Call for Idea Submissions – Annual Startup Day Celebrations 2026 SSSIHL-IIC

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Sparklabs 2.0 Valedictory Function & Immersion Program 13th – 14th Dec, 2025

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Igniting Purpose: The Vision and Mindset Driving Sparklabs 2.0

The prestigious inaugural ceremony of IIC Spark Labs 2.0 at the Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (SSSIHL) was held on Monday, August 18, 2025. Building on the remarkable success of Spark Labs 1.0, this new cohort embarks on a journey that blends innovation, values, and societal impact. The program is designed not just to encourage technology and business ventures, but to emphasize applying knowledge for the welfare of society.

Innovation Anchored in Values and Service

The guiding philosophy of Spark!Labs 2.0 reflects the vision of the revered Founder Chancellor, Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Professor Pallav Kumar Barua, President of the Institutions Innovation Council (IIC), reminded participants that noble endeavors in Bharatiya tradition always draw inspiration from spiritual wisdom. Quoting the Bhagavad Gita, he stressed the philosophy of unity in diversity and unity of existence.

Innovation, he noted, is not an end in itself but a means to serve humanity and the environment. Professor B. Raghavendra Prasad, Vice-Chancellor of SSSIHL, added that innovation begins “when curiosity meets courage and when ideas are pursued with purpose.” With the synergy between the IIC and the Sri Sathya Sai Research and Innovation Foundation, participants were assured that their ideas would move from ideation to implementation. Here, success is measured not in personal gain, but in selfless contribution and the joy created for others.

Spark!Labs 1.0: Where Values Met Vision

Reflecting on the first edition, Dr. Swetha T, Innovation Coordinator, described Spark Labs 1.0 as a program where values and vision aligned seamlessly. Rooted in the timeless principle Atmano Mokshartham Jagatahitayacha—for self-realization and the welfare of society—the initiative fostered purpose-driven entrepreneurship.

The outcomes were inspiring:

• One company incorporated and over 10 startups in the pipeline.
• Ideas spanned health tech, ed tech, food and nutrition, AI, and drones.
• The final pitching session secured funding commitments worth nearly ₹1.5 crore.

More importantly, Spark Labs 1.0 built “communities of execution” composed of mentors, trainers, alumni, and leaders who believe that innovation without values is never complete.

Innovation with Heart and Purpose

Delivering the keynote address, N Murthy, Country Leader for Greenway Health India, spoke on “Innovation with Heart and Purpose in a Modern, Fast-Paced World.” He urged participants not to chase speed or money blindly, but to pursue solutions with direction and purpose.

Murthy illustrated this with examples: the downfall of Quibi, which despite massive funding failed to solve real customer needs, versus the impact of Khan Academy and UPI, which transformed education and digital payments globally.

He emphasized that successful innovation must address four questions:

1. Desirability – Do people want this solution?
2. Feasibility – Can it realistically be built?
3. Viability – Can it sustain financially?
4. Societal Impact – What difference will it make to the world?

He also challenged participants to gain clarity on the problem they are solving, why it hasn’t been solved yet, and the unique value they bring. Execution, he stressed, requires being an obsessive problem solver, collaborating openly, relying on data, and avoiding bias-driven decisions.

Cultivating the Entrepreneurial Mindset

The first training session was conducted by Mr. Ravikanth Jagarlapudi who outlined four essential founder traits summarized by the acronym PECC:

• Proactiveness & Passion – Founders must be strategic from day one, making decisions like company structure early.
• Energy – Maintaining consistent energy through setbacks, embracing the “fail fast, learn faster” philosophy.
• Curiosity – Continuously learning and adapting in a changing environment.
• Communication – Mastering networking, sales, and storytelling to connect with people and share ideas effectively.

He reminded participants that entrepreneurship is not a solitary pursuit; it thrives on community engagement and visibility, including sharing progress on platforms like LinkedIn.

