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New Delhi, Feb 7 () Chennai-based WayCool Foods has raised USD 32 million (about Rs 228 crore) in a combination of equity and debt, led by Lightbox. The series C round also saw participation of Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO and current investor, LGT Lightstone Aspada, a statement said. The company has also partnered with InnoVen Capital to raise venture debt as part of this round, it added. Veda Corporate Advisors was the exclusive advisor to the transaction. WayCool Foods procures, processes and distributes food products including fresh produce, staples and dairy products to 8,000 enterprise clients across southern India. It has a base of nearly 40,000 farmers. The company said it will use the funds raised to automate its supply chain and build the next layer of data analytics required to strengthen supply chain efficiency. It will also develop and expand its range of value-added products to enterprise and retail customers, it added. "We are committed to building a lean, efficient and profitable enterprise that makes social impact an integral part of its operations. Lightbox's deep experience in technology and brand building will greatly help us as we strengthen our digital backbone, and our move into value-added products," WayCool co-founder and CEO Karthik Jayaraman said. He added that FMO's guidance will be of essence in building a culture of impact orientation across the organization and staying true to the course. WayCool is developing a range of branded products and currently has brands such as Freshey's, Kitchenji, Madhuram and Shuddha. It will also deploy the funds to deepen and widen 'Outgrow', its agricultural extension program. The company recently announced the set-up of its first Agricultural Research Station, where it will collaborate with multiple start-ups to bring the most relevant production technologies to its expanding farmer base. WayCool said it intends to accelerate its path to profitability and will focus on maintaining as well as further improving its lean, capital efficient model. The company previously raised two rounds of funding from Aspada, LGT Impact Ventures, Caspian Impact Investment, and Northern Arc Capital Ltd. SR RVK

Lightbox leads USD 32 mn investment in WayCool Foods

<keyword id="2085190" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Online-grocery-stores">Online grocery stores</keyword> are gaining popularity in India due to sheer convenience, ease of shopping and a fast-growing market. Globally, <keyword id="2085193" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Online-grocery-retail">online grocery retail</keyword> is growing nearly 7 times faster than on-ground formats and the <keyword id="47445" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-market">Indian market</keyword> may soon catch up. For one, the <keyword id="156795" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="indian-retail-industry">Indian retail industry</keyword> is estimated to be worth over $500 billion (one of the world’s top 5 markets) and 30-40% of the businesses will be in the online retail space over the next 7 years., This presents a great opportunity for any form of e-tailing, especially the <keyword id="2085203" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="E-grocery-space">e-grocery space</keyword>. 
 As of now, <keyword id="2085207" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Grocery-e-tailing-in-India">grocery e-tailing in India</keyword> is a largely unorganised space and poses a big challenge in terms of stiff <keyword id="2085206" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Entry-barriers">entry barriers</keyword>. The traditional methods of inventory and <keyword id="2085212" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Logistics-management">logistics management</keyword> call for intense cash-burning – a business condition most of the bootstrapped Indian start-ups fail to meet. Moreover, a <keyword id="2085209" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Series-A-funding-crunch">Series A funding crunch</keyword> also compelled companies like Mumbai-based <keyword id="2048780" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="ShopVeg">ShopVeg</keyword> to shut down operations. Therefore, when another Mumbai-based start-up decided to start grocery e-tailing in the same year, things were not looking too exciting for the newcomer. But 22 months later, <keyword id="2009014" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="LocalBanya-com">LocalBanya.com</keyword> has managed to set up Mumbai’s first online supermarket and also raised <keyword id="6793689" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Series-A-funding">Series A funding</keyword> for the next level of expansion. 
 Although there were predecessors that attempted various models of grocery retail in the digital space and failed, <keyword id="2047523" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="LocalBanya">LocalBanya</keyword> has adapted a <keyword id="2085214" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Lean-business-model">lean business model</keyword> that relies on a convenient mix of <keyword id="96173" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="warehousing">warehousing</keyword> and <keyword id="512818" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="cash-and-carry">cash-and-carry</keyword>. This has reduced the start-up’s dependence on capital-intensive operations and enabled it to put in place a thoroughly efficient <keyword id="118965" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Supply-chain">supply chain</keyword>. In addition, the company has adopted some unique measures to take <keyword id="2085217" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Customer-convenience">customer convenience</keyword> to the next level. Want to know more about LocalBanya and how it works? Here is a snapshot that captures the start-up’s vision and viability. 
 
