|In: Interviews|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

The realty industry faces trust issues owing to market conditions and other factors. Despite having the financial means, a lot of home buyers are reluctant to invest in property as they are suspicious whether they would get back the returns, if they will be able to rent out the property to the right tenant who will keep it in good conditions and many such fears. Such mindsets have further deteriorated the market conditions for the property sector.

Technology is also evolving at a very rapid pace, with technologies like Machine Learning, AR/VR, Artificial Intelligence [AI], etc. acting as change-agents for the real-estate industry. However, technology can only act as a catalyst to ease the buying-selling process and the industry earnestly waits for a solution for the rental and property management problems.

Though there are many players in the market, the problem still exists. The industry needs a solution that will streamline the processes and make renting a hassle-free experience. Rentprop4u, a Bengaluru based realty start-up is trying to solve these problems by streamlining the entire rental process. Rentprop4u offers property management and rental solutions to owners and tenants. Backed by its cutting-edge technology platform and data-driven analytics, the company aims to take the worry out of owning and renting a home. Established in 2016, Rentprop4u currently has 250 plus registered properties and more than 400 users.

Today we have a chat with Nagaraju M, Co-founder & CEO of Rentprop4u about the product, problem being solved, impact of technology on real-estate sector, etc. So let’s get started with the Q&A….

Can you please walk through the idea of RentProp4u, team, etc.

During the time that I was pursuing my MBA, I came across a common but a major stress among some friends – getting an accommodation in and around the city in a limited time. It came to my knowledge that landlords too faced difficulties to rent out their properties around the city due to several tenant issues.

One of my friends from Bihar came to Bengaluru to pursue his Masters degree. He hunted for weeks together to find an accommodation but had no luck. The fact that he was a student added to his woes. Meanwhile, my uncle was a landlord of a dozen moderate 1 BHK homes which he had built just then. I got an idea – why not help my friend by convincing my uncle to rent out one of his houses to my bachelor friend. My uncle was convinced. He offered him the accommodation under my assurance about the property, its security and maintenance. My friend had a peaceful stay throughout his Masters days and my uncle too was a happy landlord.

That’s when it struck me that a landlord needs a trustee and a tenant needs a hassle-free accommodation provider, which was ‘I’ in this case. As I saw many of my other friends undergo this pain, I thought I could help a lot more people if I took it up as a business. This encouraged me to start a property management service to bridge the gap between owners and tenants. This is how I came up with Rentprop4u.

Online consumer rental market is largely dominated by Makaan, Housing, PropTiger, etc. What according to you are some of vital differentiators of RentProp4u vis-a-vis its competitors?

To be precise, we have an entirely different business model than above-mentioned players in the market. While they are property search portals, we are into end-to-end management of properties [promoting the property, property inspection, tenant screening, preparing legal documents, rent collection, property repair and maintenance, etc] while serving as a one-stop solution for all the rental needs of customers.

There are other startups that are addressing similar issue [to remove hassles like language barrier, interaction with brokers, etc.] like NoBroker, what are some of RentProp4u’s unique features that sets itself apart from such emerging startups?

RentProp4u becomes the platform ‘a click away from’ to find your desired property and good tenant for your property. More than special features, we are very specialized in making the customer happy and becoming more of the customized residential management company which is the biggest edge we have over our competitors. We believe that ‘customer is the king for us’, therefore, we more keen on keeping the customers happy and satisfied. The special features include – Zero brokerage, Assured rent for a property, property end to end management.  RentProp4u’s USP seems to be attracting the NRI client base who have purchased properties in India for investments.

The Rentprop4u team – (from left to right) Nagaraju M, CEO; Asha M, Managing Director; and Ravi M, Managing Director

How does your team ensure that the bridge between the Tenant & NRI Owner is burnt with the use of emerging technologies like AI, ML, AR, VR, etc.

According to the UN reports, India has the largest diaspora in the world at 16 million. If we consider 1 per cent of 16 million NRIs as having a property in India, it is a big number and we are aiming to capture this segment on priority. Technically the property might be used either by their own relatives or locked out. The chances of these properties being rented out are slim as it is difficult for them to monitor them. In such conditions, RentProp4u will be an ideal platform for them to use to have a hassle-free renting experience. We do use automation to analyse the data we obtain from our ground staff and online transactions. The analytics help us stay up to date with the market rates and consumer behaviour. VR and AR are definitely great tools to enhance user experience. We intend to incorporate them in the future.

How has been the traction so far for RentProp4u, can you share some vital stats about properties rented, clients on-boarded and the overall response from your clients

We have on-boarded 470 plus properties and more than 650 customers.

