Cover Story
- A customer at MTR, a popular Bangalore restaurant, can be presented reviews on why the filter coffee there is the best in that part of the city and tipped off that there's a coffee shop close by that's started roasting and grinding beans for a French press - all on the fly without asking for it and all in two-three seconds.
- intelloCut, the software developed by Threadsol Softwares, the start-up founded by Manasij Ganguli and his former colleagues Abhishek Srivastava and Bratish Goswami from Noida's Impetus Infotech, helps cut down fabric wastage.
- MadRat now has 70 board games that sell in 2,000 big and small stores across India. Having reached the milestone of 100,000 games sold last September, MadRat now has revenues of more than Rs 50 lakh per month.
- As part of our coverage on India's coolest start-ups, we profile Vijaybabu Gandhi and Arunprasad Durairaj's Flinto Learning Solutions that targets busy, and guilty, parents who want to keep their kids engaged.
- Narayan's two-year-old start-up, Business Essentials for Better Businesses (BEBB), buys and sells raw materials - steel to polymers to paints - for small and medium enterprises under a brand smartly named Power2SME.
- Sharad Sharma, Co-founder, iSpirt says Indian software products industry is producing one Biocon sized company every year!
- As part of our coverage on India's coolest start-ups, we profile Delhivery, a third-party, last-mile logistics delivery firm in Delhi that serves e-commerce companies alone. It routes packages faster via different flights throughout the day as well as using multiple modes of transport.
- Freshdesk has not only offered solutions to address customer satisfaction, but has also made it fun. And, that is what has makes it different from other companies. Its solutions have built-in games that enable support staff to compete among themselves to solve customer complaints effectively.
- The company has garnered sales of Rs 1.9 lakh since the product's commercial launch in January this year. Lumos is trying to increase sales by tying up with employee rewards companies and listing on Snapdeal.
- However, despite the sustained growth, the founders say the company could have expanded much faster had they taken more people on board and "delegated work" much earlier.
- As part of our 2014 listing of the best start-ups in India, we feature social media benchmarking start-up Unmetric that fuses its 100 servers on Amazon Cloud to sift through the web and pull out data on 15,000 brands across 30 different sectors.
- FIND rates news items (and views, too) based on the credibility of the source, then scans each word and identifies a sentiment, and combines the two to generate a colour code ' red, green and grey denoting negative, positive and neutral respectively.
- Hyderabad-based NowFloats helps you get a website - and helps promote it as well - without your needing access to the Net, or even a PC. Besides the speed and ease of getting a website up, the company also provides automated search engine optimisation.
- It is a good time to be an entrepreneur. There are mentors and accelerators, a growing tribe of angel investors and venture capitalists, investment banks waiting to spot the next acquisition target, and a large domestic market.
- Kaushal Dugar's fledgling company Teaxpress Pvt. Ltd, founded in 2012, sources tea directly from the gardens in Darjeeling, Assam and the Nilgiris. Now, Dugar dreams of creating an international Indian tea brand.
- The Bangalore-based start-up scans Twitter and collects news on different topics entered by users, and relevant to 55 cities across six countries. Frrole filters these Twitter feeds, thereby making them great plug-ins for television channels and websites. Full coverage of India's Coolest Start-ups 2014
- Currently making Rs 4 lakh in revenues per month, TommyJams wants to pull up to an ambitious million dollars per annum in a year or two. It is also shaping up to go global.
- "The idea is that customers should make the payment in a shorter time than it takes to remove money from the wallet," says Citrus Chairman Satyen Kothari, who founded the company along with Jitendra Gupta in April 2011 and brought in the initial funding of Rs 16 lakh.
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra India tour was about cultural exchange and more
Sometimes, all it takes is a melody to bring the hills and dales of Scotland down to the sultry environs of Delhi. And that's exactly what the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra did.Revamped Bread et More in Delhi boasts of a tempting spread
The revamped Bread et More at GK boasts of a tempting European spread.Five Bollywood divas you must follow on Instagram
With Instagram the new 'it' thing around, making sure you give your followers something different is a given. We tell you the 5 Bollywood divas you must follow for all the right tips and tricks.Glenfiddich's legacy of art embarks on its 13th year
Glenfiddich's legacy of art embarks on its 13th year.
