Tag: EVP

Business World

How to Launch and Grow Successful Startups?

Feb 15, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Ajay Batra, #an entrepreneur and angel investor, #EVP, #Wadhwani Venture Fastrack

New Delhi: In today’s time with the rising acceptance of entrepreneurship and a fast-developing ecosystem of peers, investors, mentors, incubators, Government & Corporates, there has never been a better time to start up. However, the failure rate among startups remains as high as 90% with ~ 80% facing closure within the first 18 months. Keeping in mind the challenges in the startup ecosystem ‘The Startup LaunchBook’ provides a structured approach to launch fundamentally-sound and investable startups.

With an increasing number of youths deciding to become job-creator rather than job-seekers, this book is well-timed to guide new entrepreneurs to a path of success. The book, a first-of-its-kind from India, helps improve start-up outcomes, enabling founders, incubators, and investors to get better ROI. With a renewed national focus on Startup India, Atal Innovation Mission, and Atmanirbhar Bharat, the book is well-timed to support the dream of the next-gen founders.

 

Ajay Batra, EVP, Wadhwani Venture Fastrack, an entrepreneur and angel investor, decided to write this book to guide those who want to take the entrepreneurial plunge.  The book introduces, and derives inspiration from the Startup Maturity Model© (SMM), a global-first maturity framework that balances the art, science, and practice of launching exceptional start-ups. SMM’s unique five-level architecture allows founders to take the guessing game out of the equation as they follow an iterative approach for building innovative and scalable startups.

Revealing the inspiration behind his book, Ajay Batra, Executive VP, Wadhwani Venture Fastrack said, “Over the last decade, as I became a startup investor and mentor, I have repeatedly been asked questions from start-ups around the basics of starting-up. As I offered appropriate responses to each situation, I realized with so many moving parts involved in launching a startup, founding teams would be well-served with a practical approach, with clear milestones, to plan and track their launch and growth journey. It is also evident that startups need to think beyond products and build a holistic foundation for scaling-up. Hence, the idea of SMM, and the book.”

“The Startup Launchbook serves as a guide in an entrepreneur’s journey. It is a workbook which provides tools and template to engage with the material and reflect on one’s progress. It explains the core concepts of starting-up with examples while tracking stories of successful entrepreneurs through case studies, thereby helping new ventures”, he adds.

For those interested in the book preview, please visit: http://bit.ly/PreviewSLB

About the Author:

Ajay Batra is the global head of the Wadhwani Venture Fastrack program of the Wadhwani Foundation. He has been an entrepreneur, a mentor, an angel investor, and an active contributor to the innovation and startup ecosystems. He has been the Founding Director of the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Bennett University and also headed the Bennett Hatchery – the startup incubator of the Times Group. He is a Charter Member of TiE and serves on several national committees of FICCI and CII. Ajay has received his education in India and the USA and has worked in over 10 countries.

Business World

redBus kicks-off new campaign encouraging people to carry on with their #journeyfordreams

Aug 4, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #‘Safety+’, ##journeyfordreams, #and Head of Marketing, #Brand, #Dileep Ashoka, #EVP, #McCann Worldgroup, #Pallavi Chopra, #redBus, #South, #Vice President

Bengaluru, August 4, 2020: redBus announces the launch of a digital-led campaign, #journeyfordreams that inspires people to persevere in their endeavours, by undertaking their journeys with fortitude, while redBus ensures the safety of their travel. The campaign is aimed at restoring optimism for bus travel as the nation traverses its path to normalcy.

The nationwide lockdown has not only brought lives but also dreams and aspirations for the future to a grinding halt. As a brand that’s all about enabling journeys and connections, redBus seeks to reassure bus travellers that they can still move forward towards fulfilling their dreams during these tough times, as redBus strives to ensure their safety during the journey with its Safety+ programme.

redBus had launched ‘Safety+’, which is a unique certification for bus operators who follow all the necessary safety and sanitization protocols. All operators and buses with a Safety+ tag next to their listing on the redBus app or desktop platform, have implemented strict measures outlined by redBus, to ensure the safety of the passengers.

As part of the campaign, the company has launched an ad film that relies on the emotions associated with the safety of near and dear ones, especially while undertaking inter-city bus travel during these times, in order to highlight the proposition. The ad-film is set to be promoted extensively on digital and social media, including, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, apart from e-mailers and other push notifications.

Unlike the earlier campaigns of the brand that largely utilized humour as a means to attract and drive the message, such as the ones with MS Dhoni, this campaign relies on emotions to connect at a deeper level.  

About the ad-film:

Set inside the house of a small family, involving two middle-aged parents and their young daughter who is about to begin her career, the film evokes a sense of nostalgia and affection with a heart-warming portrayal of a father’s apprehension for his daughter’s safety and vice versa. The story hinges on the poignant, yet ubiquitous scenario of parents or children having to travel to a different city on account of work and the emotional farewell associated with it, which in the given COVID scenario, is all the more affecting. The mood soon transforms to cheer with a narrative on the ‘safety’ of travel, brought about by redBus with various measures and checks in place, thus allowing people to bid farewell to their dear ones with a smile and a sense of fearlessness. 

Viewers witness a young woman who has decided to step out in order to pursue her career but is faced with the dilemma of informing her father of her decision to travel, given the present circumstance, resulting in a commotion with her mother. A match cut then takes them back in time when the father was apprehensive about informing his young child about his work-related travel to a different city and avoids confronting her by packing his bags and leaving while she is asleep. It clearly highlights the common emotions, irrespective of the roles assumed in the journey of life and the message that life moves on, despite occasional hurdles. Getting back to the present, the daughter is able to convince her anxious father to permit her to travel, by showcasing the safety aspects introduced in buses by redBus, much to his satisfaction.    

The role of the father, mother and daughter has been played by popular television artists, Nitesh Pandey, Tanuka Laghate and Prachi Bansal respectively. The film has two edits, a 62 second and a 30-second version and will be seen in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali versions.  

redBus kicks-off new campaign encouraging people to carry on with their #journeyfordreams
redBus kicks-off new campaign encouraging people to carry on with their #journeyfordreams

Link to the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPK7uNmdYjE

Creative Credits:

Agency: McCann Worldgroup – Bengaluru

Creative Director: Sambit Mohanty

Production House: Another Idea

Director: Puneet Prakash

DOP: Pratik Deora 

Speaking on the launch of the campaign, Pallavi Chopra, Vice President, Brand, and Head of Marketing, redBus, said, “As an enabler of journeys, it has been our constant endeavour to help travellers reach their destinations in the safest and easiest way possible, especially in the present circumstances. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only disrupted the business of establishments, but also the dreams and aspirations of millions of individuals out there, who are longing to travel in pursuit of their goals. We thus envisaged a subject or scenario that resonated with households across the country in order to shape the campaign. The result is a very strong and emotional narrative around one of those important journeys in life, projected through the love and concern between a father and daughter, to drive home the message of #journeyfordreams.”

Dileep Ashoka, EVP, South, McCann Worldgroup, said, “We have been in partnership with redBus for the last few years. Being in the businesses of facilitating life’s journeys, and being the custodian of the online bus ticketing category, we felt the imperative to comfort customers by making travel safe in these uncertain times. The story narrative seeks to demonstrate this in a manner that drives brand affinity.”