professionals

volume 2 | Issue 05 | May 2016 | ` 100
Revolutionising
Talent-Hiring in
Media &
Entertainment
Illustrious entrepreneur
Vineet Bajpai returns with his
second venture -
company o f
the month
contents
May 2016 | Volume 02 | Issue 05
Pg.10 talentrack
Pg.06Trending News from the
Pg.26 Company of the month
Maxblox
Start Up World
Pg.10 THE BIG PLAYER talentrack
Pg.28 Infocus
Pg.30 guest talk
Pg.24 QuickPick
Pg.14Anything 500
Pg.15 Behomey
Pg.16 Elamysloutain
Pg.18 Hallwaze
Pg.19 Nearbuz
Pg.20 Secret Dresser
Pg.22 Yupp TV
Pg.32 infographics
Pg.34 Events
Editor’s letter
Editorial
Chief Editor: Venkatesh C R
Senior Associate Editor: Padma Iyer
Associate Editor: Ambili S
Design Consultant: Shakthi Girish
Design Head: Sankaran N
Senior Designer: Umashankar R
Editorial Coordinators: Raja T M, Maureen
Fernando
Content Coordinators: Gnana Sampath P S,
Maureen Fernando
Advertising
Business Development: Gnana Sampath P S
Manager Circulation: Vivek Anandan
Social Media Coordinator:
Mercy Livingstone
Website Coordinator: Mangalam Krishna,
Suresh C
App Coordinator: Senthil Nayagam
Printing Press: Safire Offset Printers
Special Thanks to...
Late Mr. C.N. Ramadas, GNG Group of
Companies,
Mrs. Nirmala Ramdas, Director,
GNG Group of Companies
Mr. C. R. Rajendran & Mrs. Kamalam
Rajendran, Directors, Pandian Textiles
Mr. Girish Ramdas - CEO, Magzter Inc.
Mr. Vijayakumar Radhakrishnan - President,
Magzter Inc.,
Mrs. Kalai Selvi - Consultant
Mrs. Poornima Venkatesh - Director,
Dot Com Infoway Limited
Entire Team of DCI and Galatta for helping
us put this issue together
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E
ntertainment is one vertical where startups haven’t made much
of its penetration yet. And then, we came across TalentTrack—a
mobile + web platform for all forms of media, entertainment
and creative talent-hiring and engagement. Being one of the
largest film producers in the world, our industry highly unorganised.
To bridge the gap, the Talent Track team has automated the entire endto-end talent-hiring process to the great convenience and cost-saving
of both recruiters as well as artists. Check out our exclusive four-page
Tech Talk on the same.
This month we have also listed the journeys of few interesting startups
that include Anything500, Behomey, MyKontiki, Hallwaze, Nearbuz,
Secret Dresser and Maxblox. Our May reading also features stupendous
coverage of the latest events in the startup ecosystem and a special
write up on Canaan Partners. Along with it are the news trending in the
start-up world and we hope that will give a power packed performance
to our readers.
Chief Editor, Venkatesh C R
Trending
Eatonomist Gets
Seed Funding
Online meal delivery platform Eatonomist, has
raised an undisclosed amount in seed investment
from MCube Capital Advisors Pvt Ltd. The funding
will be used to enhance its operations and building
the brand across the nation. Run by Fitmeal
Solutions, this Gurgaon-based startup was founded
by Dhar and Nupur Khanna in November 2014.
Eatonomist offers calorie-counted gourmet meals
and follows a full-stack business model wherein it
controls the kitchens and delivery services.
Anand Mahindra
Invests in Women
Startup
Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra
has invested an undisclosed amount in digital
storytelling platform for women, SheThePeople.
TV, founded by journalist Shaili Chopra. “Women
need a space that quenches their intellectual
hunger, engages and empowers them with
relatable content. With Shaili as founder,
possessing a solid understanding of both
conventional and digital media over 15 years,
I have great confidence that SheThePeople.
TV will become a focal point of inspiration for
tomorrow’s women leaders,” Mahindra said in a
statement. “The funds will help SheThePeople.
TV with its future expansion plans as it launches
new initiatives including forums, events and
regional languages,” the statement said.
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 6
News from the Start Up World
Government Amends Patent Rules
The Indian government has amended the patent rules in the country and has introduced expedite services for patent
registrations in the country. With this, startups from all across the world will now be able to register patents in India
at lower costs under a ‘tatkal’ (instant) option. The government said that the patents will be granted within two and
a half to one and a half years, instead of the existing five to seven years. These benefits will also be extended to the
startups who file their first application in India. Along with introducing the expedited services for patent registration,
the government has also included the definition of ‘startup’ in the patent rules to pass on special benefits.
IIM B launches
Incubator for
Startups
As an accelerator to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
Startup India campaign, the Indian Institute of Management
Bangalore is launching a first-of-its-kind startup incubator
with support from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation
exclusively to nurture early-stage nonprofit organisations
working primarily in education, financial inclusion, and
jobs and livelihoods for the urban poor. The Texas-based
foundation has provided Rs 4.2 crore as a three-year grant
for initial support to the incubator, which will be launched
by September and will be housed inside IIM-B’s NS
Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL).
