In discussing startups with successful businessmen of the old economy, I faced the unenviable task of defending ‘Burn’ vs ‘Profits’, which is a good working definition of a start-up. Can there be any structural advantage of burning money? It’s obvious that too many start-ups burn money to reach critical mass in a network or to educate consumers . For example, Ola needs to put a few thousand cabs from day one in a city and hence it will burn till they all get utilized. For this, a start-up will need to raise money very frequently. Herein lies the structural advantage.

Publication : The Times of India

Date : October 06, 2019

At the heart of Ikea’s success is value: You know what you’re going to get when you shop at Ikea, and it’s going to be affordable. In fact, price is so important to Ikea’s strategy that the company first decides on the price of a piece of furniture and then reverse engineers the construction, the company says.Ikea has a “democratic design approach,” according to Antonella Pucarelli, the chief commercial officer of Ikea retail U.S., which means that it “deliver[s] form, function and quality products at a low price.

Publication : CNBC

Date : October 05, 2019

Since 2017, overall investments into Indian startups have increased in value. Since the start of 2018, the number of unicorns, or startups valued at more than $1 billion, have nearly tripled. Mega-funding rounds have again become the norm at fast-growing startups. But there is strong evidence to show that these numbers do not give an entirely accurate picture of the startup ecosystem. According to Tracxn Technologies Pvt. Ltd, a data analytics firm, the number of startup deals, in fact, decreased in 2017 and 2018, from the respective year-ago periods.Deal volume has again dropped sharply this year.

Publication : Mint

Date : October 06, 2019

In the high-risk, chaotic world of startups where employees often end up as collateral damage due to failed funding, cost-cutting, business rationalisation or simply a struggle for survival, the ecosystem tries to take care of its own. Even as they undergo layoffs – as in the case of Zomato, Treebo, ShopClues and Urban Ladder among others this year – companies are reaching out to influential alumni, investor and human resource networks that are rallying to support exiting employees, to ensure that as many of them find new employment as possible.

Publication : The Economic Times

Date : October 05, 2019

E-commerce major Amazon and its arch rival, Walmart-owned Flipkart, have independently claimed that their sales for this season — Great India Festival and The Big Billion Days, respectively — were the highest-ever in India’s e-commerce history. Flipkart on Friday said it had clocked 70 billion views in six days of The Big Billion Days (TBBDs). It also said there was almost 50% growth in the number of new customers, as compared to last year. Also, more than 50% of Flipkart Plus shoppers were from tier 2 cities while units from tier 3 cities grew by 100% over last year, it said.Interestingly, September 30, 2019, was the single largest day for e-commerce in the country.

Publication : The Hindu 

Date ...E-commerce