Knowledge@Wharton -- Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs Meena and K. Ganesh: Looking for the Next Disruptive Business Model

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:10:24 EST

Meena and K. Ganesh are India's best-known entrepreneur couple. Over the past two decades, between them they have built and exited four successful ventures at a total valuation of US$300 million. Currently strategic investors in five e-commerce start-ups, the couple is also contemplating a new venture in retail health care delivery. In an interview with India Knowledge@Wharton, the duo said that they are "looking for the next disruptive model using technology and the Internet."

MokshaYug Access: Providing Opportunities and Income for India's Rural Poor

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:42:24 EST

India is the largest producer of milk in the world, but its yield per cow is extremely low. MokshaYug Access (MYA), a Bangalore-based rural supply chain solutions company, is educating farmers on best practices in dairy farming and animal husbandry, and helping them to increase the yield, as well as improve the quality of milk. With deep farmer engagement, a strong R&D focus and market access, MYA leadership say they can provide income certainty for the rural poor. Experts tell India Knowledge@Wharton that MYA could be a new role model for the dairy segment.

MyndGenie: Taking Mental Fitness to the Masses

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 10:45:45 EST

MyndGenie, a Bangalore-based start-up, is offering phone-based coaching for mental fitness. Its objective is to make the techniques of behavioral sciences simple, accessible and affordable enough to be offered as a consumer service. But, in a country where any coaching to do with the mind has an element of stigma attached to it and is viewed with suspicion, can MyndGenie weave its magic? Experts tell India Knowledge@Wharton that MyndGenie's biggest challenge is in articulating its value proposition and breaking through this mindset.

Spurred by Economic Liberalization, India's Entrepreneurs Grow Increasingly Youthful

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 12:29:36 EST

The two decades of India’s economic liberalization have seen the country pass through a number of ups and downs. In his book, Boar in Boots: A Business Travelogue, Parthasarathi Swami, managing editor of India Knowledge@Wharton and Business India magazine, takes readers on a journey through these years. The book gives the views of industrialists who have been in the thick of the battles, entrepreneurs who have braved the new world and academics who have studied the process of liberalization. Leavening it are the author’s own views. The book is scheduled for release this month.

Menu and Restaurant Listing Sites Search for Scale in India

Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:12:10 EST

Even amid a general economic slowdown, the restaurant sector is booming in India. Internet businesses such as menu card and review listing companies Zomato and burrp! are riding the boom. But will their business models work? The key, experts tell India Knowledge@Wharton, is in having appropriate product differentiation and building sustainable revenue streams.

GE�s Gopichand Katragadda: Building Capacity to Solve India's Toughest Problems

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 09:58:25 EST

The John F. Welch Technology Center in Bangalore is General Electric’s (GE's) largest research and development center worldwide. Earlier this year, Dr. Gopichand (Gopi) Katragadda, who has been with GE for 10 years, took over as managing director of this center. In a conversation with India Knowledge@Wharton, Katragadda talks about his priorities for the center, global trends in research and innovation, and the direction in which India needs to move.

In a Quake's Wake, Hunnarshala Builds Homes -- and Entrepreneurs

Thu, 31 May 2012 09:51:59 EST

The devastating earthquake in Gujarat in 2001 brought death and misery to many. It also brought Hunnarshala, a nonprofit that was established to help people rebuild homes -- and lives. By preferring local materials, such as mud, stone and wicker, the organization has given a boost to local artisans and entrepreneurs. Hunnarshala has also expanded to deploy its disaster-management skills to stricken areas all over the world.

HarVa: Creating Value within Rural India

Thu, 17 May 2012 10:01:34 EST

HarVa, a social enterprise, believes that it is a huge mistake to treat rural India as a consumerist economy. Instead, what is needed is to create value within that sector. Experts say that HarVa is on the right track, but they warn that given India’s diversity, a flexible approach is required. Scaling the organization could be also a challenge.

Shaadi.com�s Anupam Mittal: A Bachelor Finds Success as an Online Matchmaker

Fri, 11 May 2012 10:29:46 EST

Anupam Mittal is founder and CEO of shaadi.com, the world’s “oldest and most successful” online matrimonial service. Shaadi.com recently celebrated its 15th anniversary. In an interview with India Knowledge@Wharton, Mittal discusses his journey and his dream of matching 1,000 people every day.

A 'B-school' in India Reaches out to Rural Women

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:59:18 EST

The Mann Deshi Business School in India is a unique initiative: It seeks to provide rural, illiterate women with business and management skills, and to help them become entrepreneurs. In the past six years, the school has empowered 40,000 rural women. It aims to reach 100,000 women by 2015. Experts tell India Knowledge@Wharton that the challenge lies in scaling the organization effectively and making it financially sustainable.

