Research shows that gender diversity could lead to significantly better outcomes By Ratna Mehta Thought diversity is what it takes to drive gender diversity. Any discussion around encouraging gender diversity…
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Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: MSMEs practicing basic PMO mindset and inculcating the culture among the people to do the same, often win, against the odds. By Samir Sathe…
Are you pitching how you have used the pandemic to build, learn, and survive? By Ajay Batra These are challenging times. Startup founders are dealing with reduced demand and depleting…
In an article By Samir Sathe, Executive Vice President, Wadhwani Advantage at Wadhwani Foundation for SMEStreet, he wrote about Transformative leadership at the grassroots level is the need of the…
By Atul Raja Over the last five years, a lot has been talked about India’s looming demographic dividend and the need to leverage a young population with 12 to 14…
By Monica Mehta COVID-19 has driven the acceleration of technological adoption in the startup community. As the world adapts to new modes of life, startups that enable consumers to shop,…
By Ajay Batra The current pandemic continues to wreak havoc on individuals, families, and businesses. Personal hardships and economic challenges abound around the world, as we all learn to adjust to the new…
Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: It is ironic that in adversity, partnerships should be an instinctive response to help each other and make each other win but in reality,…
अनुमान है कि 2022 तक भारत का लगभग 37 फीसदी कार्यबल उन रोजगारों में होगा, जहां उनके लिए बुनियादी तौर पर बदलते वक्त के अनुरूप आधुनिक कौशल सीखना जरूरी होगा….
Creating building blocks for self-employment and micro-entrepreneurship will transform local economies and spur job creation and sustainable development. By Sunil Dahiya India has one of the largest youth population…
By Ratna Mehta As has been said by one of the greatest minds, Albert Einstein “You can’t solve a problem at the same level that it was created. You have…
Source: The Pioneer Also Read at: https://www.dailypioneer.com/2020/avenues/a-new-generation-of-start-ups.html
The dream of an employable India with its burgeoning youth population equipped with quality education and skills can become a reality by leveraging the reach of digital learning into the…
Crisis is a great leveller, a strict teacher, a consistent normalizer and it is also a great drama when it comes to behaviours that manifest in a variety of ways….
By Samir Sathe MSMEs have been subjected to the host of advisements from a battery of ‘rescuers’, including consultants, advisors, mentors, coaches, experts, lenders, investors, employees, academia, friends, acquaintances, families,…
A shift towards a more gender-balanced organization requires structural and systemic change. By Atul Raja For long, organizations have ignored the value, importance and power play of gender diversity despite…
‘More than fractured attempts, need for enacting MSMEs’ ‘transformation trendlines’ to shape future’
Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: The small business ecosystem has several actors, namely owners, employees, customers, suppliers, partners, regulators, funders and other stakeholders. The transformation experience starts with a…
Creating an army of employable youth will be key to India’s aspirations of a $5 trillion economy. By Sunil Dahiya As India braces towards achieving $5 trillion GDP by this…
Cloud has significantly changed the way we save and share data and communicate remotely. Various file-sharing applications have enabled safe and seamless access of information across locations. By Ratna Mehta…
In the current environment, startups must step back, re-prioritize, and stabilize their operations before thinking of scaling-up By Ajay Batra The current pandemic has turned our lives upside-down, shaken our…
Soft skills are at the heart of any successful business and successful career. By Sunil Dahiya Soft skills are a combination of people and social skills encompassing personality traits and behaviours as…
Indian MSMEs had a US$ 380 billion credit gap before COVID hit us. This implies, MSMEs needed this money to survive and grow then By Samir Sathe It is a…
The loneliness manifests differently when it comes to the positive/negative entrepreneurship and leadership personas in crisis. By Samir Sathe Entrepreneurs are lonely. They become lonelier in crisis. Various estimates put this…
Technology can become a powerful catalyst for human creativity to drive outcomes. By Ratna Mehta Technological advancement is a double-edged sword; while it oils the wheels of advancement and innovation…
Most of these companies are funded initially by impact investors and in subsequent rounds, see increasing participation from VCs and traditional investors as the business model stabilizes. By Ratna Mehta…
Skill, Labour, Talent for MSMEs: We estimate that the select Indian MSMEs up to Rs 250 crore revenue could experience an acceleration of 2-5x revenue and 1-3x in profits, in…