Who runs LocalBanya (www.localbanya.com): A team of three co-founders – <keyword id="2085179" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Karan-Mehrotra">Karan Mehrotra</keyword> (<keyword id="5645" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="CEO">CEO</keyword>), <keyword id="2085180" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rashi-Choudhary">Rashi Choudhary</keyword> (COO) and <keyword id="1251820" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amit-Naik">Amit Naik</keyword> (<keyword id="238078" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="CTO">CTO</keyword>). Karan is the brain behind LocalBanya and set up the entire infrastructure with just 14 employees. He is a <keyword id="163598" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="computer-engineer">computer engineer</keyword> and prior to starting up, worked for his family business as a distributor for <keyword id="123278" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="FMCG-firms">FMCG firms</keyword>. He has 11 years of work experience in varied fields – from turning around a chain of restaurants to setting up metal fabrication plants to building a food distribution network. 
 Amit holds an MBA from IIM-Lucknow and he is also a Six Sigma Black Belt from the American Society for Quality. He had six years of top tier experience in ad-tech and earlier worked for <keyword id="1076906" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Directi">Directi</keyword> and <keyword id="45475" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Larsen-Toubro">Larsen &amp; Toubro</keyword>. Rashi holds a Global MBA from <keyword id="1433263" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="SP-Jain-School-of-Global-Management">SP Jain School of Global Management</keyword> and brings four years of experience in <keyword id="6553136" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="retailing">retailing</keyword>, consulting and <keyword id="169305" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="customer-service">customer service</keyword>. Prior to joining LocalBanya, she worked with the <keyword id="244481" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Raymond-Group">Raymond Group</keyword>. 
 The trio had been working on the concept for some time and the site went live in May 2012. LocalBanya is now in beta and the e-grocer has over 130 employees operating across Mumbai, Thane and <keyword id="57321" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Navi-Mumbai">Navi Mumbai</keyword>. 
 
What inspired the venture: The desire to go one step ahead of your <keyword id="2085220" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Local-grocer">local grocer</keyword> who accepts orders on phone. “Apparently, it was convenient but there was something lacking. You can’t browse the inventory when ordering on phone; the choices are not many (after all, a kirana or <keyword id="2085221" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mom-and-pop-store">mom-and-pop store</keyword> won’t keep exotic or imported items as those are a bit expensive) and finally, there’s no organised system (accountable, responsible and prompt),” says Karan. So up came LocalBanya, an online supermarket selling around 12,000 products across 17 categories and adding more every day. 
 
What’s the pitch: LocalBanya.com is an <keyword id="2085223" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Online-convenience-store">online convenience store</keyword> dedicated to YOU (customers). The e-grocer offers high quality products and hassle-free delivery that save time, energy and money. “If you are <keyword id="62452" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="grocery-shopping">grocery shopping</keyword> 4-5 times a month or looking for something special, imagine the kind of supermarket trips you have to make and how you have to run from shop to shop,” points out Karan. “But having the entire bulk procured for you and delivered to your place, at the time you want it, would make things extremely convenient and lure the customers,” he adds. Karan, however, feels that the industry is huge enough to allow kirana stores, large-format retailers and e-retailers to survive and grow in the same marketplace. 
 
How it works: As of now, LocalBanya is targeting the <keyword id="6756404" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="urban-population">urban population</keyword> and the customer base varies from <keyword id="2085227" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Single-professionals">single professionals</keyword>, <keyword id="632195" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="working-couples">working couples</keyword>, <keyword id="168112" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Nuclear-families">nuclear families</keyword> and <keyword id="3216" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="students">students</keyword> fending for themselves to <keyword id="1400200" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="new-mothers">new mothers</keyword>, <keyword id="20566" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="senior-citizens">senior citizens</keyword> and even <keyword id="2085229" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Large-families">large families</keyword>. 
 “People come to us for a wide selection of goods (otherwise, they will have to visit 2-3 stores to make a purchase), convenience and great pricing. We deliver that convenience with exceptional levels of customer service, <keyword id="2085230" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Preferred-delivery-times">preferred delivery times</keyword>, same-day deliveries, fresh produce and efficient &amp; reliable suppliers. We also take product suggestions from our customers and ensure that the products are online in a fortnight,” details the LocalBanya team. The <keyword id="2085232" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Procurement-model">procurement model</keyword> includes a convenient mix of warehousing and just-in-time (<keyword id="377986" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="JIT">JIT</keyword>) deliveries from a host of suppliers including <keyword id="34523" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="fmcg">FMCG</keyword> companies, cash-and-carry outlets and other distributors. 
 Shopping for groceries on the LocalBanya platform is also kept simple. You just have to register or connect through Facebook before browsing the categories and the products. Once you make the purchase, the order is processed and ready for delivery within 6 hours. Delivery is done as per your time slot selection. The company offers 6 slots (of 2 hours each), from 7 in the morning until midnight, and one can choose any of those. Customers also enjoy <keyword id="2085234" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Banya-Points-rewards-programme">Banya Points rewards programme</keyword> and these points are redeemed for cash discounts on every purchase. 
 
