THE TRAILBLAZERS

The meteoric rise of startups has left a deep impact on India’s economic story. In exclusive interviews, we capture the thoughts of six young entrepreneurs who are preparing the ground for a better tomorrow.

- Ajeesh Achuthan, Suthirth Vaidya, Abhijith Chunduru, Adarsh Raj and Siddharth Dialani and Sai Gole

Sparking change…

No picture of the Indian startup scenario is complete without highlighting these impressive numbers—the country, being the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world, had nearly 50,000 startups in 2018; and as many as 1,300 tech startups were born in 2019 alone, which means that two to three tech startups are born every day.1 This is a clear pointer to an enabling ecosystem marked by copious funding options, mentorship, policy initiatives like Startup India, and last but not least boundless entrepreneurial energy. What has made this enormous growth possible is also the country’s demographic profile and its fast-paced journey towards becoming a digital economy.

It has always been a two-way street. Entrepreneurs spotting an opportunity in an existing need or gap and designing innovative and scalable solutions to address it, leveraging technology in many a case; and society at large, or a few segments, benefitting from it and turning consumers. What do these entrepreneurs do differently that they are able to herald change and add value, and also manage to do so with lean teams and flat structures? Undoubtedly, well-defined goals, dedicated teams, innovative thinking, and high-risk appetite. Startup culture has its own set of peculiarities too. It is most often rooted in a ‘connect and coordinate’ paradigm rather than a ‘command and control’ one, wherein there is a high degree of inclusivity and alignment.

And of course, the most uniqueness lies in the willingness to embrace failure. To quote Hap Klopp, co-author of