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|In: CryptoCurrency|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Koinex, India’s most advanced digital assets exchange will be listing two global crypto-assets [tokens] – OmiseGO [OMG] and Request on their exchange. In fact, Koinex will be the first exchange in India to introduce Request assets into the Indian market. OMG has been in the domestic circuit for few months but has been rather inert, and might find some buzz on the Koinex exchange.

Image Source – Koinex

Both these token are sought after assets in the global market mainly because of their efficient and ‘future ready’ technology which promises to bring a disruptive innovation in the areas of online payments, banking and e-commerce.

These tokens [crypto-assets] will be listed on the Koinex exchange, across both platforms, the portal and the app, by 2:00am Thursday [Feb 22[ this week. However consumers can start trading on them by early Friday [Feb 23], post 2:00am.

Speaking about this strategic launch, Rahul Raj, Co-Founder & CEO, Koinex said

The overall crypto-market is at an exciting juncture at this point of time and the optimistic outlook of the global digital-assets sector is slowly rubbing on the domestic market here. After careful evaluation, we have brought these tokens to the Indian market and we are very buoyant and assured that they will gain a lot of market prominence in the near future.

Adding to it, Aditya Naik, Co-Founder & CBO, Koinex said

There are many dubious tokens in the crypto-ecosystem and hence it is imperative to be mindful of the crypto-assets to invest in. We at Koinex, meticulously monitor all leading crypto-assets across the globe and have stringent quality checks related to the market cap, company legacy, relevance of the technology platform, scalability etc. to filter out the competitive tokens worthy of our customer’s investment. This quality assurance is one of our key differentiating factors amongst peers.

Rakesh Yadav, Co-Founder & CTO, Koinex added

Both Request and OmiseGO are essentially the technology of the future. They will ease a lot of the pertinent issues today with online payments, fund transfers, payment automation, e-commerce, IoT, etc. They are technologies that suit businesses and consumers both, aptly for secure and economical transactions, hence will always be valued assets in the crypto-market.

OmiseGO aims to be a decentralized exchange based on Ethereum platform, with the focus to provide better financial services for everyone, including patrons who lack traditional banking infrastructure, thus mitigating the current challenges between payment gateways, processors and financial institutions. So through the OmiseGO network, anyone will be able to conduct financial transactions such as payments, remittances, payroll deposit, B2B commerce, supply-chain finance, trading and other on-demand services, in a completely decentralized and inexpensive way.

Additionally, it will enable transitions using fiat money to decentralized currencies such as ETH, BTC, and others. As per current industry a report, the token OMG is currently the sixth highest markets cap Ethereum project in the world and the first Ethereum project to exceed USD $1 billion valuation.

Request Network, also based on Ethereum platform, aims to be a decentralized network that allows anyone to request a payment, for which the recipient can pay directly in a secure way. Essentially, here the need for a third party [Payment Gateway] in the financial transaction is eliminated, thus saving cost and being secure, quick and efficient at the same time. It also gives scope for wide range of automation possibilities. All the transactions are saved on an irreversible, authentic ledger, which is beneficial for accounting and auditing processes. The platform aims to work with every global currency and will be designed to be flexible and be compatible with IoT or any future systems.

These technology platforms being built on Request network and OmiseGO have a pragmatic approach to the future and are scalable platforms, designated to be more efficient and impactful than present day marvel platforms. This technical excellence and forward looking application makes them valuable assets for the market and will be a force to reckon on the exchange.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

SharkID, the Smart Phonebook app, launched SharkID for Business, enabled by the corporate card. It is targeted at professionals [Employed & Self-employed], businessmen, SMEs and brands.

Founded by Ramesh Sinha, a technocrat and serial entrepreneur, SharkID is a smart phonebook app that auto updates itself and focuses on creating digital card format of contacts. When a company card is registered [verified through OTP], multiple fields are filled in – this creates the Corporate Card. The company name or brand is usually the SharkID chosen. When it gets verified, Brand Dialing can be availed. Just dialing in the brand name will connect the dialer to the nearest outlet. [e.g: dial PizzaHut to connect to the nearest PizzaHut outlet].

Every employee of the company can be given a SharkID business card and the database will remain updated in real-time, in case of attrition. For an enterprise, communicating within the company and with customers becomes much easier. Similarly, for hiring purposes, SharkID will enable a background check – one can see if the person concerned is connected to any employee within the organization.