Speed dates
BT More lists top events be held in April. Flying Virgin Atlantic? Brace yourself for cyborg-like attendants armed with detailed info on air passengers.
Vertu Constellation mobile: Perfect mix of technology and fashion
An impressive amalgamation of fine materials, craftsmanship and luxury, the Vertu Constellation mobile phone doubles up as the perfect companion for the fashion-conscious yet technologically driven man of today. Radiation is harmful, but would you chuck your handy little handset for something like that? Some tips for ensuring optimum use of your cellphone with minimal risk to health. Track your location calorie count, heart rate and number of laps during a long run. Technogym's Artis, the world's first Google Glasscontrolled treadmill, is all set to lead the next revolution in the fitness world. BT More lists four upcoming videos games.
Snacks for an instant mind and body boost
Combine these easy-to-get snacks for an instant mind andbody boost - whether at home or halfway to Timbuktoo. Exotic drinks, good food and cosy interiors, Monkey Bar has it all.Restaurant review: High Ultra Lounge in Bangalore
With punchy music and an aerial view of Bangalore, High Ultra Lounge makes for a great evening.At Barrels, Give it the Old College Try
Remember the heady moments of lights, music and head-banging from your days of youth? Barrels at Vasant Vihar lets you live them once again.
Design extraordinaire!
Four of the country's top menswear designers give us their versions of how you should be dressing up for the colourful summer ahead. Stock your closet! The concept of putting your best foot forward is all but nullified. Now proudly put both your feet forward in shoes that are the rage this Spring/Summer.Hottest trends from the ramps of Summer Paris and Milan Fashion Weeks
Presenting five of the hottest trends to emerge from the ramps of the Summer '14 Paris and Milan Fashion Weeks. Are you taking notes?Tips on how to dress up best for resorts
Summer's here, and it's time to plan a beachtrip. You pick the resort, we pick the best in resort wear!
New tie-ups, fresh acquisitions are rocking HR companies
The opportunities in the Indian job market clearly have not gone unnoticed, leading to a considerable churn. The temporary staffing industry in the country alone is worth about Rs 20,000 crore, according to estimates by Ernst & Young.Why buybacks have emerged as the predominant exit route for PE funds
According to data by private equity research firm VCCEdge, exits through buybacks have steadily increased in recent years, from 11 in 2008 to 50 in 2013. There were a total of 172 exits last year. Buybacks were the second most preferred exit route after open market transactions (60).Consumption of diesel could fall for the first time in a decade
Slowing sales of commercial diesel vehicles and the improved power situation - leading to less diesel use in private generators - have also contributed to the trend. Rising diesel prices and shifting of industrial consumers to alternative fuels due to a dual pricing policy, has dampened consumption.Satyamev Jayate is a not-for-profit show, says Star India CEO
Star India CEO Uday Shankar says the show was never meant to be a profitable property. "We were defying the traditional definition of entertainment content … [and] prepared to take losses," he says.Govt must fully implement Companies Act as early as possible
The Companies Act 2013 will make it tougher for companies to commit fraud. The new law will plug most loopholes of the old regime. All that the government needs to do now is fully implement it.What happens when minority shareholders disagree strongly with company polic
When minority shareholders disagree strongly with company policy, they usually sell their shares and exit, fearing they will not be taken seriously. But there have been a few doughty ones who have stood up and objected strongly enough to make an impact. Some recent examples:CBI enquiry against C.B. Bhave: Who said what
If CBI finds that it erred in filing such an enquiry and in giving it publicity without carrying out proper diligence, then the director must apologise: C.B. Bhave, former Chairman, Sebi, in The Economic Times
How Gillette innovated and improved its market share in India
This case study looks at how Gillette innovated in India by tailoring advertising and inventing a new product development process to reflect local shaving habits.
