As Software Eats The World, Non-Tech Corporations Are Eating Startups

Over the past year or two, non-tech corporations have begun to actually open their wallets to arm themselves with talent and technology that can help them enter the digital and data-focused world we now live and work in. It’s no longer Google, Facebook and Yahoo that are competing to acquire the best and the brightest startups in Silicon Valley. There are plenty of corporations in retail, health, agriculture, financial services and other industries that are sending their corp-dev talent to scout out possible acquisitions in the Bay Area and beyond.

Let’s take a look at some of the examples. Earlier this year, Monsanto, a multinational chemical, and agricultural biotechnology corporation, bought big data weather tech company Climate Corporation for $1.1 billion. Insurer UnitedHealth Group bought health data analytics company Humedica for hundreds of millions of dollars. A few weeks ago, fitness clothing retailer Under Armour bought fitness tracking app developer MapMyFitnessfor $150 million. Office supply retailer Staples bought e-commerce personalization company Runa. Payments processing giant First Data has acquired mobile loyalty startup Perka andmobile payments startup Clover in the past year. Retail giant Target has picked up a number of e-commerce companies. Ford Motors bought in-car music app startup Livio. The list goes on.

Exitround, the website that launched earlier this year and lets startups anonymously seek acquirers, has been seeing a strong uptick in non-tech, corporate acquirers joining the marketplace to find potential talent and startups.

“Their main motivation is realizing that software is eating the world, and they have to add software talent and technologies to their products,” explained Exitround founder Jacob Mullins. On the marketplace, Mullins says that 10 percent of buyers are Fortune 500 companies and 20 percent of acquirers are publicly traded, with a good percentage of the group being non-tech companies.

For many non-tech companies, Exitround is providing a compelling service by which to find startups early. Mullins says that there are increasingly more and more corp-dev execs joining the marketplace to scout for talent. But traditionally the mechanism by which acquirers found acquirees was done either through word of mouth and networking or through investment banks. But Silicon Valley is seeing more and more executives from corporations and non-tech companies visit the region and VC firms to potentially network with startups. Many Sand Hill VC firms are now holding regular events with representatives from some of these non-tech acquirers in the areas of health, retail, financial services and more.

“Walmart was the earliest traditional non-tech company to figure this out,” says Jon Sakoda, NEA Partner and VC. Walmart famously bought Kosmix in 2011 and set up a Labs group in Silicon Valley, far away from the retailer’s Arkansas headquarters. The retailer has steadily acquired more companies and technologies in its fight to compete with Amazon, including four startups this year alone.

Aileen Lee, founder of Cowboy Ventures and Partner at Kleiner Perkins, believes that retail will continue to be an industry where you are seeing large companies eat software.

“A lot of physical retailers saw soft foot traffic in their stores in Q3 and they are more nervous about how e-commerce is eating into their sales,” she explains. Companies like TJ Maxx, Urban Outfitters and others can easily make a $100 million to $400 million acquisition in the current market, she adds. In fact, earlier this year, Urban Outfitters reportedly did try to buy NastyGal, a fast-growing e-commerce site for young women.

“Lots of these retailers have no commerce strategy, but startups have the potential to expand consumer reach to a younger demographic,” says Lee.

David Blumenfeld, SVP of Westfield Labs, the innovation arm of shopping mall developer Westfield, tells us that the company is definitely evaluating potential acquisitions that they can bring into their Labs groups.

“While Westfield itself is not a tech company, we believe that there is not a delineation between online and offline shopping, and we have to be a part of that,” he says. “We believe tech is core to the future of how products are bought even in malls.”

He adds that with the company’s malls, they have the distribution (to potentially 1.1 billion people, he says), and they are actively looking for technologies they can integrate into their malls.

Hunter Walk, the co-founder of VC firm Homebrew, explains that developing a deeper relationship with the customer online is a strategy that more corporations realize they need to be working on. Part of this is actually being able to connect with a potential customer where they are interacting and spending time. “Movie theaters have no idea what their customers are watching at home, and there is no personalization,” he says. He adds that he sees many of these acquisitions being under $200 million.

It shouldn’t be surprising that a mattress company may buy a sleep app.

In Under Armour’s case, the company didn’t have much of a direct relationship with the customer beyond purchase. And as a wholesaler, the clothing manufacturer needed a better way to engage with their customers. MapMyFitness is now going to be the foundation on which it plans to build a new digital training experience and mobile fitness platform.

