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A Review Of The Start-Up Newsmakers of 2016
The Indian start-up world is constantly changing, evolving and, rising. The start-up life revolves around time constraint, performance pressure, resource crunch and managing within limited budgets. Indian start-ups are slowly changing and making news for the right and wrong reasons. Fancy positions, pet-friendly office spaces, and designations are the new ‘it’ thing in start-ups. However, enthusiasm and passion remain the driving force towards performance.
2016 was a year of great change where many established their start-ups. Many others shook their start-ups with drastic decisions only for us to realize that this start-up culture is here to stay!
Here’s a lowdown on a few big names that made news with their decisions in the start-up world in 2016:
1. Flipkart – Sachin & Binny Bansal
The famous twosome got everyone in a bit of a shock when, in a surprising town hall, Sachin Bansal admitted his inability to lead the company in its chosen direction. This happened amidst increasing competition from their two biggest competitors – Snapdeal and Amazon. Not only this, he even renounced his active position as the CEO of the company to become the Chairman of the Board & so, co-founder Binny Bansal was appointed as the new CEO of Flipkart.
2. Myntra – Ankit Nagori and Mukesh Bansal
Flipkart’s fashion arm, Myntra, followed suit when after 2 years of changing strategies (from only app based platform to app and web), they stuck to the basics – rebranding itself as one of the strongest contenders in Indian ecommerce fashion.
Unexpectedly forerunners Ankit Nagori and Mukesh Bansal quit their position at Myntra focusing on ventures such as Curefit and Cult. This move came at a time when the business was having a good run.
3. Housing.com – Abhishek Anand, Sanat Ghosh, and Ravish Naresh
The infamous episode with CEO Rahul Yadav isn’t the only one that made news for Housing.com. Co-founders Abhishek Anand, Sanat Ghosh, and Ravish Naresh departed too, reportedly starting up in HR management. Former employee Jaspreet Singh Saluja too gave up his position to become the co-founder of a VR production house -Elyssian Studio.
4. Times Group – Deepak Abott
Not much of a start-up much surely a newsmaker, the Times Group too has seen its shares of highs and lows. Times’ global arm, Global Partners got a new CEO in the form of Rishi Jaitly. Deepak Abbot, who previously headed the department of Mobile Growth for Times Internet, bid farewell to the Times Group to join Paytm as a Senior Vice President.
5. Intelligence Analytics – Rahul Yadav
Arguably one of the biggest newsmakers of 2016, Rahul Yadav started Intelligence Analytics to provide intelligent data aggregation and visualisation solutions to the Government of India, to make governance 100 times more efficient.
Even though it was being backed by big names, the company failed to impress which made his partner quit to join Urban Clap.
It is indeed interesting to follow this ecosystem where change seems to be the only constant leading to innovation and better opportunities for these young entrepreneurs.
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5 Leadership Qualities That Made M.S. Dhoni A Terrific Captain
When it comes to leadership, there are six categories of leaders widely recognized across the world based on the work of Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, and his colleague, Robert Kegan. Leaders are divided into the following categories – Sociopaths, Opportunists, Chameleons, Achievers, Builders and Transcendents. To reach the level six i.e., the Transcendents, one has to reach a level where they go beyond the institution they govern by ensuring that the institution grows while contributing to the entire community.
Recently stepped down from this prestigious post, cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, is regarded as one of India’s most successful captains. The achievements by his team have been often called off as sheer luck. However, experts have commented that a closer analysis of them indeed establishes MS Dhoni to be one of the greatest leaders of the game.
Some of India’s biggest wins in cricket under the captaincy of Dhoni include the 2007 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20, the Commonwealth Bank Series of 2007–08, the 2010 Asia Cup, the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy to name a few.
As a player, Dhoni never let his background and upbringing interfere with his perseverance and want to succeed. As a captain and a leader, his greatest attributes include not holding back and being true to himself.
