MAM
Guest Column: Start-up hacks: A cheat sheet for success
With the convergence of technology and media, we are witnessing tremendous activity in the start-up space. From content to distribution to broadcast to affiliate opportunities, there is no dearth of new ideas and their backers. Surprisingly not all of them are covering all their bases to crack the start-up success code.
Having been a part of four start-ups in leadership positions along with all the insights gained through studying hundreds of others, here are 9 ways that help us better understand them and reasons that make them succeed.
1. Start-ups are not smaller versions of large organisations. Bonsai have a different life and game plan as compared to large trees. The two should not be compared and start-ups should not be expected to emulate the large organisation.
2. Start-ups do not adhere to a ‘set’ business plan – in most of the cases the challenge is to find one. As Mike Tyson famously said on his opponent’s pre-fight strategies: everyone has a plan till they get punched in the face. Business Plans are a necessary evil but for a start-up they are nothing more than fictional plans and rarely do they survive their first contact with customers.
3. Customer Plan is much more important than the business plan. This may include customer engagement, customer stickiness, brand advocacy score, net promoter score, etc. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning,” said Bill Gates.
4. Data is the new oil. Data undergirds everything. Period.
5. Start-ups need to fail fast, fail often, fail cheap and fail better. Constant experimentation and continuous learning is the name of the game rather than elaborate planning. Start-ups need to keep their persistence levels high. “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and falling over,” as famously told by Richard Branson.
6. Iteration is the key word for every aspect of the business. Launch and iterate. And again. Everything is changeable except the intent to give one’s best to making it big.
7. Repeatability and scalability are two pivots to search in the early life cycle stage. Investing in growth in stage 0 is almost a sure-shot pre-requisite. Mostly start-ups are dealing with a new concept and/or a habit change. This may initially require selling only on the strength of price (not the brand or anything else) and may call for disproportionate investments and therefore profitability may be a long way off.
8. Turmoil and chaos are integral to the existence of a start-up. Those who cannot stand the heat, need to get out of the kitchen.
9. Lastly as Jeff Bezos said – Entrepreneurs must be willing to be misunderstood for a long time.
The M&E industry as much needs start-ups as the rest of the economy. As research shows, the success quotient can go up if the above factors are kept in mind.
 Piyush Sharma, a global tech, media and entrepreneurial leader, created the successful foray of Zee Entertainment in India and globally under the ‘Living’ brand. The views expressed here are of the writer’s and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them. |
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
