Category Archives: Startup

How to know if your idea is worth starting up?

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When you are ready to take your idea forward, the first thing you will need to work on is finding your true clients who buy into your idea.

How do you get real time data to see if you truly have a path breaking idea?

The first thing you do is set up a website (choose the best and the easiest domain name which represents your idea). Setting up a website these days does not cost much and you can register a domain and setup a landing page for not more than Rs.1,000 (~$20).

On this page, provide information of your idea and ask people to register for knowing more details. For this, simply use Google Forms.

Start spreading out the word about your startup. Add a link to your website in your email signature and keep posting on Social Media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc)

Monitor the signups. If you are not getting as many as you expected, then either the message is not reaching the right audience or people are not interested.

You will need to identify metrics to evaluate what the exact reason is. Once you have the right kind of data, then evaluate if your idea is worth taking it forward or not.

After people signup, send an email blast (use services like TinyLetter) to all your subscribers and share your idea at a high level and also ask questions about what they liked in the idea and how they are going to use your end solution. Based on the feedback, start working on your idea.

After all, what is more satisfying than having people buying your product/service without even seeing it?

2 Questions before you Startup

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I don’t even want to start with the list of question you would need to answer to family, friends and yourself before you startup.

In the long list of questions, there are 2 questions which stand out and answering these two questions with clarity will help answer all the remaining one’s in a breeze.

So, what are the 2 questions?

– What is the trend of the Industry you wish to startup for the next at least 5 Years.
– Proof of your demand.

The questions are self-explanatory.

Why, What, How of Predictive Analysis in India 

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Enough is said about the Healthcare infrastructure in India. All what we have is problems. Doctor to Patient ratio is very less, Population to Hospital beds is less, Manpower is less. Everything is on a downward trend.

Healthcare startups are focusing on bridging various aspects in Healthcare – Delivering medicines, connecting Doctors, Virtual consultation, Telemedicine etc. However, there is one thing Startups are not focusing on – Preventive Care.

Why?

The answer is simple, for Preventive Care, we need data and in India, that is what we lack. We do not have historical data to predict the future. The other aspect which is worrysome is that, there are very few (countable on fingers) that are focusing on automating the care delivery. This can be attributed to not so strong Healthcare Management in India. 70% is private care and out of pocket expense and 30% is the Public model.

What?

I personally do not believe that Government has to do everything, but in the current context, Government has to focus on at least structuring the Healthcare laws and delivery model in the country. Startups should focus on data collection and developing algorithms for using this data to predict the future course of action.

How?

Hospitals are ready to work with Startups to provide the data. Initially, hospitals might not allow public sharing of the algorithms, but if the Quality of Care increases, more and more will be forced to adapt to the model.

What we need today is just one case study, which can use the existing data, utilize technology to design predictive analysis and then, the ball starts rolling.

Key ingredient for building a successful startup

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So, you have an idea and you believe this idea can change the world. You started your research and finalized on all aspects of the market viability. Congratulations.

Apart from believing in your idea and taking it to execution, there are quite a few ingredients which help with the success of your startup. The first one is Domain.

You might not know everything in running your startup and there are a lot of things which you would learn on the way. But, one thing you need to be very confident is the Domain in which your startup is going to function. Pick an idea in the domain you are comfortable and confident with. As a founder of a startup, you will need to understand all the dynamics involved in the details of your startup.

I specialize in technology and have been working in the Healthcare domain for over 12 years now. If I wish to startup, I would prefer to startup in the Healthcare domain rather than in Finance which I do not have a complete understanding.

Picking the right Domain is very important because this is where your idea is going to solve the problem and if you have a very good understanding of the domain, then the chances of success is very high.

So, which Domain are you starting up?

Personal Health Monitoring

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The hottest segment in Healthcare is proactive Health management. There are quite a few companies and startup’s focusing on providing required platform for us to begin.

Identify what you wish to track
It is very easy to be lost in identifying what you wish to track. Start with a complete Health check, identify what aspects you would need to monitor and start there. If you know you are in general Healthy, then start by monitoring your daily walking, calories burnt and exercise regime etc.

Start by setting goals – I will walk 10K steps a day or I will reduce my Carbohydrate in-take or reduce alcohol etc. Start with anything which can help you feel better and healthier.

Find the right applications/apps
Today, there are quite a few applications which can help you monitor your goals. Research on what practically suits your need and start recording using them. These motivate you and help you understand your lifestyle pattern.

Periodic evaluations of your recordings
What do you with all the recordings? At the moment, there are only few intelligent applications which integrate with your monitoring apps and help you suggest what you will need to do to achieve your goals. Also, they help you understand what you can do better.

Today, it is a stage of acceptance for the Health monitoring apps. All things you do (monitoring steps, calories burnt, food intake, workout regime etc) are mainly for you to understand how your life style has been. However, companies are partnering to share this data and Hospitals are just beginning to see your historical data to understand what your lifestyle has been.

The future of Healthcare will increasingly see more acceptance of personal Health monitoring and there by providing you guidance. Also, the day is not far when Healthcare Insurance will start using the data before they offer you better policies.

I recommend that you start today.

Is it better to start after competition?

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The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese – Anonymous.

Whenever we have a path breaking idea, the first thing we would like to see is if anyone else has done it earlier and how the response has been. At times, it is good to let your competitor start and then you follow.

Let us go back into a little history. Remember the Apple iPod? Was it truly the Apple’s invention? Creative launched a portable MP3 player which failed in the market (I still own one of them). What Apple did was learned from its competition and with their superior quality and better user interface, they not only dominated the market, but set the standard.

Your launch strategy is very important, next to the ideation process. When you develop your idea into reality, you should be very aware of the surroundings.