The Road Ahead for SparkLabs 2.0

This year’s cohort includes 45 participants selected from over 75 applicants, bringing together Sai youth, alumni, and students from SSSIHL and VTU. The diversity of ideas spans health tech, ed tech, EVs, IoT drones, agri tech, socio tech, AI, and cybersecurity.

Participants are encouraged to be punctual, engaged, and uphold values of confidentiality and dignity. As the Vice-Chancellor aptly said, let the spark of innovation light the path ahead. The mantra for Spark Labs 2.0 is clear: innovation with integrity, creating impact.

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From Raw Idea to Business Pitch: Leveraging the Lean Canvas Strategy by Dangeti Srinivasa Rao

Turning a raw idea into a viable business pitch is one of the biggest challenges for entrepreneurs. It requires not just creativity, but also structured thinking and practical tools to navigate uncertainty. During a recent Spark Lab 2.0 session, Srinivasa Rao Dangeti, Senior Director of Engineering at Honeywell with over 26 years of leadership experience, shared actionable insights on front-end innovation—transforming initial concepts into compelling business pitches.

The Entrepreneurial Environment and Mindset

Every entrepreneur begins their journey in what is often described as a VUCA world—one that is Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. Recognizing this reality is essential before setting out to solve problems.

To thrive in this environment, entrepreneurs need the “Three P’s”:

• Purpose: A clear reason to serve a community, solve a problem, or meet a segment’s need.
• Passion: The energy to endure the long, demanding entrepreneurial road.
• Perseverance: The resilience to face inevitable failures and treat them as stepping stones to success.

Innovation Lenses: Validating Your Idea

Before diving into execution, every idea must pass through the three lenses of innovation to identify the “sweet spot”:

1. Customer Desirability (Is it Real?) – Do customers truly want this? Validation comes through interviews, surveys, or credible market research.
2. Technical Feasibility (Can we Win?) – Can the solution be built effectively with the knowledge and tools available?
3. Business Viability (Is it Worth it?) – Will revenues exceed costs, ensuring sustainability even for social enterprises?

Some ideas originate as technology forward (e.g., AI, smart sensors) while others are market back (e.g., sustainability, healthcare). Regardless of the starting point, success requires satisfying all three lenses.

The Lean Canvas: Structuring the Business Plan

Once validated, an idea needs to be articulated clearly. For early-stage entrepreneurs, the Lean Canvas is an ideal tool. It is a one-page business plan that distills assumptions into nine interconnected blocks and typically takes less than 30 minutes to draft.

The nine blocks of the Lean Canvas are:

1. Problem – Define the problem and existing alternatives.
2. Customer Segment – Identify target customers and early adopters.
3. Unique Value Proposition – Explain what makes the solution different.
4. Solution – Outline the core solution briefly.
5. High-Level Concept – Capture the idea in a quick analogy.
6. Channels – Describe how customers will discover, engage, and adopt the solution.
7. Unfair Advantage – Identify what competitors cannot easily copy (e.g., patents, user base).
8. Key Metrics – Decide how success will be measured at different stages.
9. Cost Structure & Revenue Streams – Map expenses, pricing, and revenue potential.

Lean Canvas vs. Business Model Canvas

Although often compared, the Lean Canvas is tailored for startups and new ideas. It emphasizes identifying problems, validating solutions, and testing assumptions.

The Business Model Canvas (BMC), on the other hand, is better suited for established businesses. It assumes the problem and solution are already validated and focuses on execution, partnerships, and scaling.

From Canvas to Execution: Testing Assumptions

The Lean Canvas is just the beginning. The real test lies in identifying the riskiest assumptions—the ones most likely to derail the plan if left unproven. These could relate to customer needs, revenue streams, or technical feasibility.

Entrepreneurs must create a roadmap (e.g., 30, 60, 90-day cycles) to validate these assumptions, track progress using key metrics, and continuously refine the business model.