The other benefit to buying platforms where there is engagement is the data collected, which can help potentially boost sales and personalize experiences. “It shouldn’t be surprising that a mattress company may buy a sleep app,” Lee says.

Sakoda agrees that data, and the technologies behind mining this data, are big tipping points for acquisitions from non-tech companies. “These companies have fallen so far behind when it comes to data collection and analysis and seeing how customers think and what pricing should be,” he adds. In the case of Monsanto buying Climate Corporation, the large agricultural giant was accessing massive weather data processing and collecting technology that could help in optimizing farming globally.

“Big companies are finally waking up to fact that they needed to embrace big data yesterday,” says Zach Bogue, the founder of Data Collective, a fund devoted to backing startups in the big data space. “Now every single large company has massive amounts of data, and figuring out how to use that is complex.” This is why many non-tech companies are sniffing around big data startups.

Data is a key area for content owners and publishers as well. Barin Nahvi, who works with emerging tech and new product development at Hearst Corp., says the company is looking to make more acquisitions in core technologies around data. “We’re thinking about how do we resemble a technology company more, and part of this is building platform and core capabilities,” she explains. “How to use data as a driver of content is something we are evaluating.”

Big companies are finally waking up to fact that they needed to embrace big data yesterday.

Nahvi says that video technologies and mobile are other key areas for a potential strategic acquisition for Hearst. E.W. Scripps, the storied owner of 19 local television stations and daily newspapers in 13 markets across the U.S., just bought Newsy to give the media company access to an audience that consumes their news (and video) on devices like tablets.

Of course buying startups in Silicon Valley is just one part of the challenge for non-tech corporations. The next is actually being able to keep talent happy. The cultures of these companies are vastly different from Google, Facebook and the startup culture in Silicon Valley. The true test is being able to retain talent and ensure that they feel they are part of an innovative team.

To that point, many of these companies have created “Labs” groups to house these acquisitions. As mentioned above, Walmart founded its own Labs group, WalmartLabs – which has grown to over 1,200 engineers and staff – when it acquired Kosmix. Live music giant Live Nation, which just bought mobile startup Meexo and acquired two others in the past year, has also set up a Labs group for technology acquisitions.

Walk explains that these companies are not just buying technologies, but also talent, and they have to be mindful of how to manage and foster that talent. “Just adding small pieces of technology doesn’t commit an organization to a new path,” he says. Adding to that, Halle Tecco, founder of health-focused seed fund Rock Health, says that many challenges come from not being able to actually deploy the technologies successfully.

Ethan Kaplan, the VP of product and technology for Live Nation Labs, explains that the labs group was created to house technical talent and acquisitions. He says that the labs group itself was structured to make it feel like less of a conglomerate and more of a startup. There isn’t a deep hierarchy, and Kaplan and others at the group have worked to make the engineers and other staff feel unencumbered, fast-paced and not beholden to a strict road map.

Mullins says that retaining talent is now at the top of mind for most non-tech acquirers. “Most of these companies want to make sure the transition is successful and are talking with potential acquirees early on where a startup will live and who will own the technology once it is placed in-house.”

At the end of the day, non-tech companies infiltrating Silicon Valley gives many startup founders additional exit options beyond a potential acq-hire from Google, Yahoo or Facebook. But the continued success of these acquisitions (and founder interest in being acquired by an outsider) will depend on how these companies pursue and view innovation and culture. And that’s easier said than done.

Businesses that caught our eye in Asia

India’s SmartyRing is a neat bit of wearable tech in the form of a ring. It displays all your phone’s notifications so that you don’t have to keep pulling out your phone to check what’s going on. It is proving to be very popular on Indiegogo, where the gadget has secured so many crowdfunding pledges that it is well beyond its goal.

Duriana lets you buy and sell nearby items. Find cool things for sale in your area, and sell your own pre-loved items for free.

Ayibang – which literally means “maid help” in Chinese – is a mobile app and online platform that connects people with local service providers, allowing you to mix and match temporary employees for things like regular cleaning, a heavy-duty cleaning of a new or rented apartment, and laundry. The startup revealed this week it has secured series A funding.

API Management - The way you want it

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SUMMARY:

The key challenge that comes with the shift to using APIs as an extension of their enterprise IT is choosing the right deployment model. Here’s a look at some popular ones.

Enterprises are building an API First strategy to keep up with their customer needs, and provide resources and services that go beyond the confines of enterprise. With this shift to using APIs as an extension of their enterprise IT, the key challenge still remains choosing the right deployment model.

