India’s Top Philanthropists, Azim Premji Remains Most Charitable Indian!

Azim Premji, the tech tycoon and Wipro chairman, has been named as the ‘Most charitable person in India’ by Shanghai (China) based Hurun Research Institute for the second year in a row. Having donated a staggeringly huge Rs 12,316 crore to his Azim Premji Foundation during April 2013- October 2104 period, he clearly towers above all others who find a mention on the Hurun India Philanthropy List 2014.

Hurun Research Institute had come up with a similar list of philanthropists last year too wherein they had included the names of all the generous people and organizations in the country which had donated over Rs 10 crore for charitable purposes. As against 31 people who were mentioned in the list during the previous report, the list has become bigger this year and includes 50 people. 27 out of these 50 are new faces.

Donations were measured by the research firm by the value of their cash or cash equivalent for an 18 month period beginning April 1, 2013 and ending October 31, 2014.

It “includes cash and cash equivalents pledged with legally binding commitments for the period and includes significant donations ($16.7 million) up to the date of publication. It included donations made by companies in which an individual had a significant share, by applying the percentage the individual has of the company on the donations.”

Realizing that educating the masses is the best way to empower them and to put the country on the fast track to development, Indian philanthropists have donated most generously to the Education sector- a total of Rs 15,791 cr being pumped into it. Nearly 80% of the total donated amount went towards this sector.

That was followed by Rural Development (Rs 2,333 cr), Healthcare (Rs 1,447 cr) and Environmental Protection (Rs 12 cr).

Anil Agarwal of the London-listed Vedanta Resources comes a distant second with a donation of Rs 1,796 cr most of which was towards social and rural development.Shiv Nadar, the HCL chairman, is placed third on the list with a donation of Rs 1,316 cr.

11 of the 50 most generous people from the country live outside its shores. Five of these made their donations in India.

37 of the philanthropists being mentioned on the list (74%) are self-made as compared to 21 (68%) over the period covered by the previous report.

With founders Nandan Nilekani (with wife Rohini) and Kris Gopalakrishnan placed at number six and nine, Infosys has the highest number of philanthropists in the top ten.

The north-south divide is too palpable to be ignored, the people from the southern part of the country donating almost five times (Rs 13,300 cr) as much as their northern counterparts.

With 15 generous people, Mumbai emerges as the most generous city in the country followed by Bengaluru (8) and Delhi (6).

The average age of philanthropists in India has come down to 56 years as compared to 63 years over the last year.

Ashish Dhawan (45) of Central Square Foundation is the youngest philanthropist on the list; oldest being Pallonji Mistry (85) of Shapoorji Pallonji.

Women entrepreneurs are also stepping forward. Anu Aga donated Rs 14 cr individually while joint donations by Savitri Jindal, Rohini Nilekani, Zarina Screwvalaand Yasmin Gupta aggregated to Rs 987 cr.

Leading cardiologists Vijay and Khushman Sanghvi who have donated Rs 12 cr towards medical research together with hedge fund manager Ashish Dhawan “are seen to be unleashing a new wave of philanthropy in the country.”

Bollywood celebrities Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan are also mentioned on the list. While Shahrukh’s Red Chilies Entertainment donated Rs 25 cr towards social and rural development Salman Khan’s Being Human donated Rs 11 cr towards healthcare.

As mentioned in an earlier article here, 0.2% of the world’s population holds and controls 34% of the total wealth. And while the overall rate of growth is lower, the assets of these people grew at an impressive 14.7% over last year. Which means that not only are a very few people holding disproportionately large assets, they are getting richer by the day.

The increase in the number of philanthropists and the amounts donated by them therefore bring a huge smile to the faces of every discerning Indian. It is nice to see the super-rich loosen their purse strings and show concern for humanitarian causes.

Globally too, those with deep pockets have been seen to donate open heartedly for causes they connect to, Microsoft founder owner Bill Gates and Facebook owner- CEO Mark Zuckerberg being the most worthy examples.

“I strongly believe that those of us who are privileged to have wealth should contribute significantly to try and create a better world for the millions who are far less privileged. I will continue to act on this belief,” Premji had said earlier.

Anil Agarwal of Vedanta has already pledged to donate 75% of his family’s wealth towards charitable causes while HCL chairman Nadar has committed $1 billion towards educating people from the under privileged sections of the society.