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 7
Trending
Google to launch Incubator within its
Premises
To stop Google employees from leaving the company and begin their own ventures, Indian-born top executive Sundar
Pichai has announced the company plans to set up a startup incubator within Google. According to Forbes, the incubator,
named as ‘Area 120’, is a new approach - part incubator and part new take on the spirit of the 20 percent time programme.
The Information reported recently that the incubator will be supervised by Google executives Don Harrison and Bradley
Horowitz.
DigitalOcean
Collaborates with
Nasscom
US-based cloud infrastructure DigitalOcean announced
a tie-up with Nasscom’s 10,000 Startups initiative to
grow and support the startup ecosystem in India. It
plans to assist the startups in India through one-on-one
interactions, workshops, boot camps, and mentorship
programs. DigitalOcean has also created a special
cloud credit program as an incentive for the startups
associated with the Nasscom 10,000 initiative, which will
offer cloud credits worth $10K to the selected startups
in the program. The cloud credit will also be extended to
subsequent batches of the initiative later.
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 8
News from the Start Up World
Ratan Tata
Invests in Another
Healthcare
Startup
Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of the Tata Group,
has invested an undisclosed amount in MUrgency,
a medical emergency response startup founded
by India-born Shaffi Mather in Silicon Valley. The
firm which was founded in 2014 in the Valley
and incubated in Stanford ChangeLabs, launched
its services in India in February 2016. In April,
MUrgency raised funding from Infosys co-founders
Kris Gopalakrishnan and S D Shibulal’s Axilor
Ventures.
MUrgency launched its service in the TriCity area of Punjab with a network of 36 hospitals, 40 ambulances and over 350
medical professionals. The company will deploy funds to expand its service to Amritsar and Jalandhar by the end of May
and will service the entire state of Punjab by June.
Here Comes a Hostel for Startups
Construkt Media’s Startup Hostel, a first-of-its-kind initiative offering convenient, community-curated, business-friendly
hostel accommodation for the travelling startup and creative community.
“It’s basically a place designed with a mix of backpacker culture and hacking culture and we would like to call it
‘hackpacker hostel’,” Shashi Kiran Rao, founder of Construkt Media, was quoted saying. Rao is also an entrepreneur-inresidence at startup accelerator NUMA and Airbus BizLabs, an initiative by Airbus to identify startups that have business
application in the aviation industry.
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 9
THE BIG PLAYER
Pioneering
tech-platform for
media & Entertainment
hiring
B
eing the quintessential entrepreneur, Vineet Bajpai grabbed the headlines for building one of India’s largest
digital agencies Magnon, which was later majority-acquired by the Fortune 500 Omnicom Group through their
global advertising network TBWA in 2012. After serving as the Group CEO of TBWA India, Vineet now envisions
to transform talent-hiring in the USD 20 billion Indian media, entertainment & creative industries. Ranked among
the 100 most influential people in India’s digital ecosystem, Vineet joined hands with techie Manishi Singh to fulfill his
next big dream talentrack - a mobile + web platform for all forms of media, entertainment and creative talent-hiring and
engagement.
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 10
Recalling the market gap that triggered the innovation of talentrack, Vineet, Founder and CEO, says, “It is a shame that
despite being the world’s largest film industry and the third-largest television market, Indian artists struggle to find
avenues to express and monetise their talent. Millions of artists of all art-forms stand in long audition lines or rely on
unorganised middlemen. We thus decided to democratise this sector and use the disruptive web and mobile technology
to build this sector’s largest online/mobile talent-exchange.” The team has automated the entire end-to-end talent-hiring
process to the great convenience and cost-saving of both recruiters as well as artists. The aim is to help not just artists
and employers but intermediaries like casting directors and agents, producers, coordinators, modelling agencies, event
companies and more
Artists ‘App’ified
The platform comprises a mobile app that talents can install and use to build, manage and promote their portfolios. Each
talent category has a different profile construct based on the relevance of information. For example, a model can upload
high-definition photos whereas a singer can also submit audio files. Artists also get access to their own mobile dashboard
that allows them to edit their portfolios, search & apply for jobs, receive audition invites from recruiters and relevant job
notifications.
Similarly, there is a talentrack recruiter-app and web dashboard for industry recruiters to search for talents based on
excellent and intuitive filters, create shortlists, post jobs, invite talents for auditions, keep a record and more.
talentrack works on charging an annual database subscription fee from the demand side and offering premium listing &
services to the supply side. “We have revenue inflows from both recruiter as well as talent side, that too without charging
any commissions. In addition, there are many other exciting revenue models that will slowly but surely kick-in as we build
the brand,” reveals Vineet.
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 11
Elaborating on the market challenges, co-founder Manishi, who also brings in exceptional technology capability, says, “We
are bringing positive disruption in nearly a 100-year-old industry that has some obsolete yet entrenched ways of working.
