Entrepreneurship

‘Get out of the Boardroom, says Facebook Shareholders to Mark Zuckerberg’

Posted on by LiveitupSoul

When Facebook shareholders say that Mark Zuckerberg lacks the trait to lead the corporate governance, the reaction of Zuck would have been, What. . . ??

That’s true.!

A group of shareholders are pressurising  Facebook Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to give up his position as chairman of the board. You can imagine how it feels like to be scolded by the shareholders of the company you have formed by employing each and everything you have.

The proposal was led by SumOfUs, an online campaign platform which it claims is committed to curb the growing power of corporations.
A statement released by them said: “In our view, shareholder value is enhanced by an independent board chair who can provide a balance of power between the CEO and the board and support strong board leadership. Independent board leadership is sorely needed at Facebook following the board’s decision in 2016 to approve a new capital structure which reduced the rights of Class A shareholders without requiring a majority vote of those shareholders.”
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This is something likely to happen when someone proposes to donate 99% of the wealth. But this would also mean giving up voting control over Facebook. So, in a bid to keep Zuckerberg in control, during the company’s shareholder meeting in June, participants were asked to vote on a proposal to issue Class C shares.  It was later approved by the shareholders. The creation of the Class C shares would allow Zuckerberg to sell the non-voting stock, but keep the voting Class A and Class B shares that would let him retain control of Facebook.
Woah !! This is too much man. How the world show its real colors revolving around the money.
Hang around for more details.

“ If you’re still poor at 35, you deserve it! ” – Jack Ma

Posted on by LiveitupSoul

“You are poor because you have no ambition.”

The article starts off with a smack on your face. If you have not been getting results in your life, subject yourself to successful speakers that “smacks” you awake. Life is too short to allow comforted words (“comfortable is good”,”im contented and happy”, etc) to cheat you through it. I love having successful people be real that and tell you as it is. It wakes you up and remind you not to be pampered like a baby. That is why i love listening to Grant Cardone and now, Jack Ma. If you get offended by him, it doesn’t matter to him at all because he is already (way up) at the top, but absorb what he has to say and make it a constant reminder to yourself that you got to wake up and not sleep through adult life. Let’s continue with his whipping..

“Jack Ma: People lose out in life because of these 4 reasons:

  1. Being myopic to opportunity
  2. Looking down on opportunities
  3. Lacking understanding
  4. Failing to act quickly enough”

Here comes the biggest smacking.

  • You are poor because you do not have the desire to become successful.
  • You are poor because you lack foresight.
  • You are poor because you cannot overcome your cowardice.
  • You are poor because you lack the courage and determination.
  • With ambition you can overcome all inferiority and maximise your potential!
  • With ambition you can persevere, continuously learn new things and strive for perfection.
  • With ambition you can defy all odds, and create miracles when others daren’t.

No matter how poor your family is, do not doubt your own abilities and lose sight of your ambition.

  • When your family deems you worthless, no one will pity you.
  • When your parents do not have money to pay the medical bills, no one will pity you.
  • When you are beaten by your competitors, no one will pity you.
  • When your loved ones abandon you, no one will pity you.
  • When you have not accomplished anything by the time you are 35, no one will pity you.

“Go big, or go home. Otherwise, you’re wasting your youth.”

Source : https://vulcanpost.com/7702/jack-ma-youre-still-poor-35-deserve/

Hang up for more interesting insights in the Startup ecosystem.

@IgnitingEntrepreneurs

“Find” a vision. Not “have” a vision.

Posted on by LiveitupSoul

While walking one day on this never ending journey to create Impact and make this world a better place, a realization came that there should be a destination or a point where the journey should be headed towards. This gut feeling had helped in seeking a ‘Vision’ through introspection or also known as ‘Swadhyaya’, which added beautiful landscapes on the path.

For some reason, there is this standard in business that has emerged that we all have to “have” a vision. Some big, bold, change-the-world Steve-Jobsian vision. Not only is that totally unrealistic, it’s a lot of stress for the vast majority of us who aren’t Steve Jobs.

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I am more comfortable declaring that we should all find a vision. How can you proceed a journey whose destination is defined by some other traveler ?