Claim to fame: <keyword id="900658" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="traction">Traction</keyword> and <keyword id="232730" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="business-model">business model</keyword>. The start-up claims that it currently reaches over 10,000 homes a month and delivers 500-plus orders a day. Interestingly, nearly one-third of its orders are from <keyword id="1189616" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="institutional-clients">institutional clients</keyword> while senior citizens and <keyword id="58225" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="NRIs">NRIs</keyword> constitute over 16% of the customer base. But what matters most is the <keyword id="2085235" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Lean-infrastructure">lean infrastructure</keyword> set-up for reducing asset liabilities. 
 
Show me the money: Since its <keyword id="85080" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Inception">inception</keyword> in May 2012, LocalBanya has done around Rs 15 crore in gross revenues. The start-up is projected to grow 40% month on month over the next 15-18 months and eyes <keyword id="486782" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="break-even">break-even</keyword> in the existing markets (Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai) by June this year. 
 LocalBanya was initially bootstrapped, but has already raised two rounds of <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword>. It is now in talks with investors to raise a Series B round by March 2014. In January this year, the start-up secured an undisclosed amount in Series A funding from <keyword id="2009015" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Karmvir-Avant-Group">Karmvir Avant Group</keyword>, a real estate developer in Mumbai. Earlier, it had raised funding from <keyword id="2085241" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Times-Groups-Brand-Capital-Springboard">Times Group’s Brand Capital Springboard</keyword> platform. “The Series A round will last us for a year and help fuel our growth at a faster rate as we scale up operations, hiring and marketing. We are also looking to start operations in a new city within a quarter,” says Karan. 
 
Biggest challenge: Competition abounds in online grocery retail space but containing cash-burning is most crucial when it comes to inventory, supply chain and logistics. Streamlining the supply chain and <keyword id="2085210" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Inventory-management">inventory management</keyword> is an uphill task but a lean procurement set-up, use of <keyword id="2085238" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Leased-delivery-vehicles">leased delivery vehicles</keyword>, <keyword id="2085242" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="In-house-delivery-personnel">in-house delivery personnel</keyword> (for ease of management) and a well-structured <keyword id="2085243" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Region-mapping">region mapping</keyword> that enables effective coverage of the city have helped the start-up cut down on costs. 
 
Five takeaways: In nearly 2 years of operation, LocalBanya has seen some interesting trends in <keyword id="2085200" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Online-grocery-shopping">online grocery shopping</keyword> behaviour and Karan &amp; his team want to share it with the budding wannapreneurs and all our readers. So here we go: 
 
59% of the transactions on the site are done by women. 
 
Senior citizens are a sizeable 14% of the customer base due to the convenience of online retail. 
 
A sizeable 2.1% of transactions are done by NRIs to have groceries delivered to their relatives in Mumbai. 
 
Institutional clients including restaurants, corporate houses, co-operative societies and any other organisation requiring groceries in bulk have seen the advantage of e-grocery and 29% of the business comes from these channels. 
 
Around 11% of LocalBanya’s deliveries are done during the 10 pm-12 midnight slot. And the last trend brings us back to the convenience factor. How many e-grocers or physical retail stores in India would be doing that in a bid to break out of the pack?

This E-grocery Start-up Uses A Lean Model For Its Online Supermarket; In Talks To Raise Series B
Funding

