Should digital marketing teams report to CMO?
This is a hotly debated question Srikant, with no easy answer, at least in the short-term. Long-term, the answer is unequivocal. Your digital marke......
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Archives forCEO/ Leadership
Founder conflict at startup
This is a tough situation and if it’s any consolation, a fairly common one. The truth is that as a company grows, the team that was right for......
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3 steps to building company culture
3 steps to building company culture. Here goes, Anshila
1. Define the values that will help you achieve your busine......
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Quick, cheap startup marketing
Anshul, I know it can seem daunting when you are trying to launch a new concept, so break the task down.
- Who you are speaki......
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Funding and mentorship for startup (MVP Ready)
Congratulations on the MVP, Bharat. In my opinion, there is only one thing you should focus on to get investors and mentors interested. Find a gro......
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Bootstrap or fundraise for a 2 year-old startup
I think you may have answered your own question, Saba. If you are out of runway, then the only thing to do is to put all your energy behind fund-......
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Startup marketing: Advertising vs PR
Hello Rohan,
Advertising is primarily to target end-customers while PR is more effective for investors. Here’s what I would recommend:......
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Growth-versus-profit dilemma for young startup
Hello Sonal
Congratulations on the fund-raise. The pressure to grow with decent unit economics is actually a blessing in disguise because it......
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Inexpensive consumer research
As a first step, draft a maximum of 3 customer-related questions that you wish you had answers for. Two of these are likely to be: What do customer......
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Is a startup going in the right direction?
These are my checkpoints, in order of priority
Team Confidence
Is there core team stability? Does the founding team s......
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Meeta Malhotra
I work at the intersection of design, brand and technology. Over the last few years, I have added mindfulness to the mix in an attempt to understand how we can be the best version of ourselves.
A closet geek, I started my career with Infosys when they were just starting up. I was one of two partners at Ray+Keshavan, a brand and design consultancy, before its acquisition by WPP-owned Brand Union in 2006. I co-founded KineticGlue, a social enterprise platform that was acquired by BMC Software in 2013. I am currently co-founder at startup No 3, which will bring two unique brands from India to global markets. Varana, an East-meets-West fashion and lifestyle brand (www.varanaworld.com) and Almora, a personal care brand based on Contemporary Ayurveda (www.almorabotanica.com). I am also an active angel investor and advisor with Kstart, Kalaari Capital’s seed stage fund.
What we need right now are less ivory-tower discussions and more voices from the trenches. This site is an attempt to share whatever knowledge I have gained. Be it branding or mindfulness and meditation, the caveat is that it must be something I have actually practiced and not mere theory. If you have a question, send it in and I’ll do my best to answer it.