Here is how Indian technology institutes and universities are helping our country become self-reliant in core areas. By Sunita Singh Globally, universities, particularly publicly funded ones, are being called upon…
This article written by Monica Mehta, Executive Vice President, National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) at Wadhwani Foundation highlights how versatile and comprehensive is the role of Mentors for any startup. India has…
Digital and hybrid training models with an evolved technological landscape will account for disruptions in the workforce. By Sunil Dahiya The COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis of historic proportions and…
By Monica Mehta Early-stage investing in India took off in the late 1990s during the technology boom. All stakeholders in the startup ecosystem, including investors and entrepreneurs, we’re attempting to…
We should act at a national scale, now, if we were to escape a national epidemic of unemployment. By Samir Sathe New Delhi: India desperately needs job creators, the entrepreneurs…
India’s education system needs to build a hierarchy of industry-led, job-ready skills to leverage its huge demographic dividend. By Sunil Dahiya In the 21st century while India continues to make…
कोविड-19 संकट ने भारत के छोटे कारोबारियों के लिए सबसे ज्यादा मुश्किलें पैदा की है. अर्थव्यवस्था में 2020 के अंत तक जीडीपी वृद्धि महज 1-2 फीसदी के करीब रहने का…
Skilling, Labour, Talent for MSMEs: One of the several factors that will significantly address the unemployment challenge among MSMEs is upskilling, reskilling, learning, and unlearning. Surprisingly, this realization has yet…
How technology and renewed support from investors and the government is heralding a new age for social entrepreneurship. With a perceptible increase in impact funding, the future for social enterprise…
The COVID-19 pandemic may be a long-term one, but even if it isn’t, it has forever changed the way startups will do business in the future. By Atul Raja It…
Incubators and startups need to realise that often a combination of two or more mentors – covering strategy, industry, and technology, does the trick. By: Ajay Batra During our 74th…
It is time to switch to “wartime CEO” and use the current COVID-19 crisis to course-correct. Here are a few ways of how early-stage startups can survive the COVID-19 crisis….
Entrepreneurs are change-makers in capitalist economies; their innovations and their inherent need to bring to life unique economic assets is what leads to improved standards of living in their economies,…
Given that startups are a key driver of India’s economic growth and innovations, startup founders must find newborn opportunities in challenges to ensure growth, both for themselves and the economy….
Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: More than 60 per cent of the 65 million MSMEs have some family members working either directly and indirectly and in over one-third of…
Credit and Finance for MSMEs: The focus on the revenue and profit is based on the visibility of the expected trends. The exhibit outlines the canvas of the potential strategies…
By Sunil Dahiya With rapid globalisation and digital requirements transcending borders, the global economy has been demanding workers to be innovative, adapt to rapid changes in technology and job requirements…
More than 54% of its population is below 25 years of age and over 66% of the population in the working-age group (15-59 years), as per a recent report. 15,…
World Youth Skills Day 2020: This day is meant to commemorate, acknowledge and celebrate the importance of equipping young people with skills for employment and entrepreneurship. Here’s why early skilling…
Skilling programmes and integrating apprenticeship/internships in schools could help align India’s education with industry needs India is a young nation with 50% of its population being below the age of…
By Sunil Dahiya Here’s what you need to understand is new and latest skills are directly proportionate to new-age careers. The job scenario in India has been undergoing a rapid…
By Samir Sathe Credit and Finance for MSMEs: Last three months have proved to be a testimony to the fact that small businesses must focus on securing cashflows, more than…
By Sunil Dahiya Mandatory internships can create a job-ready, industry-ready workforce. There is a marked disconnect today between what academia produces and the industry need for market-driven skills. Hence, it’s time…
By Samir Sathe In my last article, I covered how survival anxiety leads to overcoming learning anxiety, enhancing the chances of businesses becoming more prepared to innovate. The related key…
The MSME sector will have to bear the brunt of the biggest impact as COVID-19 rips across people and the economy writes Atul Raja, Executive Vice President- Global Marketing, Wadhwani…
Unless we prepare the youth for 21st century employability skills, the prevailing skills gap will continue to impact every sphere of the Indian economy. By Sunil Dahiya In the rapidly…
From being in a state of shock and awe to collaborating and supporting each other, businesses are currently responding in several ways to the trauma caused by the coronavirus crisis….
