Bits Business Podcast Haricharan Ramachandra

Stappu is a game played in North India where you throw a stone at a number and hop to the box where the stone lands. It’s like hopscotch and is a fixed marker of the Indian childhood. When friends and co-founders Jeevika Tyagi and Kanika Khosla were brainstorming for a name for their startup, this one popped up. “The name takes us back to our childhood where you could play silly games like stappu and not be judged. Whatever you did, you had fun doing. Also, our business model is hopping from one art category to another,” explains Jeevika & Kanika.

In an age when e-commerce is becoming mainstream because of rapidly changing customer habits, Stappu has adopted an unique philosophy and business model. Instead of focusing on volume growth and scale, Stappu focuses on the artists who offer their products in its marketplace and helps them build their brands and fruitful relationships with their customers.
“We wanted to tell stories and also bring out the entrepreneur in each artists since we were ourselves struggling to become entrepreneurs,” says Kanika.
Both founders were based in New York, Jeevika was a banker and Kanika an architect. Both wanted to explore life beyond the mundane corporate existence they had unwittingly chosen. They quit their high powered jobs and worked with a series of startups to get the lay of the land. When the friends decided it was the right time to start something of their own, they decided they would, “Explore the space that facilitated the growth of an individual’s passion.”
What is Stappu.com ?
Stappu is a platform from where everything is sold and shipped directly from the Artists. They believe every buying experience is enhanced when you know where the product is coming from and the story behind it.
Each Artist has a beautiful story and it is every person’s story that sets him or her apart from the rest. - Stappu.com
The company's mission is to maximize appreciation for all forms of arts by creating meaningful connections between the artists and the buyers.

Stappu’s first set of clients are Mumbai culinary artists and brands like Eatyadi, Poppaddum, Madd Batter, BakerHer and Sucree Delights. For their events they partner with other startups like HipCask or the venue where they are holding the event.

Stappu is self-funded but is set to raise seed funding soon.They have the bandwidth to focus on one category (culinary artists) and one city( Mumbai) at the moment, however they plan to expand to other categories and cities in India in the future.

In this episode of the BitsBusiness podcast Jeevika and Kanika share their journey as entrepreneurs, Stappu's business model , some of the challenges they faced to get Stappu off the ground, and their future plans.

A study by Intuit has forecasted that by 2020, 40% of American workers will be independent contractors. There is a new name for this trend: the “gig economy.”

        Almost half of the executives surveyed (42 percent) expect to increase or significantly increase the use of contingent workers in the next three to five years - Deloitte Press

 In the gig economy, businesses and individuals are part of an ecosystem in which the workforce is mostly freelancers who have the freedom to select projects, or “gigs,” of their liking and at their convenience. These opportunities don’t provide the stability of a

paycheck or the safety of a permanent job with a corporation; however, the upside is that these workers gain more control over their time and lifestyle. Businesses save resources in terms of benefits, office space and training. They also have the ability to contract for specific projects with experts who might be too high-priced to maintain on staff.

In this digital age, the workforce is increasingly mobile and work can increasingly be done from anywhere, so that job and location are decoupled.Companies like Airbnb and Uber embody this trend. They are not the only organizations profiting from the gig economy, which has been with us since the early 2000s. Sites like www.elance.com were pioneers in outsourcing. Many small businesses and startups have benefited from outsourcing their jobs to freelancers on elance and other similar platforms, and thousands of programmers, virtual assistants and copywriters are earning decent income around the world.