Even with bullet-proof technology from a leading provider, your results could be disastrous if you start off with a wrong deployment model. Consider developer scale, innovation, incurring costs, complexity of API platform management, etc. On the other hand, forcing internal developers to hop out to the cloud to get API metadata when your internal API program is just starting is an exercise leading to inefficiency and inconsistencies.

Components of APIs

But before we get to deployment models, you need to understand the components of API management, your target audience and your overall corporate IT strategy. These certainly will influence your decisions.

Not all Enterprises embark on an API program for the same reasons – enterprise mobility programs, rationalizing existing systems as APIs, or find new revenue models, to name a few. All of these factors influence your decisions.

API management has two major components: the API traffic and the API metadata. The API traffic is the actual data flow and the metadata contains the information needed to certify, protect and understand that data flow. The metadata describes the details about the collection of APIs. It consists of information such as interface details, constructs, security, documentation, code samples, error behavior, design patterns, compliance requirements, and the contract (usage limits, terms of service). This is the rough equivalent of the registry and repository from the days of service-oriented architecture, but it contains a lot more. It differs in a key way; it’s usable and human readable. Some vendors call this the API portal or API catalog.

Next you have developer segmentation, which falls into three categories – internal, partner, and public. The last category describes a zero-trust model where anyone could potentially be a developer, whereas the other two categories have varying degrees of trust. In general, internal developers are more trusted than partners or public, but this is not a hard and fast rule.

Armed with this knowledge, let’s explore popular API Management deployment models, in no particular order.

Everything Local

In this model, either software or a gateway that provides API metadata and traffic management are both deployed on-premise. This could either be in your DMZ or inside your firewall. This “everything local” model gives the enterprise the most control with the least amount of risk. This is simply due to the fact that you own and manage the entire API Management platform. The downside to this model can be cost. Owning it outright might cost less in the long run, but the upfront cost of ownership could be higher than other models because your Enterprise needs the requisite servers, software, maintenance, and operational expertise. However, if the API platform drives enough revenue, innovation and cost reductions, the higher total cost of ownership (TCO) can be justified with a quicker return on investment (ROI). This model serves internal developers best and helps large Enterprises that want to start with ownership and complete control of their API management infrastructure that can be eventually pushed out to a SaaS model.

Virtual Private Cloud

In this model, either software or a virtual gateway is deployed in a virtual enterprise network such as an isolated Amazon private cloud or virtual private cloud (VPC). Depending on the configuration, the traffic can either come to the DMZ or go directly to the private cloud. The traffic that comes to the enterprise DMZ can be forwarded to VPC and the VPC direct communication can be enforced based on enterprise governance, risk and security measures. A VPC deployment may be ideal for trusted internal developers and partner developers, and allows the Enterprise to experiment with elasticity. The VPC model with multi-homed infrastructure also allows API metadata to be accessible from the Internet, but done with a soft-launch and not a big-bang. As partners grow, the infrastructure can scale in the private cloud without the need to advertise the API metadata to every garage developer out there. This option gives the enterprise similar control as the local datacenter model deployment, but with a slightly elevated risk but more elasticity.  

Hybrid SaaS

In this model, the API traffic software/gateway is installed on-premise but the developer onboarding and public-facing API catalog (or portal) is deployed in a public SaaS environment. Though the environments are physically separated from each other, they are connected through secure back channels to feed information in a near-real time basis. Communication includes information flow from the API management catalog to the API traffic enforcement point which includes API keys, quota policies and OAuth enforcement. The API traffic management pushes traffic analytics, statistics, and other pertinent API usage information back to the SaaS public cloud.

This model provides for a good developer reach and scale, as developers can interact in a shared cloud instance while keeping the traffic flows through the enterprise components. Also, this model allows you to have a split cost model; the API metadata is charged as a service (without a heavy initial investment) and the data flow component is a perpetual license, giving the enterprise a mix of both benefits. The API traffic can still come to the enterprise directly without a need to go to the cloud first which will let the enterprise use components, thereby reducing some of the capital expenditure (Capex) costs. This configuration maximizes enterprise control and security and combines that with maximal developer outreach and scale with a utility cost model.

This may seem like the best of both worlds. Why even consider other models? In practice this model may be extended and combined with the others. For example, by adding a developer portal on-premise to better serve internal developers with improved latency and more IT-architect control. It’s not about exclusive choices, but about understanding the benefits of each of the interconnections.