Final Thoughts

The path from raw idea to successful business pitch is less about guesswork and more about disciplined validation. By applying the Three P’s mindset, testing ideas through the three innovation lenses, and structuring assumptions with the Lean Canvas, entrepreneurs can move forward with clarity and confidence.

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Beyond the Basics: Crafting a High-Impact Minimal Viable Product (MVP) By Sai Prakash

Every startup begins with an idea. But the difference between a fleeting concept and a sustainable business lies in execution—and that journey often starts with the Minimal Viable Product (MVP).

As highlighted in the SPARKLAB 2.0 session on technology frameworks, led by Sai Prakash, CTO and co-founder of Mindscape, an MVP is not just about minimum features. It’s about achieving functional, economic, and operational viability.

What Makes an MVP Truly “Viable”?

The “V” in MVP—Viable—is the part most often overlooked.

A product is viable when:

• The user benefits tangibly from it.
• The business model is repeatable and sustainable.

Think of product development as a progression:

1. Prototypes – Early, often non-functional models.
2. MVP – The leanest version that can be tested.
3. Pilot – MVP tested with early adopters in a safe, controlled setting.
4. Version One – The official public release.

Without viability, even the smartest MVP will collapse under real-world pressures.

Strategic Slicing and Choosing Early Adopters

At the start, ideas can feel like a flood. To avoid being spread too thin, entrepreneurs need to carve out a focused MVP slice—a start-to-finish solution that delivers genuine value to one target use case.

Equally important: choose your first audience wisely. Targeting everyone is costly and inefficient. Instead, begin with early adopters—the segment that’s easiest to reach in terms of cost, time, and willingness to try new solutions. For example, instead of targeting all doctors, focusing specifically on cardiologists creates clearer personas and faster learning.

Two effective slicing patterns include:

• Wizard of Oz/Concierge Approach: Manually supporting customers behind the scenes to uncover real friction points.
• Single Workflow Focus: Doing one thing exceptionally well instead of spreading resources across multiple mediocre features.

Prioritizing Features with Moscow and RICE

Once the MVP slice is chosen, the next step is feature prioritization.

1. The Moscow Method

Classify features as:

• Must Have – Core to delivering value.
• Should Have – Important but not essential.
• Could Have – Nice to add later.
• Won’t Have (for now) – Explicitly deprioritized.

2. RICE Scoring

A structured way to rank features based on:

Where:

• Reach – Users affected.
• Impact – Value delivered.
• Confidence – Certainty in assumptions.
• Effort – Cost in time/resources.

Paired with Kano analysis, teams can also identify “delighter” features—those unexpected touches (like Slack’s custom emojis) that spark joy and loyalty.

Leveraging Rapid Prototyping

Speed is critical in the startup race. Luckily, open-source tools and AI-assisted code generation make it possible to build prototypes faster than ever.

Platforms like V0.dev allow founders to generate mockups or websites from simple prompts, drastically reducing the time spent on design and copywriting. Even non-technical founders can now experiment, visualize, and refine their ideas with minimal friction.

Defining and Measuring Success

Many startups stumble not because of weak ideas, but because they don’t define success clearly. Every MVP must be tested against measurable hypotheses.

Key metrics include:

• Time to First Value (TTFV): How quickly new users experience value. (Slack targeted <5 minutes.)
• North Star Metric: The single most important measure of customer success (e.g., reduction in cholesterol levels for a health app).
• Guardian Metrics: Safeguards against unintended negative consequences.

Equally important is fostering a culture of writing—documenting decisions, assumptions, and learnings. This creates clarity, alignment, and accountability within the team.

Final Thoughts

The MVP is not about cutting corners—it’s about starting small, learning fast, and scaling smart. By focusing on viability, strategically targeting early adopters, prioritizing features systematically, and measuring success rigorously, startups can build MVPs that don’t just exist—but truly make an impact.