<ul class="summary-list"><li>SAP's Juergen Mueller thinks a risk with AI is if too few people know how to use it.</li><li>Mueller said we're not always learning as fast as we need to when it comes to tech like AI.</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-automation-humans-are-necessary-sap-juergen-mueller-2023-3">When I first spoke to Juergen Mueller</a>, SAP's chief technology officer, earlier this year, generative AI was the hot new thing.Nine months later, "a lot has evolved. Everyone learned a lot and natural language models are amazing and they can do a lot of things," Mueller told Business Insider in November.One issue with language models and generative AI is that it often has a cutoff point and lacks up-to-date knowledge. The German company — which focuses on cloud-based subscription services for its financial-reporting, inventory-tracking, and human-resources applications — looks at the processes of companies, including financials, procurements, HR, customer relations, or the supply chain."We develop a method that you can combine the strength of a large language model with all the real-time, company-specific information that you need," he said.Mueller explained it to me this way: Imagine if I gave a colleague all the articles I ever wrote, and asked her to write one article summarizing everything, and "write it in a style like I always write." The SAP cloud is similar. Instead of articles, it has access to all employee records, or invoices, or emails — other important documentation necessary for a company's daily functions —and can use that data to complete tasks faster.SAP is giving the large language models "means to access the know-how," Mueller said. SAP has trained more than 50,000 of the company's 105,000 workers on what it sees as the opportunities that Gen AI brings.SAP has worked within the machine-learning AI space for almost nine years. "We have a lot of components and process in place," he said. The company has been trying to answer questions around how to work with data; how to protect data; how to use data ethically; what tools data scientists need; "and how can we rethink and upgrade to generative AI."Mueller opened his iPad and showed me one of the tools at work — taking financial slides and summarizing them in an email for an executive meeting. It also gave data points and a widget. It basically did hours of work in about 5 minutes.Of course, security is central to what SAP does, as is checking for bias in data.Mueller views it all as an opportunity. "Technology will not stop and what we have to do — everyone in every role — is we have to continue learning," he said. He compared AI to past conversations about truck drivers becoming obsolete, which didn't happen. He referenced the movie "Hidden Figures" and how there were human, and not mechanical or digital, calculators. Then there were maps: paper vs. Mapquest vs. Google maps."There is risk, always. So we have to acknowledge that, work with that. But also then see what is the opportunity," he said.Mueller's insights are part of Business Insider's year-end leadership package, "Looking Ahead 2024," which digs into vision, strategy, and challenges across corporate America.The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.What are you most excited about for 2024?I look forward, in 2024, to seeing all these things in real life, in action. So, as I said, many cases that customers built — and also that the industry built — overall are in preview mode. And now actually it's "the rubber hits the road" in 2024. And I'm very much looking forward to that.What are you most concerned about for 2024?Regarding the adoption of AI, including programs like ChatGPT, language-learning models:What I'm most afraid of is that globally, we are not continuing to learn fast enough. And I think the risk is not that there's new technology. The risk is that we don't lean in and don't invest the extra time, extra hours. Because it needs a little bit of time; it is a little complex. ChatGPT luckily makes it easy to access that so that is good. But in a business function, it is still relatively complex to deploy this technology. Therefore everyone needs to lean in, learn. That, I think, is the largest risk. Then you have divergence in society.The worst thing is if only a few would know how and what to do with it and the majority wouldn't. That's, I think, one of the large worries. So you are very important because you're an amplifier and people read a lot about it and people should be optimistic. But also, it should be clear that you need to invest a little bit of time, like with every skill, to be good at it.What's one thing you got right in 2023?In 2023, the R&amp;D we've invested in business AI since 2015 paid off, with over 25,000 SAP Cloud customers using at least one of our 130 AI scenarios, the launch of a generative AI hub, and the addition of vector database engine capabilities into our solution offerings. This strong foundation of AI expertise has been enabling us to infuse generative AI capabilities across our solutions and deliver immediate value to customers.What's one thing you got wrong in 2023?I underestimated the need to meet our customers where they are. This year, it became clear that in-person interactions — such as our annual developer and customer conferences at locations around the world — are as important as virtual event options. For us, striking the right balance between virtual and in-person meetings is key to fostering a dynamic and effective collaboration and work environment.

SAP CTO Juergen Mueller on 2024: The worst thing for AI would be if only a few know how to use it

