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3 M I N U T E R E A D M O S T I N N OVAT I V E C O M PA N I E S 2 0 1 0

Most Innovative
Companies - India

J E N N I F E R V I L A G A 0 2 .1 1 .1 0 1 : 2 6 P M

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Sponsoredby

byJenniferVilaga(additional
reportingbyDanMacsaiand
ZacharyWilson)

1.IndianPremier
League

PhotobyShashwatNagpal

TheIPLhastransformedcricket,establishinganew
modelthatshowshowthegamecanberevamped,
restructured,andtailoredtotoday'sshortattention
spansandentertainmentinfrastructureand
succeedwildly.Thishotsportsleagueisexpectedto
generaterevenueofmorethan$2billionoverits
firstdecade,includingproceedsfromTVand
promotionalrights,franchisesales,andtheatrical
rightstoscreenIPLgamesincinemahousesacross
India.Top50No.22
2.VNL
Thisstartupfoundedin2004reverseengineers
telecomfortheruralpoorwithsolarpoweredbase
stationsthatcanbeassembledontoavillage
home'srooftopbyanybodyandoperationalwith
mobileservicewithinsixhours.Twotelecomsin
Africahavealreadysigneduptorolloutthe
technology.Top50No.39
3.RelianceIndustries

Youcanbuyeverythingfromgastogroceriesatone
ofRelianceIndustries'myriadsubsidiaries,
includingRelianceFresh(food),RelianceSolar
(solarpower),andRelianceInstituteofLife
Sciences(education).Butwhatsetsthe$29billion
companyapartfromotherbehemothsisextreme
verticalintegration:Reliancedoesn'tjustmakeand
sellsuits(underthebrandVimal)itmakesand
sellsthefabricstomakethesuits,andtheyarnto
makethefabrics,andthethreadtomaketheyarn.
SaysinnovationexpertDevPatnaik,"Relianceis
theGEofthenextcentury."
4.GodrejGroup
Godrejcrowdsourcedruralvillagesfordesigninput
onitssmall,affordableChotuKoolrefrigerator,and
itpartneredwithmorethan40,000barbersand
salonstopromoteanewhaircarelinethis
summer.Godrej'sconsumerproductsdivisionalso
rankedNo.11inHewittAssociates'annual25Best
EmployersofIndiain2009,citingastrong
performancelinkedbonussystemanda1%
attritionrate.GodrejConsumerProducts'net
tripledtoRs93crore($20million)inQ22009,
whilerevenueincreased65%toRs576crore($125
million).
5.NarayanaHrudayalaya
TheNo.3companyonlastyear'slistforIndia
honoredforitslowcost,highqualityheart
surgeriesisstilldoingamazingwork.It'snow
workingtoextenditsclinicalexpertisetocancer
withthelaunchofBiocon,a1,400bedfacility
providingtreatmentforheadandneck,breast,and
cervicalcancers.Also,lastyear'sIntegrated
TelemedicineProjectaimstoextendthehospital's

healthcarereachtoall53Africancountries
throughfiberopticnetworksandsatellite.
6.BhartiAirtel
LastApril,India'slargestcellphoneservice
providerwithsome110millionsubscribers
beganprovidingwholesaleinternationallong
distanceservicestoandfromanycountry,putting
itindirectcompetitionwithAT&T,BT,andSprint.
Morerecently,itpartneredwithCiscotodevelop
andselldataservicesandTwittertoletits
customersreceivetweetsforfree.
7.Wipro
Amongitsmanyprojects,thehomegrownservices
powerhousehasanewgatewaythatusesGSM
mobiletechnologytoremotelycollectdatafrom
medicaldevicessuchasbloodpressuremonitors,
glucosemeters,pedometers,andweighingscales,
thenproviderealtimemedicaldata,video,and
imagetransferfromapatienttodoctor.
8.ALittleWorld
ThisMumbaibasedtechshopistransformingthe
burgeoningmobilepaymentssectorwith
innovationsthatconnectruralIndiatomainstream
financialinstitutions.Its2003incubationof
Mchek,amobiletomobilepaymentplatform,was
lateradoptedbythestateofIndiaandAirtelbefore
itwasspunoffintoastandalonebusinessthree
yearslater.Morerecently,itsZeroplatform,a
technologythatturnsasmartphone,lockbox,and
fingerprintscannerintoaportablebankbranch,
aspirestointegratetheunbankedmassesinrural
India.AnuragGupta,CEO,setthegoalforthis