Despite the strength and obvious advantages of our mobile platform, we need to educate the industry about the immediate
and long-term benefits of such a talent-exchange.”
As on date, talentrack is perhaps the largest talent-aggregator in the Indian media, entertainment & creative sectors with
over 50,000 self-registered artists and 1,500 industry recruiters on the platform. The team also takes part in various
summits and industry events to keep themselves ahead in the competitive line. “We will continue to invest resources in
these key areas to maintain our market-leader position,” adds Manishi. talentrack also has a strong Web presence in the
form of probably the largest web portal for Indian media - www.talentrack.in.
talentrack raised its seed-funding from Unigrowth, a Canada-based early-stage investment fund and investments from
various HNI investors. “We are now in active discussion with several VCs for our pre-series A round. The interest we are
generating in most investors is extremely encouraging and we should be able to announce a round very soon,” states
Vineet.
Contrary to the regular startup flow, talentrack has started generated revenues right after its platform launch. The team
credits the success to the perfect combination of brick and mortar revenue generation approach with tech-based start-up
dynamics. As a result, they also won the ‘Best Talent Platform for Media & Entertainment’ award at the 8th Global Film
Festival held at the Noida Film City. “We are working towards ensuring that we break-even on our current scale of ops
within this financial year and use investor funds only for developmental and growth initiatives,” says Vineet.
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 12
On its futuristic vision, talentrack is poised to revolutionise talent-hiring in the mammoth USD 20 billion media,
entertainment and creative industries. There is a real need that talentrack addresses that will transform the lives
and careers of millions of artists and thousands of recruiters. “We have a deep conviction that talentrack will change
the media, entertainment & creative industry forever. More importantly, the model and the products are country and
geography agnostic. Once we are able to establish ourselves as the definitive Indian market leader, we will take talentrack
to other markets like the UK, USA and Canada,” concludes Vineet. And we believe they are on the right track.
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 13
Bridging the Gap
Between Service Providers
and Individuals
A
nything 500 is an Innovative marketplace for
digital services, it allows people to monetise their
services, skills, resources and talents in a fun and
amusing way. Incepted in September, 2015, this
New Delhi-base startup is the brainchild of Porus Arora.
Being the First Movers in the segment of marketplace for
services, Anything500 allows micro-entrepreneurs to access
an expansive network of buyers and sellers online. In order
to further streamline and escalate the procedures, the
marketplace fixes the upper ceiling on amount to be charged
on service offering to INR 500, an affordable price anyone
can opt for comfortably.
As a platform, Anything500 allows buyers to also become
sellers and vice versa. Established with the vision to enable
service providers be engaged in jobs on a repeated basis,
Anything500 follows a fairly simply business model, charging
a base price of INR 500 for any available service. Upon the
successful completion of requisition, the platform credits
INR 400 in the accounts of sellers, along with displaying
platform-centric badges to their profiles, as a token of
appreciation. Securing badges and positive feedbacks allows
service providers to further expand and grow their serviceoriented business. The platform has an in-built mechanism
to promote the sellers meeting the high standards of quality.
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 14
If in case of a disagreement between the buyer and the seller,
the entire amount is duly refunded.
Currently, the platform is rather popular between college
students looking for some side money, housewives and
senior citizens, looking for something productive to do with
available time. The unique appeal allows sellers to monetise
their multiple skills, instead of being stuck in a monotonous
job. Buyers also rejoice as some of the most intellectually
stimulating services are now available digitally for a fixed
price of 500.
While company is set to capture bigger market share by
smartphones apps, Anything500 is also gaining steam
for the senior level executives and micro-entrepreneurs.
Offering an easy access to a wide selection of buyer and
seller consortium, the platform holds a lot of potential for the
creative, innovating and bootstrapping user base at present.
Offering services ranging from web design, logo creation,
market research, animation, counselling, customised gifts
and a lot more, the company is excited to discover the
interesting possibilities sellers may find to sell online.
For more information, visit: http://anything500.com/
Home Away from Home
b
e|homey is a web based portal where a user
can find a branded private accommodation like
a full house/a room/shared room. The idea
of be|homey was conceived by Kushal Trivedi
when he went unplanned to a famous Gujarati tourist
destination - Ambaji during Diwali season. His assumption
to get a modest room at a decent hotel was blown to ashes
when he tried to find a cozy room under his budget for one
night-stay. A local then offered him to stay in his house for
a very little money, and the idea of be|homey was born.
Also, be|homey is not a marketplace like AirBnb and other home-stays ventures in the same space, as here they are
handpicking the properties by themselves to make sure that all the standards are met and everyone involved are served
properly, be it guests or hosts.
Explains Kushal, “We are focused on branding/standardising private properties at tourist spots, pilgrim spots, unexplored/
uncharted rural and exotic locations. We are working on a model that is based on predictability. Also adding social-travel
factor in our venture, thus enabling local community to flourish beyond hospitality sector.”