Apart from helping the owner to rent out property, does your startup help in other aspects of property management [in order to provide valuable services in the rental eco-system]

Most of our property owners are not sure of the market rental rates for their properties and the type of tenants they can get. Our primary task is to educate the property owner about the current market rents. From finding the right tenant, performing a complete background check to offering assured rentals, managing the property and rent collection, we provide full-service rental and property management for owners. We also share property updates with property owners on a monthly basis with relevant photographs.

Currently there is no mobile app for RentProp4u, is there any timeline when you plan to launch the Android or iOS app [considering that the NRI segment would own an iPhone] since mobile has become an integral part in the buy/sell cycle

The app is on top of our list of priorities. Yes, we intend to have a separate app for owners and tenants.

RentProp4u is currently operational in how many cities and what is your future road-map w.r.t expansion [either in terms of market segment like commercial properties or expansion in other cities]

We aim to have 2,000 properties in Bengaluru in the next 2 years. At the same time we intend to replicate the model in other cities such as Hyderabad and Chennai and then take it across the country. We have plans for overseas expansion too.

What is the revenue model of RentProp4u ?

We help tenants find the home of their choice at zero brokerage. We do not charge them a single penny. As for owners, we charge them a month’s rent as a service fee for managing their property. That’s our revenue stream. However, we do not charge them for property visits, paperwork and other services. We act as a bridge between the owner and the tenant throughout the rental cycle. We help the owner find the right tenant and the tenant find the right home.

There was a big slowdown in the real-estate market first due to demonetisation,than due to GST, RERA, etc. How is the overall market situation right now & whether there are positive synergies leading to the growth in momentum.

Home rentals did not have any direct impact either by demonetisation, GST or RERA. Property selling and buying has been slowed due to these reforms. Probably 2018 will be an ideal time to assess whether home rental will have an impact because of the reforms. If the buying and selling reduces further, we will definitely have a problem.

Can you talk about the funding status of RentProp4u, whether it is bootstrapped/angel funded/seed funded/etc. and are you looking for any external/strategic investment ?

Thus far it has been self-funded and since we are planning to expand our business to other cities and building various apps for our business, we are definitely looking for funding from those who understand our business model.

What are some of the marketing strategies used by your team in order to market the core product ?

Our portal supports us in a lot of our marketing efforts. We have an in-house team for digital marketing. Our other marketing activities include branding, PR, offline promotions such as banners, pamphlets and others.

How big is the Total addressable market [TAM] of the online consumer rental segment ?

The Indian residential rental market is worth $20 billion, as per a report in Forbes. This consists of $13.5 billion in urban, $0.8 billion in rural and $5.7 billion in vacant Non-Resident Indian property brokerage.

The NRI segment is definitely our main target and they prefer to use technology to communicate with us and with the tenants as they are away. While this works in our favour, a large portion of the urban property owners are also increasingly using the Internet to manage their property needs. This is the audience we intend to capture.

There are has been lot of talks about AI, Machine Learning [ML] in the real-estate sector, how much impact will AI and ML have on the online real-estate sector ?

All those technologies are going to have a great impact on buying & selling since every transaction has been digitized and these technologies come handy to minimize the task and make it quick too. More over the data will be secure.

When it comes to residential rental management, the technologies can help not only in securing our data but also in crunching huge amounts of data and making sense of it. It will also help in minimizing human error and oversight. In the future, AI will play a great role in responding to our client queries and storing their requirements which will be help us in resolving them much better when they recur.

What are some of the measures taken by your product/tech team to provide ‘customized residential management experience and to ensure that there is a maximum conversion rate ?

Our product team has been phenomenal in maximising the technologies we have implemented. The team has taken all aspects into consideration while building our platform to ensure that it is responsive to our customer needs, allowing them to interact with us in a convenient manner and helping us in resolving their queries.

The team is working on a unique app for our clients to give them a better experience with property maintenance, repair and rent collection.

Chat bots are now becoming main stream with Fintech, Banks, etc. how can chat bots be used to enhance the overall renting experience ?

The instantaneous feature of chat bots is its greatest strength. It is definitely a big boon for companies with a huge customer base. At this point we are more focused on personalized human communication as we are still trying to understand our customer requirements and pain points. So we have not incorporated the chatbot feature. We might include it in the future when we feel the need.

With the advent of sub 1500 phones, new segment of customers have emerged that could be first-time data users. Are there any plans of RentProp4u to cater to this market [be it a light-weight app/site, etc.] ?

It is too early to comment on this segment. We want to wait and watch how this segment responds to data and then take a call.

What are some of the emerging trends in the tech-space and where do you see the real-estate sector [from a tech point of view] couple of years down the line ?

As you rightly pointed out earlier, VR and AR are already making waves in the rental space globally. It might take time to see traction in India because of the price factor. By integrating VR into property platforms, tenants are able to view available places from anywhere without needing to be physically present at the property, thereby saving them a lot of time on visits. Augmented reality helps in taking this to the next level.