Speaking at the launch, Ramesh Sinha, Founder – SharkID, said

SharkID for Business will fundamentally impact the way business is done – Referenced Networks[RN] will ensure there are more referrals, more trust, more conversations and more volumes. With SharkID enabling convergence and conversations, I am confident that Enterprises will embrace this idea & form their own communities on our platform.

Whether it is customer interface, insights, business patterns…the sheer amount of intelligence generated by SharkID will be of immense value to the enterprise. At SharkID, we strongly believe that individuals, Enterprises and brands have latent brand equity that has yet not been fully leveraged. Our AI & Big Data mesh will enable smarter referrals across the board to unleash the power of smart networks.

Imagine technology having a fundamental impact on core management functions like HR, Customer relations, Sales and Marketing. Think of a Hoarding with only the logo and brand name – so, because the brand name is the SharkID. Whenever a customer or a potential business lead searches for the brand, they get referred to someone in the brand’s network, and get the info about how they are linked. Think of the incredible amount of intelligence that various departments like HR, Sales, Marketing, Advertising, etc…would get through SharkID and how this could be deployed in realtime for maximum efficiency.

With over 2.5 Lakh downloads, 25 Lakh calls made, 350 Lakh mobile number network and 50 Lakh caller discoveries; the company is looking to deepen the user experience and expand the user-pool across India to 10 million by March 2019.

About Shark Identity Private Ltd

Shark Identity Private Ltd is a JV between Silvertouch Technologies and eProcurement technologies. A bootstrapped startup founded by Ramesh Sinha and Jignesh Patel, SharkID aims to replace physical visiting cards with digital cards over the next few years. For more information, please visit SharkID

|In: Guest Blogging|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

User experience, Customer experience or Customer satisfaction! There are some synonyms that have become extremely common in the past few years. The customer of today has zero tolerance for any mistake. With mobile usage increasing drastically, the mobile world is also no longer untouched with this demand of smooth user experience. For anyone who is interested in customer retention, mobile app is as important as any other campaign. You offer your users a smooth experience or they will soon churn!

Following are some best practices for mobile app designing, implementing which can give your users a smooth experience around your app and will make them come back.

Tip 1: It’s all about grid and white spaces

Gridding is the basis of mobile app designing. On every surface of mobile app, you will find an invisible grid. Although you won’t be able to see it, but trust us guys, this is going to guide you through.

Similarly, the second you place a dot, word or even line on the display, the margins and paddings are defined. With every stroke, you clearly define the space where you are going to work. Having said that, always keep in mind to maintain some consistent heights and widths along with the padding and margins.

Tip 2: Create hierarchy with colors

Did you know every color value denotes a purpose and can affect your user behavior in a certain way? For e.g., let’s talk about Black and gray-scale color. Let’s say you have made one button as black, the next one as dark gray and the next to it as light gray, it will indication ‘the first one is the most crucial to the visitor, second one is less and third one is the least’. Hope you got the drift!

Additionally, make sure to avoid using same color for buttons as you have used for app as this will make your buttons look lost. Instead go for contrasting color. Also, experts recommend to avoid using bright red color for buttons as in US, it indicates STOP. Often the users won’t click on it, thinking something suspicious.

Tip 3: Choose colors that reflect your brand not you

Now that you know how big role colors play in user experience, another thing you need to understand is that these color scheme settling should be defined based on the target market you are focusing. These colors should reflect your BRAND, not YOU! You can see many case studies on how even a minor change in the color led to huge boost in conversions. Also try to understand the color psychology. It’s best to go through the meaning and impact of every color before settling for any. Your brand has a specific purpose for your target audience and choosing the right colors is the best way to convey this relationship.

Tip 4: A great logo might not help you, but a poor one will definitely spoil you.

We all know, a brand and a customer, both are incomplete without each other. Logo is the quickest way to bring out your brand among a huge audience. Although investing in an extremely costly professional logo might not seem right to you, but settling with a poor one can really ruin your reputation. And the same thing applies in your mobile app too.

Unlike what people say, logo is not timeless. As the logo is a design and no design is timeless, how can a logo be? With time, most of the big names in the industry have modified their logo to match their modern audience. So make sure to update your logo time to time. Although if you are on tight budget, you can easily look for free online logo designer tools and get it done without spending fortune.

Tip 5: Using Outdated design or elements is a strict NO NO

No matter you are designing for desktop or mobile, one thing you have to constantly ensure is that your design is up to latest trends. If you are still stuck with those old school design trends, your customers won’t hesitate in shifting towards your competitors.