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">SupercellSupercell's "Clash of Clans" Super Bowl ad starring Liam Neeson</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>The news that independent ad agency Barton F. Graf is shutting down highlights the growing struggles facing independent agencies and the ad business at large. </li><li>Digital platforms Google and Facebook dominate ad spending and clients are demanding more data and project-based work.</li><li>Some insiders say that independent agencies have an opportunity as the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cvs-healths-cmo-says-that-holding-companies-risk-being-disrupted-2019-7">holding company model is called into question.</a></li><li>However, agencies admit they need to do better at proving their value.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>This week, New York-based agency <a href="https://adage.com/amp/agency/barton-f-graf-new-york">Barton F. Graf</a> announced that would close at the end of the year. The independent creative agency - known for its quirky and entertaining ads including Supercell's "Clash of Clans" Super Bowl <a href="https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/10-most-watched-ads-youtube-2015-168524/">ad starring Liam Neeson</a> - blamed shifts in client contracts and spending, staff exits, and declining revenue.The news, which was <a href="https://adage.com/article/creativity/barton-f-graf-close-doors-end-year/2188166">first reported by AdAge</a>, highlights the growing struggles facing independent agencies and agencies in general.<h2>The ad industry is going through several seismic shifts</h2>The landscape is a far cry from what it was when founder Gerry Graf set up the agency a decade ago, when creative was still king and TV and 30-second spots ruled. That has changed considerably, with digital platforms Google and Facebook dominating digital ad spending and clients demanding more data and project-based work.Creative agencies have struggled to grow in this environment, expanding only at the current rate of inflation in the US, said Forrester analyst Jay Pattisall. Independent shops have been especially hit, with independent agencies decreasing as a percentage of agencies from 51% in 2016 to 39% in 2018, a result of agency M&amp;A and closures, according to Forrester's research with SoDa.Many creative agencies have lost their core proposition as clients increasingly value business expertise, data, and C-Suite relationships, said Jack Skeels, founder and CEO of Agency Agile, an agency consulting organization."Shops built around selling a big idea no longer work," he said.More broadly, the ad industry is facing strong headwinds. The holding company model is under pressure; brands including <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/78-of-brands-now-have-some-form-of-an-in-house-agency-2018-10">Verizon, Marriott and Mastercard are increasingly taking their advertising in-house</a>; direct-to-consumer brands have upended traditional advertising; and new competitors<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-new-cottage-industry-is-trying-to-cash-in-on-brands-taking-ads-in-house-2019-2"> including in-housing specialists</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dtc-boom-has-created-a-roster-of-specialized-ad-agencies-2018-11">DTC agencies</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/huge-consulting-firms-are-coming-after-the-ad-agency-business-heres-how-agencies-are-fighting-back-2018-8">consulting firms like Deloitte and Accenture</a> are encroaching on agencies' turf. Read more:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/78-of-brands-now-have-some-form-of-an-in-house-agency-2018-10"> Brands continue to take their advertising in-house at an unprecedented rate - and it's terrible news for ad agencies</a>Adding to that, clients are increasingly trying to drive down agency fees and opting for project-based work over agency-of-record relationships. P&amp;G has said that it <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pg-has-saved-over-1-billion-by-overhauling-how-it-works-with-agencies-2019-4">has saved upwards of $1 billion in agency fees</a>, and Johnson &amp; Johnson also <a href="https://www.adweek.com/agencies/johnson-johnson-cuts-marketing-budget-affecting-partners-omnicom-and-wpp/">recently made sizeable cuts to its marketing budget</a>. "Obviously, procurement pressure is increasing and scopes are decreasing," said Jason Harris, co-founder and CEO of independent agency Mechanism, pointing out that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ad-industry-executives-sound-off-on-jwt-and-wunderman-merger-2018-11">even big agencies were not immune to the shifts.</a>"The recent mergers of iconic shops - most which no longer have the equity of their founding names - show that it can happen to any and all of us." The shift to project-based work has been hard for agencies of all sizes, said Pete Imwalle, EVP and chief 0peration officer at Los Angeles-based independent agency RPA."The amount of effort to win an assignment needs to be adjusted to the size of the potential win - we can't do three-to-six month, multi-round reviews with spec work for assignments that only pay the winning agency," he said. "The math doesn't work."<h2>But the era of independent agencies may not yet be over</h2>While some fear that the closing down of Barton F. Graf signals doom for other independent agencies, others remain optimistic. As the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cvs-healths-cmo-says-that-holding-companies-risk-being-disrupted-2019-7">viability of the holding company model is called into question</a>, there's opportunity for independent agencies that are smaller and more agile, said Ted Nelson, CEO at Mechanica, an independent agency."[They are] independent to fully take ownership of client objectives, independent of quarterly revenue targets that force cyclical talent layoffs, independent to truly innovative on behalf of their clients, and independent to evolve along with today's always churning restless markets," he said.Indeed, some, including Wieden+Kennedy, Mother, and Johannes Leonardo, continue to thrive."Smaller agencies usually have lighter operational models, less legacy overhead, and more nimble ways of delivering content at speed, which is what larger agencies can often lack," said Claire Telling, co-CEO of grace Blue. "They just have to set up a financial structure that allows for the company to stay afloat during potential dry spells."Independent shops Red Tettemer O'Connell + Partners and Stink Studios said they have done exactly that. Stink Studios has leaned on project-based work, which lets it hedge its bets by working with a variety of clients, CEO Mark Pytlik said. None of the agency's clients accounts for more than 8% of its total billings, he said."It's a win-win, because clients don't have to commit, and it keeps us on our toes," said Pytlik. RTO+P created a content creation unit called wakeandmake.studio five years ago that has helped provide a stream of work and been one of the agency's fastest-growing segments, said Steve Red, president and chief creative officer at RTO+P."We've embraced change by changing our business on the regular," said Red. "We never bring boilerplate solutions, because we're not beholden to a holding company that forces it. And that more often than not, leads to long-time relationships with even our project clients."That said, independent agencies admit they need to do better."100% of the clients we serve come to us because a big agency isn't right for them," said Ryan Kutscher, co-founder and chief creative officer of Circus Maximus."The challenge we address is about proving value, which has propelled us into the world of data, and media and analytics."Independent agencies need to stop accepting outmoded fee structures and ask for performance-based payment terms as the hour-based approach is tied to the agency-of-record model that's no longer prevalent, said Stink Studio's Pytlik. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lessons-from-the-lions-cmos-reveal-best-campaigns-jealous-2019-7">The top CMOs in the world share the campaigns they wish they had thought of</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