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Crafting Your Winning Value Proposition: The Blueprint for Business Success by Dr.L Ganesh Kumar

In today’s fast-moving marketplace, building a great product or service is just the starting point. The real challenge lies in answering one critical question: “Why should customers choose you over anyone else?”

The answer lies in a compelling value proposition—a clear statement that explains how your product solves problems, delivers benefits, and sets you apart. Drawing insights from Dr. L. Ganesh Kumar’s session at SparkLab 2.0, let’s explore how to define, design, and deliver value that resonates with your audience and drives growth.

What Exactly is “Value”? It’s More Than You Think

Before we talk propositions, let’s break down “value.”

Value isn’t just about price—it’s shaped by context, behavior, and perception. Some key dimensions include:

• Usefulness & Availability: How helpful is it, and how easily can people access it?
• Time & Situation: Context matters. For example, Swiggy and Zomato became indispensable during COVID-19, while ventilators and oxygen gained unparalleled value during the second wave.
• Cost vs. Worth: What people pay versus what they feel it’s worth.
• Cultural, Behavioral & Psychological Factors: Our habits, emotions, and lifestyles strongly influence what we perceive as valuable.

At its core, value is about maximizing results while balancing cost and benefits. Think of it as:

👉 Value = Results ÷ Cost

The Three Pillars of a Strong Value Proposition

According to Dr. Ganesh Kumar, every winning value proposition rests on three pillars:

1. Define the Proposition: Ask tough questions. Who is your buyer? Why do they need it? Is it affordable? Which segment are you targeting? Is it a “must-have” now or in the future? Clarity here is non-negotiable.
2. Design the Value: Building on definition, you need the right skills, ecosystem, and strategy to create value that can actually be delivered.
3. Deliver the Value: Execution is everything. Consistently delivering on your promise builds trust, credibility, and a stronger brand image.

So, What Is a Value Proposition?

Simply put:

A value proposition is a concise statement that explains how your product or service solves a problem, delivers clear benefits, and differentiates you from competitors.

It’s not about technical features—it’s about the usefulness and tangible benefits customers experience. Without clarity here, selling becomes an uphill battle.

Frameworks to Help You Craft Your Proposition

Several proven tools can sharpen your thinking:

• Value Proposition Canvas: The most widely used, with two parts:
  • Customer Profile – Jobs (needs), Pains (obstacles), Gains (aspirations).
  • Value Map – Products/services, Pain Relievers, Gain Creators.
    The magic lies in achieving a strong fit between the two.
• Jobs to Be Done: Focuses on the “job” customers are hiring your product to do.
• The “So What?” Approach: Keep asking “so what?” until you uncover the emotional core of value.
• One-Sentence Pitch Formula: A concise template to define your offering in seconds.

Tailoring Value Propositions to Customer Profiles

A rookie mistake is creating a single value proposition for the entire company. Instead, craft specific propositions for different customer personas.

Tesla, for example, studied customer needs (appearance, transport), pains (accidents, safety), and gains (speed, design, cost-effectiveness) to map their offerings. The result? A value proposition that felt tailored and compelling.

Differentiation & Storytelling: Your Secret Weapons

A strong value proposition isn’t just about being different—it’s about telling why you matter. This means:

• Differentiation: Clearly state what sets you apart.
• Storytelling: Wrap your proposition in a narrative that connects emotionally.

Think about Sensodyne’s laser focus on pain relief, or a tea shop’s quirky “Chaijipati” during the ChatGPT craze. Stories grab attention and make benefits memorable.

From Value Proposition to Revenue & Valuation

A powerful value proposition translates into value-based selling—selling not just on features, but on perceived and real benefits.

If your value is clear, customers chase you (not the other way around). That pull directly impacts revenue and business valuation, making you more attractive to investors who seek scalable, high-return models.

Brand Identity & Credibility

Your value proposition is inseparable from your brand. Trust, dependability, and customer experience shape how your brand is perceived.

Dr. Ganesh Kumar puts it best:
“Practice values, create value, and be valuable.”

