KACHARAGADLA

Asking yourself the right questions early on can lead to greater profits and productivity down the line. Congratulations! You’ve decided to start a business and  become an entrepreneur . You’ve made your mind up, which is good. But, now you’ve probably got a million questions. That’s a good thing. At this stage in the game, it’s all about asking yourself the right questions. Asking yourself which color your business card should be is not a good question. Instead, you want to ask yourself questions that will provide clarity of purpose on a day-to-day basis, because a day of uncertainty is a day wasted. Another major benefit of asking yourself the right questions is that the answers will lead you to greater productivity and quicker cash flow. These are the same questions I asked myself back in late 2013 when I first started selling grillz,  men's gold chains  and other hip-hop jewelry. And remember, without cash flow, you don’t have a business. You have a hobby. The

Many cash-strapped startups abandon the "superfluous" investment of marketing. Big mistake, because marketing can actually provide that cash. Startups face many challenges, but none as precarious or life-threatening as the struggle to remain cash positive. The  Minority Business Development Agency  (MBDA) estimates the average cost to start a business to be  in the neighborhood of $30,000 ; and there’s significant variance in this figure, with some businesses starting out for just a few hundred dollars and others requiring upwards of millions. But, remember: These numbers are only startup costs. In addition, new companies have to pay thousands a month in team salaries, office-leasing fees, raw materials and other ongoing operational costs -- all while struggling to secure enough revenue to stay afloat. Caught in this dire financial balancing act, most entrepreneurs end up abandoning investments they come to view as superfluous, such as marketing and advertisi

Like most CEOs in growing companies, one of my chief concerns has always been talent. I thought about all parts of the employee lifecycle. I obsess about finding great people, making them successful, developing their skills, and retaining them for the long haul.  Research has long shown  that more diverse teams produce better business results. Outside of work, I started to notice something as I entered my 40s – female friends and colleagues were leaving their careers for a period of time to focus on their children and finding it difficult to restart their careers. Their attempts were thwarted by bias from recruiters and hiring managers who were reluctant to consider a candidate with a career gap or someone who wanted something less than a full-time role. So we decided to launch an experiment at Return Path. Our CTO and human resources leaders convinced me that we could find success by building a new kind of internship program aimed specifically at women looking to restart their

The most recent technology IPOs include MuleSoft, Alteryx, Coupa, BlackLine, Talend, and Twilio. Add to that list recent filings by Okta, Yext and Cloudera and the market’s appetite for enterprise technology IPOs continues to grow in 2017. Now a  new batch of more than 300  are in the running for an initial public offering. For all of the digital enterprises preparing for IPOs this year, staffing the right executive team is critical. Although these companies know technology is at the core of every business process and is the primary driver of competitive advantage, CIOs are often not hired in the early stages of the company. In fact, very few pause to think of a CIO until there’s a dire need. While there’s no doubt that CTOs and CFOs are critical, CIOs have an equally important role to play. CEOs, here are 5 reasons your startup needs a CIO today: 1) Start Right:  CIOs are typically brought in when a company’s considering going public or planning an exit. By this time, the co

For the longest time, entire generations would imagine the word “office” as  drab, sterile rooms covered with cubicles galore , occupied by overworked men and women in uncomfortable, professional attire. In fact, when our parents would pick up their bags and set off for work in the morning, several of you reading this right now have probably imagined their parents working away in one of these places. Now let’s think about what the word “office” means in today’s world, a world where enthusiastic startups are emerging every step of the way. Somehow,  the image one conjures up is not so different from the surroundings we are familiar with  – cosy, colourful rooms occupied by people in casual, comfortable clothes working away on their laptops seated in bean bags. The difference is stark and apparent. So, can we say that the emergence of these new age startups caused a shift in the very way we perceive workplaces and work culture? Well, if you answered with a resounding “yes”, re

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he speaks during an event to launch an initiative to bolster start-ups in New Delhi on January 16, 2016 As we stand at the cusp of 2017, it's time to gather one’s thoughts regarding the year that passed us by. For startups in India, 2016 proved to be the year for consolidation and transition, where entrepreneurial mindset metamorphosed from a gold rush-like mentality into an ecosystem where preference is being given to quality over quantity. Even though the velocity of capital flowing in has slowed down, the quality of work being completed with was a tad higher. The spectrum of innovation by startups expanded across many verticals of the Indian economy. During the year, Indian startups experienced numerous moments that made this ecosystem vibrant and tested its inhabitants for survival; this resulted in a year that was rather a memorable one. Startup and Standup India This scheme was launched amidst a lot of fanfare on 16 Ja