However, it is AI and Machine Learning that has found takers in the rental space. A lot of property search portals and property management start-ups are using these for data crunching and analyzing customer behaviour. These technologies will see more use in the future.

2016 was a tough year for startups [especially from a funding point of view], how according to you should entrepreneurs deal with such adverse situations ?

I advise them to stay patient during the initial few years as a start-up needs time to take off. There will be several ups and downs; you cannot have success without overcoming these hurdles. Continuous learning is a must since change is the only constant in today’s fast-paced world. Also be a leader and not a ruler.

Can you share some tips for building an effective team for startups [especially the initial core team] ?

The most significant part of startup success totally depends on the kind of team that you build. Therefore you must be very careful in selecting your team. Besides the core skills, it is important to focus on whether the candidate is a team player with a never-give up attitude who is able to handle stress and if he/she shares the same kind of passion as the company.

As per your entrepreneurial experience, when should an entrepreneur look out for external funding ?

According to me, it is best to seek funds after a year of existence in the market wen you have adequate knowledge about our product/business and its scalability.

Some books that you highly recommend for entrepreneurs ?

These are some titles that I mostly recommend to entrepreneurs

  • Zero to One
  • The Entrepreneur Mind
  • Venture Deals
  • Realty Check

Some closing thoughts for our readers!

If you have the vision and are passionate about your business, and you are willing to work hard, there is nothing that will stop you from reaching your dream. RentProp4u is one stop solution for all your rental problems. We are here to burn the bridge between owner ant tenant.

We thank Nagaraju M for sharing his insights with our readers. If you have any questions for him or the RentProp4u Team, please email them here or share them via a comment to this article.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Being in the thick of the food industry, Swiggy took a deep dive into its orders to understand what the nation was Swiggy-ing through 2017. Here’s a look at some of the interesting food trends that Swiggy discovered across seven Indian cities.

Over the past couple of years, India has witnessed a growing appetite for both Indian and international cuisine. In 2017, while Indians showed an interest in exploring and experimenting with their food choices, most stayed indigenous as desi dishes topped the list of most ordered food items online.

Biryani Continues to Rule

According to Swiggy’s order analysis, Chicken Biryani continued to rule the palate. Masala Dosa, Butter Naan, Tandoori Roti and Paneer Butter Masala rounded off the top five most ordered items of 2017.

Most Searched Food Item in India

While Pizza did not rank amongst the top five most ordered items, it was the most searched for. In fact, Indians have searched for it over 5 lakh times! The other searched items include Burger, Chicken, Cake and Momos.

When Hunger Strikes Most

Leaving its mark on the calendar, 3rd December saw maximum foodies order online [on Swiggy]. Considering the soaring temperatures during Indian summers, juices and shakes saw a 40 percent increase in average monthly orders during the months of March, April and May.

Overall, Swiggy’s order analysis highlighted India’s love of logging on and dining in across Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi- NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai and Pune. The analysis includes meal categories, late-night ordering, snacking, upcoming food trends, desserts, healthy and international cuisine.

Here is a look at what foodies gorged on in 2017

When Does India Eat Its Meals?

  • Breakfast: Masala Dosa, Idli and Vada rule breakfast menus for most Indians. Breakfast is usually ordered at around 9.30am nationally. Chennai starts its day the earliest by ordering its breakfast at around 9.20am with some Pongal, the most preferred breakfast item in the city.
  • Lunch & Dinner: For primary meals like lunch and dinner, most people preferred Biryanis (chicken, mutton & veg) followed by Paneer Butter Masala and Masala Dosa, Dal Makhani and Chicken Fried Rice. Most lunch orders are seen at around 1.15pm. Coming to dinners, Mumbaikars seem to be the last ones at the dinner table with maximum dinner orders being placed at 8.58pm. 
  • Snacks: In 2017, Indians munched the most on Pav Bhaji, French Fries, Samosas, Chicken Roll, Chicken Burger and Bhel Puri. Average time for snacks is 5.03pm. 
  • Late night: The top late-night orders included comfort foods such as Chicken Biryani, French Fries, Butter Chicken and sweet items like Death by Chocolate [chocolate sundae] and Nutella Brownie. Hyderabad tops the charts in making the most late-night orders followed by Bangalore and Delhi.