Protecting your brand’s integrity and value statement is just as important as creating it.

Iteration: The Hidden Ingredient

A winning value proposition is never static. It requires constant testing, refining, and rework. Founders must be fully convinced of their value before they can persuade others.

Overcoming Common Challenges

• External Pain Relievers: Only include them if they directly solve a customer’s problem and create demand for your product.
• Composite Offers: Avoid being too broad. Tailor propositions to specific personas for stronger emotional connection.
• Freemium Dilemma: Limited free versions may frustrate customers if not communicated well. Messaging is key to ensuring perceived value.

Your Next Step: Craft, Test, Refine

The Value Proposition Canvas is a powerful place to start. Map customer jobs, pains, and gains, then align your product’s pain relievers and gain creators.

When your proposition is precise, compelling, and tested, it fuels not only better market fit but also revenue growth and investor confidence.

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Designing and Defining Value: How Clarity Drives Business Valuation by Dr. Ganesh Kumar

In today’s hypercompetitive world, success doesn’t just depend on having a good idea or a superior product. It depends on how clearly you define, design, and deliver value. This was the central theme of the Spark Lab 2.0 session on Designing and Defining Value Proposition, led by Dr. L. Ganesh Kumar, CEO of iFocus Syntec India Pvt. Ltd.

What Does “Value” Really Mean?

Value is at the heart of every ecosystem. It is shaped by the balance between need and affordability, as well as by culture, behavior, and lifestyle. A product can be highly needed but unaffordable—or affordable but irrelevant.

Take the example of Swiggy and Zomato. During COVID, their value skyrocketed when going out wasn’t possible. What began as a situational need turned into a post-COVID lifestyle habit.

According to Dr. Ganesh Kumar, six elements make up value:

1. Usefulness
2. Availability
3. Time required to create and deliver
4. Situation and location
5. Cost and worth
6. Behavioral and psychological aspects

In simple terms, Value = Result ÷ Cost. The higher the result and the lower the cost, the greater the value.

On a personal level, value can be measured by asking: Am I chasing others, or are others chasing me for my knowledge and skills? If others are chasing you, you are creating value.

The Three Pillars of Value Creation

Businesses must approach value creation in three stages:

1. Defining the Value

This is the most intellectually demanding stage. It requires answering questions like:

• Who is the buyer?
• Why do they need this?
• Is it affordable?
• Is it “must-have” or “nice-to-have”?
• Which segment does it target?

2. Designing the Value

Design depends on the organization’s capabilities and ecosystem. Companies must be able to scale fast when demand rises. For example, during COVID, ventilator manufacturers that could scale quickly succeeded.

3. Delivering the Value

Delivery is where customer experience and credibility are built. This is why customers prefer trusted brands—like Bosch washing machines—over generic ones, even at a higher cost.

Crafting a Clear Value Proposition

A value proposition is not jargon. It is a crisp statement that tells customers:

1. How your product solves their problem.
2. The exact benefits it provides.
3. Why they should choose you over competitors.

Startups often struggle here, focusing too much on technology (“We use AI and blockchain”) rather than real usefulness (“It’s reliable, affordable, and comes with a warranty”).

Tools for Defining Value

Two frameworks stand out:

• Value Proposition Canvas: Map customer jobs, pains, and gains against your products, pain relievers, and gain creators. Importantly, make separate profiles for different roles (CFO vs. CTO vs. CHRO). The goal is to achieve perfect fitment between customer needs and your offering.
• “So What?” Framework: Keep asking So what? about every feature until you reach an emotional benefit. Example: We have 20 years of experience. So what? → It safeguards your data so you can rest easy.

From Value to Revenue

A great value proposition must translate into sales and revenue.

Perceived value often trumps economic value—that’s why customers pay more for a known brand. But the true test of value creation is simple: Is your revenue growing?

As Dr. Kumar emphasizes:

“If you’re creating one of the best value products or services, but there is no buyer and no revenue, then that value has no meaning.”