‘MSMEs must commit to these 18 guideposts of action to survive regardless of post-Covid predictions’
By Samir Sathe Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: While few businesses have the luxury to predict and put financial resources and the right talent to respond to highly probable…
By: Jayant Krishna Despite the lockdown being the biggest job-destroyer in India’s economic history, the nation now needs to prove that this loss of livelihood was only a transient phenomenon….
Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: The small business owners must build trauma management capabilities to be able to respond to a crisis with their inherent strength, resolve and resilience….
By Javier Campos Frugal innovation refers to the innovation of products and services with restricted resources, in contexts of certain urgency at low prices. It could be a solution to…
By Javier Campos Like it or not, the world decided to change without our consent and has generated countless restrictions on which our lives may depend. Among the possible solutions…
In light of US President Trump’s recent visit to India, an economic expert suggests some measures the two countries could take to drive their bilateral relationship to the next level….
The Draft National Education Policy, 2019 attempts for equitable and inclusive education for every child. It has been in the public domain since the last few months. While the policy is…
Why 21st century employability skills, or soft skills, are critical for knowledge economies. The Annual Employability Survey 2019 by Aspiring Minds, the talent evaluation company, has revealed that 80% of…
By: Jayant Krishna Budget 2019 India: An export-centric trade policy regime would promote efficient processes, better quality, higher productivity, and larger scale of operations by Indian firms. Budget 2019-20: In…
By Dr. Ajay Kela SMBs in India can be the answer to manage the troublesome in unemployment and underemployment. Small and medium businesses (SMBs) are critical to every economy. In…
Steady cash flow allows you to invest in machinery, hire and develop people, expand facilities, experiment with different customers and contract terms, and enter new geographies – everything that will…
WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES, IT IS NOW BECOMING POSSIBLE TO CREATE SOLUTIONS FOR SOME OF THE MOST INTRACTABLE PROBLEMS. EQUALLY, IT HAS BECOME POSSIBLE TO IMPROVE EXISTING SOLUTIONS….
