Lateral Sparks, the weekly quiz from YourStory, tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see the previous edition here). In this 210th edition of the quiz, we present issues tackled by real-life entrepreneurs in their startup journeys.
What would you do if you were in their shoes? At the end of the quiz, you will find out what the entrepreneurs and innovators themselves actually did. Would you do things differently?
Check out YourStory’s Book Reviewsection as well, with takeaways from over 355 titles on creativity and entrepreneurship, and our weekend PhotoSparkssection on creativity in the arts.
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Q1: Electric mobility
EV owners are not sure what to do when battery performance declines over time. The government also requires OEMs to collect and recycle used batteries. Where is the entrepreneurial opportunity here?
Q2: Construction materials
In the construction industry, the sourcing of materials is generally unorganised, with a lack of quality assurances. How can technology help here?
Q3: Education and skills
The education system often leaves little room for soft skills such as communication and public speaking. Heavy use of digital media is also reducing in-person social interaction. How can these challenges be addressed to make education more holistic?
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Q4: Internet traffic
Consumers and businesses expect fast internet access, which means reduction of latency issues, outages, and security risks. How can this challenge be addressed, even in the face of competition by large global service providers?
Q5: Automation
Automation in large organisations is often slow and expensive, needing complex coding along with tech coordination. How can this be made more efficient and affordable for smaller firms as well?
Answers!
Congratulations on having come this far! But there’s more to come – answers to these five questions (below), as well as links to articles with more details on the entrepreneurs’ solutions. Happy reading, happy learning, and happy creating!
A1: Electric mobility
Co-founded by Vijay Gond, cleantech startup PeakAmp has developed a circular battery ecosystem for end-of-life batteries. It turns waste into value through reuse, recycling, and recovery.
For example, some usable cells can power home inverters, while others may go into agricultural solar pumps. Read more about how dead cells are recycled to extract high-purity metals like copper, aluminium, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese.
A2: Construction materials
Arisinfra Solutions has built a proprietary technology platform called Cara, which has digitised the construction materials supply chain. It ensures reliable supply, transparent pricing, and smooth documentation at scale, according to Chairman Ronak Morbia.
The AI-enabled platform can identify efficient suppliers and enter into exclusive agreements, assuring them of a steady business. Read more about its SMB supplier base, and how it does about 800 deliveries each day with a footprint of over 1,000 pin codes across India.
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A3: Education and skills
Founded by Samad Shoeb and Anas Shoeb, Oratrics helps build communication, confidence and leadership skills in students and professionals. It offers holistic personality development training programmes for all ages, with public speaking, creative writing, and personality enrichment.
It caters to students, corporate professionals, and B2B clients. Read more about how it serves trainees from over 15 countries, including India, US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Singapore.
A4: Internet traffic
C-founded by Amin Habibi and Hamid Rostami, VergeCloud is building a globally trusted content delivery network and edge platform. It operates out of Bengaluru and Oman, with offerings in cybersecurity as well.
It has grown to serve over 20 B2B clients, including Tata ClassEdge, Nootankii, Tiku, Future Corp Consulting, and other fintech, ecommerce, and pharma firms. Read more about its SaaS plans priced from Rs 1,600 to Rs 200,000 per month, depending on client size and needs.
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A5: Automation
Bengaluru-based Expressonic Global Solutions aims to solve automation problem by letting domain experts automate processes themselves, without writing any code or depending on a big IT team.
Co-founded by Anto George, its solution for large and small firms involves three components. They are Design Studio for creating jobs, Real Bot for running them on schedule, and Enterprise Manager for managing bots across locations. Read more about the startup’s client list and its recurring annual license model, priced from $4,500 to $6,500 depending on client requirements.
YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple,Android).
Edited by Swetha Kannan
Original Article
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