in Agri, Cooperatives
Farmer cooperative to Farmveda in 7 years
Is it a coincidence that I invoke Dr. Trilochan Sastry in yesterday’s post and today there’s a message from him in my Inbox? Either that or I have psychic powers. Dear Sir/ Ma’am, To give you a bit of a background, India Farm Foods (IFF) with brand name Farmveda (www.farmveda.in) was founded in 2016 to …
in Policy, Poverty Econ
Unconditional transfers approaching primetime
Since I first read about unconditional transfers (in Banerjee and Duflo’s Poverty Economics book), I’ve been fascinated about this seemingly this-cant-possibly-work approach to foreign aid. Later I discovered GiveDirectly, a nonprofit organization operating in East Africa that helps families living in extreme poverty by making unconditional cash transfers to them via mobile phone. Last week …
in Startups
Insights from 3 Silicon Valley angels
What is it about startup life that makes it seem way longer than it was? My recent mGaadi journey lasted 3 yrs 8 months but it felt like 5 years. My previous journey (Graspr) lasted an intense 13 months but felt like 2 years. In my first stint as entrepreneur (2007-08), I had a healthy …
in Startups
If you don’t believe in your idea, take the money
The term sheet was in our inbox and we had the customary 2-3 days to respond. We had much to be happy about. After all, the term sheet was from one of the blue-chip VC firms with two celebrity partners. Since we had passed ‘their’ test, the outcome seemed to validate our endeavor that extra …
in General
Dropping the social in social entrepreneur
About 9 months into my TechSangam blogging journey (that would be circa 2012), I was one of the guest bloggers at the Villgro Unconvention 2011. I recall a discussion where panelists were asked to predict where the social enterprise ecosystem would be in 10 years. You are probably yawning and rolling your eyes. I did too when …
in General
Why doing good with tech is hard
The blog comes alive.. or should I say “starting to flicker” after years. Thanks to my morning Twitter timeline, I read this beautiful piece by Jonathan Stray (computer scientist and investigative journalist) that I’m taking the liberty to selectively excerpt. You (long-form reader) are directed to entire the entire article here. The rest of you …
in Education
More coaching less schooling
IITs to release 50 years of solved JEE Question Papers!! India’s Human Resources Department (akin to Department of Education in US and elsewhere) made this decision after consultation with the IITs purportedly to combat the scourge of Kota coaching academies. This story popped up in my Facebook timeline and my friend Himanshu Nautiyal had this …
in Challenges
ISB iDiya calling all social entrepreneurs
Calling all social impact ideas & innovations!! 10 best ideas get a week-long all-expenses-paid bootcamp to ISB. Cash reward of Rs 2 Lakhs for winner. Over a crore of seed funding. Make the difference you have always wanted to by submitting your proposal at https://events.isb.edu/idiya/ Application Deadline : 15th Sep 2014 Register now to get a …
in Ugly Indian
Behold the unassuming Ugly Indian
Behold the Ugly Indian. The Kaam Chalu Mooh Bandh Ugly Indian. The non-preachy Ugly Indian. The not-your-activist Ugly Indian. The anonymous Ugly Indian. The inspiring Ugly Indian. The unassuming Ugly Indian. You can’t change your country. You can’t change your city. You may be able to change your neighborhood. But… You certainly CAN change a spot. What’s …
in Watsan
Why Bill Gates’s Toilet of the Future might be too First Worldy
Almost two years ago, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation declared Caltech as the winner of Reinvent the Toilet Challenge. A solar-powered toilet that disinfects waste and reuses wastewater to flush. Better yet, it pumps out hydrogen gas for use in fuel cells. Water flushing fixtures, which flushes the poop and pee into a septic holding tank …