Interestingly, only one of the flamboyant Ambani brothers is seen on the list. Thought he elder brother Mukesh Ambani is placed fifth on the list with donations to the tune of Rs 603 cr towards education, his sibling Anil Ambani is notable by absence.

Hurun India List.

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Healthcare & Education Ads Are Most Deceptive & Misleading: Advertising Body

The most important rule for advertisements is that it should only tell the truth, and nothing else. The consumer should be aware of both the pros and cons of the product; and the process of selling should not be deceptive or misleading.

But it seems Indian companies, especially from healthcare and education sector are determined to make a fool of the consumer, and encourage them to choose sub-standard product. And deceptive advertisements are fueling this wrong business & creative practice.

During the month of November, Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), which regulates and monitors Indian advertisements, received complaints against 144 advertisements, out of which it upheld the complaint against 133 advertisements. 61 of them belonged to healthcare companies, and 33 were from education firms.

Surprisingly, both healthcare and education forms the basic necessities of life, and if companies are misleading consumers on these two vital requirements, where can the consumer go for solace?

Some Examples…

Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (Goodknight) : Consider this advertisement from Godrej for promoting their mosquito repellent product: Goodknight. In the heavily promoted advertisement, we see a child standing near the mosquito vaporizer, meanwhile the product’s leaflet clearly mentions that this electrical device should be kept away from children.

Dr. Batra’s Health Clinic: In the case of Dr. Batra’s Homeopathy Clinic, ASCI has upheld the complaint that a doctor cannot openly promote his business, as it violates the Code of Medical Ethics for Homeopathy practitioners. There are total of 3 complaints only against Dr. Batra’s advertisement campaigns including hair gain and weight loss offers.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd (Lifebuoy): Many advertisements also make unsubstantiated claims, like Lifebuoy soap ad from HUL. It says, that the sops provides “10X germ protection” and “10X more skin care” than any other soap. There is no study that shows this!

Educational enterprises are vehemently claiming that they offer 100% placement and that they are “No. 1” in their field. Such overhyped claims have been slammed by ASCI, as 33 complaints have been upheld against them.

Interestingly, for the first time, an eCommerce advertisement has also received the wrath of ASCI. Snapdeal.com’s “Snapdeal bachaey raho discount offer” which was advertised in the month of November claimed that customers can get heavy discounts on products but when users logged into the portal, they found most of the products already ‘sold out’. The complaint against this ad has also been upheld. Going by this yardstick, Flipkart’s special promotional campaigns in the month of December can also be upheld in the next monthly review by ASCI.

Here is a list of all advertisements, complaints against which were upheld by ASCI for the month of November.

We had earlier showcased how ASCI cracked the whip on Fairness products ads, thereby imposing strict guidelines for such campaigns. Thankfully, such as ads have come down since that. Incase you happen to observe any misleading or deceptive advertisement, then feel free to lodge your complaint here.

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Brace Up Folks, Flipkart Bringing 3 Hour Instant Deliveries!

Offering products at a lower price is no longer the USP for e-tailers anymore. To cash on speed, the e-commerce majors started same day delivery. Though this service debuted months back, the triguni of Indian e-tailers, Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal offer products the same day at an additional fee and mostly to cosmopolitan customers.

Somehow, Flipkart isn’t still happy doing the same day delivery any more. It is now looking to earn big bucks by delivering products within 3 hours of ordering!

Though the plan is still in it’s infancy, Flipkart proposes to start delivering packages within the 3 hour time frame, full throttle in 6 months. Now that’s a major commitment and considering the vastness of each city, transit costs and time are a matter of concern. But however Sujeet Kumar of Flipkart feels otherwise, “The kind of data we have is much richer than, say Google Maps”

Attributing to a strong logistics, large warehouses and sufficient manpower of more than 12,000, Flipkart sure has an advantage. If Flipkart express delivery works better than planned, it will be back into the game, glorified.

Also the company is already churning out strategies to make this a reality and has started deploying technology that will help Flipkart take orders and track the delivery process in no time to ensure a speedy delivery!

Having it’s own Fashion take over deliver apparel in an hour in Delhi and Bangalore, Flipkart now wants to take it mainstream.

Such express deliveries have been Amazon’s territory for a long time now. Amazon USA offers grocery and other items the same day for prime customers at $5.99 and non-prime customers at $8.99. In India the price segregation is based on the price ranging from Rs.49 to Rs.149.