The demise of a lauded independent ad agency has the advertising industry on the defensive even as it confronts existential crises

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6370255" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Scott-Belsky">Scott Belsky</keyword> is the chief product officer of <keyword id="99699" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Adobe">Adobe</keyword> and founder of Behance, Adobe's social media platform. He's an early investor and product advisor for top <keyword id="6362513" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="startups">startups</keyword> including Pinterest, Uber, Carta, and Airtable.</li><li>As 2020 comes to a close, Belsky predicts eight major trends to emerge in the <keyword id="6358815" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tech">tech</keyword> industry in the near future.</li><li>He says talent will increasingly own their audiences through apps like YouTube, TikTok, and Patreon, and that systems and apps supporting creativity will be emphasized over productivity tools.</li><li>Belsky also says an era of "eduployment" will emerge, integrating the process of choosing a trade, getting an education, finding a job, or starting a company.</li></ul>As we pull ourselves out of the ditch that was 2020, there are a few major themes of the future I'm particularly excited about. I'm sharing them as a way to connect more dots, meet more founders, and solicit input to further develop these ideas.No surprise, some of the companies I mention within these trends I know personally, but I have challenged myself to share ideas still on the cusp of breakout rather than the obvious trends and winners. Here they are.<h2>1. The notion of "decentralized" is spreading to unexpected places. </h2>Yes, Bitcoin and blockchain-powered solutions are all the rage these days, and one side-effect is ideas for how other aspects of work and life can be decentralized. For example, Ben Rubin's <a href="https://slashtalk.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">/Talk</a> is developing ways to decentralize how teams work (it turns out the very notion of "meetings" may be an archaic and wasteful vestige of centralized workplaces).The team at <a href="https://www.usebraintrust.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Braintrust</a> is using both the principles and technology of blockchain to build a user-controlled talent network. Rather than take any fees or percentage of the participating talent's income, Braintrust gains value alongside other participants via tokens that become more valuable as the network grows.The team at <a href="https://www.getcashdrop.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CashDrop</a> has built a way for anyone (from a taco stand owner to an apparel designer) to build a storefront without relying on a traditional marketplace that charges commissions or fees. Taking a step back, the traditional model of central owners of community-powered utilities (marketplaces, app stores, etc.) taking a percent of everything (and central "bosses" for huge teams insisting on reviewing and approving everything) may finally be getting old.<h2>2. Behold the era of "eduployment:" The process of identifying a trade, getting an education, and getting a job (or starting a company) will become fully integrated.</h2>Take <a href="https://nanahome.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nana</a> for instance, a company that will train you in appliance repair (think unique brands of dishwashers, etc), and then set you up in a marketplace to start getting jobs in your local area fueled by leads from the manufacturers of these appliances. Or take <a href="https://www.getmainstreet.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Main Street</a>, who will train you as a painter, outfit you with everything you need, and set you up to be a successful business out of the gate within 30 days  -  essentially turning you into a franchise.Rather than enduring an expensive education only to assume the complete risk of your career, this new eduployment model, as I've come to call it, gives everyone skin in the game. The vertical integration of education and employment is upon us, and I think this trend will help address (at-scale) major systematic issues in our economy at scale while also minting a ton of new small businesses.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-disrupting-higher-education-college-grad-school-remote-learning-2020-12">No more student debt: 64 apps and startups aiming to replace the university experience</a><h2>3. A few seemingly quirky social apps will tune into the under 16 demographic's distinct approach to creation as a form of self-expression and tolerance for transparency by default.</h2>I'm seeing more entrepreneurs starting social apps now than in years past, and they're no longer building off of Facebook's graph or emulating existing products with slight iterations. Nope, these are (finally) wildly new and original ideas. One of my favorites, under the radar but experiencing rapid growth, is <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/itsme/id1289087191" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ItsMe</a>. Now approximately #24 in App Store under social networking, ItsMe connects you with others based on your mood, it make you create your own appearance, and allows you to communicate with text, voice, audio, or drawing among other forms. And there are a few other new social models brewing that I am quite excited about.What do these next gen social platforms share? They combine ephemeral sharing with lasting reputation building, they lean towards default transparency and with a more liberal interpretation of "privacy," and they have fewer creative constraints and are geared to reward those with the most creative self-expression.In the category of social, I am also quite excited about the rebirth of <a href="https://go.gowalla.