Ordering in is the In-Thing Across Cities

  • The Mumbai Foodie: While most cities had Chicken Biryani as their most ordered food item, Mumbaikars stuck to ordering their staple – Pav Bhaji. The hungriest areas in Mumbai were Bandra West followed by Powai and Andheri West
  • The Delhi Foodie: Delhi and Gurgaon chose to order more of Dal Makhani and Naan, suggesting that local cuisines in each of these regions take precedence. On the other hand, New Delhi also sees the maximum amount of Pasta being ordered vis-à-vis other cities. The areas that witnessed maximum orders in Delhi and Gurgaon are Janakpuri, Greater Kailash, Dwarka and Cyber City, DLF Phase 4, Palam Vihar respectively
  • The Hyderabad Foodie: The city is undoubtedly the Biryani Capital of India. Biryani orders especially saw an increase in the months of June and October, possibly owing to the festivals of Eid and Diwali. There were over 20 varieties of Biryani that Hyderabadis ordered through Swiggy. The areas that witnessed maximum orders in Hyderabad are Madhapur, Banjara Hills and Kondapur.
  • The Bangalore Foodie: Most Bangaloreans prefer South-Indian basics for breakfast and Chicken Biryani for meals. The city ranks second to Hyderabad in ordering highest Chinese food such as Manchow soup, Noodles and Fried Rice. Interestingly, Mumbai’s ever-famous Vada Pav is amongst the top five most ordered snack items in Bangalore. Indiranagar, Koramangala and HSR are the areas that witness maximum number of orders in Bangalore.
  • The Kolkata Foodie: Most folks from the City of Joy preferred to order Biryanis and Fried Rice for their meals and Kachoris for breakfast and snacks. During Durga Puja, Kolkata’s most festive occasion, orders for sweets & desserts rise by 8 percent compared to the other cities. Central Kolkata, South Kolkata and Salt Lake are the hungriest areas in city. 
  • The Chennai Foodie: Pongal and Biryanis sum up the meals for most Chennaites. Areas such as Adyar, OMR Perungudi and Alwarpet see maximum foodies ordering-in.
  • The Pune Foodie: Pune is the city that prefers Dal Khichdi, over Biryani for lunch. They also like to order shakes such as Mango, Strawberry and Chocolate.  Areas such as Kothrud, Baner and Viman Nagar see maximum online ordering.

India’s Dessert Affair

Indians are very passionate about their sweet indulgences and any occasion is incomplete without a meetha accompaniment. Indians love Swiggy-ing desserts like Gulab Jamun, Double Ka Meetha and Rasmalai on a regular basis. When it comes to ice-creams Death by Chocolate, Tender Coconut Ice cream, and Brownie Fudge Sundae are some of the top-picks.

Swiggy’s order analysis suggests desserts are a woman’s best friend, as Indian women tend to order way more desserts than Indian men. The analysis also highlighted that the country’s startup capital, Bangalore is big on ice-creams, followed by Hyderabad and Mumbai.

Healthy Food Options Took the Center Stage

Consumers are taking a holistic approach towards healthy eating and looking at options that are a combination of health and taste. Roasted Chicken Salad tops the charts and is the most ordered choice of food amongst the health aficionados in most cities of India, while Bangaloreans stick to juices. Ironically Hyderabad, the city that consumes most Chicken Biryani is also the city that orders most healthy items. Superfood items such as Brown Rice Chicken, Chicken Oats Momos and Oats Banana Date Smoothies are also gaining popularity amongst health food lovers in India. Men between the age group of 25-34 years contribute the most to healthy food orders.

Further, most cities tend to order more non-vegetarian items than vegetarian. Overall, about 57 percent of orders were non-vegetarian and 43 percent vegetarian. while Bangalore topped the list for highest non- vegetarian orders, Pune is the only city that saw more vegetarian orders.

2017- Year of the Rooster

Chicken, by far, is India’s most loved meat as Swiggy’s order analysis finds that Chicken Biryani tops most meals, Chicken Fried Rice tops the list of Asian food items and Roast Chicken Salad tops the list for healthy food Items. After Chicken Biryani, Chicken 65 is the most ordered chicken item nationally. Bangalore & Chennai love their Chicken Lollipops, Hyderabad digs into Chicken 65, Delhi and Gurgaon love Butter Chicken while Mumbai and Kolkata stick to Roasted Chicken Sub and Chicken Momos respectively.

Bowled Over

Quick to jump on to the bowl trend, Hyderabad emerged as the bowl capital of India. Other cities like Pune, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai followed suit. Some of the popular bowls ordered are Fruit Bowl, Mexican Burrito Bowl, Rajma-Chawal Bowl, Paneer Hearty Bowl and Manchurian Bowl. Indians also see value in ordering combo meals such mini meals, Rajasthani masala paratha meal and nov-veg meals. Chennai ranks highest in ordering meals.

These were some of the dishes that kept foodies going in 2017.

|In: Finance|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Technical development has modified how you execute trades on the stock markets. Several institutions offer online trading platforms with excellent features that make trading quick, easy, and simple.

Image Source – Stock Trading

One such platform is offered by brokerage firm, Kotak Securities and is known as KEAT Pro X. It is loaded with multiple chart types and allows quick trades. It is a terminal-based trading platform known for its speed and performance. Here are seven beneficial features of this share market software.