This is how a local will now be empowered to serve a tourist in a more efficient manner and on the other hand the tourists
will also have more option to stay, other than budget hotels, guest houses, PGs, etc.
The startup aims in eliminating the exploitation of the travel industry during peak seasons by organising and branding the
home-stays space at such spots, this way tourists will have more options and more importantly cheap options to stay. Also,
the locals who are living there for generations will get a platform to share their culture, their stories, their business, their
values with the guests and make some pretty money.
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 15
Crowd based Social Discovery
Platform for ‘Adventurers’
and ‘Untourists’
would exist. The firm will make
this a reality,” reveals Timo. One
of the major challenges that
the industry face is the lack
of channels and tools for local
visibility. With generic search
tools or services, it is hard to find
off-the-beat places. MyKontiki
bridges this gap by providing
world’s best experiences and
outdoor wonders in the nearest
location. “We map some of the
most unexplored and exciting
places on the planet to provide
a often-in-a-lifetime experiences
for travelers,” he adds.
I
magine hanging out with mountain gorillas in the
Rwandan jungles, climbing the glaciers of Greenland,
sipping yak butter tea with nomads in Mongolia, or
witnessing the Northern lights in Norway—these are
always a dream to come true for any adventure travel fan. We
all know that an extreme but safe excursions into the most
off the beaten track destinations are not an easy one to plan.
However to make the best experiences sharing simple and
“consumer is king” way a group of young minded adventures
in Finland is on a mission to make your adventure travel
crowd based and sustainable. At MyKontiki, every local trip
is bespoke, challenging, out of the box, creating an upswing in
the travel industry. “It’s all about doing something different,
every time you come to us,” explains Timo Jalava, Founder of
MyKontiki. He further adds, “Key idea is to combine crowd
wisdom, jointly create Your best own experiences and
commercial ones in one market place - addressing local best
wonders.”
With the adventure industry growing at 200% from 2011,
what makes MyKontiki different from its counterparts?
“You don’t always have to travel far away for adventures, but
surprisingly your next inspirational experience or adventure
could be waiting very close. MyKontiki.com finds the next
adventures for you. Our market study shows that 80% of
people would love to use the ‘Facebook of adventures’ if it
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 16
”Users can
sign up at
MyKontiki.com
and start
creating
your
adventures.
Tell
friends.
Help us to
map coolest
places and
wonders
in Earth
you love to
share”
The firm offers a perfect crowd
based adventure community
for travelers to share their
experiences, thus forming a group
of like-minded people. Elaborates
Timo, “Our platform is not only a
travel-based social media but also offers ‘experience sharing
economy’. Here people can write about millions of local
unknown, exciting and different adventure experience and
the hidden oasis in our planet. If people would travel more
near where they live, it can help to reduce carbon emission
of far away flying. Naturally MyKontiki can be your smart
adventure travel assistant also while traveling abroad.”
The team has initiated its first pilot version of their app
in Finland and Scandinavia, post which Timo has plans to
enter the Asian market. “We are very excited about going to
Asia, as the continent is a land of contrast, it has the gigantic
Himalayas as well as some of the most serene beaches. At
present, we are looking for European and Asian partners
and investors. Soon there will be also digital adventures that
surprise you,” reveals Timo.
MyKontiki also offers SoMe promotional packs, where
firms gain increased adventure visibility among their target
audiences. Soon there will be expanded commercial offering
for clients in the mobile app. “We have paying b2b clients
already and now raise funding for rapid viral growth and
international expansion – join us” concludes Timo.
Securing Your Messages
O
rganisations
today profoundly
need to be agile
and responsive
and hence, they need to have
tools to connect instantly to
get the answers whenever
and wherever they need.
Hallwaze new messaging
app, Hallwaze beats fulfils
the need of a secure network
for group and private
conversations
tailored
exclusively for enterprises.
The app features an OTR
toggle switch that allows you
to have private conversations
in a secure environment as
there can be situations when
you need to share sensitive
information and you also
want it to be conversational
and instant. This protects
you from message leak or external breaches making the channel suitable for confidential information sharing. Moreover,
the app not only helps employees to stay connected round the clock globally, but it also centralises all communication at one
place for easy reference later on. The app is super easy to use and is extremely user-friendly. A conversation platform like
this saves a lot of time that you spend in office meetings or in drafting long emails. It is simple to communicate and easy to
access. The App is available on both Mobile and Desktop and the chat is in real-time sync with the web for users to access
information from anywhere or from any device.
Hallwaze messenger app is available only for people using Hallwaze app in a corporate circle. Anybody outside your office
circle does not have access to the messenger making it safe to have all kinds of conversation among your office circle without
the fear of data leak. The app allows you to instantly add and remove participants in an ongoing conversation without the
need of creating a separate group. The app is exclusively designed for corporate communication and is now added to the
Hallwaze Communication Suite for all kinds of Enterprises. The app features Off the Record (OTR) security, which allows
users to send self-destructing messages that get purged in few seconds. The search feature helps you to find your colleagues
that are online to start a conversation while allowing you to add unlimited participants in a private chat on the fly. The app
has no limitation on the number of people in a group. It is compatible with iOS and Andriod platform.