Many people have the question, why did this idea become successful and why not the similar one? The biggest difference is the market adaption and how the startup has strategized their presence.

At times, it is better to let your competitor start before you do or build an idea on an existing idea with improvisations.

Idea for Healthcare Startup – Mobile Diagnostic center

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Two weeks ago, unfortunately, my dad fell down at home and has a displaced hip bone. We got him admitted to an Orthopedic Hospital. They had to wait for three days to ensure all vitals are normal before they did the procedure to correct the hip bone. During these three days, the Doctor wanted to have a CT Scan done too. However, since they did not have the CT Scan equipment, we were asked to take dad to a Diagnostic lab.

During this time, it struck me as to why we do not have mobile diagnostic centers. It would have been a lot easier for us to call them and they come and get the test done at the client’s residence or any hospital. It would make life so easier for elders especially.

Can this be done? Any startup’s which are providing this kind of service?

Toughest part of Idea Execution

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Few days ago, I met with a person who left his job in the US and came back to India to start up. His family continues to live in the US and he shuttles between the two countries every six months. His idea is unique and to both of our knowledge, he does not have any threatening competition as on date. The idea is good, it is self-funded and he is good with it for some time. Since his idea is a platform to bring stakeholders together and provide service, he is doing financially fine as of now.

As we spoke, I asked him what was the toughest part of bringing his idea to reality – convincing family, Money or signing up people? He smiled and said “Marketing”.

He is correct. Having an awesome idea is just not related to the functioning of the brain and connecting with people, but to market the idea to the appropriate stakeholders.

In a startup’s context, Marketing is just not about showcasing your idea to the world, but it is the art of showcasing the idea as it connects to your potential clients.

Marketing fundamentally needs an understanding of what your client is wanting, what is the value proposition of what you are offering and how the offering is positioned.

When Radio Mirchi (98.3 FM) was born way back in 2000, the biggest challenge for them was to make listeners tune into their frequency. No one was switching on the Radio at home or in the car. At this time, Radio Mirchi focused on playing English music which was considered hip and cool. During the time slots of 7 AM – 10 AM and evening between 5 PM – 8 PM, they played English music and slowly people started tuning in to follow the trend.

When an idea is conceptualized, we need to first create our offering in a way such that clients would come to us and then we can build on what our unique proposition is.

Thinking for the ‘app’ markets

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In today’s world, startup’s are focusing on utilizing technology to bring in elements of convenience to the end user. Strategies for market penetration and consumer usage (downloads) have evolved over the period of time.
Few elements of marketing have remained the same and will do so.

Word of mouth marketing has a lot of value. Have you tried using this product? or have you downloaded this app? makes a lot of difference. I would like to use something which has been tested by someone else. In the pre-technology era, advertisements made a good value. If Nirma has become a household name, it is only because of its advertisement in the TV.

In the technology space, we do not see a lot of advertisements on the TV and a few in these days are utilizing the power of radio. Most of the ideas and apps still go with a word of mouth or sometimes a mention in the media.

Apps do not have market segmentation – they are same for everyone. If someone drives an Audi, BMW, Volvo or Jaguar, we identify them differently when compared with someone who drives a smaller car. In the technology space, you cannot differentiate between someone using Uber or Ola app.

One of the biggest challenges for tech startup’s is understanding their consumer needs. Very few companies actually do survey’s and understand the user preferences and then build their application.

Traditionally, market surveys in the ‘target’ market segment helped companies to identify what their consumers want. Even in the tech space, few companies do the market survey, but these surveys do not cover various geographies. If the startup is based in Bangalore, the maximum the survey’s reach is to the metros and smart cities where people are using email or The Internet. But, there is a lot of population who do not see the email or cannot use the internet to answer questions. For Tata tea to become number one in the country, they had to understand the taste of tea in various parts of the country. In UP, people preferred large granular tea where as in Orissa people preferred the fine tea dust. The taste’s are different and so, the company had to innovate and bring out a different category in the product to ensure maximum reach. How can we do this in the technology space?

I don’t think there is a formula to understand this. The market time for technology product is few days or months and for a goods companies, it is months or probably years. So, it is very important for them to do the survey’s and get their product right. In technology companies, if uses complained, then they can immediately make changes to their design or functionality and roll out a new release.
Is there a formula to get the app right the first time? It is time to Think…

Innovation in Healthcare – How India is thinking different?

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In an interview someone asked Dr. Devi Shetty, the Founder of Narayana Hrudayalaya (NH) as to why the Healthcare costs are increasing in India and he said “Over a decade ago, a heart surgery costed over Rs. 2 Lacs; and today it costs a little over half”.

Over the last decade, the Healthcare landscape in India is considerably changing. Healthcare is reaching to more people than before and many are benefitting with the new and innovative models Healthcare organizations are adapting.

One of the innovative models Healthcare organizations are adapting is the Hub and Spoke model. In this model, the central facility is situated in the urban area with all the specialists available. The Spokes are the smaller centers which are situated in smaller towns with connectivity to the Hub.

With this model, Specialist Hospitals are able to provide quality Healthcare to a larger population.

This one illustrates how India is innovating in its Healthcare reach. There are numerous data points which illustrate how India is behind in Doctor to Patient ratio, Number of beds to population, shortfall in the number of nursing staff etc. We are behind in most of the WHO metrics when compared to the United States and even with China.

Even though traditional methods are helping, reaching the over Billion population in the country needs different thinking.

Hospitals are increasing their reach and this does not mean we are compromising on the quality of the outcomes.

To add to these innovative models, startup’s in Healthcare are helping to bridge the gap even further. Over the last two years, there are more than 200 startup’s which have been addressing this problem. More than $500 million has gone into funding these startups. What also gains our attention is that these startups are not only focusing on care, but also building systems which connect anyone with a smartphone to the best of the care.