Fast and seamless experience

KEAT is among the highest speed trading platforms that are currently available. It enables you to avail of real-time updates and reports, which allows you to make accurate trading decisions based on the changing market conditions.

Customization as per user’s needs

A unique and very beneficial feature of this share market software is the customization feature. It allows you to develop your own personalized view of the stock exchange. Therefore, you are able to see the information as you want. Furthermore, you are able to create multiple watch lists with up to fifty shares in each of these. Another beneficial feature of this trading platform offered by a reliable share market broker is that the watch lists may be set into different tabs.

Small application size

Compared to other share brokers’ online trading platforms, KEAT is amongst the smallest in terms of its size. This ensures you do not require too much memory and bandwidth to trade using this platform. It is fast and agile, which are important features during the peak trading hours of the stock markets.

Live share prices updates

You are able to watch the market performance using real-time free share quotes from different stock exchanges. In addition to the prices, you are able to avail of information about market lot sizes, top active shares, top losers and gainers, option calculator, and index updates.

Portfolio tracking

This share broker’s online trading platform enables you to have complete control over your portfolio. You are able to track the performance of your entire portfolio comprising various holdings. This allows you to determine your profits and losses and make accurate decisions. Furthermore, this share market software allows you to view order confirmations and trades. You may trade long contracts and sell from your current stock holdings. The risk report section gives you information about limits and positions on different tabs to have better control of your portfolio.

Stock recommendations

The brokerage firm employs a team of experienced and trained research professionals and analysts. They constantly analyze and monitor the stock markets to provide detailed research reports. The research team also offers stock recommendations based on analyst calls. You may maximize your trading benefits through such recommendations.

Charting tools

This share market broker’s trading platform gives you the option of using several types of charting tools such as Candlestick and Area. It enables you to study and analyze the different trading patterns to make the right investment decisions. Charts are an important component of technical analysis, which is highly useful when you invest in the stock markets. Furthermore, you may create graphs and charts to track and analyze past and future performance of your favorite shares.

Benefits of KEAT

The following are some benefits you enjoy while using this brokerage firm’s software:

  • When you open an online trading account, this platform is available for free
  • You may select indices or sectors and business groups
  • It allows you to create personal watch lists based on predefined lists
  • The platform allows you to easily sell from your existing holdings
  • You are easily able to view the changing profit and loss position to make investment decisions
  • It is compatible with different operating systems, which includes Windows, Linux, and Mac
  • This trading platform runs on various devices like Android, Java, iOS, Symbian, and Bada
  • It uses high-end security encryption to safeguard your confidential information. The share market broker has encrypted the software with 128 bit SSL along with two-step authentication to ensure your information is never stolen or misused
  • The platform is completely integrated, which means all modifications are accurately reflected across different devices such as laptop, mobile handsets, and tablets

KEAT is a complete integrated platform, which means you may trade in different stock exchanges like National Stock Exchange [NSE] and Bombay Stock Exchange [BSE]. Furthermore, you may trade across different investment products such as equities, derivatives, and currencies. You may also create multiple watch lists comprising one or more of these various investment products.

Downloading this software is very simple and easy and may be done through the share broker’s website. Once the download is completed, you may follow the installation instructions and start using it to trade and earn profits in stock markets.

|In: Infographic|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

When it comes to work, there is a common notion that employees in corporates have about their bachelor colleagues. They expect their bachelor colleagues to stay till late in the office citing reasons of them not having any other major responsibility apart from office work. On the other hand, there are many employees who are in the constant look-out for more recognition from their managers so that they can eventually get a better rating and salary hike.

Image Source – Workaholic

On the other hand, there are some who want to fill in office hours and consider that greater the number of hours spent inside the office, higher is the productivity. These are all growing symptoms of workaholism, something that can benefit in the short run but have adverse effects in the long run.

Wrike, a company that is a pioneer in project and time management software has come up with an interactive infographic that can provide you the answer – Are you a Workaholic

How to Figure Out If You’re a Workaholic - by Wrike project management software

Infographic brought to you by Wrike project and time management software

Do let us know your answer in the comments section and how you plan to get rid of workaholism…

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

India continues to be a hotbed for startups especially with the Government’s relentless focus to provide a congenial environment for them to conduct business. Initiatives like the India Stack [UPI, eKYC] by the National Payments Corporation of India, the launch of the Startup India initiative, etc. are acting as catalysts that are fuelling the growth of the startup eco-system in India.

Rising internet & smart-phone penetration, access to Digital Media/Content, etc. have opened up new avenues for tech startups where they can release products that can cater to the urban as well as the rural markets. Emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Chat bots, Block chain, Machine Learning, etc. are not only used as a medium for technology disruption by startups but are also embraced by large-sized corporations, financial institutions, etc. in order to stay ahead of the technology curve.