Dhoni’s leadership style resembles that of a transcendent from the level six of leaders, and offers vital lessons to managers at all levels, across all fields – from the corporate world to the sporting world.
Below are the top 5 qualities in him that set him apart from the rest of the leaders:
1. Staying Calm
He wasn’t called ‘Captain Cool’ for anything! MS Dhoni wasn’t one to succumb to the pressure & his ability to make rational decisions in the toughest times accentuated this quality. It is important for a leader to remain calm in the most strenuous situations to restore faith from their team into them & manage the situation with ease.
2. Handling Success
MS Dhoni won fame and money at an early stage in his career but he didn’t let that change his attitude and always remained humble. A great leader earns respect but doesn’t command it – the way MS Dhoni handled his success was extremely commendable. Those who gain success too early, often tend to lose their balance and fail to maintain the steady growth to the path of leadership.
3. Dealing with Failure
As important it is to be able to handle success, it is equally important to be able to handle failure.
In the 2011 World Cup, Dhoni and his team were spectacularly successful but suffered a string of losses after that. Dhoni fought back simply by playing well. As he explained in his BCCI.TV interview;
“The 2011 World Cup: This had a different challenge. Those 15 players who formed the squad not only had to play their best cricket for that period but also be in a really good mental state. They needed to stay calm amid all the pressures and constantly concentrate on the areas they needed to improve on, despite all that was going on around them. Fitness again was very important and difficult to maintain given the amount of cricket we play.”
4. Be The Frontman
They say, a great leader always leads from the front. On numerous occasions, Dhoni single-handedly won matches for India. The best example is the innings played at the 2011 World Cup Final at Wankhede, Mumbai. He came in at the right time, supported his players and played a decisive role in ensuring India’s victory.
5. Being A Team Player
A leader is as much as part of the team as the rest of the members. Dhoni always supported his players at all times with trust and confidence and stood up for them when needed. The confidence that he created among his fellow team members helped them deliver their best. This unfailing support bestowed upon them a responsibility to perform well.
India will surely miss watching Mahendra Singh Dhoni lead the national cricket team to yet another victory.
Do share with us your most fond memories of watching cricket during the time of MS Dhoni.
MS Dhoni is a leader with a passion. If you’re someone with a similar passion looking to expand your business to new heights, consider joining our shared office space in Bengaluru, or our co-working office in Mumbai.
Breaking Stereotypes With Wisdom: A Tribute To Om Puri
Veteran Indian Actor Om Puri is a popular, well-known face in the world of Indian Cinema. Unlike many traditional Bollywood superstars, Om Puri’s contribution to the Indian film industry with movies like Ardh Satya, Aakrosh, East is East, Ghashiram Kotwal etc marks his acting journey with powerful accolades. His way to success is inspiring and an eye-opener to the struggles he faced in his lifetime; from being a railway officer’s son to a Padma Shri Awardee in 1990.
An alumnus of the National School of Drama, and classmate to renowned actor Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri made his acting debut in 1976 post which he took on Bollywood. Critically acclaimed for his performances in many unconventional roles in movies such as Aakrosh (1980); Disco Dancer (1982); Ardh Satya (1982); Zamana (1985); Maachis (1996); Gupt in (1997); Dhoop (2003), Om Puri established himself as a patron of art or off-beat cinema.
Today let’s take a look at a few things that Om Puri made us believe in:
1. Looks
The film industry is all about glamor, looks, and charm. Om Puri stands tall as an example of skill and talent winning overlooks despite a pockmarked face. We love what he said here: “I have no regrets at all. I have done quite well for myself. I don’t have a conventional face, but I have done well, and I am proud of it.”
What we can learn: Success doesn’t just depend on your external appearance, hard work and perseverance pay off in the long run.
2. Theater Connect:
Many actors start with theater in their struggle period and gradually move to the big screen. Many decide to stick to the theater even after tasting success in the industry. Om Puri found theater as his passion and continued alongside his mainstream acting.