Pure SaaS

This is the full on-demand model. In this configuration, both developers and the API traffic are managed in a multi-tenant SaaS cloud. In the pure SaaS model, API traffic hits the cloud first and is managed against Enterprise policies for quotas, throttling, and authentication/authorization. Analytics are processed in the cloud and the API call is securely routed back down to the Enterprise. The SaaS portal is skinned to conform to the customer’s branding, has the ability to integrate web content of the customer’s choosing, and is branded with URL of the customer’s choosing so that as far as the developers are aware, the portal is owned and operated by the customer.

Due to the fact that enterprises use the cloud elastic model in this case, both for scaling and for costing, the Opex prices can be multitudes cheaper than the heavy initial investment that might be required in the previous models. In one sense, this is comparing apples and oranges: In the opex model you trade the higher up-front costs of running and maintaining your own servers with a lower monthly fee, but as we mentioned before, there may be reasons for both: A large Enterprise may run a SaaS API program for their marketing department and an internal API management program for their IT department supporting a new mobility strategy. The SaaS API option maximizes developer scale and has the lowest maintenance costs. Plus, the enterprises will require fewer resources to run and maintain the deployment. This is the option best suited for having instant updates to the API management platform with minimal downtime and high performance through CDN caching and managed fail-over and resiliency

It is never one size fits all when it comes to API management. Each situation is different based on specific needs. Examine the different deployment options carefully, and see what will work best for you, keeping in mind that these deployment models are NOT mutually exclusive as you can combine them.

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Meet Revolv, The Missing Link To The Modern Smart Home

This $299 device connects all these smart devices, effectively making a unified smart home. This might be the quintessential first world problem, but as smart devices grow in popularity, there will increase a need for a device to make everything run together. And the Revolv does just that. It’s the missing link in today’s Internet of Things.

In my house, I have several smart devices: A Nest Thermostat, WeMo outlets and a Kwikset deadbolt. All these items previously operated independently of each other. They didn’t know they existed within the same house. The Nest couldn’t talk to the Kwikset lock. The Kwikset couldn’t tell the Nest to fire up the furnace when the front door is unlocked.

The complication can get more troublesome in houses with Sonos systems, Philips Hue lights, and Insteon and GE smart systems. All of these items require a separate app to control their functions. The Revolv not only consolidates control to a central app, but allows for all sorts of macros and pre-programmed functions.

The smart actions allows owners to group logical functions together. Using location sensing, when the owner is, say, 100 yards away from home, the Revolv can lock your front door, turn down the heat, and turn on a Sonos system to give the dog some background music. Or, alternatively, when the owner is within 100 yards of his home, the Revolv can unlock the front door, turn up the heat and kick on the Sonos.

Combined with Belkin WeMo remote outlets and Philip Hue lights, the possibilities are nearly endless. The Revolv could turn on a candle warmer and foot bath, dim the lights and tune into your Fleet Foxes station for a relaxing evening at home.

U.S. Polo leverages digital sizing to help consumers avoid the fitting room

U.S. Polo Assn. is incorporating mobile and digital features that help consumers find their perfect size without having to hit the fitting rooms.

The retailer is using Mipso’s FiT technology to let shoppers enter a few measurements and receive a size recommendation tailored to each of U.S. Polo’s products. At first, the feature will be available for online purchasing, but FiT also enables an in-store service that lets shoppers scan products in-store to receive size recommendations.

“The benefits are two-fold in that the shoppers increase basket size and returns are lower,” said Igal Chemerinski, vice president of sales at Mipso, New York.

“For the consumer, we create a fun experience, and it’s easy to shop in the site,” he said. ”For the retailers it creates customer loyalty because the moment I have my measurements in a Web site I’m more likely to return for more.

“It creates engagement and loyalty and for the retailers a way to profile customers. Many of the retailers have some type of information like shipping information, but now they’re able to get measurements so they can profile. They can be more efficient in production.”

U.S. Polo Assn. sells clothing and other accessories and items in more than 135 countries.

Best fit
To start off, U.S. Polo is integrating Mipso’s Fit technology into its commerce Web site to help consumers virtually try on clothing.

On each product page, there is an image of a measuring tape next to where consumers are asked to select a size with copy that reads, “Not sure? Let us find your best size in seconds.” If consumers click on this, they will be asked to input some of their measurements.

If consumers are pressed for time they can enter their height and waist measurements. The site explains how to take these measurements.

For more precise sizing, consumers can also enter more measurements, such as shoulder circ, bust, under-bust, hips and arm length.

