Why is Paytm India's Top Startup?

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Paytm was launched in 2010 as an Indian start up. The original service of Paytm was to help users to make their bill payments and recharge mobile phones, while earning reward point. In this post we will see the reason why Paytm is considerd the top indian startup and get more details about this startup. What is Paytm? Paytm was founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma, in Noida with an initial investment of $2 million. Paytm's parent company One97 Communications which is also owned by Vijay Shekhar Sharma was started in 2000 and operates into multiple fields. Who owns Paytm? Paytm has been backed by Jack Maa's Alibaba and Ratan Tata of the infamous TATA Group. Although partially owned by Chinese company Alibaba, Paytm remains an Indian company with majority of stake holders being Indians (primarily Ratan Tata and Vijay Shekhar Sharma himself.  What got Paytm the required boost? Paytm added a lot of features in 2013 and moved from a mobile and DTH recharge service to an online payment pl
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3 ways to Seek Opportunity in Adversity

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Jugaad Innovators find opportunity in adversity in 3 different ways
1. Re framing or changing the lens through which they perceive the situation they face.
2. Making constraints work for them rather than against them
3. Being quick to act in response to the opportunities they see

We saw in the previous post how O.P. Bhatt (former chairman of SBI) used the first way to do the most with what he had and brought the Parivartan. He looked at the same situation with a different angle to make the most with the current situation and the given resources.

We also saw in a previous post how Kanak Das used the second way to make the constraints work for him rather than working against him. Das used to ride his bicycle to work and faced a lot of bumpy roads on the way. Being frustrated with his situation he modified his bike to collect energy every time the front tyre hit the pot holes. This energy is then used to power the rear tyre and accelerate the bike.

Professor Anil Gupta of IIM Ahmedabad calls it as “Making the bumps work for you”. He also notes that you have hybrid cars today that convert energy from breaking but not from shock absorbers. It’s a completely new concept developed by Kanak Das.

Professor Gupta has helped Das to patent his invention. Engineering students at MIT are already using Das’s invention as inspiration for how to convert energy generated by shocks absorbers in automobiles into acceleration.

Bhatt and Das both have used the third way to act quickly in the response to the opportunity they see. If Das had waited, he would have seen better roads built eventually and never invent his cycle. This would have stopped an invention that could possibly be a major invention in the automobile sector.

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