And the big question is, will you really enjoy ?

There are definitely visionaries out there—people who have a sense of a different future and the ability to express it. If we like their vision, then we can choose to follow them or their vision. Their vision becomes ours and we can use it to navigate our choices.

It is just as inspiring to follow a vision that resonates with us as it is to have our own. Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Branson, Warren Buffett and Elon Musk all expressed their visions and did things that inspired others to follow them. Some of their followers bought their products. Some of their followers joined their organizations. Some of their followers were simply inspired by one of these leaders and did things to help contribute to the vision. Regardless—all these followers found a vision and chose to follow it. They didn’t have to come up with one themselves.

And here’s the best part—it’s the followers, not the visionary, who bring the vision to life. Visionaries need followers as much as followers need a vision.

So . . . who inspires you?

Keep finding new things, new tastes of life will emerge 🙂 

 

@IgnitingEntrepreneurs

 

 

Food tech is back on the Menu for VCs

Posted on by LiveitupSoul

Food tech startups, just like those fun breakfast cereals for kids, come in different shapes. From online restaurants to restaurant delivery partners, food tech in India seems to be defined as any technology that helps satiate hunger. In fact, it remained a buzzword throughout 2015, attracting over $463 million in investments across 50 deals.

Unfortunately, things took a dramatic turn early this year. Many startups found themselves starving — for funds. They couldn’t get seconds.

The all-you-can-eat-buffet got over a little early and the founders found themselves in a pickle. Quite unpalatable indeed.

But what happened?

Turns out, for the investors, it was a fad diet — one that showed results in the short term, but caused much harm in the long run with unhealthy and unbalanced habits. It seemed food tech was toast; with shutdowns, lay-offs and distress sales becoming frequent.

In retrospect, it wasn’t all that surprising. In the fad diet phase, the recommended daily allowances of investment and valuations were based on fishy business models and research data, smudged beneath globs of ketchup.

Many food tech startups were focused exclusively on tackling different challenges in the supply chain (minus the production). The most important part of the experience— food, and food quality, was never the focus.

Companies didn’t realize that packaging, logistics, delivery and customer acquisition count for nothing if the quality of food is found to be lacking. That it was far more important to own the entire experience.

Is there a secret sauce?

Virtual restaurants will need to build out the logistics network to win in the long run, because they can understand eating preferences better, optimize logistics and reduce delivery times. The problem is the high capital costs. But that also presents a massive opportunity for startups that blur the line between freshly cooked meals and packaged foods, using a subscription model to reduce their barriers to entry in this highly competitive market.

What’s Cooking Now?

There’s a new crop of startups which focus on food production, and whose offerings are based on cutting edge studies by some real smart cookies (aka top scientists & university researchers) backed by business models that Pepsico would have been proud to call their own.

This year is seeing quite a few innovative core food tech companies mushrooming with healthy valuations in the US — the likes of Impossible Foods, Soylent, Nootrobox and Chapul are whetting our appetite and leaving investors craving for more.

Perhaps food tech is back on the menu for many VCs. And why not? Who wouldn’t want a piece of this $40 billion pie. There is a considerable market for health foods and food services and it is growing fast. Plus, the nutritional content of these new age food startups is quite high and investors are happy to put their money where their mouth is.

Some food for thought…

People want to lead healthier lives, and are actively prioritising their well-being. People also know their onions when it comes to fitness — thanks to an explosion of information on the web, coupled with countless fitness apps/devices to egg them on. This trend is definitely not a fad. Indeed we are witnessing a cultural shift. And it’s there for the taking.

However, although people are more aware, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are more active. People look for shortcuts. Meaning they want to exercise smarter (workout for smaller duration and expect the same benefits) or when they don’t exercise, to not feel guilty about the calorie intake. Food tech can address both use cases and plenty more.

Proof of the pudding is in the eating!

There are a few core food tech companies in India in this space — mostly limited to fitness bars with the exception of SupermealX — which claims to be a solution (quite literally!) to help you stop skipping breakfasts, address hunger pangs healthily, and avoid empty calories.