The FiT button on a product page

The site will then make a recommendation based on advanced algorithms as to which size the consumer should order. Once a consumer enters his or her measurements, they can be stored on U.S. Polo’s site.

Mipso’s technology can also be incorporated into a white label mobile application, and U.S. Polo will likely roll this out in the near future.

The app allows in-store shoppers to leverage FiT to save time and avoid having to try clothes on in the fitting room. Shoppers will be able to scan bar codes on the garments to get a size recommendation from FiT.

Inputting measurements

Increased basket
According to Mipso, the Fit technology increased consumers’ basket size by 52 percent and dropped returns by 64 percent.

By helping consumers find their size, U.S. Polo will be able to increase consumer confidence and, in turn, basket size. Consumers will feel less worried about making a purchase without trying it on, so they will be more likely to buy either online or in-store without going to the fitting room.

Another benefit for retailers is that the cost of returns will go down. Nowadays many retailers offer free shipping on returns, and this cost will be eliminated if a product is more likely to fit and consumers are less likely to return.

The FiT technology also allows U.S. Polo to better merchandise in its stores based on data on customer sizes.

“It’s as if someone in the store comes up and asks can I help you find your size,” Mr. Chemerinski said. “Instead of telling the customer, ‘Go use the size chart,’ which less than one percent of consumers use size chart because they’re very difficult to read. We benefit the retailers by allowing customers to get the best fit.”

Companies enabling mobile payment technoloy

Chick-Fil-A aims to pick up US mobile payment steam with pilot program
Chick-Fil-A is piloting a mobile application in six markets within the United States that leverages check-ins and payments. 
Please click here to read the entire story on Mobile Commerce Daily

Rite Aid, Giant Eagle bullish about MCX as reach grows
Giant Eagle, Rite-Aid, ExxonMobil and Kum and Go have all joined the list of merchants who are prepared to roll out a mobile commerce solution with Merchant Customer Exchange, a company that aims to create a universal mobile payment system that can be used by multiple retailers.
Please click here to read the entire story on Mobile Commerce Daily

U.S. Polo leverages digital sizing to help consumers avoid the fitting room
U.S. Polo Assn. is incorporating mobile and digital features that help consumers find their perfect size without having to hit the fitting rooms.
Please click here to read the entire story on Mobile Commerce Daily

Land grocery stores leverages mobile to personalize in-store shopping
Russian supermarket chain Land has rolled out new in-store technology to enhance the grocery shopping experience with personalization and customization.
Please click here to read the entire story on Mobile Commerce Daily

Uber Isn't a Car Service. It's the Future of Logistics

Uber's long-term prospects dwarf cool cars and an easy-to-use app. That's the model every company should have in mind.

 Kalanick has some saying Uber "has the potential to radically remake the American landscape.” And $258 million in funding from Google is nothing to sniff at.

Watch for: Home deliveries and brand partnerships with the likes of Home Depot. It’s all about exposure, and the startup’s Christmas tree delivery service is just the beginning of its commercial binge.

The key to any company's long-term growth is its ability to identify how its products and services of today can form the infrastructure of a bigger, better business model tomorrow.

Take, for instance, Uber. The on-demand car service has become beloved by consumers in urban areas for its sleek cars and easy-to-use app, but does innovating upon a basic taxi service really warrant the kind of hype--including $100 billion projections--it's gotten in tech circles?

That's a question Kevin Roose explored recently in an article for New York Magazine. The answer, Roose explains, is no. What warrants that projection is that Uber's car service of today could form the backbone of a landscape-changing logistics, delivery, and travel company of tomorrow. Uber's Christmas tree delivery program serves as an early example.

Looking at the Big Picture

"Eventually, like Amazon, it can become something akin to an all-purpose utility--it'll just be a way you get things and go places," Roose writes. "There's a reason the company recently changed its tagline from 'Everyone's private driver' to the much broader 'Where lifestyle meets logistics.'"

The Amazon comparison is an easy one to make. What started out as an online bookstore in the early days of the Internet would eventually follow its nose to become one of the world's more prominent retailers, web hosting services, and tablet maker--not to mention that whole drone thing.

History Repeating Itself

This comparisons spread offline. In November, The Atlantic compared Amazon's model to that of Sears in the early 20th century. The retail powerhouse leveraged the burgeoning rail and road systems--as well as its hefty catalog--to dominate the retail marketplace as something far greater than a department store for the better part of the century, Derek Thompson explains.