Promising speedy hour deliveries seems difficult just saying it, and executing it is quite a task. However, there are number of examples of Global e-Commerce companies already doing it successfully. Here are a few examples:

• Amazon Fresh has been doing a great job in Manhattan for $7.99 in just 60 minutes.
• eBay too started “delivery within an hour” by tying up with Best Buy, Target and Macy’s in some American cities.
• Walmart To Go has also reinforced the same strategy.

Flipkart seems to have figured out ways to outsource the task of delivering to e-kart and using it’s spun off WS Retail’s resources to it’s advantage.

And yes, with the whole team putting together your order and ringing your doorbell in 3 hours comes with a cost. And that’s the mystery yet. We need to see how exactly Flipkart will price such hourly or rather timely deliveries.

Just like 30 minute Pizza delivery, Sangeetha Mobiles too have been promising Bangaloreans a “47 minute delivery”. Reinforcing their beliefs in lucky numbers, Flipkart uses the number 6-10 like in the Big Billion Day Sale (which flopped though), Sangeetha Mobiles have been using the number 47 to churn out some luck. Though not hugely publicized, the scheme seems to have evoked Flipkart to re-work it’s delivery schedules.

Living in the world of instant noodles and instant messaging, instant delivery was just round the corner to please your shopping whims!

Just in case you’re wishing Flipkart adheres to the pizza strategy of “Get you’re package within 180 minutes or free”, then you’re on glue!

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Xiaomi Grows 227%, Sells 61M Smartphones In 2014, Targets 100M In 2015

Xiaomi Corp, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer, announced having sold 61.12 million smartphones during CY 2014 on Sunday, which is a phenomenal increase over the 18.7 million devices sold by them during 2013. The company founder and Chief Executive Officer Lei Jun mentioned in a Weibo update that their revenue was up 227% over the previous year.

Meaning ‘millet’ in Chinese, the Xiaomi Corp was set up only four years back in 2010. Though initially founded for making software for Android powered devices (MIUI ROM), the company later forayed into smartphone manufacturing. In addition to that, they have also released a tablet device, TVs that connect to the internet and a television set-top box. Establishing themselves as a brand in the smartphone market dominated by Apple and Samsung, however, and making sales to the tune of 74.3 billion yuan ($12 billion) is their biggest achievement.

According to data provider Strategy Analytics, the Beijing based company is now the third largest player in the smartphone market with their market share having risen from 2.1% to 5.6% during Q3 2014.

“In the past year, we have achieved results that we are extremely proud of. In 2014, Xiaomi sold 61.12 million smartphones, an increase of 227% from the year before; and tax-inclusive sales was CNY 74.3 billion, an increase of 135% from the year before. We have successfully become the first in China’s smartphone industry in terms of market share,” Lei said.

The company had earlier gone on to become the most valuable private technology startup in the world after a round of funding in which it raised $1.1 billion against a valuation of more than $46 billion. The CEO mentioned that in his blog post too. Those who pumped fresh capital in the last round of funding include Milner’s DST, Singapore’s GIC Pte and All-Stars Investment Ltd.

Lei made it clear that the company, which now sells its products across countries and regions besides mainland china, will further expand in the coming year, with a special reference to having sold a million smartphones in India alone over the last five months. The ban on it following Ericsson lawsuit over violation of patents notwithstanding.

Upbeat after having scaled new heights, Lei has set loftier targets for the year 2015 and says he hopes to be able to sell 100 million smartphones over the period. He is fully aware of the increasing competition in the market.

“In 2015, the smart devices playing field will become extremely competitive, especially as the growth of the smartphone industry in mainland China slows down,” he said while also referring to rivals trying to emulate their business model- obviously, a reference to OnePlus which is also selling its devices exclusively online like Xiaomi.

The manufacturer now plans to release their Redmi smartphone soon and will hold a press conference on Jan 15 in connection with the same.

Billionaire Yuri Milner, who has invested heavily in the company, believes that the Chinese startup which is yet to go public has the same potential as Facebook Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Milner has been particularly impressed with the company having reached the $1 billion revenue benchmark faster than both Alibaba and Facebook. Milner has been an early investor in all the three aforesaid companies.

Though Lei has not mentioned the regions over which they hope and aspire to launch their products, there is no doubting the fact that everyone on their team is exuberant at having touched unprecedented sales figures over the previous year. Given that they are coming up with more models soon, that the market for smartphones is rapidly expanding and that their devices are loaded with features while being priced reasonably certainly makes 100 million target look reachable.