Vijay Govindarajan: How Reverse Innovation Can Change the World

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:32:48 EST

During his two-year stint at General Electric, Vijay Govindarajan, now a professor of international business at Dartmouth College, gained insights that led him to become a pioneer in developing the concept of reverse innovation. In an interview with India Knowledge@Wharton, Govindarajan shares his thoughts on what is driving reverse innovation and how it can change the world.

Can YES Bank, India's Youngest and Fastest-growing Bank, Be a Model for Newer Entrants?

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:26:16 EST

Banking is fundamentally a simple business: You borrow money at a low rate of interest and lend it out at a higher rate. And yet so many financial institutions -- in India and across the globe -- have proved unsustainable. YES Bank, one of the beneficiaries of the Reserve Bank of India's new licenses in 2004, seems to have bucked the trend and has an ambitious plan for growth. But the institution's exposure to some troubled companies and sectors could be a roadblock, observers say, and YES will have to become more aggressive and react even faster to get ahead of some of its larger competitors.

Snapdeal's Kunal Bahl on Creating a 'Discovery Platform' for Indian Consumers

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:42:11 EST

In less than two years, Snapdeal, a group discounting site in India, has grown to become one of the leading e-commerce sites in the country. According to co-founder Kunal Bahl, deals are only an entry point into the customer’s life. The vision, he says, is to build a brand that participates in consumers' lives every day, across product and service categories.

Ignighter�s Adam Sachs: Making an Impact on India's Dating -- and Start-up -- Scene

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:30:37 EST

India wasn't even on Adam Sachs's radar when he and two friends founded Ignighter, a dating site that allows users to organize group dates. But the site quickly attracted the most traffic from India and other Asian countries, where one-on-one dates are still not the norm and young people going out in coed groups is more widely accepted. Ignighter has now turned its focus to India and recently set up an office there. In an interview with India Knowledge@Wharton, Sachs discussed the company's growth plans and how it is negotiating the ins and outs of navigating India's cultural landscape.

Husk Power Systems: Generating Electricity from Waste for India�s Rural Poor

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:56:51 EST

Entrepreneurs Gyanesh Pandey and Ratnesh Yadav have designed a system that generates electricity out of rice husk, a waste material. Their company, Husk Power Systems, is providing power to more than 35,000 rural households in Bihar, a state where around 85% of the population does not have access to reliable electricity. Pandey and Yadav are hoping to light up one million households by 2014. Experts are bullish about the company, but warn that scaling up operations will not be easy.

Stylitics: Mining Data from Fashion

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:42:41 EST

Would you trust a computer to design your wardrobe? The co-founders of Stylitics, a start-up that combines fashion with the burgeoning field of analytics, hope the answer is yes. But the company's strategy is as much about attracting corporate clients as it is about building a community of fashionistas. Stylitics employs an analytics platform to track and gain insights from users' clothing choices and purchase behaviors. With the right mix of users, the firm is hoping to become an alternative to the fragmented and often out-of-date market research that retailers have traditionally used to identify trends.

In Kashmir, Entrepreneurs and Educators Preach Optimism and Self-Reliance

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:10:02 EST

Violence has long plagued India's troubled Kashmir Valley. But a new crop of local entrepreneurs and educators are working to reach a generation of young Kashmiris hoping to be a part of India's remarkable growth story. There remains a strong local belief that government jobs are the best in providing stability. Yet a recent report found many young Kashmiris are interested in entrepreneurship, and there is rising interest in pursuing an MBA. One entrepreneur, Abdul Hamid Bhat, is on a mission to promote private enterprise and reduce an over-reliance on the government sector.

India Equity�s Steven Wisch: Creating a Business Environment with the Best of Both Worlds

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:10:02 EST

During his first stint in India, Steven Wisch, founder and managing partner of private equity firm India Equity Partners, was struck by the quality of the entrepreneurs there, even though at the time it was “a very tough place to do business.” In a conversation with India Knowledge@Wharton, Wisch discussed the lingering challenges and frustrations of the Indian market and what Indian companies and managers have to offer the world.

Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Succession: India's Changing Business Landscape

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 11:05:18 EST

With so many Indian multinationals increasing operations outside the country, many in the business community are asking if India is preparing to remain competitive in the changing economic ecosystem. Does India have the resources, structures and innovation it needs to meet the challenges of the coming decade? What are the opportunities for first-time entrepreneurs in the country? At the 15^th Wharton India Economic Forum, leaders of global corporations and first-time entrepreneurs discussed these and other questions, offering advice to those hoping to make their mark.

NextWealth: Creating a Next Wave in India's IT and BPO Industry

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 10:19:22 EST

The biggest challenge facing the Indian IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is a continued supply of trained manpower. NextWealth Entrepreneurs believes that the solution lies in partnering with local entrepreneurs to create employment opportunities in the small cities and rural areas that have a large resource pool. Experts agree with this strategy, but caution that there will be operational challenges and note that convincing customers will not be easy.