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|In: Innovation|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

The world’s lightest multi utility jacket has been created in Bengaluru by an ex- IBM engineer. Weighing less than 179 grams this comes with a hoodie, has a water-resistant shell & a secret compartment – that allows you to fold the jacket into its own pouch! Unlike other light jackets which are just simple rain covers –this is a proper multi utility jacket that comes in 3 colours & can be used for different occasions.

This innovative jacket is being launched on Fueladream. Thanks to crowdfunding [which eliminates dealer margin & inventory costs] the FEATHER is being rolled out at a breakthrough price of just 499 INR [includes free shipping and all taxes]! Check it out here


The Feather is the 3rd innovative product launched by Versatyl Wear, all on Fueladream.com. Having already wowed audiences with the Ultimate Travel Jacket and the Waterproof Bomber Jacket, it was only a matter of time before they came out with another game changing product.

The Feather is also mobility friendly as it folds into a secret compartment to turn into a little pouch making it easy to carry even to a business meeting. A pack of two jackets is available at just 899 INR and Saneen the creator hopes this will create massive demand for it.

The brains behind Versatyl Wear, Saneen Javali, is an ex–IBM engineer who has already raised over INR 3.9 million over 4 hugely successful crowdfunding campaigns! What’s more, they have also delivered over 2500 jackets to happy customers!

Versatyl is running its fifth crowdfunding campaign with Fueladream, and they have realised that crowdfunding not only affords them the ability to take an exciting, innovative product to the market with a much higher visibility than e-commerce platforms, but it also gives the consumer the chance to buy new and interesting products at amazing prices.

Saneen Javali, says about crowdfunding and this new jacket

It’s exciting to put together the World’s lightest utility jacket. Crowdfunding is a game changer which has helped me build a brand and go to the market easily.

Ranganath Thota, Founder & CEO Fueladream said

Saneen always surprises us with his innovations. We are sure that Indian customers will be delighted with the FEATHER & make this another very successful campaign.

About Fueladream

FuelADream is a crowdfunding marketplace for people & organisations that aim to raise funds for creative ideas, causes, charities etc. and impact 2.2 billion people in India, Africa & S.E Asia. The platform went live in mid-April 2016 and has already raised close to INR 3.9 CR from over 105 campaigns. It is the brainchild of Ranganath Thota. His team is focused on transforming how people raise and contribute money for ideas, social causes and other activities. For more information, please visit Fueladream

|In: Innovation|Last Updated:

Genpact Limited is collaborating with the Center for Collective Intelligence [CCI], a research unit of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT] which examines how the latest technologies are changing the way people work together. The goal of this expanded collaboration is to generate non-incremental innovation in information-based operations through a new online community enabling the crowd-sourcing of ideas.

The Intelligent Operations Exchange [IOX] community helps participants “stumble into” innovative uses of leading edge technologies in business process operations. The Genpact & MIT CCI collaboration first began in 2012 to identify novel technology-based practices for process operations & contributed to the maturation of groundbreaking practices such as Operations Network Analytics which applies big data social network analysis to large organizations in order to improve the effectiveness of operations.

IOX’s unprecedented use of “crowdstorming” [crowdsourcing + brainstorming] drives a deliberate collision of creative and serendipitous perspectives of thousands of people with diverse backgrounds such as Industry experts, MIT scientists, Genpact practitioners & clients. When confronted with novel technologies & asked to find applicability in their own world, this community will become the first place for process operations professionals to unleash their creativity.

The IOX community is exploring the application to business process operations of technologies across hardware, software, and analytics – such as wearable devices & remote-controlled tele-presence robots, personal automated assistants, rapid automation & collective intelligence activities like prediction markets. Genpact, MIT CCI & the community will continuously evaluate and select high-potential ideas for further investment and development.

As per Gianni Giacomelli, senior vice president for product innovation & chief marketing officer, Genpact :

The underlying pace of technological change is accelerating & the real obstacle to change is the ability of leaders to re-imagine the fabric of their business processes and make their operations “intelligent” – able to predict, act and learn from experience. With MIT’s Center for Collective intelligence, we want to ‘innovate innovation’ in a space where subject-matter experts often silo themselves into narrow domains, dampening the power of a key ingredient of innovation: diversity

The collaboration will involve senior executives from the Genpact Research Institute on Intelligent Operations, a specialized think tank already harnessing the collective intelligence of Genpact, its clients & partners. The Genpact Research Institute conducts research on important topics related to the future of enterprise’s operating models, from front to back office, across nine industries.