“We are always innovating our technology to be able to provide our customers services that save time and are user-friendly.
Our effort with this app is to help people stay connected with work and other colleagues without worrying about security
and privacy”, says Mr. Saif Ahmad, Founding CEO of Hallwaze Inc.
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 18
Get Stuff done : Timely,
Locally, Professionally
O
ften small and medium business owners struggle
to find suitable workforce for full-time and
flexible jobs, and on the other hand professionals
and service providers are always on a hunt for
local leads or employers. Taking a leaf out of this market
gap, Indian Cloud & IoT Tech Company IISGL has unveiled
an app, NearBuz (on android platform) to build a platform
that provides a better solution for local employment and
freelancing industry. NearBuz is one of its kind app where
users can connect, socialise and network for better growth
opportunities. Some of its useful features include, connecting
skilled professionals and freelancers with prospective
recruiters, the local job poster feature, the platform also
gives employers and job seekers equal opportunity to pick
and post requirements nearby.
For Lavanya Viswanathan, CEO & Founder of nearbuz.com,
it was her business problems that led to the innovation of a
new idea. It was during her busy stint with the cloud and IoT
infrastructure-based IT company, she realised the hardness
in finding the right employee for small and short terms
tasks. Without wasting time in finding a job consultancy
firm, she came up with an idea to build a platform for hiring
and finding short-term jobs. “SO busy business person,
housewives and other who have pending to-dos but don’t
have time can now hire someone from neighbourhood as
per their requirements,” explains Lavanya, who incepted the
company in 2015. NearBuz helps business to find and search
for job doers easily. The NearBuz app focusses majorly on
targets service providers, employee, freelancer, housewife,
part-time worker etc. The goal is to fix local hiring process
and directly connect with the best professionals without
any middlemen—providing exclusive skills based, location
based hiring service finder to locate local verified service
provider and hire them. The team also undertakes stringent
security measures before processing the user’s registration
to ensure high reliability of the platform making it safe and
speedy process.
With a smooth and flawless functionality, the NearBuz app
enables users to easily find and hire freelancers around the
globe—and locally for actual physical work. “The app was
made live in April 2016 across all the nations and unlike
other freelance platforms we do not charge for job posting,”
reveals Lavanya. Unlike their counterparts, the firm follows
no commission model, one of their key USPs.
Elaborating on the firm’s vision, she concludes, “Our
primary goal is to help businesses and households to
outsource the stuffs that are pending in their to-do list.
Being a businesswoman, I also have a big to-do list and today
scheduled a meeting with an SEO guy using the NearBuz app
without wasting time and money.”
Search “NearBuz “ to download free app in Google Play
For more details visit: www.nearbuz.com
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 19
International Brands
at Your Doorsteps
Want to dress up Royal with a touch of elegance? Here is the solution for you... Secret Dresser,
a brain child of 25 Years old Dimple Mirchandani, young women entrepreneur & Holistic
nutrition expert.
S
ecret Dresser is new online startup business project that sure has an x factor and is hard to get overlooked. Her website
offers everything right from the Premium Indian designer wear to watches, bags, shoes, jackets by International
designers.“This portal is all about sharing resources, the main Idea is to increase the rotation of the products that will
ultimately help save resources of our planet. Also it will help people buy authentic luxurious clothing at a minimal price
range saving their money and time on searching for lookalikes of original branded clothes which are hard to find,” says Dimple.
Just like a store picked outfit rarely fits your body perfectly & needs alteration. The portal have made shopping simple for online
shoppers as they can simply pick an outfit close to their body sizes ( small, medium, large ) & also detailed measurements for every
single outfit will be made available.
On being asked about her Inspiration behind this startup business, Dimple says “The Idea sure comes from my own collection, the
exquisite Indian outfits that sometimes took months to be made by the best Indian designers, barely worn once with utmost care
and some never worn lay hanging in the closet, you got to do something about them, so what’s better than sharing.”
Dimple adds, “The portal however is very user-friendly with simple procedures & easy payment options
for its users. Anyone can buy and sell. We only take in products that are in excellent condition and we
also offer authenticity certificate for international brands at a minimal additional charge. The sellers
mail us pictures at first, and then we get the stuff picked up and take a week’s time for verification. Once
the quality of the stuff is thoroughly checked and approved through our multi-layered authentication
process, it is listed on the website.” The portal is a one-stop shop for all fashion fanatics - it incorporates everything from high-end brands
to basic dresses, leather jackets, and biker boots. The makers will soon be launching an application
which will be easily available on the app store. The portal will also work for a noble cause as a share of
its profits will be given as charity.