Customers today love modernity. They want everything updated and more in-sync with their personality. One such example is the huge shift towards flat designs. These days, flat designs have totally replaced Skeumorphic induced designs. And if any of the app is still holding anything but flat design, its audience will soon turn their backs to it.

The key here is to be totally aware of your users’ expectations, likes and dislikes. You err.. And they won’t spare you from judging. If you are modern, they will love that, if you are old school, they will note that.

Tip 6: Don’t throw sign up on their face as soon as they land on your app

Imagine your visitor has just landed up on your app and you slap one big ‘Sign-up’ button on their face, what are they going to do? You guessed it right, finding you creepy, they will simply press the Back button.

So guys, first wait for the users to browse your app and make some engagement such as liking a product or adding it to the cart. Another way here is to add Social Login. For those who are not aware of it, social login allows your users to sign in using their existing social media accounts such as Google+, Facebook, Twitter, etc. This will save them from the trouble of going through a long registration form that is asking him to create another username and password, he is going to forget as soon as his task is done.

Tip 7: Lastly, don’t forget to follow the visual guidelines

Although most people are not aware, even the UI world comes with certain guidelines. So while you are experimenting with user interaction or navigation, you must keep standards in mind. Try to focus on core features of the app instead of minor ones. If you want your app to be listed on the app store, you must optimize your website based on their criteria. Android, iOS, Windows, everyone has their certain guidelines around styling and other details. Avoiding them can create issues for you in future.

Finally, the best way to build an awesome app is to make your audience priority. Think how they think, design how they behave and you can never go wrong.

About the Author

Prince Kapoor is a Freelance Marketing Analyst and Blogger. While not working, you can find him in gym or giving random health advises to his colleagues which no one agrees on :). If you too want some of his advises [on health or on marketing], reach out to him at @imprincekapur

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Ace director and writer Vikram Bhatt announced his venture into the digital space with the launch of his OTT platform called VBontheweb, which brings forth a Theatre on the Web, concept where one pays only for the premium show one wishes to binge watch. Joining him was family friend Mahesh Bhatt who came in his support to encourage Vikram’s new foray. The VBontheweb app was launched on the platform hosted by Brightcove, one of the pioneers of online video streaming and has been developed by Ecreeds.

This is India’s first OTT platform to promote the concept of bringing cinema to the mobile phone with its unique subscription model. It allows users to buy a pass to watch a show/entire series for a fees as nominal as INR 18. This is the first time in India that the viewers would get to pay for particular shows only which they desire to watch and not the entire application. With this, Vikram Bhatt wishes to bring about a substantial change in the digital space and give a choice to the viewers.

Also what sets this platform unique is the opportunity it will be giving to other filmmakers, the power to find a platform to put up their content on the app as a synergy to give them access to a platform where their content can be displayed. The app launched with original series ‘Untouchables’ directed by Vikram’s daughter Krishna Bhatt. Untouchables is a courtroom drama inspired by real life events. The shows available on the app include Maya, Twisted, Rain, Tantra, Hadh, these shows can be viewed free of cost.

Vikram Bhatt commented

We are not leaving any stone unturned to making it big for VBontheweb app. Our digital venture premiered Untouchables which is special to me because it my daughter Krishna’s directorial debut, and it makes me feel extremely proud. Digital is the future and it has arrived, we are ready to seize the day.

Speaking about the app launch, Krishna Bhatt said

Launching VBontheweb app is a big step we are taking to capture the OTT platform. The series of programming also includes Untouchables which is my directorial debut and has already received appreciation from the audiences. I am hoping this platform will become a digital sensation, and I am excited to see the progress.

VBontheweb is currently available to download on Android and iOS platforms.

|In: LinkedIn|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

One of the biggest pain points for recruiters and candidates is locking down on a time suitable to both for an interview. Scheduling a time to setup an initial interview is often burdensome, time-consuming and can lead to candidates dropping off from the hiring process due to the back and forth.

To ease the hiring process and avoid fallout’s, LinkedIn launched ‘LinkedIn Scheduler‘, a tool that automates initial interview scheduling for recruiters and candidates, directly via InMail. It helps candidates and recruiters save time spent on scheduling a meeting and helps recruiters focus their energies on hiring strategically and on-boarding the best candidate.

LinkedIn Recruiter

Using this feature, candidates or recruiters can reach each other via InMail to see one’s calendar availability and reserve an interview time that works best for both. It also gives candidates the liberty to feed in their contact information to accelerate this process.