Strong revenue growth also fuels business valuation, reassuring investors of potential high returns.

The Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

Your UVP is the one sentence that makes customers say: Yes, this is why I should choose you.

To build a UVP:

• Study the competition with SWOT analysis.
• Highlight what makes you different.
• Tell a compelling story.

Above all, keep it simple, clear, and concise. A UVP must grab attention instantly and evolve through testing and refinement.

Linking Value to Brand Identity

A company’s value proposition directly shapes its brand. Building a valuable brand requires three practices:

1. Practice Values – Build credibility and trust.
2. Create Value – Offer products/services that solve real problems.
3. Be Valuable – Ensure demand is strong and growing.

Defining value is not about buzzwords—it’s about clarity. A well-crafted value proposition drives revenue, strengthens brand identity, and ensures long-term business valuation.

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Unlocking Profitability: Mastering Customer Segmentation and Market Analysis for Entrepreneurs by Dr. Mahadev

Starting a business is an exciting journey, but to truly thrive, entrepreneurs must master the art of understanding their market and customers. Recent Sparklab 2.0 sessions highlighted the iterative nature of developing business solutions and underscored the critical importance of building profitable customer relationships. For aspiring entrepreneurs, these insights are foundational for navigating market complexities and ensuring long-term business viability.

The Foundation: Understanding Your Market’s True Size

Before launching any product or service, it’s crucial to define your market thoroughly. Dr. Mahadev explained key market concepts that are essential for any business strategy:

Total Addressable Market (TAM): This represents the entire market demand for a product or service. It’s the maximum revenue a business could possibly generate if it captured 100% of the market.

Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM): This is the segment of the TAM that a business can realistically serve with its current resources and business model.

Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM): This is the portion of the SAM that a business can realistically capture, taking into account competition and market share.

Understanding these metrics is vital for measuring potential success and profitability. For instance, Dr. Mahadev illustrated these concepts using the tea market in India and how companies like Johnson & Johnson successfully identify and serve specific market segments.

Diving Deeper: Niche Markets and the Impact of Competition

Beyond TAM and SAM, businesses must recognize niche markets—specialized segments within broader categories. Phanidhar’s query about niche markets led Dr. Mahadev to clarify this concept, using the example of consumers who prefer ginger tea as a niche within the larger tea-drinking population. Identifying these specialized segments is crucial for effective market segmentation and targeted strategies.

The obtainable market is also heavily influenced by competition. When customers have various alternatives, such as choosing between homemade tea and purchased tea, predicting revenue becomes challenging. The presence of choices can decrease the likelihood of customers paying for a product, underscoring the importance of customer loyalty and retention.

Getting to Know Your Customer: Beyond Demographics

True market understanding emerges from deep engagement and observation. Entrepreneurs need to identify target customers and their preferences, moving beyond mere demographic data.

Cultural and Regional Nuances: Consumer behavior varies significantly by region and culture. Dr. Mahadev noted that residents in Bangalore and Mumbai have different priorities and habits. Insights from Urban Managers revealed that Bangalore residents are more inclined to invest in cleaning services due to cultural factors and lifestyles that involve spending more time at home and hosting more visitors. Similarly, wealthier customers in upscale areas like Indiranagar will have different expectations and behaviors compared to those in less affluent neighborhoods like JP Nagar, which impacts pricing and marketing approaches. This highlights the necessity of focusing on local market demands rather than broader national trends.

Motivations and Experiences: Understanding customer needs and motivations is particularly critical for food-related products. Personal experiences, such as food poisoning, often drive consumer behavior more powerfully than knowledge alone. It is essential to consider factors like product size and the age group of buyers, using examples like baby food to tailor offerings accordingly.

The Power of Research: Direct Engagement vs. AI

To validate assumptions and truly understand potential customers, firsthand data collection is essential. This involves observing who buys competitors’ products to gain insights into consumer preferences. Physical surveys are highly significant for understanding customer behavior and market potential.