The English translation of his post was made available on TechInAsia and can be seen here.

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Why 2015 Could Be A Disastrous Year For Google!

Just when you thought the giant can’t get any bigger, catastrophe strikes Google Inc at the worst possible time. Being as successful as Google does raise an eyebrow. In ancient computing times, Microsoft was the big bad evil empire that the then incepted Google and Apple wanted to overtake. Hence Apple always backed Google. Steve Jobs took it as his responsibility to mentor Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. There were also times when Google CEO Eric Schmidt was welcome in Apple’s board.

A decade has passed by since and the tables have turned against today’s most common enemy- Google. Competition from it’s homeland is fierce with Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and Apple all teaming up with each other through implicit partnerships. Times where it monopolized the internet space is no longer the reality for Google. The Company has many issues to address besides keeping an unwary eye on it’s rival tie ups.

Google’s Many Speed Breakers

1.) The major concern Google has to address is “the transition from desktop to mobile search, continued margin compression, and increasing competition from Facebook”.

The camaraderie between Facebook, Apple and Microsoft is the biggest cause of concern for Google. Microsoft invested $15 billion in FB way back in 2007. Apple’s iOS is a steady platform for garnering FB as FB generates quite a lot of revenue.

2.) Apple’s Siri is powered by Microsoft. Day by day, Microsoft seems to be updating it’s resources to answer the next gen’s queries and is way ahead of Google with it’s speed of innovation to power Siri. Facebook bought Atlas, the ad-serving platform for peanuts from Microsoft. With Apple deeply integrating iOS for FB compatibility, Atlas has been putting up immense competition to Adsense.

3.) With the rise in mobile browsing, Google’s search advertising revenue has hit rock bottom with most mobile users not using web as much as they used to, on their desktops. The last few quarters saw Google search advertising business grow at a snail’s pace, which is the lowest in 6 years.

4.) When it comes to rivals, Eric Schmidt confessed in a conference in Berlin, “Many people think our main competition is Bing or Yahoo. But, really, our biggest search competitor is Amazon. People don’t think of Amazon as search, but if you are looking for something to buy, you are more often than not looking for it on Amazon.”

Google is hit badly here because when people want to buy something on the internet, Google displays the ads for them, that in turn has been a major source of revenue to Google. However now, people are directly going to Amazon to buy products.

5.) Another bummer is that this income generating department of Google was headed by Nikesh Arora, who has now quit Google for a CEO position at Softbank Internet and Media. Arora was the highest paid executive with $51.1 million. Omid Kordestani has now replaced him. This is a setback because, Arora having lead Google’s advertising search and had been managing the customer revenue and marketing for 10 years now. Looks like Schmidt is disguising his disappointment with the hope that Omid will outperform Arora.

6.) In a sudden unexpected turn of events. Schmidt appointed Sunder Pichai to take over the day to day operations at Google. Many sources say that the innovation pace of Google is suffering due to which the appointment of Pichai happened in a hush hush manner.

7.) Also with EU vowing to break up Google as it is privy to a humongous database, is surely taking a toll on it’s revenue in the Europe. Google is battling for it’s survival in Russia, Italy, Brazil and Spain. Most of Europe are turning to Mozilla for search engine and the EU views Google as a parasitic American company that is creating many barriers for small competitors to co-exist and want to curb it’s operations.

8.) It seems like Facebook will never rest till it is a step ahead of Google. Facebook is in process of bringing in YouTube like videos, known that the FB base is ever expanding. It is also working on video ads. This is a battle, many feel FB might win. An expert says, “Facebook appears better positioned to capture new dollars coming online given its 21% share of mobile time spent, strong leverage to news feed ads, and nascent opportunities in video and Instagram.”

9.) Apple had signed a contract, with Google for providing a search engine on it’s safari browser expires this 2015. Also Apple is rumored to be building it’s own search engine but however this June, Apple changed it’s default search engine on the iPhone and iMac to Bing. The fight now is between Yahoo and Bing to get a piece of the cake.

10.) Also Google has been the last of the tech lot to buy mobile patents from Nortel, and forced itself to buy Motorola at $12 billion and sold the same at $2.9 billion. Google has been having problems in finding good mobile app partners.

Amidst all the spheres of pessimism, Eric still wears a smile. A former Google says, “Mobile has been eating away [at them] for years, but they’ve been able to pull rabbits out of the hat to increase revenue. I think 2015 is going to be disastrous.”