Here’s how it works

  • First, recruiters are prompted to sync their calendar [Office 365 or Google Calendar] with LinkedIn.
  • Then, using a new InMail message, recruiters can easily send a scheduling link directly to the candidate of interest.
  • The link shares a real-time view of the recruiter’s calendar availability with candidates who can then choose what time works best for them, add their phone number and confirm the meeting.
  • Advance settings allow recruiters to manage preferences such as time zones, availability, length of meetings and same-day meetings.
  • Candidates can easily and automatically reschedule meetings with the recruiter through the confirmation link.

You can check out the global blog here, and read more about this product feature here

|In: Fintech|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

India’s largest online lending marketplace Paisabazaar has entered into a partnership with Microsoft to drive ‘industry first’ technology innovations on its platform using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. As part of the overall partnership, Paisabazaar.com will move its entire infrastructure to Microsoft Azure.

Being India’s largest digital lending platform, Paisabazaar.com receives customers from varied segments from more than 750 cities and towns across India every month. By building cutting-edge technology on Microsoft cloud, Paisabazaar intends to offer customized, tailor-made and secure solutions for each consumer coming to its platform.

Paisabazaar will work extensively on futuristic technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to benefit customers in three key ways:

  • It will help identify customer needs more accurately, factoring in their lifestyle and life-stage.
  • It will help sharpen product recommendations and underwriting decisions. This will also expedite the processes on the Paisabazaar platform through further automation and digitization, in line with its philosophy of creating ‘paperless’ and ‘presence-less’ processes.
  • It will build innovative features like chat-bots, image recognition, voice analytics and language processing to take the customer experience to the next level.

Naveen Kukreja, CEO & Co-founder, Paisabazaar.com, said

At Paisabazaar.com, one of our aims is to simplify personal finance for our customers through technology. We are excited to partner with Microsoft in this journey where we would, together, not only delight consumers through a never-seen-before digital experience, but also help them save both time and money through more customized solutions.

Meetul Patel, Chief Operating Officer, Microsoft India said

We are happy to partner with Paisabazaar.com in their endeavour to deliver an innovative and unique customer experience. This partnership will enable Paisabaazar to utilize the power of Microsoft’s cutting edge AI services to develop novel solutions and deliver greater value to their rapidly growing customer base.

Jagmal Singh, CTO, Paisabazaar.com, said

The traffic on the Paisabazaar platform is growing at 350% annually. Microsoft’s cloud-based system would help us not just create a frictionless experience but also world class data analysis systems. Both Paisabazaar and Microsoft are committed to build new technologies that will create a new normal in the financial services industry.

In sync with the Government’s recent financial technology announcements under its Digital India initiative, Paisabazaar, in partnership with Microsoft continues to enable financial growth for, both, individuals and MSMEs through world class digital financial management.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

ACT Fibernet, India’s largest fiber broadband ISP brings ‘Free to air channels’ through ACT Fibernet App, powered by YuppTV. As a part of this association, all customers of ACT Fibernet across 12 cities can now enjoy 140+ live channels in 13 different languages. Furthermore, the latest offering will enable customers to access a bundle of live entertainment content at no additional cost. This service is currently in its beta version and is available now only on android devices. It will soon be launched on iOS.

To further provide an optimal entertainment experience, users of ACT Fibernet will be able to avail a 6 months complimentary subscription of YuppTV by using their ACT Fibernet registered email ID and mobile number app and website. This will allow customers to view premium channels, original TV series, movies, web series and more. On completion of the trial period these services will be available at a monthly rental of Rs.99 only.

Speaking on the new offerings, Haraprasad Khar, CIO, ACT Fibernet, said

Our vision is to become the most admired entertainment service provider and we are continuously striving towards achieving that. With over 1.2 million users, we understand the pulse of our customers and their requirements.  Today, access to information 24*7 is an imperative necessity and this latest feature will allow customers to stay updated on news, entertainment, music and lifestyle anytime, anywhere. This is a starting step and we will be updating our app with more exciting features going forward.

In addition, ACT Fibernet has also partnered with HOOQ TV, Fastflimz, AltBalaji and Hungama TV to bring the best entertainment content to customers. The below table captures the offerings details

|In: CryptoCurrency|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

ICOs are the new series B while they create new bubbles they are also unlocking new kind of value as we speak. This is how Naval Ravikant, CEO of Angel List and one of the most influential thinkers in silicon valley described ICOs. Before I go about explaining my take on various ways in which ICOs will influence startup markets let’s have a quick primer on what are ICOs.