microbankingapproachtoreach50millionsofar,
ithasreached3million.
9.Mahindra&Mahindra
WhatreallyhasusinterestedinM&Misnotitsnew
compactdieselpickup,settobesoldintheU.S.
startinginFebruary,oritsaggressivepartnership
withRenault.Rather,it'stheOneMahindraPortal,
anintranetbasedinnovation"pad"launchedin
early2009.Thiscompanywideplatformallows
thosewhowishsome40%ofits100,000
employeesacross104subsidiariestobrainstorm
andshareideasatlastcount,ithasgenerated400,
fromprocessestonewproducts,thathave
reportedlybeenputintobetatests.Oneexample:a
cellphoneappthatanalyzesstresslevelsofusers
fromtheirvoices.
10.Infosys
Evenwiththeoutsourcingmarkettakingamajor
hitin2009,thecompanyisstillhiringthousandsof
collegegrads,doublingthelengthoftheirtraining
tosixmonthsandassigningthenewhiresmock
projectstohonetheirskills."Whentheeconomy
picksup,Iwouldratherhavetheproblemoftoo
manypeoplethantoofew,"CFOVibin
Balakrishnanhassaid.Infosysalsoteamedwith
majorWesternplayerslikeMicrosoft,Oracle,and
NVIDIAin2009.

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4 MINUTE READ THE FUTURE OF WORK

These Tech Workers

Don't Need To Know
How To Code, And
Neither Do You
Knowing how to code can take you far, but it's not
necessary in order to work in the sector.

[Photo: Flickr user Rachel Johnson]

C A L E G U T H R I E W E I S S M A N 0 8.31 .1 6 1 0 : 31
AM

Manyyearsback,thebattlecrybegan:LearnTo
Code!Thatcallhasonlybecomeloudersince,with
numerousbootcampstoutingtheideathatifyou
learnthebasicsofcomputerprogramming,youwill
almostcertainlybeguaranteedasweetgig.Indeed,
BloombergBusinessweekdevotedanentireissueto
explainingpreciselywhatcodeis.
Itistruethatlearninghowtocodecantakeyoufar,
althoughoneskilldoesnotnecessarilyensurea
healthycareer.Andasthecallforprogrammershas
increased,therehasbeenaconcomitantriseof
servicesthatofferplatformstoautomatecoding
skills.AnearlyexamplewasGeocities,whichmade
itacinchtosetupasimpleHTMLwebsitewithout
knowingonewordofcode.Manysuccessful
professionalstodaydotechnicalworkeventhough
theydon'thaveamathematicalbackground.

PLATFORMS AS GRUNT WORKERS

HeatherBryant,ayoungwomanwholivesinLos
AngelesandworksatthecompanySodexo,does
justthis.Herofficialtitleisa"technicalsolutions
director,"andoneofherprimaryrolesisbuilding
apps.Bryant,however,hasnobackground
whatsoeverincoding.Infact,shewenttoschoolfor
sportsjournalism.
Sodexodescribesitselfasa"contractmanagement
servicesprovider."Inlaymenterms,thatmeans
theysetupalltheextraneousneedsofabusiness
betheyjanitorialservices,painting,catering,
anythinginfrastructurerelated,etc.Oneof

Sodexosprimaryfunctionsiscreatingapplications
thathelpprojectmanagement.Theseappshelp
streamlinehowinformationisrecordedandhow
itspresentedtopeopleonateam.