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 20
Leader in converged Over the
Top live TV and Catch-up TV
Solutions
Y
uppTV is one of the world’s leading over-the-top
(OTT) content providers for South Asian Content,
as live TV, Catch-up TV, and Unlimited Movies. “Our
products provide a combination of technologies
that enable - consumers the convenience of a virtual home
environment anywhere and anytime; companies with
maximum global reach; and content providers with ideal
platforms and services to launch their content effortlessly
and efficiently,” says Udaynandan Reddy, Founder and CEO
of YuppTV USA.
Reddy firmly believes that dreaming is one thing and bringing
the dream to reality is an entirely different facet. During
the course of his work at Siemens and Nortel Networks,
he traveled more than 50 countries; an experience that
helped him understand the socio-economic conditions of
communities and publics. He has seen how Indians abroad
did not have access to Indian content …and this lead to the
birth of YuppTV!
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 22
YuppTV provides a reliable, resilient and scalable platform
for all Broadcasters & Content Providers to reach their target
audience globally over 6 screens of Connected TVs, STBs, PC,
Smart Phones, Tablets and Social Networking sites.
Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, the company owns the YuppTV
platform, the world’s largest Internet television provider
offering 200+ Indian TV Channels in 13 languages that
include Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi,
Bengali, Punjabi, Oriya, Gujarati, Bangla, Sinhala and Urdu,
and continues to revolutionise the way TV is viewed across
the world.
The mission is to make it simple and instant for Broadcasters
to deliver and consumer to view; live TV, Catch-up TV and
Movies anytime and anywhere in the world to any internet
enabled device.
Apple
Planning
to Set Up
Accelerators
for
Startups
Looks like Apple Inc is the latest to join the ambitious Indian startup ecosystem. The iPhone makers will be setting
up design and development startup accelerator in India’s Silicon Valley, Bengaluru, at a time when the company
is doubling down on India.
Apple CEO Tim Cook , who landed in India, said in a statement that the new accelerator facility would help iOS
developers create innovative apps for the company’s customers globally and that the new facility would provide
resources to support entrepreneurs. “India is home to one of the most vibrant and entrepreneurial iOS development
communities in the world. With the opening of this new facility in Bengaluru, we’re giving developers access to
tools which will help them create innovative apps for customers around the world. We would work closely with
app developers to hone their skills and bring them up to speed with the company’s global standards and best
practices,” Cook said.
The Apple CEO flowed to the country from China, where Apple announced a $1 billion investment in the local
ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing. The smartphone giants also said that the company’s in-house experts would lead
briefings and provide one-on-one app reviews for developers, while the accelerator would also provide support
and guidance on Apple’s programming language Swift.
There are also reports that Apple plans to expand its $25 million tech center located in Hyderabad, India. The
250,000-square-foot software development facility opened in the country earlier this year.
In recent months, Cook has told investors that he sees huge growth potential in India, and emerging market with a
population of nearly 1.3 billion people. Cook and Apple previously bet heavily on China, a move that fueled much
of the company’s growth over the last few years.
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 24
company
of
the
Month
T
echnology has always been a liberating force that compels us
to look at the world differently. And then, the cloud revolution
changed it forever. While watching the ‘Cloud’ tide move in,
CellarStone Founder and CEO Gopi Mattel saw the advantages of
the cloud and opted to offer their client/server sales commission product
as a cloud offering. With a heavy focus on small and medium enterprises,
he couldn’t find a single comprehensive cloud platform at an affordable
price to deliver their solution as a cloud offering. “We also understood
that developing countries had an even greater need for a similar platform
as they were skipping client/server completely and were moving directly
to a cloud model,” recalls Gopi.. This market need triggered the idea
of Maxblox, a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) application development
environment that helps startups and ISVs to take their product to the
marketplace as a cloud offering.
Explaining the process, Gopi says, “After completing their business
requirement process, an ISV or startup will go through a brief training
program to understand the underlying architecture, the functionalities
and application development on MaxBlox.” After the development
process and testing, the application is added to the MaxBlox marketplace.
“Importantly, the customers would be able to pay for it in the marketplace;
we will collect the payments and pass it on to the software vendor,” he
adds.
Now
Startups
can Move
their
Products
Directly
to a Cloud
Model
Maxblox works on a pay-per-end-user basis. “Our business model is to charge a hosting and royalty fee for use of MaxBlox.
In addition, support plans for MaxBlox and services would be sources of revenue,” reveals Gopi. The company now has
more than 2000 customers around the globe. Partnered by Founder Institute, the platform is used by founders in startup
accelerators to boost product development. While quizzed about the challenges faced in the market, he points out that
engagement with Startup and ISV customers would be more of a direct-sales model and takes a longer sales cycle than they
expect.
To race ahead in the competitive curve, the team provides comprehensive pre-built functionality, multiple tools, ready traffic
for applications, best pricing for a PaaS solution, roll out the product as a multi-tenant model, separate server model and
even in a private cloud model within the customer’s firewalls. The team has recently acquired its seed round of funding
from investors. Moving forward, MaxBlox’s near-term roadmap includes adding Business Intelligence module and more
integration capabilities. In future, language capabilities will also be added to penetrate deeper into local markets.