In 2007 the world was introduced to the iPhone, and it has changed the way we communicate, travel, work, and conduct business. Smartphone sales in the U.S. have grown at a rate of 30% a year from 2005 to 2016, and nearly 80% of mobile subscribers now own smartphones. They have had a significant impact on many industries, and the gig economy is no exception. One of the recent trends to emerge with the arrival of smartphones is hyper-local services. There are many players in this space. Some of the names that have made news in Silicon Valley are TaskRabbit and Zaarly, which help users run errands by connecting them to folks in their neighborhoods, and HomeJoy, which specializes in house cleaning services
Who is Ian Balina and What is PeerHustle
  In this episode I talk to Ian Balina. He is the founder and CEO of Peer Hustle, a mobile on-demand freelancer marketplace for the sharing economy, often called “Uber for Freelancers.” Ian is an avid entrepreneur and hustler. He has started many businesses and has a deep understanding of the gig economy. We discuss trends in the sharing economy and how Ian realized the need for a hyper-local platform for freelancers. Ian also shares some of the challenges he faced as an entrepreneur and the lessons he has learned.
Listen to my interview with Ian Balina




 PeerHustle 
Peer Hustle's mission is to turn regular citizens into micro-entrepreneurs. It is a local on-demand peer-to-peer freelancer marketplace that connects people looking to quickly hire people for special skill-sets with people specialized in those skill-sets. It lets users tap into the sharing economy and share their unique skills and expertise with their neighborhoods and communities.

Here are some highlights of Peer Hustle platform innovations.

A hybrid platform combining the best of remote and local platforms :

Hire freelancers or receive job proposals in your local area based on skill sets
Only compete with freelancers in your local area, not the entire world
Ability to work remotely or in-person

Mobile:

Work and hire remotely or in-person with other local freelancers.

This is the show notes from part 2 of my interview with Vijay and Sudhi, co-founders of AppZui.com. I interview entrepreneurs, investors and engineers from around the world so that we can all learn from them, expand our minds and benefit from their experience. You can listen to part 1 of this interview here.

In this episode we discuss the current environment for startups in India and some of the challenges a typical Indian entrepreneur would face while starting a business. Topics covered in our discussion include

Listen to the interview here

The changing mindset in india
India adopted a socialist model of economy after independence. Then-prime minister Nehru aligned the country with the ideology of the communist Soviet Union. The private sector lacked both the capital and clout to participate in large-scale projects like building power plants and roads, refining petroleum, manufacturing, electronics, etc. The government was responsible for building infrastructure, providing employment and administration.

An entire generation grew up under socialism, where the main source of employment for young, educated men and women in the organized sector was government or government-run enterprises, also known as the public sector.

This era was also infamously known as the “Licence Raj”; the government kept a tight grip on private Indian companies through a barrage of licenses, permits and inspections. Corruption was rampant, because politicians and government agencies had firm control over citizens and the economy. A natural outcome was the rise of an extensive bureaucracy, red tape, unnecessary regulations and trade barriers.

The Indian economy was in a deep hole by the late 1980s. It suffered a balance of payment crisis (payments for export and import of goods, services and capital). The government was unable to pay off essential imports, ran a high deficit, and borrowed from external sources to finance those deficits, and inflation was on the rise.

With just three weeks left to completely depleting the last loan from the IMF, P V Narasimha Rao took over as India's prime minister in 1991 and announced liberalization. The goal of his visionary policy was to remove unnecessary bureaucratic controls, take careful measures to integrate India with the world economy, remove restrictions on foreign investments, and crack down on public sector enterprises that yielded very low returns.

The result was that the Indian economy almost doubled in the five years following the announcement of economic reforms. The GDP in India was worth 2.066 trillion US dollars in 2014. 


source : Trading economics 
 

With liberalization of the economy, private sector participation increased in terms of economic output and as a source of employment. The entry of many multinationals into the country introduced the local population to advances in technology and business practices. Gradually the popular opinion about capitalism and the business community started to change. In my interview with the founders of AppZui, a startup in Bangalore, I discuss the current mind-set in India towards business and entrepreneurs
Starting up in India
 In this segment we discuss the opportunities in Indian market and some of the challenges that a typical startup in India would face. We also discuss the areas of the economy where many startups are focusing their efforts.

E-Commerce: Flipkart.com ,

These are the notes from my interview with Vijay and Sudhi, co-founders of appzui.com

The interview is part of my effort to speak to entrepreneurs, investors and engineers from around the world so we can all learn from them, expand our minds and benefit from their experience.