“In theater, you have got to make the connect with your audience in the first three minutes. If you haven’t, you know you have almost lost them.”
What we can learn: Stay true to your roots and remember where you came from, and never lose vision of your niche in trying to master everything together.
3. New wave cinema:
He belonged to the cult of actors who are credited for bringing change in the new age cinema in the 1980s, alongside Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, and Smita Patil. He played an instrumental role in changing the way Bollywood films narrate stories.
“I feel even old people can do a nice love story, but here we don’t make that kind of films. In the West, such films are being made and they make a nice romance, which is more like compassion.”
What we can learn: Anybody can bring a change, all you need is determination and the will to continue your journey despite challenges.
4. Life Lessons:
The film industry often gets the blame for not encouraging radical thinking and unconventional acting. However, we are glad that this industry churned out talent like Mr. Om Puri, who not only broke a stereotype about good looks, but brought wisdom and thinking in creating great cinema as well.
“I don’t expect anything from anybody. When you grow old…Your days are gone; it is part of life.”
What we can learn: Don’t lose sight of your surroundings and accept change with an open heart. Nobody can force you to gulp down ugly truth if you have already made peace with it.
Om Puri’s versatility became his strongest attributes establishing him as one of the finest actors in Indian Cinema. Om Puri was the first Indian actor to get a lead role in a Hollywood film alongside Helen Mirren, produced by the famous Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey. He has worked alongside many American and British producers for crossover films, East Is East being one of his finest performances.
Om Puri took interest in politics and social commentary and he kept abreast of happenings in the nation. Even recently he was in a controversy regarding his comments on the Uri attacks. But nothing ever came in his way of seeing the world through open eyes and create cinema that will forever stay in our hearts.
Interested in making your own change? Join our business centre in Bengaluru, or our co-working space in Delhi.
An Exciting Journey Of Two Music Lovers In Building A Creative Solution: Tyunami
#inspiringstories@Awfis is an initiative by Awfis Editorial Team to showcase the brilliant business ideas and the journey of our startup member community.
Vikas Tandon was a successful internet entrepreneur and had recently sold his 130-strong digital agency to a global advertising network. Keen to return to his first love and passion – music, he put together a couple of bands and started performing at venues in Mumbai. As he was exploring other potential opportunities in the music space, he was introduced by a common friend to Kunal Basu.
Kunal, had studied engineering and was pursuing a successful career at the prestigious Citigroup. However, for Kunal too, the call of passion was too loud to ignore and he quit his job to get back to his love – teaching music. He now runs a successful music academy called Swirl Music.
Inception of Tyunami
In November 2015, the idea of Tyunami was born over a discussion on Swirl Music. Pondering over the poor quality of sound applications available on mobile phones and taking inspiration by what Instagram had done for amateur mobile phone photography, Vikas and Kunal set out to create a simple social networking app targeted at hobbyists and amateur musicians.
Tyunami (www.tyunami.com) is a mobile app that allows anyone to record their music (audio & video), enhance the audio quality with one-touch filters, and easily share it on the app, as well as on other social networks like Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter.
While between them, Vikas and Kunal had a good idea about what musicians need and how to build and market apps, the one missing piece was the audio engineering expertise. They then roped in a friend, Prithvi Kantan – also an accomplished musician and a brilliant sound engineer to build the audio enhancement engine. He designed all the algorithms under the hood that improves the quality of the recording including noise gating, compression, EQ, effects etc. The result is a set of filters that deliver the best enhancement in a variety of recording conditions, and have been tested and commended by leading sound engineers in Bollywood.
With Vikas’s keen focus on User Experience, the app is designed to be simple, intuitive, social and fun.
The app was launched on 9th December, 2016 and already has over 200 users and nearly 150 Tyunes purely through word-of-mouth. Buoyed by the successful “proof-of-concept”, the team is actively working on Version 2.0 which is slated to be a big release with a variety of new features. These include continued improvement in audio engineering, as well as massive collaboration and social features.
