBusinessworld’sPoojaMalik,shetalksabout her been devoid of challenges but over
company’sgrowthplans,herteam,leadership, herjourneyas time, I have learnt to take them in
awomanentrepreneurandmuchmore.Excerpts: my stride and treat them as a step-
ping stone.

It is natural to

How does it feel being the only inspire like-minded BHAVNA women to take hard
female CEO in the Indian rollup women in finding SURESH decisions and solve
space? their passion and problems when

It feels good to be a changemaker in moving ahead with- Co-founder & CEO needed. I have expe-
this rollup ecosystem as the only fe- out inhibitions. Ul- rienced this as an en-

male CEO in India. In the last timately, the ca- 10club trepreneur focusing
few years, I have been able pacity to build on scaling 10Club in
to build several success- something Sector: Ecommerce the Indian market.

ful ventures. There have is about Confident, strong

been occasions where I the indi- and talented women

was the only woman in vidual, not their gender. in leadership positions need to form

a corporate boardroom this ecosystem where they enable

and these experiences How has been your other women to rise through the

that have taught me to journey as a woman ranks. I have also strived on ensuring

become more as- entrepreneur? inclusivity in the teams that I build.

sertive, and at What is the

times, my non- whole mind be- What transitions are you expect-

conforming hind 10 Club? ing in the year 2022 in your space?

stance has made I have always With over 1 billion potential cus-

people uneasy. I c h o s e n t h e tomers, India is on the cusp of an e-

am comfortable p a t h l e s s commerce transformation. 10Club

with who I am t a k e n a n d has built a strong seller aggregator

and learnt to fo- have opted to platform with a solid leadership

cus on my goals work on ven- team that has extensive expertise in

as a changemaker tures that are the e-commerce domain.

— and resistance uncommon. For our portfolio, we are focusing

to change is inevi- My first entre- on Baby, Sport and Home and we

table but drives you preneurial venture believe we will be able to leverage

towards your mis- w a s a n a p p a r e l multi-fold growth in these catego-

sion further. r e n t a l s e r v i c e ries.

Although I still in India, where

have a long way Indian women

to go, I hope to could rent luxury [email protected]

48 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021