AppZui is a venture based out of Bangalore, India. AppZui is a unique business model created by Vijay Puttaraju and Sudhindra Naib; they are a venture capital firm in the form of an IT services company. They also have a unique fee structure for their clients, and their clients are early-stage startups.

Listen to my interview with Vijay and Sudhi here.


Startup ecosystem in India
India ranks third among global startup ecosystems with more than 4,200 new-age companies, according to Nasscom, an association of Indian IT companies. There are multiple tailwinds supporting this trend, which includes: (1) Demographic dividends - India’s working-age population (15-64 years) is 63.4%; (2) a rising middle class and increasing materialism; (3) large numbers of people coming on to the Internet; and (4) proliferation of mobile phones in all segments of the population.

In this episode, Vijay and Sudhi share their experience and walk us through some of the challenges they faced when they started their venture. In the next episode, we discuss the startup ecosystem in India, and they also share their advice for aspiring entrepreneurs who are planning to start a venture in India or expand their operations there.
Who are Vijay and Sudhi ?
Vijay focuses on solution architecture and skill development. He has designed and built several high-performance systems, and has worked with Infosys and several US-based buy-side firms in the investment management domain. He has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Mysore University.

Sudhi focuses on mobility and solution delivery. Prior to appZui, he was part of SAP Labs and AppKix Concepts. He has expertise in SAP and enterprise mobility solutions for the sales and distribution domain. He holds several patents in his name. He has a master’s degree from the Indian Institutes of Information Technology.
What is appZui’s business model ?
AppZui is not the typical IT services and outsourcing company that you would expect in India. Most of their customers are first-time entrepreneurs. They see themselves as partners and mentors for these startups. They go through a rigorous selection process before deciding to partner with a startup. They ask tough questions and make sure the business cases of their customers are clear before they choose to partner with them. Once they decide to partner with a startup, they help them develop their idea and business by providing consulting and resources. They customize the contract with each customer, which might include part cash and part equity. They believe this is a key differentiator to them when compared to other IT service companies. To learn more about appZui’s business model and what they offer, please listen to my interview on the BitsBusiness podcast.
AppZui’s latest product, HomeInspeKtor
Homeinspektor.com is a cloud-based home inspection marketplace that delivers easy, objective, trusted and comprehensive home inspections

HomeInspektor will operate as a marketplace for home buyers, home sellers, home inspectors, realtors, financial institutions and other players associated with the home inspection business. The platform will be launched in India, the United States and Canada. The goal is to enable customers to invest in properties with confidence and peace of mind by providing unbiased, objective feedback about the quality of properties.
How to contact Vijay and Sudhi

 

This is the show notes from my interview with Brendan Snow, founder and CEO of ForwardFunded.com.

  I enjoy talking talking to and learning from entrepreneurs especially those who are using technology to bring positive change to society. Brendan is one such entrepreneur, and he is on a mission to solve the debt crisis that is plaguing American households through his startup ForwardFunded.com.

Listen to my interview with Brendan Snow here.




AMERICA’S CONSUMER DEBT CRISIS
Nearly 70% of what the United States produces is for personal consumption. In 2014,that was $11.929 trillion of the the total $17.418 trillion produced in the U.S

The national savings rate has declined significantly since the mid-1960s. it hit -2% of the GDP before the financial crisis of 2009 fueled by easy credit and reckless lending. Today the U.S personal savings rate is 4.9% compared to 38% in China, followed by 34% in India, 14.3% in Switzerland and 11.7% in Germany.