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gowalla</a> as a wild social game still a bit under wraps that will take place in the real world, and <a href="http://public.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Public</a>, a social network for public market investing. Suffice to say, the future of social is exciting and, contrary to popular belief, will not be constrained to today's dominant social networks.<h2>4. Talent will increasingly own their audience, with the rise of "channels of one" and community-as-a-service.</h2>Gone are the days when super talented people needed to sign a contract with a TV network to break through. But the ad-supported and algorithmically-driven alternatives, like YouTube and TikTok, still have the upper hand with talent. The pursuit to "own your own audience" will be a macro trend over the coming years.Equivalents to Substack (where you build and monetize your own email list) will emerge in video, communities, and other ways to build, manage, and monetize your audience. Some early breakouts like OnlyFans and Patreon give us a sense of what is possible.I am especially enthusiastic about products like <a href="https://circle.so/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Circle</a> and <a href="https://www.genevachat.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Geneva</a> that power fully-fledged community functionality for brands and individuals. If you're a content creator of any kind, you can now spin up a community to gather your audience and spawn all sorts of offshoot services to delight (and monetize) your base.In such a world, the Instagram and YouTube type products simply serve as top-of-funnel marketing initiatives. The goal becomes simple converting everyone you reach on other platforms to your own privately owned and managed channel. We will see a massive acceleration of this trend in the years ahead.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apps-services-companies-loneliness-economy-spike-interest-2020-12">The loneliness economy: Companies and entrepreneurs see a spike in interest for rent-a-friend services, chatbots, and online communities that target feelings of isolation</a><h2>5. More and more niche functions of enterprise will become multi-player, powered by a next generation of highly specialized, AI-bolstered, enterprise companies with consumerized product experiences.</h2>From procurement and security to financial planning and design, functions of a company that were once siloed to particular teams are being transformed by SaaS tools that are collaborative-by default, easier to use, and inclusive of stakeholders across the company. Those of you who co-invest with me know my obsession with this space.From companies like <a href="https://www.globality.com/en-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Globality</a> for procurement, <a href="https://www.sora.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sora</a> for HR interactions, <a href="https://www.meter.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Meter</a> for WiFi and IT, <a href="https://www.heywelcome.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Welcome</a> for hiring, closing, and onboarding new employees, there are many approaches and the list goes on. These types of products will fundamentally change how big companies operate across functions while transforming the quality of life for employees.To help fuel this transformation, <a href="https://workos.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WorkOS</a> is building enterprise-readiness as a service, enabling new companies to start selling to enterprise customers with just a few lines of code, with the value proposition "Single Sign-On (SSO) to your app in minutes." And <a href="https://about.scarf.sh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scarf</a> is building tools for open source developers to service and monetize enterprise customers. So, lots of energy in this space up and down the stack. One side consequence of all this: increasingly crowded and outdated customer acquisition channels for enterprise SaaS. This is also a problem/opportunity to solve.<h2>6. Creativity tools will be deployed across the enterprise, much like productivity tools were deployed in previous decades.