CATEGORIES

NAVIGATING THEIR WAY

When a new family member enters a business it brings issues of a newer generation. As the pandemic stuck last year we saw what kind of transitions these gen-next leaders made to sustain businesses. We also saw a humane side of theirs coming forward and showing a different kind of leadership. This test of time gave them enough room to think about what role they can play to keep the family legacy alive and newer changes they could implement. While businesses would have undergone drastic changes, family values remained uncompromised. The current issue, being the fifth edition of our annual ‘Tomorrow Inc’ edition aims to understand the entrepreneurial spirit of the new generation of the family business and how they can build business for the new-age economy.

THE Real Stakes OF THE Future of Work

As companies and employees decide how, when, and where they should work in a post-pandemic world, let's not forgot this overlooked fact. If you harm your company culture, your customers will feel the impact.

5 NEW MODEL IN TOWN: THRASIO - STYLE STARTUPS IN INDIA

A Sneek Peek Into India’s Five Prominent Thrasio-Style Startups

8 MAXIMS OF FORTUNE 500 ENTREPRENEUR: Harsh Mariwala

Harsh Mariwala is founder and chairman of Marico. Ltd and author of the book Harsh Realities, story of making of Marico which was launched earlier this month. He is also awarded the EY entrepreneur of the year 2020.

Tech Companies Enable Ex-Women Techies RESTART Their Careers

Offer training and conducive WFH environment; look to elevate women to leadership roles

“I Hired People I Could Lose With”

Maria Sharapova’sapproach to business and sports is the same: Losing leads to winning.

The Fashion Reader

Vivek Agarwal is an avid reader and has a large collection of non-fiction books on management, branding and more. Reading has always helped him as a creator and has guided him to run a successful business despite not having a formal education. Founder of OOKIOH, which is a sustainable & innovative swimwear label based out of LA achieved 600% year-on-year growth in 2020 with an all women team. The man from Rourkela shares more on taking a dip in reading.

Turning Catastrophe Into A Strength

After a year of pandemic turmoil, we asked six entrepreneurs: What move did you make that’ll protect your business from the next disaster?

My Reading Recommendations

Prabhdeep Singh, Co-founder & CEO – StanPlus loves reading, specifically autobiographies. The Man behind the uber of ambulance service in India shares his favourite reads in conversation with Entrepreneur.

Anatomy of a Turnaround

Most companies at some point will need to turn things around. Here’s why some succeed…and many fail.

The Lockdown Chef

India, Indians and Suresh Rangarajan, Founder and CEO of Colive is all about 3Cs….Cinema, Cricket and Curry. Given his love for Cinema and tracking of six language movies and shows now…English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Spanish…it’s a big task to keep track. The movie buff loves watching movies before the world watches. There were days when he would take his teams out at 7 am to watch a Rajni movie! The diehard Tendulkar fan is a veggie and loves to eat as well as cook. A weekend conversation with Suresh revealed how he honed this hobby during lockdown and what innovation he is bringing in his cooking.

tech 25 CLASS OF 2021

Launched in 2017by Entrepreneur India magazine, this is the 5th edition of Tech25, an annual listicle of the best technology entrepreneurs in the country. The Tech 25 issue carefully curates entrepreneurs with their play in technology as an enabler for change in their respective sectors. The focus on the impact of technology in sectors like healthcare, education, finance, agriculture, etc. is deeply looked at. Every business is becoming a technology business Not many good things have come out from this pandemic but one thing that has driven home is that technology and business have become one. We are moving in a decade where only two kinds of businesses are best designed to succeed and thrive. The first – companies whose business is tech and the second – companies where tech is how they conduct business. Going forward, technology will play a key role in rebuilding economies that have been shattered by covid. With this thought, this year we introduce a special IP in this edition focused on the Rising Tech Stars who are at the helm of technology and entrepreneurship. This issue is all about technology entrepreneurs who are changing our country with cutting-edge solutions.

"We're Doing This for a Reason"

Kate Hudson has launched three businesses in very crowded industries but knows what separates her from the competition: It's not just the Products.It's the mission

Diving Into Entrepreneurship

Naveen Munjal, MD, Hero Electric introduced the first Electric Bicycle way back in 2001 and an Electric Scooter in 2007. Today, Hero Electric is India’s largest Electric Two-wheeler company. Photography, scuba diving, and making India sustainable, is what drives Munjal. Whether it is entrepreneurship or scuba diving, he knows how to stay absolutely calm and composed at all times. Looking at the ‘bigger’ picture a lot of times, he has built a strong business or so to say dived in the deep open waters even when things were not going his way. He has had way too many such experiences doing both – building a business in a new uncharted world and diving in the deep waters with sharks around you! Here’s Munjal talking about the therapy and thrill in diving.