The problem with fitness bars and Soylent-type solutions is that it’s a crowded market, and it’s difficult to stand out. That model needs a constant push to delight customers with newness (flavours) and improved technologies. And liquid diets might not be everyone’s — you & I — cup of tea.

Here’s another use case. Hardcore meat-eaters who want to go on a vegan diet but are looking for high-protein substitutes. For these folks, there is a need for an engineered product that sounds like, “Wait, a plant-based food bar that has the texture and flavor of beef /pork /chicken and is environmentally friendly?”, that makes them go, “Shut up and take my money!”. That solution will also work for the 29% vegetarian population in the country, who can finally know what meat tastes like and also end all the fuss.

And then there is 3D printed food and vertical farming technologies that come under food tech, but is relatively unexplored in India.

Whatever the use case, the time is right to spice things up in food tech! But the recipe for success will always remain the same — providing quality food, coupled with amazing service and a superlative experience.

@Igniting entrepreneurs

Courtesy- Praveen Rajaretna

Israeli startup 2breathe wins CES Innovation Award – Igniting Entrepreneurs

Posted on by LiveitupSoul

Device and app help induce sleep in those who seek it by combining therapeutic breathing with cloud technology.

The sleep inducer 2breathe Technologies has won the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Innovation award in the fitness, sports and biotech product category.

The CES Innovation Awards is an annual competition that recognizes “outstanding design and engineering” in new consumer technology products, according to their website. The CES, held in January in Las Vegas, is the world’s largest trade show for consumer technology and America’s largest annual trade show.

Entries for the award are evaluated on their engineering, aesthetic and product design qualities, intended use and user value, unique features, and how the innovation of the product directly compares to other products in the marketplace.

2breathe is an Israeli invention, a smart device and mobile app which induces sleep via guided breathing. The system both helps users fall asleep and tracks their sleeping patterns, without the use of pharmaceuticals.

fallasleepUsers wear a small sensor around their torso held in place by an elastic strap. The device, which sells for around $180 with a 60-day guarantee, monitors breathing patterns by detecting pressure on the sensor as users inhale and exhale, and the information is relayed to a smartphone using Bluetooth.

The 2breathe app guides clients toward relaxing breathing patterns using customized musical tones. It is meant to combine the ancient wisdom of therapeutic breathing with modern, cloud-based technology, the company has said.

The patented technology grew out of the company’s first product RESPeRATE, the only FDA approved, American Heart Association recommended device to reduce blood pressure simply by breathing. Invented by Dr. Benny Gavish, RESPeRATE is used by over 250,000 people worldwide.

When users reported that RESPeRATE also improved their sleep, Gavish and his son Erez, now CEO of 2breathe, adapted the technology for those with sleep issues.

“It’s a huge honor to win this award and validates the importance of health and sleep for the tech industry. At the conference, the response to 2breathe was overwhelming.

“When the folks setting up the exhibit and waiters are asking you to save them a sample before the show begins, you know you’re on to something big,” Erez Gavish said.About “164 million Americans struggle with sleep at least once a week,” Gavish said.

 

“While this is not terribly surprising given modern day work schedules and life stresses, it’s an urgent problem given the significant toll sleeplessness has our health. Our goal at 2breathe is to help people find relief by actually inducing sleep through the ancient wisdom of guided breathing so they can get the rest they need.”

 

Igniting Entrepreneurs is focusing on the success rate of Israeli startups as their innovation lies beyond the World’s innovation. They are much focused on solving the problems, world is facing which becomes the reason for their success.

Join our community and get insights from all over the world on Entrepreneurship. We incubate, accelerate, invest and ignite your growth. Visit & sign up at fb.com/ignitingentrepreneurs

 

Obama proposes ‘startup visas’ for entrepreneurs to start companies in the U.S

Posted on by LiveitupSoul

We all are going through the pieces of content stating that a new proposal is presented by Obama led government in the favor of entrepreneurs. Let us have a clear understanding of what we are hearing.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is publishing the White House’s International Entrepreneur Rule. The program grants temporary visas to startup founders from other countries if their companies meet certain requirements, like financing from U.S. investors.

