Lateral Sparks, the weekly quiz from YourStory, tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see the previous edition here). In this 203rd edition of the quiz, we present issues tackled by real-life entrepreneurs in their startup journeys.
What would you do if you were in their shoes? At the end of the quiz, you will find out what the entrepreneurs and innovators themselves actually did. Would you do things differently?
Check out YourStory’s Book Review section as well, with takeaways from over 355 titles on creativity and entrepreneurship, and our weekend PhotoSparks section on creativity in the arts.
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Q1: Beyond meat
Many consumers are avoiding meat due to ethical concerns, or worries about food safety. What alternatives arise here, and where is the entrepreneurial opportunity?
Q2: Physiotherapy movements
Many physiotherapy patients find it boring and even painful to move their arms and hands, which can be one of the toughest challenges on the road to recovery. What’s an effective solution here for patients as well as therapists?
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Q3: Hiring talent
Many startups and MSMEs struggle due to delayed hiring of talent and limited in–house expertise for technical evaluations. How can these gaps be filled?
Q4: Kitchens and cooking
The Indian kitchen, where cooking time averages two to three hours per day, has seen only limited technological innovation over the years. How can new advances help make traditional cooking easier?
Q5: Diamonds are forever
A sizeable market is emerging for consumers who want eco-friendly alternatives to mined diamonds. How can this market be scaled?
Answers!
Congratulations on having come this far! But there’s more to come – answers to these five questions (below), as well as links to articles with more details on the entrepreneurs’ solutions. Happy reading, happy learning – and happy creating!
A1: Beyond meat
A number of startups are working on lab-cultivated chicken, fish, and dairy proteins, supported by research collaborations with premier institutes. For example, ClearMeat is developing products such as cultivated steak, keema and minced chicken.
Biokraft is developing cultivated chicken and seafood such as trout, using in-vitro cell culture combined with proprietary 3D bioprinting technology. Read more here about other startups like Meatt Biotech (cell-cultured chicken and fish using bioreactors) and Zero Cow Factory (animal-free dairy proteins).
A2: Physiotherapy movements
Founded by Habib Ali and Sreehari KG, BeAble Health is using gamification to reimagine physiotherapy. It turns repetitive rehab into playful, familiar movements that patients find easier to do.
Its offerings include ArmAble, a smart rehab device that uses intuitive games like swatting mosquitoes to make repetitive movements playful. Read more here about its software platform, BeOne, that tracks movement data, analyses performance, and presents easy-to-understand insights for therapists.
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A3: Hiring talent
Founded by Anil Agarwal and Ritu Mathran, InCruiter provides SMEs and startups with both human and AI-powered interview solutions. It enables scheduling, coding assessments, and exit interviews to help businesses hire faster, reduce bias, and improve quality.
Its solutions reportedly reduce average hiring time from 42 days to just 7-10 days, with inputs from a network of over 3,000 expert interviewers. Read more here about its revenue options such as pay-per-interview for corporates or a credit-based model for smaller firms.
A4: Kitchens and cooking
Founded by Eshwar K Vikas and Rakesh Patil, Beyond Appliances is bringing industrial-grade innovation and automation to everyday cooking with smart, user-friendly kitchen appliances. It tackles pain points like smoke management, cooking precision, and repetitive prep tasks.
For example, Orion Chimney has voice and gesture control as well as access to OTT apps, enclosed behind a tempered glass panel built for tough kitchen conditions like steam, oil, and heat. Read more here about how the startup differentiates itself by designing such products specifically for Indian kitchens rather than adapting products made for international markets.
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A5: Diamonds are forever
Founded by Darayus Mehta and Parin Shah, True Diamond blends sustainable, lab-grown diamonds with edgy, contemporary designs. Within its first year, it launched over 5,000 designs, with many buyers returning for a second purchase.
It uses only high-quality CVD diamonds (grown in a laboratory using the Chemical Vapour Deposition method), and sells them online or through experience stores. Read more here about how it plans to launch 50 stores over the next 2-3 years.
YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).