Talking about Financial institutions, they are using these technologies to improve their customer service/providing better personalized service/providing additional financial services, etc. Fin-tech has been one of the hottest sectors from entrepreneur as well as investor’s perspective in 2017, something that has also caught the attention of other financial institutions. Mainstream financial institutions are becoming more agile in accepting change and are inking partnerships with these players since it is a win-win situation for both the parties.

Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector bank has been the torch bearer in driving change where it launched Thought Factory, a startup incubator/Innovation lab in 2016 where it nurtured startups that are working on interesting ideas and experiment with emerging technologies for building breakthrough banking products and solutions. Six startups namely Perpule,  Fintech Labs, S2Pay, Pally, Paymatrix, GIEOM were the first graduates from the Thought Factory in 2016.

But as it is widely known, startups cannot be built in exile and hence, ‘productive networking’ is also an important aspect of building as well as scaling a startup. Axis Bank took professional networking a notch above by launching one of its kind exclusive networking property called Axis Start-up Social, to support the burgeoning startup eco-system. Axis Start-up Social went live on 15th December in Bengaluru and the exclusive event happened at WeWork co-working space in Brigade Road. It was attended by entrepreneurs, Axis Bank team, startup enthusiasts, incubatees at WeWork and others who are connected to the startup eco-system.

The primary objective of this platform was to provide an opportunity for startups to network and share knowledge. Significantly, this initiative firmly underlines Axis Bank’s unflinching commitment towards providing multiple opportunities for startups in India to thrive and scale to the next-level-of-growth. The major highlight of the event was informal sessions by Vivek Gupta, CEO of Licious and Amit Rohatgi, Founder and CEO of Divrt. They did not have any ppt and the talk was not like a normal gyaan session. Vivek Gupta of Licious has donned the hats of an investor in Helion Ventures as well as an entrepreneur. Hence, his talk was more of a double-edged sword where he shared valuable insights from his investor and entrepreneurial journeys. He spoke about scaling, food tech, maintaining a customer-focused approach and much more. Some of the tips that he shared from his topsy-turvy entrepreneurial journey are below:

  • Customers don’t buy products online, they buy experience.
  • It is very important for startups to Repeat Purchase Rate since that is an important metric for measuring customer satisfaction/customer stickiness. At Licious, they have 90% revenue from repeat customers.
  • Entrepreneurs should be customer obsessed and not idea obsessed since customer is the king.
  • Having number sensitivity at every function of the startup, be it IT, HR, Engineering, Finance, etc. is very important.
  • Startups should focus on creating long-term value.
  • Consumer businesses are now getting due attention from institutional investors; ID Fresh, Yoga Bar are some of the pioneers in this category.
  • The important thing that an entrepreneur needs to take care of scaling is ‘Stay focused in one area’ and learn from your own mistakes. Licious was initially operational only in Whitefield, Bengaluru and after five long months it started operations in Koramangala.
  • Cost of Customer Acquisition is another vital metric that entrepreneurs need to keep track of at every stage of their startup journey.
Vivek Gupta, CEO of Licious

Vivek’s insightful session was then followed by Amit Rohatgi’s talk where he focused on his past entrepreneurial failures, learning’s from them, nuances of building a hardware startup, cultural differences between India and Silicon Valley. Amit has varied experience in different countries across the world and one point that he stressed more about was ‘Startup Hiring‘. He expressed his growing concerns about the unimaginable salaries offered to engineers in a startup, something that can hamper the growth of the startup ecosystem. His talk ended on a positive note that things are bright for ‘product’ entrepreneurs in India and this is the right time to take the first step to realize the entrepreneurial dream.

Amit Rohtagi of Divrt

To make the session much more informal, fun and engaging, Vikram Poddar added a comedy flavor to the event. Vikram is an ex-investment professional and a flourishing Corporate Standup Comedian. He cracked some awesome jokes on investment banking, corporate life, funding & startups, complex relation between software developers & testers and much more. After the completion, all the pillars of the startup eco-system networked over F&B 🙂

Vikram Poddar, Corporate Standup Comedian

As mentioned earlier, Axis Bank is keeping no stone unturned to stay ‘updated’ with the latest technological trends, either via in-house product development or via M&A’s. Startup Banking Group of Axis Bank already caters to banking requirements of technology-based start-ups like Ola, Flipkart, Zomato etc. #AxisStartupSocial is an excellent platform that provides an opportunity for Start-ups to network and share knowledge over the cup of coffee and we look forward to more chapters of this interesting initiative by Axis Bank.

If you have attended the #AxisStartupSocial or require more information, please leave your experience/queries in the comments section.

|In: e-commerce|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

India’s largest mobile-first financial services platform, Paytm has introduced Paytm Loyalty Points which customers can earn doing multiple activities within its ecosystem. To start with, all cashbacks that customers receive on the platform will be accumulated as ‘Paytm Loyalty Points’.