However we hope our accustomed giant gets out of all this mess without messing with it’s brand image!

Do let us know what you think in comments below!

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State of Digital Marketing in 2015: 7 Realistic Predictions

State of Digital Marketing in 2015: 7 Realistic Predictions

Digital Marketing is composed of two words: Digital & Marketing; and there is only one rule which can optimally define these two terms:

“The Only Constant Is Change”

If I were to explain digital marketing to a complete newbie, it would be something like, “Connect the dots”, as shared by Steve Jobs. Digital Marketing is the bridge, the platform which connects businesses with the consumers, using Internet.

Considering that there are so many developments happening in the world of Internet and Businesses; and the dynamics of customer behavior and trends, it becomes quite interesting to assume what lies in the future; how will consumers react to a strategy and how will brands achieve their objectives.

Like last year, we are again attempting to see the future, to make calculated risks concerning Digital Marketing for the year 2015.

Here is my top 7 predictions:

1) Marketing Intelligence Will Increase

There are close to a 3 billion people on the Internet right now. As you are reading my predictions, there are millions of people who are checking their emails, posting images, viewing videos and shopping stuff which they need; all with a click and a tap of finger.

Big data will closely integrate with marketing this year, thereby giving rise to marketing intelligence which has never been experienced or seen before.

Data driven marketing campaigns will be the choice of businesses, and marketing intelligence will inform the marketers when, how and why should a message be conveyed, and more importantly, how much money should be spend.

Calculating ROI on marketing campaign will reach a new level of sophistication with Marketing Intelligence.

And this leads us to the second prediction: Why do we need big data in Marketing?

2) Personalization & Localization Will Become The Norm

Imagine walking at an offline market place such as Connaught Place in Delhi or JM Road in Pune or say a shopping mall in Navi Mumbai, and as you approach a shop selling shoes, your mobile suddenly beeps with a message announcing an exclusive discount of 50%, only for you. The message says that this discount is being provided to you considering that you are about to walk past us!

This personalization, based on localized information about you is the next big thing to happen. Startups like Foursquare will be increasingly used to deliver personalized, localized content for the users, thereby forming a special bond.

3) Mobile Will Continue to Soar

There is not even an ounce of doubt with this one: Mobile is here to stay. Online businesses which are ignoring mobile analytics and mobile based traffic, will be extinct just like dinosaurs in the coming days.

More and more people are opting for mobile to access content, information and deals on the web, and they are increasingly shedding their apprehensions to buy via mobile. Youngsters are increasingly using mobile wallet to make purchases, and I see no reason that this trend will stop.

Basics like having a mobile responsive site have actually become the norm, and the mobile usage will only increase from here.

4) Brand Will Convert Into Publishers

Seth Godin has famously said that content is the only marketing left now. Content, which is laser targeted for the targeted audience of the business is the new gold of Internet. Increasingly, brands are realizing that producing content with the help of third party agencies is becoming expensive, and time taking.

Brands will have to become publishers in 2015, if they want to dominate the content based marketing approach, and to engage deeper with the end user.

In-house brand content production (including text, videos, images, games and more) is all set to explode in the coming days, and basics like blogging, podcasts and webinars will become the necessities of a business.

5) The Power Lies In Brand Community

Human being is a social animal, and it thrives in communities and groups. Maybe this is the reason prisons were devised: The harshest punishment which you can give to a man is to leave him alone without any human contact.

There have been communities and forums since the early days of Internet, and this gave rise to social networks. But creating a group or page in a huge social network like Facebook is not enough for the brand anymore. They need their own communities, their own tribe to thrive.

Just like branded content is the future, branded communities is the new future for digital marketing. Brands will need to invest in nurturing and growing their communities, and to make their users feel that they are part of a big family.

Apple did it beautifully with the help of Steve Jobs, and now, every company needs such cult following, a thriving community to survive. We can see a rise of specific, mini-portals and small micro-sites designed specifically for the community, which will give boost to the concept of nurturing tribes.

Jobs such as Community Managers and Tribe Leader will come up in the coming days, replacing Social Media Managers, which has almost expired now.

6) Ad Spending On Social Networks Will Increase

Being a person who always advocates content based organic marketing, this may come as a surprise for many. But, the fact is that, there is no other option left.

