Lateral Sparks, the weekly quiz from YourStory, tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see the previous edition here). In this 84th 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.

Q1: Shopfloor efficiency

The lack of availability of machinery performance data has led to many shopfloor delays and breakdowns, and incurred business losses. How can technology help here, and what are its tangible impacts?

Q2: ChatGPT in education

Much has been said and even hotly debated about how students should be using generative AI tools like ChatGPT. But there are other players in this education space as well–teachers. What are some ways in which ChatGPT can help teachers?

Q3: The power of analytics

In the world of business, descriptive and predictive analytics have become quite widely adopted, thanks to availability of data, statistical models, and algorithms. But it’s not enough to know what may happen next–what is the extra edge that analytics can provide?

Q4: Pandemic resilience

The COVID-19 lockdowns drove many people to take up home-cooking, and even become amateur chefs of sorts. There were also some who turned this into business opportunity. How would this work?

Q5: Toy story

Many parents spend less on toys since they are predominantly seen as leisure items. However, toys can also be tools for cognitive development and learning. How can robotics fit in here?

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: Shopfloor efficiency

Minto.ai, founded by Raviteja Valluri and Surya Penmetsa, has developed an industrial IoT platform that enables maintenance engineers to monitor the health of shopfloor machines. It can reportedly detect 80% faults as early as five months in advance.

“More than anything, the lack of real-time monitoring technology makes disruptions to operations a constant challenge,” Raviteja observes. Read more here about its offering for clients like Steel Authority of India, TATA Steel Long Products, and CK Birla Group.

A2: ChatGPT in education

ChatGPT can act as a virtual tutor, providing guidance to students outside of regular class hours. It can help teachers when creating assessments from scratch, and in giving quick answers before their own interventions.

It can also help teachers convey the finer points of grammar and writing in the space of social media communication. Read more here about ChatGPT use by students as well as teachers.

A3: The power of analytics

“Building on the foundations of descriptive and predictive analytics, prescriptive analytics provides real-time recommendations to brands. It can help brands make informed decisions and achieve better outcomes,” explains Prem Bhatia, CEO and Co-founder of Graas.

For example, prescriptive analytics provides real-time recommendations to brands. Read more here about how this helps brands finetune audiences, budgets and bids, which can impact acquisition costs and the bottom line.

A4: Pandemic resilience

Sisters Dikshita and Ojasvi Sharma, with their mother, Hema Sharma, not only connected over their passion for cooking during the pandemic times, but also launched a condiments and sauces business. Their Mumbai-based brand, Chilzo spans four categories of Italian, African, Mexican, and Chinese sauces.

These include arrabbiata and marinara for Italian dishes, and the North African sauce Harissa. Read more here about their availability in stores and online platforms, and other players in this space such as Urban Platter, Sprig, Naagin, and Masterchow.

A5: Toy story

Havi.co, founded by Prashant Mamtora, has developed a DIY robotics toy kit in the STEAM fields to inspire and engage young minds. The company’s offerings include DIY robotics starter kits, toy cars, sensor projects kit, and smart lighting kit.

Students have already used these kits to develop solutions for smart home systems and sanitiser dispensers. Read more about the pricing points and adoption rates of such educational kits here.

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).