Gopi believes that MaxBlox is the
new layer in the application stack
that replaces a number of layers
developers are used to today,
including hosting, database, and
language. Developers can skip most
of the mundane programming that
may take up to 60% of development
effort. With MaxBlox hey can take
the product to market directly.
Know more @ www.maxblox.com
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 26
RY 2016
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2 | ISSUE
BRUA
02 | FE
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ME 2
| ISSU
E 01 |
JANU
ARY 20
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xt
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UP
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OF TH
MONTH
A
that S R O B U S T P L
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A
es the TFORM
C
H o te l
DISTR omplex
ENVIR IBUTION
ONME
NT
AbsentiA VR:
Unveiling the Unreal
rs
o
e
g
d
r
n
o
i
b
l
i
Zoing beyond
START
U
G
startup o f
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P OF
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ONTH
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ONTH
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in FOCUS
Canaan Partners
C
anaan Partners invests in entrepreneurs and works alongside them to turn visionary ideas into
valuable companies. Since 1987, the firm has catalysed the growth of disruptive technology startups
and healthcare companies revolutionising the practice of medicine. Canaan focuses on earlier stage
investing, meaning first through third rounds. It also invests in the seed stage, often with the intent on
following on as the company grows. About 80 percent of the firm’s investments are in these early stages.
With $4.2 billion under management and over 180 exits to date, Canaan has funded technology companies such
as Lending Club, SuccessFactors (acquired by SAP), DoubleClick (acquired by Google), Match.com (acquired by
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 28
IAC), Acme Packet, Active Network, ID Analytics (acquired by LifeLock) and SandForce (acquired by LSI), as well
as notable healthcare companies such as Advanced BioHealing (acquired by Shire); Advance PCS (acquired by
Caremark), BiPar Sciences (acquired by Sanofi); Calixa Therapeutics (acquired by Cubist); Cerexa Pharmaceuticals
(acquired by Forest Labs); Durata Therapeutics and Elevation Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Sunovion).
Current technology investments include KABAM, Zoosk and Blurb in the US; and LiveU and CallmyName in Israel.
The Canaan healthcare portfolio includes emerging leaders such as Liquidia Technologies, Theraclone Sciences,
and DICOM Grid. Canaan maintains a presence in the global innovation hubs of New York, Silicon Valley and
Israel.
In 2014, Canaan, which has a three-member team in India, invested in the country out of its global funds. In
the last eight years, the fund has invested about $150 million from across three funds in over a dozen startups.
The fund has allocated about $50-60 million from each fund for India investments, and is evaluating its India
investment strategy.
Howeever, the investment firm has been at crossroads and is on a pressure to leave the country. Canaan Partners
in India had a soft fund allocation from the main fund. The idea was to invest about 20% of the fund or nearly
$150 mn in Indian companies. Canaan has made a few investments in companies like Bharatmatriomony and
iYogi. The lack of exits in the Indian market is now being questioned by partners, who are looking at better
returns from the US & Israel. The lack of big exits will clearly be the big question for partners. Pure tech IPOs
in India are non existent. There are over a dozen Indian companies that are possible IPO candidates but aren’t
confident enough of the market or haven’t been profitable enough to inspire confidence.
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 29
Guest talk
Customer Acquisition Plan
for Start-ups
Having done Start-up consulting for SaaS products in last one year in this Digital age and long multiple & successful
start-up experiences for many years, thought to share some of my deep understanding on – How to get the ball
rolling for a Start-up and create a sound Customer Acquisition Plan and build foundation for a sustained growth.
Start-up owners are mostly techies or the idea owner. If they are not from the “Business” side, they feel clueless
about a tested Marketing Plan. Here are few crisp tips for them from Formulating Marketing Plan to Growth Hacking
to Monetisation.
When Investors asks us on our ‘brilliant’ idea, ‘how do you plan to acquire customers ?’ - We talk about different
Marketing ideas in this Digital age e.g. email marketing, SEO, Ad. Words, Webinar, content marketing and so on..
But, to be honest, how can we really commit to any such plan? Rather, our customer acquisition plan should evolve
as we grow. What works initially, might not at a later stage and till we get our first client, we don’t know many things
like – who is our ideal customer? What are their characteristics? What do they actually need and how should we
address that !!!
Tractionbook.com says, “Startup growth happens in spurts. Initially, growth is usually slow. Then, it spikes as a useful
traction channel is unlocked. Eventually it flattens out again as a channel gets saturated and becomes less effective.
Then, you unlock another strategy and you get another spike.”
This means, the plan must be dynamic and one must chart out a logical process which will take forward a Start-up.
So, what should the steps be –
Goal Driven Process
Don’t shoot in the dark by randomly trying different tactics like Facebook Ads for 2 weeks, Blog or latest Growth
Hacks you read about. It doesn’t give you much impact. If you try different tactics randomly and measure the impact
through metrics, you will find that impact of random tactics (Growth Hack) fades off.