Image Source – ICO

ICO [Initial Coin Offering] is a way to raise funds where-in a startup or an existing business sell tokens to public or private entities in exchange for ether/bitcoin or fiat money. ICOs are a recent phenomenon and the first ICO happened in 2013 with Mastercoin ICO. Some of the big projects which have raised money using ICOs include Ethereum, Stratis, Stellar lumens, Ripple and many more. Tokens offered do not give you any ownership in the companies and hence cannot be treated as security.

ICOs exploded in 2016 with many startups joining the bandwagon to sell tokens and raise money coinciding with the boom in Crypto-currencies and lured by easier money availability, fewer regulations, etc.

Below are the six ways ICOs have/might impact Startup Funding:

Easier Access to Money in short term

ICOs or token sales have suddenly created a new funding mechanism which is far easier to access than any traditional funding methods.You suddenly have the whole world as a possible investor.

With money raising strictly dependent on demand and supply dynamics and a large demand fueled by Crypto boom of last two years, Founders have never had it easier with large demand for anything blockchain and everyone looking to make quick money the whole ICO space has snowballed into tons of dumb money chasing projects.

VC Unfriendly/Open Source projects getting funded

While ICOs have eased access to capital and lot of dumb projects are getting funded It has also created a great way to fund ideas with no immediate commercial viability or ideas which VCs think are unpopular.

ICOs can be a great way to fund new protocols or next generation of smart technologies which will lay the foundation for a new wave of applications and products to be built on these new technologies. ICOs might be the best thing to happen to open-source projects adding a much needed incentive layer for developers.

Disrupting the existing VC model

ICOs are disrupting the existing VC models where Venture capital firms traditionally not only provide seed capital for MVP and building a product market fit but also growth investing to grow the business.

With ICOs and token sale as an alternative entrepreneurs with running businesses can just launch a new coin and raise funds required for growth. Token sales result in no dilution of equity and provide a great way to build community the value creation shifts from stakeholders to coin holders. It is entirely possible that community might become a strong moat for businesses in future and token holders will signal real value of the company.

Also some of the core open source projects can raise money without worrying about how VCs might dilute their vision.

Community Development becomes integral to Startups

Two skills which are going to become integral to blockchain startups are technical expertise on new set of technology and skills to build, nurture and harness communities. Startups which can build strong communities will have access to funds, new customers and new business at fraction of the cost.

Velocity and Value of the tokens will be directly linked to how strong and connected your community is to your product which can bring in new and unique network effects.

Lot of Scams in the Short Run

As is with anything path breaking it attracts a lot of unwanted folks and scamsters lured by easy money, fame or both. ICOs driven startups are going to have a fair share of scams. Not just scams majority of startups will not be able to deliver on promises. The deluge of ICOs hitting market include scamsters, failed ideas which could not raise money in traditional ways, forced token ideas where tokens are not required even blockchain is not required.

So brace up for many scams and failed projects in the short to medium term until the dust settles and sanity prevails and we are able to see the real gems. This is very similar to what happened during the heydays of the internet boom.

New Governance Models for startups

While in traditionally funded startups there were checks and balances built with early stage investors have a board seat and experiences VCs/Investors not only providing money but also helping with setting up processes and governance mechanisms.The new Crowd funded startups will have not have an obligation to investors and hence will create new challenges on oversight and governance sides.

How will token holders keeps teams honest. Will token holders be able to influence roadmap or prioritization. How much influence can token holders have on founders and the executive team. Can they throw out CEO for non-performance these are all very interesting questions.

Finally, ICOs are at  a very early stage of evolution and almost all players are making their moves. Some of the best VCs have already started investing in tokens and leading early round of token sales. Entrepreneurs who want to raise growth funds are watching on the sidelines watching intently on how this evolves and does it create new options for them to grow their business. Finally regulators are grappling with how to treat token sales.

They are not securities in the traditional sense. Some tokens have utility on the platform other apparently do not have any utility so regulating token markets is going to be another area which evolves in due course of time.

About the Author

Sarabdeep Singh is ex-Head for Digital Marketing and CRM for Ebay India. He Co-founded Bodhik.com an online mutual fund investment service. In his spare time he is building sipacoin.com a simple service to set up Bitcoin Price Alerts. He tweets infrequently @sarabdeep