For more information, please visit the following link

|In: Entrepreneurship|Last Updated:

The Rolex Awards for Enterprise were created in 1976 to foster a spirit of enterprise and advance, human knowledge and well-being. Presented every two years, they support pioneering work in five areas namely Science & health, Applied technology, Exploration & discovery,Environment & Cultural heritage

Rolex

The winners are provided with financial grants & mentorship in order to carry their on-going projects. The awards are open to individuals of any nationality or background.

Innovators & Doer’s under 30 would receive grants of 50,000 Swiss francs to take their work to the next level. The jury comprises of international experts from various fields who themselves embody the spirit of enterprise that the Awards seek to promote.

Winners of 2014 Rolex awards for enterprise & entrepreneurs

Neeti Kailas

Neeti Kailas, graduate of National Institute Of Design is currently co-founder & business-head of Sohum Innovation Lab. As per Neeti “Design is about problem solving, and thinking about how I can have maximum impact on society. In a country like India, that’s never going to happen by designing the next lemon squeezer” She along with her partner Nitin Sisodia launched their startup & their first product is a device to screen babies for hearing impairment & definitely has a huge social impact !!!

Olivier Nsengimana

Oliver, a native of Rwanda is 30 year gave up lucrative position in government job to take up “wild-life conservation”. In Rwanda, the crane is a symbol of wealth and longevity. With a golden tufted crown and a flame-red spot on its neck, it is a desirable pet for Rwanda’s elite. He is actively working actively towards wild life conservation especially ensuring that there is no poaching of rare species – Crane. Nsengimana – who lived in a refugee camp at the age of nine – acknowledges that his childhood was tough, but he is always mindful that many Rwandans went through much tougher times than he did & that has helped him a lot 🙂

Hosam Zowawi

Hosam, a native of Saudi Arabia is clinical microbiologist with an interest in antibiotic resistant bacterial diseases. His project contains development of faster superbug tests in order to raise awareness of antibiotic resistance.

Francesco Sauro

Francesco, a native of Italy has led five expeditions to South America’s table-top mountains since 2009, along with Italian exploration association La Venta, and with the support of the Venezuelan team Theraphosa. With support from Rolex, he is planning more expeditions.

Arthur Zang

Arthur Zang, native of Cameroon invented CardioPad which is touted as Africa’s first medical computer tablet to help diagnose people with heart disease. The device leverages the use of Cloud Technology & allows health-care workers in rural areas to send the results of cardiac tests to specialists via a mobile phone connection.

We congratulate these young & dynamic innovators for winning this prestigious award !!! More about Rolex Awards here & here.

Note – This article has been sponsored by Rolex

|In: Accelerator|Last Updated:

Deshpande Foundation and Microsoft Ventures,India announced a partnership to launch Sandbox Startups, an incubator focused on nurturing startups in tier-II & tier-III cities of India. The three-year collaboration was formalized with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding [MOU] on August 23, in the presence of Dr Gururaj ‘Desh’ Deshpande [Founder, Deshpande Foundation], Mr Jairam Ramesh [Former Minister, Government of India], Mr Rajinish Menon [Director, Microsoft Ventures in India], Mr Naveen Jha [CEO, Deshpande Foundation] & other industry leaders.

As per their Press Release, the main reason for co-launching this initiative as per Naveen Jha [CEO, Deshpande Foundation] is below:

Unlike tier-I cities, most small cities lack adequate support system to nurture startups. Consequently, startups and startup potentials in these regions do not have access to requisite training, mentoring and a sandbag to try out their entrepreneurial stints. Sandbox Startups is aimed at providing a launch pad for aspiring entrepreneurs in tier-II & tier-III cities so that they can validate their business ideas, sharpen business acumen, develop products & launch solutions to the market.

 

Innovations by startups groomed under the program will add vibrancy to the ecosystem from those at the bottom of the pyramid.

 

The objective of this partnership is to work in an inclusive manner to ensure that all relevant stakeholders, such as early stage entrepreneurs, academia, students, venture capital community, mentors, advisors, HNI’s & corporates, are active participants in the innovation ecosystem.

Support for entrepreneurs in Tier-II & Tier-II cities

Rajinish Menon [Director, Microsoft Ventures in India] mentions that such an initiative was the need of the hour.

As the culture of innovation spreads, it’s fascinating to see the kind of problems that startups from smaller towns are trying to solve. Microsoft Venture’s partnership with Deshpande Foundation aims to engage with entrepreneurs from smaller towns at every stage of their journey from ideation to maturity.

 

At Microsoft, we are extremely excited to help incubators roll out products and raise capital to fund their growth, eventually benefiting India’s budding entrepreneurial ecosystem. And this specific endeavor is aimed at entrepreneurs from smaller towns which have a less mature ecosystem to nurture them.