Dance floor to the balcony
Do you focus too much on the task at hand and miss the helicopter view of what you do and what you want to be? Take a step back.'Indian organisations yet to embrace concept of mindfulness in mainstream business'
Santhosh Babu, celebrity coach and speaker on leadership, who facilitates organisational transformations, says Indian organisations have yet to embrace the concept of mindfulness. Some do, however, provide stress management and emotional intelligence workshops for employees.
Companies turning to innovative ways on employees leave
The trend is most visible in local units of multinational companies or in sectors such as technology where the workforce is relatively young, educated and upwardly mobile. Many organisations are also allowing employees to accumulate more earned leave.
Two-screen movie theatres are becoming popular in smaller cities and towns
Mumbai-based Jain says Silver Screens, the cineplex he opened in Rajnandgaon, achieves 70 per cent occupancy on most days and also attracts people from nearby villages. This is despite keeping the average ticket price high at Rs100 with premium tickets priced at Rs150.STMicroelectronics to help India start its chip manufacturing journey
The European chipmaker will help India jump-start its chip manufacturing journey by providing technology support to one of the consortiums setting up a semiconductor wafer units in the country.Micromax has bold plans for global push, shares Rahul Sharma
The journey has begun. In January, Sharma travelled to Moscow to launch the Micromax brand in Russia. It is already present in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.Hindustan Powerprojects' Ratul Puri is betting big on power
Puri wanted an image makeover for Moser Baer Power Projects and the best possible way was to shed the baggage of the name. After about four years he decided to change the company name to Hindustan Powerprojects.India has abundant natural resources; all it needs is reform: Anil Agarwal
Billionaire industrialist Anil Agarwal says India must encourage mining and manufacturing to boost economic growth and hopes that the new government that will take charge after the General Election due in May will provide strong and decisive leadership.Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Arvind Panagariya slug it out at the Conclave
Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Arvind Panagariya slug it out at the Conclave, in a discussion moderated by Shweta Punj.We need a leader who can unleash India's potential, says Aroon Purie
In a time of economic stress, the 13th edition of the Conclave sheds light on ways in which the country can still achieve its full potential.Jack Sim is working on a Hindi movie to spread awareness of the importance of toilets
The founder of the World Toilet Organization is working on a Hindi movie to spread awareness of the importance of toilets.Hike in natural gas prices from April 1 will compound its problem
The power sector already faces an acute shortage of natural gas. The hike in gas prices from April 1 will compound its problems.
A bubbly pair
Pascal Tingaud, chef par excellence, suggests champagne and food combinations for your finer sensibilities.Remy Martin's Christophe Bourrie shares the brand's story
Christophe Bourrie, Regional Director of Louis XIII de Remy Martin for South East Asia, Middle East and India shares the brand's story and talks about its foray into the country.
Xerox India's MD Rajat Jain shares his firsts in life
Rajat Jain, MD, Xerox India says his first job taught me the fundamentals of sales and people management, and helped me understand the meaning of professionalism and meritocracy.
Hungry and Foolish Ind-ennials
At Business Today, we celebrate start-ups every year with a special issue. This year, we have a set of 16 start-ups varied both in the spaces they operate in and the business models they leverage for most value.
How to develop future leaders and keep employees engaged
Mumbai's top HR executives discuss their role in developing future leaders and keeping employees engaged.
Letters to the Editor
This refers to your cover story The New Nano Promise (March 30). What is common between Tata's Nano, Reliance Infocom (now Reliance Communications), and the brokerage industry? News that you may have missed last fortnight
Russian Raj: By annexing Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin has esclated tensions with the West. Apart from suspension from the G8 club of nations, Russia faces economic sanctions.
People who made news last fortnight
Featuring: Mark Eyers, Srinivasan Dwarakanath, Sanjay Bhatia and Soren Skou