2018 was a busy year. We met with over 250 small scale entrepreneurs and other stakeholders from the ecosystem including government bodies and industry associations. During one of these meetings,…
If you were given a chance to choose between human development and economic growth, what would you choose? We instinctively realise that human development should take precedence. Human development allows…
Supporting companies with 25-300 employees, which have a proven business model, and helping them scale up is a real job-creating opportunity. India has over 1.2 million such companies. Wadhwani Foundation…
Most accelerators and incubators are set up to last for three months. This timeframe is imported from programs aimed at identifying high-potential technology startups teams and ideas, to help crystallize…
The Arab Spring, the uprising that rapidly spread through the Middle East in 2010-11, can be attributed to long-simmering discontent resulting from unworthy employment. When the Arab Spring was triggered,…
The acquisition of skills has become increasingly important in the globalized world. Vocational and technical skills we can all agree have become crucial in enhancing the productivity and sustainability of…
Small and medium enterprises can be engines of growth, but we need to oil the wheels. Every year, 17 million more people join the workforce, equivalent to three times the…
Preparing labour with superior future-ready skills is essential. The growth of technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation is resulting in a better, safer and more efficient world. Investments in…
In a jobless growth economy, unemployment remains stubbornly high even as the economy grows. This may be because relatively large number of people may have lost their jobs or new…
Interactions with grown-ups will not only provide valuable learning opportunities but also give them friends/mentors for life Being comfortable with, and even enjoying adult company, is a critical life skill…
A recently launched enterprise in Uttar Pradesh, manufacturing appliances that use artificial intelligence to generate green electricity, is availing tax exemptions from the government. A company in Maharashtra, manufacturing ayurvedic…
The World Bank has predicted that India’s GDP growth will be 7.2% in 2017-18 and 7.7% in 2019-20. This forecasted rate of growth vigorously supports India’s aspiration of being recognised…
Disruption is inevitable. What can you and your government do to minimize the impact of disruption? The narrative around technology taking away jobs has existed throughout history and it is…
The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) employ more than 80 million people in India and contribute to around 40% of total exports and 37% of total GDP. The micro,…
Davos to Delhi, Ludhiana to Trichy and Guwahati to Surat – the chorus to create jobs and develop skills seems to be getting louder by the day. With “disruption” set…
The Technology Business Incubator scheme of the Department of Science & Technology aims at ‘incubating’ knowledge-based start-ups into sustainable businesses. In the 1990s, Israel faced a serious challenge. An influx…
Researchers and leading scientists within India are content with being the “first in India” or the “best in India”. That mind-set needs to change towards “first in the world” and…
With so much startup action occupying the center-stage in States, India is buzzing with entrepreneurial activity like never before. Needless to say that with more states joining the bandwagon, a…
The 2011 census tells us that 6-7% of the population, or 70-90 million people, in India are disabled. The actual numbers are larger. According to a WHO estimate, there are…
While there are successful examples of young innovators like PC Musthafa (iD Fresh), Sampriti Bhattacharyya (Hydroswarm) and Vijay Sharma (One97), the harsh reality is that an inordinately large number of…
A common refrain nowadays, the term ‘demographic dividend’ needs better understanding. The United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) defines it as the economic growth potential that can result from shifts in…
Much has been debated about India’s manpower story. Forecasts suggest that, by 2020, about 60% of India’s population of 130 crore will be in the working-age group of 15-59 years….
As the politics of fear and insecurity spreads its shadow over the Western world, and robots and 3D printing threaten to dislodge blue-collar workers worldwide, the jobs story is grim…
Mission skills training for India’s youth took off eight years ago. In its new avatar, it seeks to provide students with jobs Somyasri Samal speaks English fluently – short, crisp…
Given the large student population in India and the ongoing need for skilled resources, there is no doubt that technology will play a disruptive role in the way we teach…
The line between demographic dividend and demographic disaster is getting dangerously thin for India. According to the National Skill Development Agency, 21 government departments and ministries trained 7.6 million people…
Globally, entrepreneurship has become a key engine for employment generation. As policy makers grapple with economic uncertainty and cultural changes, large corporations that traditionally created jobs are biting the dust….
Few months ago, a small paanstall mysteriously appeared on the footpath near our office. I saw a young man at the helm, selling paan, cigarettes, chewing gum and some toffees….