The report published by the U.S Citizenship and Immigration services (USCIS).

“America’s economy has long benefitted from the contributions of immigrant entrepreneurs, from Main Street to Silicon Valley,” said Director León Rodríguez. “This proposed rule, when finalized, will help our economy grow by expanding immigration options for foreign entrepreneurs who meet certain criteria for creating jobs, attracting investment and generating revenue in the U.S.”

 

To qualify for what the White House calls “startup visas,” entrepreneurs must own at least 15 percent of a U.S. startup, and demonstrate the company’s growth potential, investments from qualified American investors, and “significant public benefit to the United States.”

The rule would allow entrepreneurs that fit those requirements to stay in the U.S. for up to two years. They could then apply for an additional three years if the company shows continued growth and benefit to the American public (like increases in capital investment, job creation, or revenue).

The administrative reforms announced by the President in November 2014, if fully implemented, could boost the nation’s economic output by up to $250 billion, while shrinking the federal deficit by $65 billion over the next ten years.  – Tom Kalil (White House Deputy Director of Tech and Innovation)

Big brands like Microsoft, Amazon or other tech cos., rely heavily on H1-B visas to bring skilled workers from other countries into the U.S. It works only for people migrating to this country to work for established companies but this will open up possibilities for entrepreneurs to start their own businesses in the U.S., and that was a change welcomed by many tech and startup-oriented groups.

We welcome this initiative and also apply our efforts to nurture more and more startups. This will also boost the synergical impact in the Entrepreneurship world that has been spreaded through the endless efforts by our community –  Igniting Entrepreneurs.

http://www.fb.com/ignitingEntrepreneurs

 

Must read story of a man who made 43000 Crore from nothing

Posted on by LiveitupSoul

The inspirational stories of fight against odds, unbelievable struggle and extraordinary success are always popular. But few stories make the space that can not be occupied by others. Few stories become inspiration  for generations.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was the son of an upper-middle-class dentist. Bill Gates was a millionaire before he started Microsoft in 1975. Google founder Larry Page’s parents were both professors; Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s father was a professor and his mother was a NASA researcher. But the man we are talking about is the only son of a construction labourer.

The story of 39 year old Jan Koum(as of 2015), is inspiration for the current generation on internet entrepreneurs. A man who did not have hot water facility at his home, the man who cleaned the floors of a grocery store at the age of 16, the man who stood in the que for collecting food stamps, is now a Silicon Valley badshah.

He owns an asset of more than rupees “430000000000”, as of May 2015. It is U.S. $ 6.8 billion which accounts to more than rupees 43 thousand crore Indian Rupees.

Jan Koum is man behind a product used by 800 million users( as of April 2015) globally. He is the man behind the most popular messaging app “WhatsApp Messenger”.

The story of Jan Koum is worth reading and learning. Jan was born and raised in a village on the outskirts of Kiev, Ukraine. He was the only child to his parents, his mother was a housewife and father was an ordinary construction labourer.

He belonged to a family miles away from technical innovations and science. His family rarely talked on phone because they believed that phone are recorded by the state(government). Jan practically had nothing to ignite his passion for technology.

Koum once said to Forbes “he still pines for the rural life,” he told Wired that life was rough: “It was so run-down that our school didn’t even have an inside bathroom,” he said. “Imagine the Ukrainian winter, -20°C, where little kids have to stroll across the parking lot to use the bathroom. Society was extremely closed off: you can read 1984, but living there was experiencing it.”

Prompted by the unstable political environment in Ukraine — students were regularly questioned for mocking politicians in class — and increasing anti-Semitism in the Ukraine, Koum and his mother moved to Mountain View, California, when he was 16. Short on cash, the two stayed in a modest two-bedroom apartment on government assistance. Koum’s father, who died in 1997, never made it to Mountain View. Koum’s mother worked as a babysitter to make ends meet, while he swept the floor of a grocery store. Later, when his mother was diagnosed with cancer, they lived off her disability payments. (Koum’s mother died in 2000.)