A company’s Facebook page has converted more like a broadcasting channel for the brand, and non-paid campaigns can bury your posts into history, very soon. If a brand needs its massive presence on Facebook or any other social network quickly, then it will have to spend.

The budget can be minimal to start with, but there is no alternative left. Targeted, theme based campaigns combined with an advertisement budget is the secret recipe which can help businesses to stay alive on social networks. The budget may vary as per the business objectives, but it has to be there.

In a way, it sounds doom for social networks because once money comes into play, the factor of trust and brand loyalty can take a hit. But with the current scenario, we can’t predict much into that aspect. As per some estimates, spending on social networks will match advertisement spending on TV!

The basic rules remain the same: Create engaging, thoughtful and powerful posts on social networks, but take it with a pinch of salt: You need to spend some money to make it visible as well.

7) Wearable Technology & Marketing Will Shake Hands

If 2014 was the year when wearable technology made its presence felt, then 2015 would be the year when marketing shakes hands with it.

Apple watch, Google Glass and other such high profile wearable tech products can be experimented to induce subtle marketing messages for the end user.

Imagine wearing a Google Glass, and going on a date with a beautiful woman at a sea side retreat. As you are talking with her, Google Glass automatically presents the preferences of your date, and with a blink, you order her favorite drink which the waiter brings next instant. She is impressed, and you are the winner. Now imagine the same with brands and consumers. Wearable technology can connect everyone, and make everyone a winner.

When it comes to marketing & technology, possibilities are endless.

Do share your predictions for digital marketing in 2015 by commenting right here!

[Image Src: Shutterstock.com]

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6 Startups Investments By Flipkart Founders

Indian entrepreneurs, who have tasted success in their journey, have now started giving it back to the ecosystem which prompted their assent. And leading the way are Flipkart founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. After growing Flipkart from a humble online book store to a $10 billion mammoth ecommerce portal, they are now funding and mentoring other technological startups.

6 Startups Which Flipkart Founders Have Funded

Ather Electric Scooter Maker:

Sachin and Binny Bansal have invested $1 million in this startup, which aims to design high speed electric two-wheelers. Along with Bansals, Raju Venkatraman, CEO of Medall Healthcare have also invested in this startup.

Ather wants to bring the best Electric Scooter India has see. Some of the features of this vehicle are really quite good!

Tarun Mehta, co-founder of Ather said, “Sachin and Binny Bansal are leaders who have put India’s e-commerce industry on the global map through disruptive use of technology. Their focus on technology and reinvention aligns with that of Team Ather,”

TouchTalent:

In June this year, Sachin and Binny Bansal participated in an investment round worth $700,000, along with SAIF Partners and 13 other investors which includes Deep Kalra, founder of MakeMyTrip, Amit Ranjan, co-founder of SlideShare and more.

TouchTalent provides a platform for creative artists and content creators to showcase their talent and sell their works. Thanks to the new round of investments, TouchTalent have been growing at a healthy rate of 30% per year and have 500,000 visits every year.

Roposo:

Binny Bansal and Seed Fund India Quotient invested $1 million in Roposo, which is a fashion focused social network, powered by a recommendation engine for gifts and accessories. As of now, Roposo has over 2 lakh products, across 5000 brands from 150 vendors.

News In Shorts:

Along with Times Internet, Sachin and Binny Bansal invested in this mobile app startup, which provides summary of news items in 60 words or less. This startup was part of Times Internet’s accelerator T Labs, and their founders: Iqubal and Pandey have dropped out of IIT Delhi and IIT Kharagpur respectively, to launch this startup. The exact amount of investment was no disclosed.

Mad Rat Games:

Along with IT outsourcing firm GlobalLogic, Sachin and Binny Bansal invested $1 million in this offline games startup. This company was founded by IIT graduates, and have launched 70 board games, puzzles and toys. The interesting fact is that, this company doesn’t offer any online games, but only sells games via offline medium. They had a turnover of Rs 3 crore last fiscal.

Spoonjoy

This is their most recent investment – however, the investment is not done by both the founder. Sachin Bansal has invested in Spoonjoy along with Mekin Maheshwari, their Chief People Officer. The quatum of investment has not been disclosed. This funding round also saw a participation from Abhishek Goyal, founder of Tracxn and Sahil Barua, co-founder of e-commerce enablement services company Delhivery.

Spoonjoy is Bengaluru-based startup which allows customers to order healthy meal packs. Customers can avail weekly subscription service that provides healthy meals at their doorstep. Spoonjoy.com gets around 300-400 orders on daily basis and majority of orders are from Offices.