The vision is to make Tyunami the hub for music recording, sharing and collaboration among hobbyist musicians with the highest standards in sound quality and user experience.
The journey has only just begun, and what will make the journey most fulfilling for these entrepreneurs is to solve a real problem which falls not only in their area of expertise but is also their overriding passion.
We at Awfis think that Vikas and Kunal’s journey is motivational and we are proud to have such inspiring stories building in our centres!
Inspired to make your own wave of transformation? Give your business the advantage it needs and join our co-working space, or our shared office space.
Interview of Amit Grover, Co-founder of AHA Taxi
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5 DIY Office Organization Ideas That Boost Efficiency
Good office organization or organizing your desk doesn’t just mean cleanliness. It’s got more to do with how you store objects and how you use them on a daily basis.
De-clutter and get organized to boost your efficiency at work. It takes less time than you think to get yourself organized and into a clutter-free space.
Here are 5 quick DIY tips to keep that office clutter at bay and optimize your efficiency levels to the fullest!
1. Drawer Dividers
Office drawers are usually stuffed with each and every belonging of yours. From stationary to pen drives to your green tea bags. Get a drawer divider that will create sections for all your things so that it’s easier to place rather than misplace!
2. Mason Jars
Stack a lot of mason jars on your office desk. These jars are super office friendly and you can store all your little things in them without creating a big mess across your desk. Also, works wonders for those fighting for adequate desk space with the other colleagues. Just stack up a few jars and you’re good to go!
3. Binder clips to de-tangle chords
Yes, you read that right! Binder clips are great to prevent all your chargers, chords, wires from tangling up and causing chaos on your desk. Super easy and extremely practical to set-up!
4. Muffin Tray Storage
Another great storage option for your space is to get a muffin tray. For the non-baker inside you, get a tray that can hold all your small knick-knacks. A Super handy hack for those into the visual arts.
5. Shoe Box Storage
To store light-weight books, you can pin the shoe-boxes together using clips.You can also cover the shoe-boxes in shelf lining or a wrapping paper, if you prefer to make it look more decorative and fancy.
Organizing your workspace is vital to boosting your productivity, improving the number of tasks finished every day and relieving stress associated with work.
Have you got any interesting tips for workspace organization?
Interested in finding a neat new office? Check out Awfis’ business centre in Delhi, or our co-working space in Mumbai.
Interview of Jaisurya Jain ( Awfis Member ) Senior Partner – AJN Partners
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Everything you need to know about Snapchat Spectacles!
Snapchat is an application that has slowly taken the world by storm. The idea began as a project at Stanford University by students, Evan Speigel and Bobby Murphy. What started as a simple selfie application called “Picaboo”, transformed into an image messaging multimedia application. This application allows users to share images and videos that are short-lived and self-deleting. Over time, the app has been experiencing incremental innovations with additional entertaining facilities, one them being the popular Snapchat Filters. Recently, Snap Inc. has chosen to radically extend its product idea by introducing Snapchat Spectacles!
Below are a few FAQ’s to understand the features and uses of this innovative device.
What is it?
Do not confuse Snapchat Spectacles with Google Glass, they are camera glasses. Unlike Smart glasses or any sort of head-wearable technology, these Spectacles just have a camera installed in them, no display. This product can record 10-second video clips that atomically upload onto a user’s Snapchat account through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
What can it do?
The 115-degree wide-angle camera can record videos in a circle, which can be viewed horizontally and vertically on the Snapchat app. by spinning your phone around in any orientation, can help view the videos. The videos are reframed as needed, allowing you to reposition your phone for certain videos.
How do they look?
The Snapchat Spectacles are bright and quirky, which aligns with the brand’s image. There is a prominent circular ring of LEDs that light up when a video is being recorded. Therefore, the brand has chosen not to hide the camera feature, and instead highlight it.