An indifferent student, Koum, who didn’t have a computer until age 19, taught himself computer networking from a manual he bought at a used bookstore and later returned. Koum attended San Jose State University and worked part-time as a security tester for accounting firm Ernst & Young. Part of the work involved inspecting Yahoo’s advertising system, a task that prompted Koum to cross paths with Brian Acton, who later became his business partner.

Koum worked with Yahoo for nine long years, on October 31, 2007, at a saving of $ 4,00,000( appr. Rs.25,00,000 as of May 2015), he thought of of freeing up for some time. In the next one year, he did not do much but the developments in his life paved the path for him.

In 2009, Koum bought an iPhone, he could not use his iPhone in the gymnasium as their policies did not allow it. He started using Skype while in gym but frequently forgot his password. By this time, he had decided  to create an app that worked seamlessly on one’s iPhone by using a phone number for identification. Koum convinced Brian Acton and started working on “WhatsApp”.

They both were looking better employment opportunities simultaneously, by this time they both were turned down by Facebook. Brian Acton was turned down by Twitter too.

Around that time, the founders got a small group of former Yahoo employees to pool $250,000 in seed money. Early days were the stuff of startup legend. The company leased space in the same building as Evernote, which later took over the whole space and kicked them out. The office furniture was cheap stuff from IKEA and employees wore blankets when it got cold. In early 2010, WhatsApp was bringing in about $5,000 a month. Things steadily improved until the company’s breakthrough year, 2011, when WhatsApp hit the top 20 in Apple’s App Store.

Since then, there has been no looking back. Till 2014, WhatsApp made such a big impact that Mark Zuckerberg had send a friends request to Koum. Now when Koum is a billionaire, he still has not forgot his past. When he signed the deal with Facebook, he chose the same social services building as the venue where he stood in a queue to collect food stamps.

Startup- 5 Step Action Plan for Entrepreneurs!

Posted on by LiveitupSoul

“It’s all about the priorities along with the ‘Will’, how faithful and dedicated a person is, defines the intensity of success in a startup” 

Starting up a venture or initiating something on your own gives immense pleasure and the feeling of satisfaction. Whether it is successful or not successful, but yes! It gives the strength to the character of a person. The startup leader wears many different hats to perform variety of jobs and in the end he is a skilled man, who is different from the 90% crowd who haven’t even tried.

It takes determination with fortitude to leave a well paying job to pursue the dreams and taking risk to start a venture. These people are unique in themselves and have their own kind of respect in the minds of people around them. Some of these brave people have shared their views and experiences for those who are on their way to become an entrepreneur, let us have a look on it.

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1. Research, Research and more Research : 

If you are about to or have already left your job, then you would have already set the eyes on some problem or an opportunity that you want to address. But even before you write a line of business plan or code make sure you spend considerable amounts of time to validate your idea. Talking to your expected target audience, your customers and stakeholders, and conducting on-ground research definitely deserves top priority, instead of jumping headfirst into building a product, or a deck for that matter.

As a startup, you will encounter many barriers and challenges, and the only way around them is to know your stuff- better than anyone else. Unbiased information from candid potential customers and users will either give you further validation or help you alter some of your visions accordingly. Either way, it’s a win-win situation.

2. Dividing the Ultimate Purpose into actionable goals, with deadlines:

The thing to remember is that you are now in the driver’s seat- so drive responsibly!  It is not like the corporate job, where we expect the manager to draw up a vision . Creating a vision is our own responsibility here, also the vision(ultimate purpose) needs to be broken down into realistic goals along with a deadline to keep a watch on ourselves.

Building a ‘plan of action’ document with resource allocations and deadlines is the key to effectively building and running a business. The action items need to be realistic and should be achievable with your existing or future team. For the progress of startup, the target dates are considerably important to ensure the unnecessary energy and resources exhaustion.

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3. Focus on Sales:

‘Constantly work on building relationships and the sales revenue will automatically improve.’

It can be all too easy to get stuck in a romantic view of the business when one is doing what he/she loves, forgetting the fact that it also needs to be profitable. Every single day, the focus must be there to generate the revenues. The founders must not ignore this fact at least till the time they are not having a sales team, even if they have a sales team, they are the “Chief Convincing Officer”. 