Instead, there has to be a Goal driven, Process backed Strategy behind these (Growth Strategy) which will give you
sustainable result.
Growth is applicable for sustainable growth while Growth Hack is good for a solitary event.
Strategy is doing right things and Tactics is doing things right. So, there has to be a mix of both.
First - Establish the Goals,
Second - Create a Process / System to work within.
Third - Fill it with Strategy / Ideas to align with your goals.
Fourth - Break those down into specific Tactics to execute, which may keep changing with time, technology.
Tactics aren’t sustainable, their effects will always tail off. A process is sustainable and continuous – as long as you
are committed to it.
Customer Acquisition Plan
Define your ideal customer
The game starts with identifying and profiling the ideal customer.
Who they are, Where are they, What do they need, What’s their Financial profile, How to reach them, What are their
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 30
characteristics etc etc…
There’s process of profiling the Ideal Customer.
7. Monthly Revenue Ratio – diff metrics
8. Activation – diff metrics
9. Referral Rate - Analysis
Goals make us more productive, proper utilisation of
Time which is directly proportional to Growth.
As always, Goals must be S.M.A.R.T. and in this case we
should prioritise and focus on fewer things to achieve
and smaller goals too e.g. driving traffic to landing page,
Call-to-Action to paying Customer.
Covering all 5 stages of Acquisition
Activation
Retention
Referral
Revenue
Define your Goal
Define your Acquisition Funnel
Imagine your entire acquisition funnel….break it down
into multiple smaller funnels.
Please draw it on a paper with progression steps.
Draw the journey path your customer must take to pay
and generate revenue for you. Put those smaller funnels
along the journey route, where ever applicable. This
stops the leakage and drop out of leads. Here, you can
also identify the opportunities for quick wins.
E.g. you are getting leads from many sources like Blog,
SEO, Ad words, email, dummy web sites etc. and driving
traffics to your landing page. All of these activities must
have their individual Funnel and must be measured by
Matrices individually.
Know your Metrics
Know your Metrics and be on top of them from day one.
Create a Dashboard. This way, when you know your
Metrics at minute detail, you know your run rate well,
what number you actually can hit, degree and increment
of your effort expense…all.
Also for SaaS model, there’s ideal expense vs income
model.
Your, CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) should always
be less than CLTV (Customer Life Time Value). You can
easily find out CLTV for SaaS – estimated time period
the customer is expected to stay with you divided by
monthly revenue generated. In CAC you should consider
all costs related to that Customer.
I’m mentioning here few mandatory Metrics, specially
for Start-up, here –
1. CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
2. Retention rate
3. CLTV (Customer Life Time Value)
4. Churn rate
5. Product feature - decision making speed
6. Product share viral rate analysis
Track everything from day one …but not all
We should have the process ready from the beginning
as preparation and start collecting Data so that we can
build the History as early as possible. It’s extremely
important to record all for future effective campaigns,
measures, historical analysis and build a pattern for
Predictive Analytics.
However, since we can record all and many of these can
be measured through metrics , should we really do it all
and waste our effort, time?
Rather, we can start by –
1. Keeping our Goal in mind, aligning with results we
expect.
2. Sales : In accordance with our targeted numbers
3. Experiments : before you start a marketing campaign,
be sure exactly how you want to measure your success
and record accordingly with metrics.
Ideal Growth Strategy
Process for a Start-up
1. Create your Goal / Growth Ideas List with Timelines
2. Prioritize your ideas
3. Breakdown into smaller milestones
4. Create Plan, Strategies and Tactics
5. Put Metrics
6. Execute
7. Analyse result
8. Lesson learning
9. Optimize, fine tune
10. Formalise the process and methods
11. Repeat
A note of caution : One should be able to find a balance
between money, time, resource, focus put in Product
development and Customer Acquisition in a Start-up
situation.
Authored by Kaushik Bhattacharya
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 31
infographics
Source:
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 32
startup diary
Headstart Higher
June 18, 2016, Mumbai, India
Headstart Network’s recruitment initiative, is back in Mumbai on
18th June 2016.
Headstart Higher provides a platform for startups seeking
passionate, committed professionals to meet with young,
experienced candidates who want to pursue their startup
dreams.
Digital Marketing Conference
June 4, 5, 2016, Pune, India
The vision of this conference is to strengthen the advertising & digital marketing eco system in Pune. At the conference,
digital marketing leaders will share their hard earned knowledge across carefully crafted sessions focused on knowledge
sharing.
Tech Circle Startup 2016
June 16, Kochi, Kerala
In order to support the growth of entrepreneurship in tier
II and III series, The VCCircle Network is coming up with its
Techcircle Startup City Tour initiative. The inaugural edition
of the initiative will be hosted in Kochi at Le Meridien Hotel
on 16 June, 2016. The event will also mark the extension of
Techcircle’s Southern Startup Series following an immensely
successful startup event in Bengaluru in April this year.
Startup 3600 mag | May 2016 | 34