These points can then be redeemed across online platforms as well as over 5 million merchant outlets that accept Paytm. The company, which will also introduce more features in this offering in the coming year, aims to reward its vast user base and encourage them to transact digitally. This will further help Paytm’s offline merchant partners increase their business opportunities.

Paytm has created a wide ecosystem where it offers services such as recharges and utility payments, movies/flights/bus tickets booking among others. It is also a preferred payment method across major online platforms. Moreover, the company’s widely-accepted Paytm QR enables millions of offline merchants to accept Paytm, UPI and Card payments directly into their bank accounts at 0% charge.

With Paytm Loyalty Points, the platform aims to bring this entire ecosystem together and enable users to earn, accumulate and redeem anytime, anywhere. For instance: If a customer walks into his neighborhood store, he can scan Paytm QR and redeem his loyalty points.

Deepak Abbot, Senior Vice President – Paytm, said

We are extremely grateful to our millions of users who make us the most preferred payments platform in the country. With Paytm Loyalty Points, we are providing an exciting experience to our users who can now earn and redeem loyalty points while transacting on Paytm or at any major online platform and offline merchant outlets. This will further encourage our users to keep transacting using Paytm, and drive business growth for our merchant partners.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

India is witnessing a digital revolution fueled by the growth of smartphones, increasing internet penetration and a push by the Central Government to move towards a ‘Digital First’ economy. Buoyed by initiatives like Digital India India’s digital economy is anticipated to grow from 270 billion USD to around 1 trillion USD in the next 5-7 years.

Technology has been instrumental in connecting people, digitizing businesses, and acting as a catalyst to lead India in the digital era. Although technology has made our lives easier and connected, it needs to be used responsibly to ensure that our ‘personal’ data remains secure and protected from online intruders. The same holds true for enterprises since there has been a surge in new-age technologies like cloud computing, social media, etc., which are being heavily used by most IT employees. It may result in confidential data being unknowingly uploaded to a public cloud, eventually leading to huge financial losses for an enterprise.

As per a Dell report, 72% of employees are willing to share sensitive, confidential, or regulated company information if it helps them accomplish their day-to-day tasks. This paints a picture of a workforce caught between two imperatives: be productive and efficient on the job, and maintain the security of company data. Owing to this, enterprises are now following a multi-level strategy when it comes to data breaches – Prevention, Detection and Responses. Cyber-crimes, ransomware and malware attacks are on the rise and some of these attacks are more intense in nature. WannaCry ransomware attack, for example, which took place in May 2017 and is considered as one of the deadliest ransomware attacks in recent times, reportedly hit more than 230,000 computers in over 150 countries within a day. As a matter of fact, India was the 3rd most affected country by WannaCry [Source]. With the advent of emerging technologies like AR, VR, Virtual Currency, Internet of Things, Big data, Cloud Technology, Blockchain, etc., such attacks may continue to rise in the coming time. Hence, it is not only the responsibility of the organization but also its employees to consider ‘Data’ as the lifeblood of their organizational growth and ensure that data is not vulnerable to any external threats.

In order to safeguard their confidential data against such attacks, enterprises have started making use of firewalls, anti-viruses, data encryption techniques, endpoint protection, etc. Besides, they have also started educating employees about the criticality of data and preventive steps to be taken in case they come across any such attack. Under such crucial circumstances, employees need to act fast and work in tandem with the IT/Infra team in order to reduce the intensity of the attack. Employees also need to take utmost care while sharing documents or important information within the organization or with its customers. Organizations that follow the Bring Your Own Device [BYOD] policy need to ensure that relevant security patches are applied on the device and there is no accidental/deliberate misuse of data by its employees.

Many hackers also use ‘phishing’ in order to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details [and money]. Phishing attacks are not only increasing, but are also evolving with time. Organizations, therefore, need to educate its employees to be more attentive while opening emails/clicking on attachments and alert the IT team if they come across any such malicious activity. To summarize, every stakeholder in this ‘IT eco-system’ needs to think about #DataSuraksha so that there is no lapse on Suraksha [Security].

With the changing nature and impact of online attacks, data management, data security and cloud providers also have also adopted a more agile approach in order to champion the cause of data security. Dell EMC, for example, has started an online campaign called #DataSuraksha where it is inviting ideas from its users on various mechanisms that help in keeping data secure. To participate in the campaign, visit Dell EMC India’s Facebook and Twitter.

As per Dell, 95% of the malware attacks occur at the endpoint and security software available in Dell Latitude 2-in-1 laptops prevents malware from even executing. Besides, Dell’s all new Air Gap Security keeps the data Airtight. Customers can opt for a great deal where they get 1-year subscription of Dell Threat Defense at Rs. 799 with Dell Latitude. With the changing business landscape, organizations need to keep up with the pace, be more agile and lead the phase of business transformation. CIO and IT Team need to undergo a shift in the thinking and they need to look beyond conventional models/practices to lead the change. CIOs need to utilize the latest technologies by using the benefits of the CAMSS Stack (Cloud, Analytics, Mobility, Security, Social) [Source].