Designer Tarun Tahiliani On The Business Of Fashion In The Times Of Covid-19

Ace designer Tarun Tahiliani, a name that represents modern India in the most glamorous form through his avant-garde designs with a focus on rich Indian heritage art and craft. After launching the multi-designer boutique in 1987, he started his eponymous label in 1990 and went on to hone his understanding of design techniques at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York. Now, more than three decades later, the management professional-turned-designer, who is undoubtedly one of the luminaries of Indian fashion, feels that as the modern Indian woman is changing, so are her needs especially when it comes to her wedding ensemble. Tahiliani, whose designs are worn by celebrities like Alia Bhatt, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sonam Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan among others, are heavily sought-after. In our exclusive conversation, he discusses the changes in the post-pandemic ethnic scene of fashion, his partnership with Aditya Birla Group, being a part of the Vogue Wedding Show, the country’s most exclusive luxury wedding exhibition showcasing India’s top wedding couture with this year’s edition in a special digital avatar and much more. Read the edited excerpts:

How To Maximize Your Mind

Stress. Distractions. Constant change. The past year has drained our brains—and now it’s time to regain our sharpness. World-renowned brain coach Jim Kwik shows you how.

Is Indian Market Ripe For Alternate Meat-Revolution?

Several foodtech startups are gearing to take a bite of the fast-growing alternate-meat sector

EDUCATION'S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Some HEIs and Elite Schools Being Early-Adopters of Tech, Smoothly Transition To Online Education CBSEflags issues before hybrid model becomes a nation-wide reality; HEIs implement incremental tech capabilities

BEYOND CHALK AND TALK

EDUCATION CONCLAVE & AWARDS

The Man behind India's Most Valued Startup

BYJU RAVEENDRAN, CEO AND FOUNDER, BYJU'S

Unbundling Unacademy

My Zoom Call with Gaurav Munjal, who is in Dubai at the time of this call is 15 minutes late and starts as soon as he finishes one of his investor meetings over Zoom for another fundraise. The pandemic has brought new learning methods even for investors as the edtech market brought an unprecedented change. Valued at $2 Billion in November 2020 in their last investment round, Unacademy is upping the game, as I pen down this story another edtech leader has been declared the most valuable startup in the country making edtech the most efficacious of all. Read on to know what this unicorn can teach you about the changing lesson plan in edtech.

Turning Up The Heat On Toxic Culture

Three things you can do right now to improve organisational culture. One of the irritating things about good culture is that it’s difficult to achieve. Uniting everyone around a common mission is no mean feat. There’s lots to stand in its way – much of it related to human nature. As a founder and leader of ad industry businesses,a sector with a reputation for toxic culture, I have a long-term interest in working out ways todissipate the heat. Here’s my top three.

My Summer Reading

Life books

Top 3 Cool Products of 2021

The year 2021 has seen several new integrations in terms of people’s lifestyle, the technology used, and much more. While lockdown and isolation have been stressful with the pandemic, we sure have developed a habit of ordering innovative and interesting products online and finding good use in something cool. Some cool products have surfaced in this duration, and you might want to get your hands on them.

How 1 Ex-Cognizantand 3 former ZOHO Employees Went On To Create A Unicorn

In April 2021, Chargebee raised $125 million in Series G round, almost tripling its valuation to $1.4 billion

Books Our Best Companion

I generally prefer to read articles instead of books. However, there are a few books that have been an influence on my personal and professional life. In their unique ways, these books encourage a thoughtful, human-centric philosophy for work and life. I have also found, as is often relayed in these books, that small steps, well-executed by purpose-driven leadership can bring about momentous change. On the personal side, this reinforces the power of empathy. The ability to construct conscious lives and value-based businesses requires us, first and foremost, to have both compassion and appreciation for people and the planet.

What Does the SPAC Buzz Mean for Indian Startups

SPAC or Special Purpose Acquisition Company is fast becoming a preferred route for startups to list on the US bourses, but a tough regulatory landscape pose challenges After a failed attempt at an IPO and losing billions of dollars two years back, WeWork is finally going public again. Has the office-space sharing company’s finances changed for the better this time? Nobody knows. Instead, the company has taken a different route to reach the stock markets: SPACs.

TECH- LEADERSHIP SEARCH MAGICIAN

2021 is a year full of hopes for start-ups as they look to increase the revenue generation and try to keep their venture on an upward growth trajectory. 2020 was a year full of ups and downs. The lockdown proved to be an obstacle in the growth of these start-ups as the economy slumped and almost everything came to a standstill. After the upliftment of the restrictions and the lockdown itself, things started picking up pace again and there was rapid development for the start-ups not to forget, many new start-ups came to the fore. The start-ups got fresh funding and with those funding one of their main targets was to broaden the employee base and hire in key technology and leadership roles. Edtech, E-commerce, software-as-a-service (SaaS) and Fintech have gained significant scale and are on the lookout for talent who can initiate an even more aggressive growth model.

Think Like a Disruptor

If you want to shake things up, you must have a mindset that’s different from everyone else’s. Here are three ways to reshape your thinking.

WILL YOU WALK TO WORK?

With the outbreak of Covid-19, the ensuing security risks and administrative challenges of a largely remote working office culture have proven to be daunting to employees and organizations alike. Providing a solution to ease this, using coworking spaces and workspaces which allow users to book a place to work from near their homes is expected to see a rise. The Government norms around occupancy for private offices are not expected to become lenient any soon. However, industries such as Banking, Financial Services, Insurance and many more carry huge data security risks which cannot be secured by employees at their homes. This month at Entrepreneur, we analyze how well prepared are coworking spaces to provide COVID-safe and security-enabled spaces near homes, thereby providing the same atmosphere, amenities and cyber security that an entity would have given at its own facility. Will this be the new future of work?