How can I charge this?
The Spectacle case is also bright and colorful, and that’s not all, the case also acts as a charger. When the Spectacles are not in use, and safely in their case, they’re being charged.
Can you use Snapchat Filters with this product?
Snapchat Filters have gotten increasingly popular with its users. The feature allows users to set filters that map onto faces when capturing images and videos. However, videos that are recorded via the Spectacles can be adjusted by adding some filters once uploaded on the Snapchat app. The Spectacles are just camera glasses that do not have this feature. Furthermore, since the camera is outward-facing and not inward, the Spectacle isn’t selfie-friendly.
Where can you purchase them?
Unfortunately, the Spectacles are not found in stores. Pop-up dispensers are the only way early adopters can purchase the product at the moment. A single “Snapbot” vending machine in Los Angeles and is now moving around the country to locations that are yet to be disclosed.
How much does it cost?
Speigel refers to the product as a “toy”, at the price of $130, where a lot of sunglasses are already priced around a similar margin. The Spectacles are positioned as a spontaneous novelty purchase, similar to the Amazon Echo and Fitbit Lurk. The product has been strayed away from being a luxury item such as the Apple Watch.
What are the takeaways?
GoPro is a video-capturing device that has recently become prevalent. Therefore, it is hard to distinguish where the ‘video-capturing’ devices lie in the opinions of the general market. However, it is common to see that most people share their daily events on their phones and so the Spectacles may not be such a ‘new’ concept. Only time will tell how this product will be established in the market.
Want to be a part of innovation as dynamic as Snapchat Spectacles? Consider being a part of our business centre in Bengaluru, or our shared office space in Mumbai.
IMAGE SOURCE: https://www.spectacles.com/
5 Tips For Getting Back To Work After The Holiday Season
It’s always difficult to return to work after a long time apart, especially after the winter break of parties and festivity. Post the outings and socializing, getting back into a routine is difficult.
Most of us believe that getting back to work after a ‘much deserved’ break will lead to productive outcomes at the workplace, however, what usually happens is that we’re struggling to keep up with the backlog of emails and reviews and plans for the way forward.
For a relatively smoother transition from the holiday mode to work mode, here are 5 quick tips to get you back on track!
Get a good night’s rest
A rookie mistake is to stress about the amount of work to come and not cut yourself some slack. Make sure you get a good night’s rest the night before joining so you can wake up feeling refreshed before you head into work. It might take a while to get back into a routine, but be patient and consistent.
Don’t feel flustered the minute you head back into the office. With a little bit of prep and a lot of coffee, you can be back in action in no time.
Deal with the stack of piled up work
Try to refrain from taking on new tasks and projects on your first day back so that you’re not putting too much on your plate. Instead, focus on getting existing tasks out of the way first so that they don’t haunt you later.
Make a to-do list
One of the best ways to get back to work is to create a prioritized to-do list. Give this a try on your first day back, and everything will seem much more manageable. Rather than feeling overwhelmed with your workload, take one step at a time with your work.
Clean & prioritize your inbox
Suddenly seeing hundreds of emails in your inbox can be extremely overwhelming, no doubt. But with a systematic approach and some prioritizing, you can breeze through them in no time. Start with the ones that are most important to the ones that are not. Start with the emails sent right after you left for vacation and end with those most recently received. That way you’ll track responses or updates to topics or issues that may have already been settled in the time you were gone.
Look forward to your next holiday!
This may seem counterproductive but is, in fact, exactly the opposite! To deal with those post-holiday blues, there’s nothing that makes you more motivated to work than to look forward to your next holiday. Mark your calendars and get the countdown going. Even if it’s just a weekend break, looking forward to a holiday increases motivation.
Need to get back to working somewhere nice? Be a part of Awfis business centre in Delhi, or our co-working space in Bangalore.