And the comparisons hold on smaller, less global scales--where they might be most of use to you. Dating service HowAboutWe.com launched a new service that helps already-lovestruck couples plan date nights. L.L. Bean, the Maine company that made its name as an outdoor clothing manufacturer, eventually broadened its footprint when it began offering outdoor adventures as an extension of its core business. In both these cases the company found ways to become useful in other parts of its existing ecosystem.

Uber's case is potentially global. The hype makes a lot more sense if it eyes becoming a global logistics powerhouse. As Roose writes, "In ten years, we might be scratching our heads: Wait, Uber used to be a car service?"

Robot automatically refuels any car with precision

The Fuelmatics Automatic Refueling System is a robot helper that enables drivers to precisely fill up their tanks without leaving their seat.It seems highly plausible that robotic technology could soon be pervading many aspects of our lives — including filling up a car with gas, it seems. The Fuelmatics Automatic Refueling System is a robot helper that enables drivers to precisely fill up their tanks without leaving their seat.

Developed by Sweden-based Fuelmatics along with the Husky Corporation in the US, the machines are designed to reside on the roadside, rather than at designated gas stations. Able to operate unmanned, the system features a screen that displays the unique phone number for each pump. Drivers stop, call the number on their cell or smartphone and follow the instructions to pay. Once the driver has selected the type of fuel and how much they want, the robot uses a camera to identify the location of the fuel tank cap, opens it using a rather odd suction mechanism and accurately docks the pump before filling the tank precisely. Drivers don’t have to get their hands dirty by doing the job themselves, leaving them free to make a phonecall or watch the ads displayed on the screen. The video below show the Fuelmatics system in action:

Windshield-mounted device makes fast food payments even quicker

A new innovation called iDriveThru is enabling hands-free fast food payments using RFID car windshield tags.

The system — which uses the E-ZPass transponder that many motorists already use to pay toll booth charges automatically — is currently in use at the five drive-thru Wendy’s restaurants in Staten Island. Customers first need to link their credit, debit or prepaid card to their E-ZPass through the iDriveThru website. Upon arriving at Wendy’s, the tag’s data is then read by sensors, offering visitors a personalized greeting on the video above the intercom. Once they’ve made their order, the card details are read from the tag and the payment is taken automatically. In addition, customers earn ten reward points for every dollar they spend, with 500 points being redeemable for a USD 5 coupon at Wendy’s.

Ttechnology shows how payments can be made more convenient and seamless with RFID tags. It’s easy to see how motorists could perhaps be charged for other products and payments by adapting the devices even further, while local authorities could take a cut of the increased revenue.

BerryKitchen: Online lunch box catering service

Berrykitchen

This site claims to be the only online lunch box catering service in the country. Berrykitchen covers main dishes, meats, veggies, and even desserts.