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4. Don’t over-burn, or it will burn your startup:

Make sure not to succumb to worldly desires during this whole period because it will only put you in an unpleasant situation later on. No matter how much money you have in the bank- always think efficient and effective. Get an old aircon or laptop even if it has a few months of life left, instead of buying new ones; and make sure never to waste any energy/electricity. Never block capital.

5. Don’t be hasty:

You must learn not to rush things, because success takes time. Patience and determination is extremely important. Don’t drive too fast thinking it will make the road shorter. Feeling pressured into doing things too fast is what should be avoided at all times. Endure and persevere, because if you simply hurry things, it will impact negatively on the work. Ironically, if you push things too soon it may only take you farther away from your goals.

To sum up, if one approaches this path sensibly, responsibly and maturely, starting up can be a priceless experience. Unfortunately, it can’t be learnt sitting in a classroom or enrolling in an online entrepreneurship course.

Hard work pays off all the time, so no matter what your next day or week throws at you, don’t ever give up hope. Leave no stone unturned and keeping pushing hard to see your vision transform into reality. There will be days that will leave you unnerved, but then take a moment to remember the dream you had, long before all this happened, and stay true to it. Trust yourself, it will work !

Keep going ! All the best !

Lessons from Entrepreneurs who fell to rise !

Posted on by LiveitupSoul

As the saying goes, “the best way to learn is to learn from failures” and if from other’s failures, then we are defending ourselves to fall.

“Business is an art as well as a science.”

It’s a matter of practical experience, judgment, foresight and luck. To be successful in business, the mastery is necessary in basics. Luckily, all business skills are learnable. One can learn anything which is needed to learn, from other’s failures or the obstacles they have faced in their journey. There are no limits–except the limits you place on your own imagination.

There are three major reasons why businesses fail: lack of money, lack of knowledge and lack of support.

So what are the essentials of business success? There are key areas of activity that determine whether your business will thrive or die:

1. Marketing- It is the backbone of every business, enable to determine and sell the right product to the right customer at the right time.

2. Finance- For every business, whether expansion budget or Working capital this pillar plays a vital role. There must be sufficient funds before launching any venture, “half investment is equal to high probability of failure”.

3. Production- The ability to produce products and services at a high enough level of quality and consistency over time.

4. Distribution- The ability to get your product or service to the market in a timely and economic fashion.

5. Research and development- The ability to continually innovate and produce new products, services, processes and responses to your competition.

6. Regulation- The ability to deal with the requirements of government legislation at all levels.

7. Labor- The ability to find the people you need, deal with unions, establish personnel policies, training and organizational development.

 

RTG2- IE blog

 

From the above list, we will now define some specific reasons for business success –

  1. Solving a Problem – Having a product or service that’s well suited to the needs and requirements of the current market.
  2. Business Plan – Developing a complete business plan before commencing business operations.
  3. Market Study/Analysis – Conducting a complete market analysis before producing or offering the product or service.
  4. Strategy -Thoroughly developing advertising, promotional and sales programs.
  5. Financials – Establishing tight financial controls, good budgeting practices, accurate bookkeeping and accounting methods, all backed by an attitude of frugality.
  6. Resources – Ensuring that there’s a high degree of competence, capability and integrity on the part of key staff members.
  7. Responsibilities – Having good internal efficiency, time management, clear job descriptions, accompanied by clear and measurable output and responsibilities.
  8. Effective communication – Among the staff and an open-door policy for managers, especially the business’s owner.
  9. Focus – Generating strong momentum in the sales department and placing a continued emphasis on marketing your product or service.
  10. Customer is the king – Making concern for the customer a top priority at all times
    Putting determination, persistence and patience at the top of the list on the part of the business owners.

    So now you know the essentials of business success and the factors responsible for the company’s growth and success !

    The above points are the experiences of the entrepreneurs who did not succeed in their Ventures, by focusing on the weaknesses an entrepreneur can succeed but for that the acceptance is needed.

    All the best !

 

@Igniting EntrepreneursOfficial