The consumerization of B2B SaaS

The growing demand from smaller startups, gig workers and SMSEs are making B2B SaaS players adopt some tricks of the trade from their B2C counterparts In this piece (9 ways…), I had discussed how B2B SaaS is inherently different from B2C SaaS. There, I had mentioned in passing that B2B SaaS is increasingly incorporating B2C …

Why India does not have many successful consumer apps or the 8 rules of product success in the app world

One of the successes of the Covid19 lock down has been Zoom. Despite vulnerabilities, the video calling service has done well for itself. This has led to a very interesting question on social media. Why don't we have similarly popular Indian apps? In this piece I analyze what makes an app or service successful. Also, …

Boatman on the Chilika

I have talked about him in two previous posts, here and here. But I just realised that I have not really introduced him. So here are two pictures of my boatman on the Chilika I met him in 2008, on a trip back from Orissa, when I took a detour for a quick trip to …

Fruit seller on the beach

Continuing with the chronicling of the various bottom-of-the-pyramid entrepreneurs  I have come across... This fruit seller was some how  different from all the others, the boatman on the Chilika and the Bhelpuriwala on the Ganges. For starters, she was much more colourful, and presented herself much better, like she had just had her bath and was …

Full news stand on a bicycle: innovation at the bottom of the pyramid

I saw this news stand on a bicycle outside the Hauz Khas Metro station. The cycle had newspapers, magazines and books all stacked up and the vendor was there right beside his "stall". There were even a few sales that happened as I stood watching. Another entrepreneur at the bottom of the pyramid. Ps: I …