It was heartening to see that the Union Budget 2016-17 had ‘education, skill development and job creation’ as one of the nine pillars envisaged to transform Indian economy. Skill development…
The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are known for their agility and stretching a rupee to its limit. Across all verticals, stumping most SMEs is the access to markets and…
According to the latest Census compiled in 2011, there are about 26.8 million persons with disabilities (PwDs) in India, which is approximately 2.4% of the population. Of these disabled, about…
The formal launch of ‘Startup India, Standup India’ on January 16th was path-breaking. For once, here was an establishment promise that held sway beyond expectations. A ‘leap-forward policy’ and recognition…
India is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and has an obligation to ensure access to Persons with Disabilities [PwDs] on an…
When a major emerging economy grows significantly you would expect job growth to follow closely. Sadly this is not the case for India. Between 2005 and 2012, India’s GDP growth…
Fillip to spirit of innovation In 2015, investors pumped $9 billion into Indian startups. And during the same period, India created eight unicorns, startups with valuations topping $1 billion or…
Skilling India: Mine the young workforce Prosperous countries with high GDP and per capita income tend to have high skill capital. This also translates to better quality of life and…
It is now amply evident that India and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are poised for a level of growth that defies normal trajectory. There is no better a…
Sustained policy interventions can ensure a level-playing field According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), around 15% of the global population, or an estimated 1 billion people, live with disabilities,…
Estimates on the number Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) in India vary significantly. This is because of different criteria of definition and measurement, and also the fact that in India disability…
Barring a few exceptions, women entrepreneurs in India are yet to be bracketed as role models and celebrities. But don’t be surprised if this changes fast. India is sitting at…
Whenever we order food from one of the popular food ordering apps like Foodpanda or TinyOwl and have PayTM or PayUMoney facilitate an additional 50 per cent cash back on…
Of late, there has been much excitement about leveraging India’s demographic dividend to become the workshop of the world, powered by its young population. This was evident at the Skill…
Technology has been a great leveller and has democratised entrepreneurship in India. Today’s young entrepreneurs live in a different world. They are dreaming of billion-dollar startup enterprises and turning down…
There is no denying the global phenomena of growing income disparity and this is true for India as well. A 2014 study by Oxfam showed that the world’s top 80…
In August 2015, entrepreneur Sairee Chahal, founder of Sheroes, raised Rs 5 crore funding. Sheroes has been connecting talented women professionals to career opportunities and women entrepreneurs to the startup…
In economies that are experiencing a youth bulge, entrepreneurs could be the key to what seems like an intractable global problem of growing youth unemployment Entrepreneurs are a rare breed….
Can entrepreneurship meet the job-creation challenge? According to the ministry of corporate affairs, about 1 lakh new companies were registered in India in 2014. So, entrepreneurship is growing.but the outcome…
The three to four years invested in college or university can be used meaningfully to prepare yourself for the world of work, irrespective of what career you want to pursue….
There is one thing we recognise by instinct: The world has changed from what it was 20 years ago but education in India hasn’t changed all that much. While curriculum…
Over the past six decades, the formal education system has not been adequately equipped for fulfilling the skill gaps existing in the industry. The country has over 85,000 senior secondary…
Investors have pumped in over $2.5 billion so far into India’s startups. So, things must be going very well for entrepreneurs, right? Wrong. The number, while a record for India,…
Cloud-Mobile Blend Can Be an Answer to Global Skills Gap There is a deep fracture in the global talent supply chain. In 2013, countries from the US to Canada, Australia…
No country for bold women: A 5-step recipe for a female entrepreneurship revolution in India If there is anything called a rush hour at the grocery store check-out lanes, it…
Skilling, of late, has become a hot-button topic across the world. And given India’s demographic dividend, it acquires special significance. With 54% of our population below 25 years of age,…
Building Skills Beyond A Degree Aligning diverse skilling mechanisms with the unified NSQF has started creating a skilling ecosystem. If implemented properly, it can be transformative for India India has…
Focus needs to be on employment rather than employability India has a clear cut task set for itself, 500 million to be skilled by 2022 to meet industries’ requirements till…
By Ajay Kela Aadesh Kumar, from Mawana town in Uttar Pradesh, had to discontinue his studies after Class XII because of limited family financials. Aadesh soon realised that his high…
By Ajay Kela India has a very unique talent pool of an estimated three million educated disabled. What makes them so unique The educated disabled have demonstrated tremendous resilience and…