They need to ensure that access to data is available as and when required. However, the access should not be at the cost of compromising security. A CIO has to make sure that necessary security norms are followed so that there is no financial and reputational loss. There is no denying the fact that communication technology has evolved at a very rapid pace in the past 20 years, major milestone being the emergence of Social Media. It is one channel that cannot be ignored and hence, CIO has to take a conscious decision to follow a multi-level communication with their customers and internal stakeholders so that there is no communication gap and faster resolution.

As it is rightly said – Only thing that is permanent in life is Change, it’s time that enterprises should take the right steps to implement the best practices related to data security.

|In: Finance|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

There are a lot of factors that affect your investment decisions and you should be very careful in analyzing the situation. You should consider all the aspects to make an informed decision.

Image Source – Mutual Funds

Stock investing is a high-risk high-return financial instrument. The uncertainty related to price movements is risky. Furthermore, stock markets are affected according to economic and other factors. Therefore, you may be wary of investing in direct equities.

To mitigate some of these risks, you may consider investing in mutual funds. Such funds accumulate corpus from several retail investors like you and invest it in equity and equity-related products. The funds are professionally managed by experienced managers to deliver returns.

You may even invest in mutual funds through a Systematic Investment Plan [SIP]. A SIP is an investment plan under which you can invest a small amount at regular intervals in the funds of your choice.

The factors that affect stock markets affect mutual funds too, though not at the same magnitude. So, do not panic and discontinue or postpone investing in mutual funds through SIPs.

The market and NAV see-saw

Because of the volatility in the stock market, the Net Asset Value [NAV] of your mutual fund, mutual fund portfolio remains volatile. However, it is recommended you do not panic and discontinue your investments when the fund performance falls. Lower NAV for mutual funds is actually favourable, as it results in rupee cost averaging. You are able to accumulate more units at a lower NAV, which reduces your overall purchase costs.

Another reason why you must avoid discontinuing your mutual fund investment is to ensure your financial goals are not disrupted. Most SIPs are related to certain long-term goals and discontinuing these due to poor performance may have disastrous outcomes. In all likelihood, you will not immediately move your investment to another fund or financial product. Therefore, you postpone your ability to meet your financial objective.

Thus, you should ignore discontinuing your SIP or mutual fund investments even if markets appear turbulent or slow. These conditions are only temporary, and your investments are long-term. In fact, if you are not already investing, it would be the right time to invest in mutual funds.

Non-performing funds vs. slow market conditions

It is crucial that you carry out a thorough research and then conclude if it is your fund that is under-performing or it the overall market that has slowed down. This is extremely critical because, if the overall market has slowed down, then this would be the ideal opportunity to accumulate more units and invest in under-performing funds.

However, if the research findings definitively point out that the mutual fund you have invested in is underperforming or not performing then it would be a wise decision to switch funds. Nonetheless, it is very important that you immediately start investing in another better performing fund.

Short-term market conditions vs. long-term Investments

Time in the market has always been more reliable and fruitful than timing the market. This approach has always been served well, even to those investing directly in the stock market.

There are many brokers and investors that make money by timing the market, but the risks involved are very high as the market is unpredictable. The risk in timing the market is that you buy an equity, anticipating that it will appreciate in the short-term and then you can sell it and make money. Alternatively, you sell it, anticipating that its prices will fall. However, this may not happen and you may lose your capital investment too.

These risks do not apply to mutual fund investments, as these are for the long-term. The short-term volatility of prices and market affects only marginally on the earnings of such investments, as the earnings herein are dependent on the overall performance of the equity over the long run, and has little to do with short-term fluctuations.

Right time to stop your SIP investments

  • It is important you refrain from discontinuing SIP investments until you want to stop investing completely. If you want to stop investing in one fund, you must immediately invest in another.
  • Do not make your investment decision based solely on the fund performance. Compare it to the overall benchmark, similar funds, and the fund category to make an informed decision.
  • You must not make your choice based on the short-term [two or three months] performance of the fund. If the performance is below average, it will take at least six to nine months before it shows up. Temporary under-performance must not be the basis for your investment decision.

In case your research shows that your chosen mutual fund investment is accurate, consider increasing your investment at dips. Investing in mutual funds requires a little bit of financial planning first, such as what are your investment needs, how much corpus you need to accumulate, after how much time you need the money, and how much risk you are willing to undertake. You can use a personalized mutual fund recommendation platform such as Angel Wealth, which will suggest you mutual funds to fulfill your needs.