Other successful entrepreneurs who have invested in Indian startups include:

Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal have invested in startups such as Ola Cabs, Zumbi and Uni Commerce.

InMobi cofounder Navin Tiwari has invested in LetsVenture, Tushky among others.

Along with the money, such experienced and successful entrepreneurs bring tons of experience and insights for the new, upcoming startups. This is certainly a positive trend, and we hope that it continues.

This new trend is surely a great sign for Indian startup ecosystem!

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8 Executives Who Had A Very Tough Year 2014

While there were those who were breaking records and there were a few breaking bad. The grass is always greener on the other side through green tinted shades. While there were many who were surprisingly hired and a few disappointing lay-offs. 2014 was no different, we cover the year’s biggest top management who saw good luck turn it’s back to them.

1. Travis Kalanick, UBER

The biggest hit and crash of 2014 was UBER. Accused of running a faulty firm by advertising faulty safety standards, LA and San Francisco district attorneys want Uber to stop operating. Uber operations have been suspended in Bangkok, Madrid and Portland for allegedly disrespecting the statutes concerning them. The big bomber amongst these is the rape incident in India that has held Kalanick responsible. Uber actually saw a big leap in 2014 and also the lowest point. Only a miracle can fix the severed brand image of Uber.

2. Mikael Hed, ROVIO

The famous Finnish maker of angry birds saw the anger of his stakeholders when his venture into animation and publishing earned him more anger and less profits. Unable to revive the game and also to develop another record braking game with earnings falling to 26.9m which is a 52% fall. Pekka Rantala is now appointed.

3. Gurbaksh Chahal, RADIUM ONE

On the October of 2008, Oprah had a 26 year old guest, an American of indian origin who she quoted was living the “American Dream”- Gurbaksh. He founded BlueLithium, an internet advertising firm which he sold it to Yahoo at an overwhelming $300m. A few years later he founded Radium One, another advertising network that was the 9^thlargest network globally. His marketing acumen didn’t let him down but his inhumane behavior did.

In August 2013, a security camera video shows a footage of him beating up his girlfriend 117 times! On April 26^th, he was kicked out of his own company.

4. Abraham Mathews and Gautam Thakkar, INFOSYS

On the alleged grounds of inflated invoicing, an Infosys BPO subsidiary in Europe seems to have been sending overpriced bills to Apple. Though the amount was financially insignificant, Abraham Mathews, the CFO then was sacked in November 2014. “For not complying with the code of conduct”, Mathews along with 6-7 BPO executives were fired on the light of this event. Mathews was not involved in the inflation of bills but he didn’t raise a red flag, say sources. Deepak Bhalla has been replaced now. Gautam Thakkar the CEO then resigned by taking moral responsibility.

5. Thorsten Heins , BLACKBERRY

The struggling smartphone maker, Blackberry has seen the worst this year in terms of the handset sales. The market share of Blackberry has been falling dramatically. The US market cap for the company has come down to 3% and also the shareholders are looking to sell the shares even at a loss. On account of this Blackberry took a call this November by firing Thorsten and replacing him with John Chen.

6. Chris Viehbacher, SANOFI

The global pharmaceutical leader sacked it’s then CEO Chris Viehbacher on account of non performance. Been with the company for 6 years, Chris was forced to leave. It is alleged that the stock performance fell to a mere 14% and disappointing quarter earnings, the board had come to this decision. Also it is rumored that the board did not like Mr. Viehbacher’s move to the US, hence the decision.

7. Wu Qingyong, ULTRASONIC

The Chinese company based in Frankfurt realized that the CEO Wu, had been embezzling cash for his personal uses. Amidst the suffering profits and recession, Wu cleverly manipulated the system and made money. In his reports he says that it was small amounts and he was planning to repay it back but the whole deed came into light in September this year followed by the board sacking him.

8. Gregg Steinhafel, TARGET

The retail major sacked it’s CEO Gregg on account of data breach which affected an estimated of 40 million customers. The board has now vowed to never let something like this happen and the stock has been hit the worst. The holiday season credit card security breach turned out to be the worst disaster for the company’s prospective expansions.

In the light of many IT majors handing over pink slips to under-performing employees, you never know who’s next. TCS, IBM and Yahoo have already started the process in India and many other firms seem to be laying groundwork for the same. We hope 2015 ends this trend.

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