While AI tools can offer valuable insights, their utility depends on the user asking the right questions. It’s crucial to remember that AI-generated data must be validated through real-world experience and direct market observation. Dr. Mahadev reiterated that while AI can be useful, it should not replace direct market observation and understanding. Personal engagement in data collection is key for entrepreneurial conviction.

Your Next Steps to Market Mastery

Achieving profitability and customer satisfaction is the ultimate goal. To ensure your business ideas are viable and profitable, it is paramount to conduct thorough market research to accurately define target customers. Participants in the Sparklab program are strongly encouraged to engage with their mentors for support and to conduct surveys of at least 15 people, sharing the results for feedback. Remember, understanding your market and customers isn’t a one-time task; it’s an iterative journey toward building lasting success and ensuring your business is well-positioned in a competitive landscape.

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From Idea to Impact: How Market Research Shapes Startup Journeys by Dr. Mahadev

When starting a new venture, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by uncertainty. But the key to building a successful business lies in grounding your idea in clear objectives and sharp market understanding. At the recent Sparklab 2.0 session on “Market Research Methodologies”, Dr. Mahadev—a Marketing Strategist, Professor, and Startup Consultant with two decades of deep industry experience—shared invaluable insights for early-stage founders.

Dr. Mahadev, who heads the marketing area at Global Institute of Business School, Bangalore, is known for his hands-on approach. As he put it, he doesn’t just teach marketing frameworks—he “lives with them.” His session broke down the essential questions every entrepreneur must ask before diving into market data.

1. Defining the Business: Building Profitable Relationships

According to Dr. Mahadev, marketing is not just about promotions or sales; it’s the part of an organization that builds profitable customer relationships. At the heart of any business lies one crucial question:

👉 What are you expecting in return?

For some, the return is profit, satisfaction, and value. For others, like social entrepreneurs, it might be appreciation, goodwill, or community impact. Whether your goals are financial or social, clarifying them sets the foundation for market research.

2. Sharpening Your Focus: The Power of Positioning

Early-stage startups enjoy the “luxury of the startup”—the freedom to choose how they want customers to remember them. This is where positioning comes in.

👉 What do you want your customers to remember you for?

Positioning is your brand’s identity in the customer’s mind. Dr. Mahadev shared powerful examples:

• Chik Shampoo (Kevincare): Revolutionized the market by introducing sachets, making shampoo affordable for the masses. Their positioning was clear: affordability through packaging size.
• Patanjali (Baba Ramdev): Positioned as the go-to brand for all things Ayurvedic.

Similarly, one Sparklab participant, K. Asha Rani, is developing a tool to detect adulterants in the baking industry. Her positioning focuses on making it affordable and simple enough for anyone to use—empowering people to make safe food choices.

3. Estimating Market Potential: TAM, SAM, and SOM

Once your positioning is clear, the next step is estimating your market size, also called sales forecasting. This involves three critical measures:

• TAM (Total Addressable Market): The entire market that needs your product. For tea sellers, TAM = all tea drinkers in the country.
• SAM (Serviceable Addressable Market): The segment you have the capability to serve, often limited by geography. For instance, a startup may serve only Bangalore rather than all of India.
• SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market): The realistic share of SAM you can capture after factoring in competitors.

Understanding these three levels prevents founders from overestimating their reach and helps set realistic business goals.

4. Knowing Your Customer: The Four Parameters

Finally, identifying your ideal customer is the backbone of market research. Dr. Mahadev outlined four parameters that define the target audience:

1. Income – How wealthy or resource-constrained are they?
2. Age – What age group fits your product best?
3. Occupation – What jobs or livelihoods do they have?
4. Gender – Who makes the buying decision? (E.g., Johnson & Johnson markets baby soap to mothers, since they are the decision-makers.)

By mapping your offering, positioning, and customer along these parameters, you gain clarity and direction for all future research.