Average US household credit card debt stands at $15,706, counting only those households that are carrying debt. In total, American consumers owe $11.85 trillion in debt of which credit card debt is the third largest source of household indebtedness at $890.9 billion. It is clear that we have to change the way we spend, but few of us are taking action. It’s my pleasure to introduce you to Brendan Snow.
WHO IS BRENDAN SNOW AND WHAT IS “FORWARDFUNDED.COM” ?
Brendan Snow is an entrepreneur based in Washington D.C. He studied politics at University of Colorado in Boulder. He wanted to experience the realities of a developing country and understand the issues faced by the population there so, he moved to the Republic of Congo and taught English for a while. Later he completed his master's degree in public affairs from Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris/Sciences Po in Paris, where he met his wife. He came back to the U.S and worked for the World Bank. While he was working there he discovered Warren Buffet and value investing. He had always aspired to start his own business and hopefully have a positive impact on society. He started working on the idea of Forward Funded while he was working as a consultant at the World Bank

Forward Funded :

Forward Funded is an e-commerce company that makes saving for large purchases simple and intuitive. As a virtual saving system (a.k.a. virtual envelope),it allows users to create, modify, cancel, pause, and monitor savings plans to purchase a particular item or group of items. This system offers a financially responsible alternative to high-interest credit for individuals considering purchases.  

The Forward Funded process begins when an individual wants to buy any item for example a television, but the cost falls outside their budget. As a result, they decide to set up a Forward Funded account and save the money needed to buy the television.

Users have control of their funds at all times. They can cancel their savings plans and get a full refund, pause and resume plans without emptying the “virtual envelope”, change their plans, transfer funds between plans, or switch to other products at any time at no cost. Initially, Forward Funded is only available for movable goods such as electronics, furniture, jewelry, and many similar items. Over time, they plan to add features based on user feedback.
WHAT IS FORWARD FUNDED BUSINESS MODEL ?
Forward Funded does not charge fees to use the service. Instead,

Silicon Valley is the undisputed hub of innovation in the world today. It's well known for its ecosystem of startups, entrepreneurs,venture capitalists and a skilled workforce. It is also home to many of the largest high-tech corporations.

Silicon Valley is a nickname for the San Francisco Bay Area, which is located in Northern California in the Unites States.

In the past couple of years there has been a significant increase in the number of professionals and new graduates moving to San Francisco/Bay Area in search of the next "Google". There's tremendous energy and excitement among the workforce and it's well founded based on the recent valuation of some of the high flying startups like Uber , Airbnb , Snapchat, Pinterest etc.

Most of us in the Information Technology industry have to choose between the stability and security of a well established high-tech company like Google, Amazon or Oracle and the uncertainty and growth of upstarts like Uber.

I was in this situation in 2008-09, I was working at Yahoo and I had to decide whether to stay at Yahoo or look for other opportunities. The financial crisis had hit the markets hard and we were officially in a recession. Yahoo wasn't doing great, but my job was relatively safe. I had started interviewing, and had gotten offers from LinkedIn ( a start up with 350+ employees) and large tech companies that were doing well despite the financial crisis.

I wasn't sure how to evaluate these opportunities, especially the startup's. Unlike public companies the information about startups is scarce. there's little or no track record and the future is all about potential. Statistically,the odds are stacked against startups.
 90% of all startups fail with-in the first 3 years. - CB Insights
While I was looking for answers online,I discovered a memo written by David Henke ,who served as senior vice president of engineering and operations at Linkedin from 2009 to 2013

I had known of David Henke since my days at Yahoo; like many engineers at Yahoo I was one of his fans and greatly admired his leadership style.Henke is a colorful personality and a Silicon Valley veteran. Prior to LinkedIn, he was the SVP of engineering and operations at Yahoo for over 4 years. He led a team of 500 engineers in Panama (ad system) to overhaul the company's search marketing platform.He ran engineering and operations at AltaVista, an internet search engine company, from 1998 to 2002.

In the memo titled "So you want to join a startup ?" Henke and his colleague Buena Suerte provide a checklist to evaluate startups as potential employers. I collected a lot of material during my research, but I found this memo to be the most comprehensive and practical.I share my checklist in this post.I also share the process I follow to evaluate startups. I used the same checklist when I was evaluating LinkedIn as a potential employer; I decided to join LinkedIn in 2009.
So you want to join a startup ?
If you've read through the post this far, I assume you're interested in startups, or you might already have an offer from one. I hope you find my checklist helpful.

If you decide to join a startup,you'll be investing a significant amount of time so your decision process should be similar to that of investors or venture capitalists.
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