Problems with India's produce supply chain and waste

A year ago it seemed that India had bitten the bullet by permitting foreign firms to own majority stakes in domestic supermarkets. The decision came after a fierce political battle.Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco have been waiting for years to invest in India. They say they would revolutionise shopping. Only 2-3% of groceries are bought in formal stores, with most people reliant on local markets. They would also modernise logistics chains, either by investing themselves, or indirectly, by stimulating food producers to spend on factories, warehouses and trucks, and establish direct contracts with farmers, eliminating layers of middlemen.
He owns a crudely irrigated six-hectare (14-acre) plot, larger than the national average farm of just 1.2 hectares. He does not want to buy more land; unreliable electricity and labour mean “it is too hard to manage.” There are four onion crops each year—in a good season production is three times higher than in a bad one. To hedge his bets he also grows sugar cane. Costs have soared because of rising rural wages, which have doubled in three years. He says welfare schemes have made workers lazy. “They just play cards all day.”
torage facilities amount to a wooden basket inside a shed—at this time of year onions perish within 15 days, although the variety grown in the spring can last eight months. From here one of Mr Devkar’s finest is thrown into a small trailer, along with the produce of nearby farms, and taken to Lasalgaon. The roads are mostly paved but the 32km (19-mile) journey takes a couple of hours in a rickety old tractor.
Lasalgaon neophytes will find their eyes water upon entering its market, a huge car park full of red onions, trucks and skinny farmers. Although the auction is run twice daily by an official body, it doesn’t look wholly transparent. Some farmers complain that Mr Jain and another trader dominate the trade (Mr Jain denies this). Prices vary wildly day by day and according to size and quality, which are judged in a split second by eye. The average price today is $0.33 per kilo.
Neither traders nor farmers agree why prices have risen so steeply of late. They blame climate change, the media, too much rain last year, too little rain this year, labour costs, an erratic export regime. “Our biggest problem is illiteracy,” says one farmer. “We don’t know how to use technology.” Most folk agree that India needs better cold storage but worry that it is too pricey or that it ruins the taste of onions.
Farmers must pay a 1% fee to the auction house and a 4% commission to the traders. Sometimes they also have to stump up for fees for packing and loading. That takes place at several depots surrounding the market where farmers must drop off their loads and pour them onto tarpaulins on the ground. The onions may wait there for days but once put into hessian sacks they are loaded onto trucks operated by separate haulage firms and owned by intricate webs of independent consortiums.
At 8pm Prabhakar Vishad, a 20-year veteran of the onion-express highway from Lasalgaon to Mumbai, climbs into a battered Tata truck with “Blow Horn” painted in big letters on the back. Over the years the roads have improved and power steering has made life easier. Still, it is dangerous work, says Mr Vishad, who had a bad crash last year. By 6am next morning he sets his bloodshot eyes on Vashi market on the outskirts of Mumbai. It handles 100-150 truckloads of onions a day—enough to satisfy India’s commercial capital.
Onions are sometimes unpacked, sorted and repacked, with wastage rates of up to 20%. By 9am the market is a teeming maze of 300-odd selling agents, who mainly act on behalf of middlemen, and several thousand buyers—who are either retailers or sub-distributors. Everyone stands ankle deep in onions of every size. The bidding process is opaque. The selling agents each drape a towel on their arm. To make a bid you stick your hand under the towel and grip their hand, with secret clenches denoting different prices. Average prices today are about $0.54 per kilo. If the seller likes your tickles you hail a porter. He carries your newly bought sacks on his head to a dispatch depot where another group of couriers takes them into the city.
“I’m crazy, like the guys you see in the movies. I don’t negotiate,” declares Sanjay Pingle. One of the market’s biggest agents, he charges the seller a 6.5% commission. The buyers pay loading charges on top of that and a fee to the market. He says business is tough—bad debts from customers run at a fifth of sales and he has to pay interest rates of 22% on his own debts. The solution to the onion shortage is obvious, he says. “In China they keep things in storage facilities—if India had the same facilities as China has, prices would be lower.” He says he has seen photographs of Chinese technology on his mobile phone.
By the afternoon thousands of cars and trucks are picking up small batches of onions to take them into Mumbai. In Chembur, a middle-class neighbourhood, Anburaj Madar runs a big sub-distributor. He handles 200 sacks a day which he sells to retailers and restaurants. He buys daily from Vashi market and has space to store only about 12 hours’ worth of stock. Rent is dear and he too reckons cold storage destroys the flavour of onions. He marks up his prices by perhaps 20% but says a chunk of what he buys has to be thrown away—it is either damaged or of inferior quality.
For the onions that do make the cut the next stop is a small shop down the road where they are sold for another mark-up of 10% or so. From here Indubai Kakdi is hand-selecting onions with elaborate care. Buck-toothed and ragged, she sells seven kilos a day from a wooden barrow; she makes a 10% margin. She says climate change has made prices more volatile.
Peeling back the layers of truth
The journey of an onion from Mr Devkar’s field to the end customer in Mumbai takes only a few days but is enough to make you weep. There are some underlying reasons why prices have risen—higher rural wages have pushed up farmers’ costs. But the system is horribly fiddly. Farms are tiny with no economies of scale. The supply chain involves up to five middlemen. The onion is loaded, sorted or repacked at least four times. Wastage rates, either from damage or weight loss as onions dry out, are a third or more. Because India has no modern food-processing industry, low-quality onions that could be turned into paste or sauces are thrown away. Retail prices are about double what farmers receive, although the lack of any standard grading of size or quality makes comparisons hard.
The system is volatile as well as inefficient. Traders who buy onions from farmers may hoard them, but for the supply chain as a whole far too little inventory is stored. As a result small variations in demand and supply are amplified and cause violent swings in price. In the first week of December 2013 prices fell again.
It is easy to see how heavy investment by supermarket chains and big food-producers—whether Indian or foreign—could make a difference. They would cut out layers from the supply chain, build modern storage facilities and probably prod farmers to consolidate their plots.
The shoppers of Chembur agree that Indian onions are the world’s tastiest but are fed up with price swings. No one mentions reform as a solution and until there is popular support and political leadership it is hard to see much changing. And what of the last stage of the onion’s odyssey, to the stomach? By one stall stands an elderly lady who says she likes the vegetable so much that she doesn’t bother to cook it. Instead she chomps on raw onions as if they were apples. At least someone has an eye on efficiency.