 

Startups can call Microsoft’s Jumpstart hotline on 1800 200 2114 to know more about the program and how to be a part of this program.

About the Partnership

Deshpande Foundation in India actively nurtures innovation and entrepreneurship through various programs in its three sandbox regions – North Karnataka, Nizamabad in Telangana & Uttar Pradesh.

Partnering with Microsoft Ventures is a key step to support and nurture incubators, moving them to the next level by providing them an opportunity to get exposed to high end technology, get trained & mentored by professionals.

Both Microsoft Ventures and Deshpande Foundation will play a significant role to mentor the startups under this incubator.

Please visit Microsoft Ventures, India & Deshpande Foundation for any further information or leave a comment and we would get it clarified from the Microsoft Ventures team.

Image Credit : Deshpande Foundation & Microsoft

|In: Entrepreneurship|Last Updated:
There are many factors that differentiate one company from the other but “Culture” is an integral part of the comparison. e.g. Google which is famous for it’s culture where they allow employees to work on their own idea for an entire day in a week.3M, the company most famous for it’s Post-It’s again falls in the list of innovative companies.

As stated in Business Week

3M (MMM ) has long awarded “Genesis Grants” to scientists who want to work on outside projects. Each year more than 60 researchers submit formal applications to a panel of 20 senior scientists who review the requests, just as a foundation would review academics’ proposals. Twelve to 20 grants, ranging from $50,000 and $100,000 apiece, are awarded each year. The researchers can use the money to hire supplemental staff or acquire necessary equipment.

Take the case of ThoughtWorks , which has a good policy to retain people – Allow people to work on their venture as long as our business / deliverables is not affected.A good way to keep the best brains intact in the company biggrin

When we think of a startup, the first thing that comes to our mind is Innovation [except in few cases like social networking websites].But as the staff strength/business increases, many times we see the innovative culture dying down and hence, every company is not considered innovative, though it might be profitable !!!

I was recommended a book Entrepreneur’s Toolkit by a friend of mine who is in a startup .The book has a chapter that outlined the “Three key challenges to keep the innovative culture alive“, which are mentioned below:

1. SIZE problem :
Size requires specialization of functions, creates communication & coordination problems between functions, and requires review boards & approval requirements; which may frustrate creative people and dampen their creativity.Small problems take more time to get solved due to lengthy discussions.The more people who are involved, the longer it takes to reach agreement on simplest things.And agreements are more likely to be compromises than optimal solutions.

2. EXISTING CUSTOMERS problem :
Customer is God for any business but diligent serving of existing customers has two innovation-impeding consequences :

a. Existing customers often discourage innovation by their vendors.For example: A major technical advance in computing can jeopardize the investments customers have made in existing software, hardware and training.Hence, these customers urge vendors to continue supplying them with parts and upgrades in order to stay in their old business.Eventually, the invention of the breakthrough products is left to the rivals sad Many times, these customers will abandon their vendors and switch their business to the innovative rivals.

b. Management shifts it’s focus to operations.The job of serving customers profitably requires operational excellence.As the business grows, the management’s attention is absorbed by people issues, marketing, finance etc. Hence, Innovation may be last thing in their minds.

3. COMPLACENCY :
Success that propels growth creates an impulse of complacency and self-satisfaction.It may trick people to believe that if they simply continue doing what they are doing, all will be fine.When faced with a new competing technology,for example, the impulse of many successful companies is to invest still further in the technology that made them successful.Consequently, these companies marginally improve their existing technologies as new ones were becoming much better and cheaper day after day !!!

Though startups don’t face these problems, a bigger problem is to keep the ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT alive.As we know, not every member of a startup is an Entrepreneur and there are various driving factors to keep the spirit alive.We would discuss them in the next article.

|In: Cobaan|Last Updated: | 6 Comments
How many times do you come across an advertisement “Wanted Software Engineers Experience: 2+ Skills : C, C++, RTOS etc etc.” cry Opportunities always look good and we jump to say “Yeah this is the company and suddenly out of nowhere , that company becomes your DREAM company”.