</h2>Until the age of <keyword id="6355999" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ai">AI</keyword>, being more productive was the best way to stand out at work. But now, as bots and algorithms supplant mundane and repetitive labor in the workplace, the benefits of human labor will shift to the skills and capabilities that are uniquely human. Chief among them: creativity.Think compelling ways to visualize data, better ways to share a narrative with your coworkers, attractive graphics to spice up every presentation, and powerful prototypes that are worth a hundred meetings. These capabilities will drive outperformance at work (and in school, and on social) in the coming decades, and everyone must be outfitted to make it happen.Obviously, this is a major focus in my day job as chief product officer for my creative teams at Adobe. We see this massive broadening of the market divided into two types of personas: content-first creators and collaboration-first creators. The former wants to be start with something  -  an image, a video or a graphic  -  and remix or deconstruct. The latter starts by bringing together a group of people and leveraging a shared assets (<a href="https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2020/10/20/your-creative-system-starts-with-creative-cloud.html#gs.o4igz9" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">we've been gradually turning Creative Cloud into a "creative system" of sorts for this very purpose</a>). Of course, this need requires new types of tools on modern platforms like the web. Adobe, along with a whole ecosystem of new apps, are working to make this happen.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oura-ring-tech-execs-investors-changed-routines-track-sleep-better-2020-12">Sleep-tracking ring Oura is beloved by some of the biggest names in tech. We asked 7 investors and execs how it's helped them revamp their routines to sleep better and live healthier.</a><h2>7. New and disruptive interfaces will emerge that aggregate and connect the underlying services we use to live and work.</h2>This is certainly not a new trend, and I've been writing about the <a href="https://medium.com/positiveslope/the-interface-layer-when-design-commoditizes-tech-e7017872173a" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">"interface layers"</a> and the <a href="https://medium.com/positiveslope/disruptive-interfaces-the-emerging-battle-to-be-the-default-23a6485a6f29" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">"battle to be the default"</a> since 2014. But the explosion of SaaS offerings for everyday work (enterprise trend noted above) and life is setting the stage for a new problem and opportunity: How do we stitch it all together?Consider the digital spaces in which we spend our days  -  the "home" page of our favorite apps, the finder on our desktops, the home screens of our phones. We're creating different kinds of documents, files, folders, and teams all over the place. We have specialized apps for everything and must manage permissions in so many places. All of these various cloud documents and services have different schemas and don't interact with one another  -  it's a mess.Some companies are rising to the occasion, including <a href="https://getcommande.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Command E</a> (an easy keyboard shortcut to open any document, contact, file or record from the cloud) and another early stage stealth company I am excited about. No doubt, all of these underlying services and resources WILL be stitched together, and whoever does the stitching will control the interface where we actually live, work, and make decisions.<h2>8. Another round of the Roaring '20s is ahead of us, where the pent-up desires from the pandemic will be unleashed in the form of fashion, travel, and culture-bending creative self-expression.</h2>My family and I endured a good chunk of the pandemic with our neighbor and dear friend Jenn Hyman, cofounder and CEO of <a href="https://www.renttherunway.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">RentTheRunway</a>, and her family. Needless to say, the stay-at-home world made for a very difficult year for Jenn's team. But now, with a light at the end of the tunnel, Jenn has a new energy. She believes that post-pandemic fashion will have more fun and edge than ever before.I agree, and imagine our vaccinated selves fervently jumping back into the world through travel, fashion, parties, concerts, and meeting new people. (After all, the last century's Roaring '20s also followed a pandemic, the 1918 Spanish Flu.) Our desire to fill the cultural void that has accumulated in us will result in a form of overcompensation that will make for an epic decade ahead (yes, I'm a relentless optimist).Like all of you, I am eager to move past the challenges of 2020. I'm hopeful that we emerge <a href="https://medium.com/positiveslope/the-great-refactoring-how-crisis-unlocks-productivity-94344082f0dd" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more productive from the "great refactoring"</a> we all endured, and that we can all reclaim the ~30% of cognitive load that has been consumed by politics, gaslighting, and a seemingly never-ending stream of things to worry about. With our newfound peace and capacity, may we all dream and build in equal parts!<a href="http://digest.scottbelsky.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sign up for his newsletter of insights.</a> Follow him <a href="http://twitter.com/scottbelsky" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Twitter.</a>Scott Belsky is the founder of Behance, which was acquired by Adobe, where he now serves as Chief Product Officer and EVP for Creative Cloud. He is an early investor and product advisor for some of this decades top startups, including Pinterest, Uber, Carta, Flexport, Airtable, and sweetgreen among others. Get his latest book  "<a href="http://www.themessymiddle.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Messy Middle"</a> or <a href="http://digest.scottbelsky.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sign up for his newsletter.</a> Follow him <a href="http://twitter.com/scottbelsky" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Twitter.</a>

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