10 Habits of Remarkably Charismatic People

Some people instantly make us feel important. Some people instantly make us feel special. Some people light up a room just by walking in.

We can't always define it, but some people have it: They're naturally charismatic.

Unfortunately, natural charisma quickly loses its impact. Familiarity breeds, well, familiarity.

But some people are remarkably charismatic: They build and maintain great relationships, consistently influence (in a good way) the people around them, consistently make people feel better about themselves--they're the kind of people everyone wants to be around...and wants to be.

Fortunately we can, because being remarkably charismatic isn't about our level of success or our presentation skills or how we dress or the image we project--it's about what we do.

Here are the 10 habits of remarkably charismatic people:

1. They listen way more than they talk.

Ask questions. Maintain eye contact. Smile. Frown. Nod. Respond--not so much verbally, but nonverbally.

That's all it takes to show the other person they're important.

Then when you do speak, don't offer advice unless you're asked. Listening shows you care a lot more than offering advice, because when you offer advice in most cases you make the conversation about you, not them.

Don't believe me? Who is "Here's what I would do..." about: you or the other person?

Only speak when you have something important to say--and always define important as what matters to the other person, not to you.

2. They don't practice selective hearing.

Some people--I guarantee you know people like this--are incapable of hearing anything said by the people they feel are somehow beneath them.

Sure, you speak to them, but that particular falling tree doesn't make a sound in the forest, because there's no one actually listening.

Remarkably charismatic people listen closely to everyone, and they make all of us, regardless of our position or social status or "level," feel like we have something in common with them.

Because we do: We're all people.

3. They put their stuff away.

Don't check your phone. Don't glance at your monitor. Don't focus on anything else, even for a moment.

You can never connect with others if you're busy connecting with your stuff, too.

Give the gift of your full attention. That's a gift few people give. That gift alone will make others want to be around you and remember you.

4. They give before they receive--and often they never receive.

Never think about what you can get. Focus on what you can provide. Giving is the only way to establish a real connection and relationship.

Focus, even in part and even for a moment, on what you can get out of the other person, and you show that the only person who really matters is you.

5. They don't act self-important…

The only people who are impressed by your stuffy, pretentious, self-important self are other stuffy, pretentious, self-important people.

The rest of us aren't impressed. We're irritated, put off, and uncomfortable.

And we hate when you walk in the room.

6. …Because they realize other people are more important.

You already know what you know. You know your opinions. You know your perspectives and points of view.

That stuff isn't important, because it's already yours. You can't learn anything from yourself.

But you don't know what other people know, and everyone, no matter who they are, knows things you don't know.

That makes them a lot more important than you--because they're people you can learn from.

7. They shine the spotlight on others.

No one receives enough praise. No one. Tell people what they did well.

Wait, you say you don't know what they did well?

Shame on you--it's your job to know. It's your job to find out ahead of time.

Not only will people appreciate your praise, they'll appreciate the fact you care enough to pay attention to what they're doing.

Then they'll feel a little more accomplished and a lot more important.

8. They choose their words.

The words you use impact the attitude of others.

For example, you don't have to go to a meeting; you get to go meet with other people. You don't have to create a presentation for a new client; you get to share cool stuff with other people. You don't have to go to the gym; you get to work out and improve your health and fitness.

You don't have to interview job candidates; you get to select a great person to join your team.

We all want to associate with happy, enthusiastic, fulfilled people. The words you choose can help other people feel better about themselves--and make you feel better about yourself, too.

9. They don't discuss the failings of others...

Granted, we all like hearing a little gossip. We all like hearing a little dirt.

The problem is, we don't necessarily like--and we definitely don't respect--the people who dish that dirt.

Don't laugh at other people. When you do, the people around you wonder if you sometimes laugh at them.

10. ...But they readily admit their failings.

Incredibly successful people are often assumed to have charisma simply because they're successful. Their success seems to create a halo effect, almost like a glow.

Keyword is seem.

You don't have to be incredibly successful to be remarkably charismatic. Scratch the shiny surface, and many successful people have all the charisma of a rock.

But you do have to be incredibly genuine to be remarkably charismatic.

Be humble. Share your screwups. Admit your mistakes. Be the cautionary tale. And laugh at yourself.

While you should never laugh at other people, you should always laugh at yourself.

People won't laugh at you. People will laugh laugh with you.

They'll like you better for it--and they'll want to be around you a lot more