QuickBase

Bryantsjobistohelpbuildtheseapplications.Her
companyusesaprogramcalledQuickBase,which
isaplatformforappbuilding.Itautomatesallthe
technicalpartstomakeitpossibleforalaymanto
buildatleastarudimentarybusinessapplication.
BeforeBryanttookupherrole,Sodexohad
outsourcedappbuilding.HerfirstroleatSodexo
wasindataentry,butonedayshefoundherself
playingaroundwithanapplicationthatjustwasnt
workingright.Afteralotoftrialanderroronthe
QuickBaseplatform,"Iwasabletorebuildthe
applicationhowIthoughtitshouldbebuilt,"she
says.
Atthetime,itwasaoneoffproject,butherboss
wasimpressedthatshewasabletotackleit.She
soonmadebuildingtheseB2Bspecificappsher
roleatthecompany,sincesheenjoyedtheprocess
somuch.TheprocessofbuildingwithQuickBaseis

morevisualthanmostappbuildingprocesses.
Userscreatetablesaboutthedatatheywantto
includeintheapplications,andthendesignthe
presentationofthosefigures.Bryantlearnedthat
thissortofbuilding,usingQuickBase,issomething
atwhichsheexcels."Peoplecometouswithold
processes,"shesays,"paperExcelbasedprocesses.
Wetransformthoseintoapplications."Herjobisnt
craftingcodetobuildbrandnewproductsits
figuringouthowtofunnelfunctionsanddatainto
somethingthatismoreefficient.

PRODUCTS ARE SKILLS

LikeQuickBase,Squarespaceisanothercompany
thatprovidesbuildingplatformsforpeoplewith
nontechnicalbackgrounds.Ithelpsanyonebuilda
prettysleeklookingwebsite.Extrasavvyusers
knowenoughcodetopersonalizethosewebsites.
Butthecompanyitselfhiresnontechnicalpeople
toeducateothersontheplatformandevangelizeit.
MalWard,forinstance,worksatSquarespaceasa
CustomerOperationsadvisor.Herroleistowork
withcustomerswhousetheplatformandteach
themhowtobuildsitesusingSquarespace'ssuiteof
toolsfornoncoders.Herrolehasherliaisingwith
multipleinternaldepartmentsshehelpsthe
trainingteamoutusingherknowledgeofwhat
customershavetoldher.Wardalsoworkson
customerwebinars.Thebruntofherjobisreally
knowingtheSquarespaceplatformunderstanding
howtouseittobuildagoodlookingsiteand
showingothershowtosuccessfullyperformthis
task.Herbackgroundisinmusicaltheater.

Squarespace

"IcameintoSquarespaceprettymuchnotknowing
anythinginthetechworld,"shesays.Atfirst,she
admits,"itwasscary."Butsheslowlygotfamiliar
enoughwiththeprogramthatshecouldleadothers
inusingit.
HercolleaguePaulinaVoworksasacommunity
teammemberatSquarespace.LikeWard,shehas
minimalformalcodingbackground(shedidself
teachherself"thebareminimum").Shestartedout
similarlytoWard,workingpredominatelyasa
supportspecialist,butisnowaprojectleadforthe
communityteam,helpingtocreatewaystoformally
instructpeopletousetheSquarespaceplatform.
Thismeansshehelpscreateprocessesthathelp
buildtheSquarespacecommunityandbridgethe
gapbetweenitstechnicalsitebuildingbackendand
userswhoaren'tnecessarilytechsavvy.This
includeswritingtechnicalinstructions,webinars,
andothersformsofcontentthathelpeducate
users.Sheisn'texactlybuildingSqaurespaces
backend,buttheroledoesrequireexpert
knowledgeoftheproduct.Italsorequiresalotof
collaborationwithother,moretechnical
departmentstomakesureeveryoneatSquarespace
understandswhatthecompanyisworkingon.

Squarespacesproductreliesoncustomersbeing
abletouseitwithoutformaldevelopmentskills.
Thecompanylikestohirepeoplefromvaried
backgroundsread:nottechnicaltomasterthe
program,whocanthenmakeitevenmoreintuitive
forcustomers.Nontechnicalpeoplewhohave
learnedtheinsandoutsofSquarespaceareableto
explaintootherswhatisneededtomakeagood
Squarespacesite.
Workingintechhasbecomeamainstream
endeavoranyonewillingtolearnaproductcan
entertheworkforce.Moreuserfriendlyplatforms
haveopenedupthetechindustry'splayingfield.Of
course,codingisandwillcontinuetobean
importantskill.Butasmorepeoplebecomeadept
atprogramslikeSquarespaceandQuickBase(and
newplatformsenterthefrayeveryday),anew
leagueofworkerscomestolifeastechexpertswho
don'tknowcode.

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