The Takeaway

Successful startups don’t just jump into execution—they start by asking the right questions. By clarifying goals, defining positioning, estimating realistic market size, and deeply understanding target customers, founders lay the groundwork for sustainable growth.

As Dr. Mahadev reminded participants, marketing is about building profitable relationships—and those relationships begin with clarity.

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From Assumption to Reality: Why Design Thinking is the Startup’s Best Friend by Shamanth

In the whirlwind of early-stage ventures, founders often juggle “a hundred moving parts.” But what if there was a structured way to cut through the noise, reduce wasted effort, and ensure you’re building something people actually want? The answer lies in Design Thinking (DT).

Drawing from insights shared by Shamanth, co-founder of Riu Dot AI and a leader in sustainability, innovation, and business transformation, this post explores why design thinking is not just useful—it’s indispensable.

Why Design Thinking Matters for Startups

Design thinking is not about fancy UI or pretty graphics. It’s a problem-solving framework that helps startups move from assumption-driven building to reality-driven execution.

The data backs it up:

• Companies using design outperform others in the S&P by 200%.
• For every $1 invested in design and UX, returns range from $2 to $100 within a year.

At its core, design thinking is a human-centered, iterative approach. It helps founders deeply understand users, challenge their own assumptions, and redefine problems to create innovative solutions.

The 5 Stages of Design Thinking

The process is often described in five stages. These are non-linear—they overlap, loop back, and repeat.

1. Empathize – Understand users’ experiences and pains.
2. Define – Frame a clear, crisp problem statement.
3. Ideate – Generate ideas in volume before narrowing down.
4. Prototype – Build low-cost, quick experiments.
5. Test – Validate with real users and data.

This cycle is designed to minimize risk and maximize learning.

Stage 1: Empathize—Living the User’s Life

Empathy is the starting point. Founders must step outside their assumptions and see through the user’s eyes.

A classic example: Airbnb, 2009. When revenue was stuck at $200 per week, the founders didn’t buy ads. They visited hosts in New York, lived with them, and discovered that poor-quality photos were killing trust. By personally taking better photos, weekly revenue doubled almost instantly.

Avoiding False Validation: The Mom Test

Founders often ask leading questions like “Do you like my idea?”, which produce polite lies. Instead, Rob Fitzpatrick’s Mom Test suggests:

1. Talk about the user’s life, not your idea.
2. Ask about past experiences, not hypothetical futures.
3. Listen more, talk less—users should reveal their problems, not react to your pitch.

Stage 2: Define—Framing the Right Problem

Once you gather insights, synthesize them into a clear problem statement. This ensures alignment across coding, marketing, and strategy.

Think of it as crafting an elevator problem statement: one sentence that captures the user’s pain, in their words.

Stage 3: Ideate—Quantity Before Quality

In ideation, the mantra is: diverge before you converge. Generate many ideas first, then filter.

Practical Methods for Founders

• Brainstorming: Build on each other’s ideas, avoid critique during generation, and time-box sessions to force creativity.
• SCAMPER Method: Innovate by tweaking existing solutions (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to other use, Eliminate, Rearrange/Reverse).
• Worst Idea Exercise: Imagine the worst execution, then flip each element to discover surprisingly good strategies.

After divergence, narrow down using dot voting or a 2×2 impact vs. feasibility matrix—focusing only on ideas with high impact and feasibility.

Stages 4 & 5: Prototype and Test—Learning at Speed

Prototyping is about speed and low cost, not perfection.

• Low-fidelity first: Start with sketches or wireframes to test flows.
• High-fidelity next: Build interactive prototypes once initial validation is done.

Examples:

• Razorpay tested complex features with clickable prototypes before investing engineering time.
• Netflix runs relentless A/B testing—on thumbnails, recommendations, and layouts—always trusting data over opinions.

✨ Key takeaway: Build less on assumptions, more on empathy. Start small, learn fast, and keep looping back.

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