Recently when a live-fire exercise was in session between the Australian,US and other troops, a number of highly autonomous drones successfully carried out more than 380 drop missions to the front lines that included blood and other medical supplies to the troops. These drones were designed by a startup called zipline and were part of the Defense Innovation Unit and the Naval Medical Research Center’s Naval Advanced Medical Development who were demonstrating the capabilities of their drone technology that could aid during the war. the zipline drones carried out over 461 sorties throughout the day and night and successfully dropped 381 supply packages with the help of small parachutes. These are not the first of the unmanned vehicles that were used to deliver cargo during a crisis. However, these are very compact and easy to handle compared to the previous unmanned helicopters Kmax which was used until 2015. Read More>>
Monthly Archives: October 2019
Circular Economy & Entrepreneurs
The trends have shown that we are moving towards an economy of disposability, meaning that we extract valuable resources and waste them before making complete utilization.for instance, the threats possessed by single-use plastic is well known, production of clothing has doubled over the past 15 years and about 25% of food prepared for humans goes to waste causing more harm to the planet. However, recently entrepreneurs and innovators are trying to focus on the need for impact-driven innovations that are critical in order to achieve sustainable development goals giving rise to a Circular Economy. accordingly, entrepreneurs such as Karma are discovering ways to make use of excess food from restaurants and shops with interested buyers, Amprobotics is using AI and robots to revolutionise the recycling segment. Read More>>
What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger
Kellogg strategy professor Benjamin F. Jones says that one gets stronger through failures is the kinda self advice a person accepts in case of hardships. But however, there is more evidence to prove that the optimists are right. New research on scientists shows that an early failure could breed success, this is true because the frustration of missing out on a grant, fuels the scientists to go the extra mile and improve their methodology thereby in the long run they happen to publish a lot more papers than their counterparts who tasted early success. There are a variety of factors that contribute to the success of a scientist but researchers claim that the scientist who did not get picked in the early stages show tremendous determination and have major hit papers within the next 5 years. Read More>>
Lean Startup Methodology- Pros & Cons
Lean startup methodology proposes that for a startup to be successful it has to develop a framework that encourages the focus on action. The process begins when the founders of a startup fill out the business canvas model that has nine subsections dealing with concepts such as value proposition, customer relationships, revenue streams, cost structure etc. this enables the founders to answer questions on their business and also helps them put together a testable hypothesis thereby facilitating production of viable products to test the hypothesis, If the test proves wrong the canvas model is adjusted and the iterative process is repeated. Although the lean startup methodology has proven successful in most of the cases it still isn’t completely failproof and causes considerable harm at times. Read More>>
The transformative potential of AI
Many times it is mistaken that AI would replace humans in a firm however it rather aids humans with decision making and yields accurate solutions to convoluted problems. AI has grown to a stage where it not only detects cancer, recognises facial patterns or predicts flood, Recently many startups are interfacing AI with humans and this collaboration has brought about a lot of advancements and opened new possibilities in the field of art. But with so much advancements in this field many industries have started to research and even integrate this technology into their business model inorder to add value to their product and services offered, However they have to realise it does not blindly mean they replace humans with programmable bots rather use the AI to make the process efficient, fast, smooth and accurate. Read More>>
Drones set to become a game-changer in the health care industry
The WakeMed campus in Raleigh, N.C is testing out the drone technology that could be used to carry boxes smaller than the size of a shoebox containing vials of the blood samples that were heading to the lab for analysis, this trip usually takes 45 minutes on foot or by car owing to the busy streets of the hospital , However with the help of a drone the parcel reached within 10mins. this means that by saving a lot of time we could eventually save lives or at least reduce the delay in providing medical treatment. WakeMed’s partner UPS Flight forward has won federal approval to expand their operations and thereby use multiple vehicles at multiple locations hence increase the range of the flight. This could potentially mean that we will be able to connect hospitals and health-plexes in a given region and transfer blood and tissue samples irrespective of the traffic congestion. Read More>>
How gender segregation affects the Entrepreneurial capital market
Lori Greiner, a millionaire businesswoman on Shark Tank advise the woman entrepreneurs to consider themselves as a person in business equal to anyone else. However, the market for entrepreneurial financing is not really gender-neutral hence woman-run startups struggle to secure funding in the initial stages compared to their male counterparts. The questions asked during the sales pitch and the language used to describe an entrepreneur shows the discrimination involved, further venture capitalists tend to associate more with similar others especially of the same gender thus confirming the gender stereotype. The downside of this gender segregation is that it will lead to the creation of Pink Silos reserved for female-run startups and investors and thus separating them from the rest. Read More>>
Care is the new commerce
This is a marketing strategy or mentality adopted by tech-savvy companies like Amazon, Uber, Netflix and also by companies such as Nike in order to provide their customers with a personalised service experience on multiple platforms. This method also involves reducing the response time involved in replying to a customers request or grievance call, not only does this help the companies stay relevant to their customers but also fosters new business opportunities. Read More>>
How to develop a strategy using Distant Foresight Index (DFI)
DFI helps the organisations to identify potential distant threats and also helps them devise a plan of action when the need arises. It was created in response to the question, How A few businesses detect and respond to future threats and also capitalise on vague opportunities while the others fail? another important question is why are the business leaders unprepared? the answer is that the tools or frameworks that are used mainly focus on the immediate environment of the industry such as war games, strategic planning, market trends, etc. also in many industries, the incentives are based on short term goals thus the leaders are biased towards encouraging activities that strengthen the existing domains rather than exploring new ones. thus without a reliable and structured framework such as DFI recognising and implementing distant innovation will always be a risk to the organisation. Read More>>
Rise of the Super Apps
Super apps are those platforms that offer all online services in one app for smartphones, they include services like messaging, ordering food, banking, shopping and even booking a taxi. Wechat that’s called the “King of Super Apps” has been dominating the Chinese market and has more than one billion users that use it every month, it has extra features such as gaming and publishing. In Southeast Asia, Singapore-based Grab and Indonesia’s Gojek are competing to mimic Wechat’s model of success. Although these super apps are proven to be a great success in developing economies its intriguing that their presence is not felt in large and well-established economies such as the United States and Europe. Read More>>
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