But times are slowly changing and the way in which companies place Job Advertisements is also changing[though slowly and steadily]. Currently, there are many options for a suitable candidate to change a job and companies need an “ADDITIONAL TOUCH” in their Advertisements to lure the right person to join the organization smile

Try a Google search on Why should I work in a startup , after browsing through a couple of the crawled websites, I came across an interesting presentation titled : Why should you quit your job for a startup.The contents of the presentation touched upon all the aspects of a startup : Funding, Team Work, Learning , Salary[in a Venture backed startup] etc etc. but the end[Slides#7 and 8] was quite dramatic, “The presentation was an advertisement for a startup Cobaan and the benefits of working in Cobaan”


Now let us move from India to the west, where you find the ultimate source of innovative job advertisement.Netflix , the online DVD Rental company in the US[and one of Guy Kawasaki’s hot favourite] has an interesting list of benefits(if you work in Netflix). The advertisement is not like a recruitment page but it is written in such a way that makes the reader to JOIN Netflix that very moment biggrin The advertisement also touches on the dominance of Netflix in the online DVD rental business!!! Below are the top 8 reasons[listed on the site] to work in Netflix.

After reading them, you would feel that Netflix is the ONLY company you could ever work for !!!

  1. Netflix delights people
  2. We’re democratizing movie distribution
  3. Values Matter
  4. Rules annoy us
  5. We pay well
  6. Consistently outstanding people
  7. We love movies
  8. We’re creating an amazing future
Click on the image below to read the complete description:

Hey wait, but I could not see what are the Technical requirements for Netflix wink These are small examples of how companies have started to realize that sometimes you need more than a normal advertisement to lure the job seeker.

Times are sure changing and companies need to be innovative in every angle to send a message to the job-seeker – IF YOU ARE NOT WORKING HERE, YOU ARE TRULY MISSING SOMETHING !!!

Netflix inputs : BusinessWeek

|In: Entrepreneurship|Last Updated: | 1 Comment
How many times in a day , do you listen to the words “No,it won’t or No,you cannot” sad Yes , be it anywhere but this is one of the most simplest things to tell anyone and the most surprising part is that “Most of them who say a No, themselves don’t know why they are saying a NO” biggrin
For instance,when I shared my blog with a couple of known people, I was given a comment “Your blog is very much like an ……. blog” and this could/can be true since, there being around 70 million blogs all over, there is a high level of possibility that Blog ‘A’ could be somewhat similar to Blog ‘B’ (in terms of style , not content).This brings some level of dejection but is also a learning for all the guys who want to go an extra mile exclaim Similar is the case when you have an idea and try to seek the first level of feedback, there could be mostly one of the reactions, listed below(from the book ‘Myths of Innovation’) :
  • This well never work.
  • No one will want this.
  • It can’t work in practice.
  • People won’t understand it.
  • This isn’t a problem.
  • This is a problem, but no one cares.
  • This is a problem and people care, but it’s already solved.
  • This is a problem, and people care, but it will never make money.
  • This is a solution in search of a problem.
  • Get out of my office/cave now.
As stated in “The Myths of Innovation” , it is not only ordinary people who give vague comments ; Sometimes very smart people say these things. Ken Olsen, founder of the Digital Equipment Corporation, said in 1977, “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” The leading art critics in France, in response to the opening of the Eiffel Tower, made comments like, “That tragic lamppost springing up from its bowels…is like a beacon of disaster and despair.”

Innovator and Spectator Gap:
The gap—the difference between how an innovator sees his work from how it’s seen by others—is the most frustrating challenge innovators face. Creators expect to be well received. They look at accepted innovations and the heroes who delivered them and assume their new innovations will be treated the same way.

Notice, there is a 180% difference of view between the innovator(ideator) and the viewer(listener of the idea).

Bottom Line:
Sometimes from the negative feedback, you may germinate another idea !!! but no matter how brilliant an idea is, the gap exists. Until the innovation is accepted, it will be questioned relentlessly question

|In: Business|Last Updated: | 4 Comments
Many times when we think/speak about Innovation, we only think of a great idea(which would be the solution to an existing problem) and the thought process that goes behind in implementing the innovation.

But you can be innovative or think innovatively, only when the atmosphere is innovative or people promote innovation.The other factors that could foster innovation are : Good team work, management that itself thinks laterally and innovatively, office that in itself is innovative……

This reminds me of the Thoughtworks office in Bangalore which was the venue for the BarCamp Bangalore 2.0 and the open office environment(ie no cubicles) itself suggested “Innovation” biggrin

In fact while googling for the same,I came across an excellent presentation which touches each and every corner of Innovation !!!

My personal favourites from the presentation are :

  1. Myths of innovation : Slides 13-19
  2. Composition of an innovative team : Creator , Catalyst and Champion (Slide 25)
  3. Killers of Innovation : Slide 28 (Best and highly realistic)
  4. Creative work environments : We need more of these!!! (Slides 43 – 48)
  5. Myths of motivation : Slides 54 – 56
  6. Promoting Instrinsic motivation : Refer the following and Slide 60