Episode 2 - Home

Q1. X, an insur-tech company, was started in 2017 by Varun Dua raising a seed round of $30M - the largest seed round in India at that time. What helped Varun convince investors to write such a large cheque was that he had started another insur-tech company Y in 2011 which was fairly successful at that time (currently struggling though). Name X & Y

Q2. Tuvalu is a small island nation in the Pacific near Australia. For a long time, their government's main income was from fishing licenses - obvious given that it's an island nation. But with the rise of the internet, the government found another income source fortuitously. Small at first, the money started rolling in when Verisign, a domain name provider, approached them. This income source now contributes more than 10% of the country's GDP. And with the rise of streaming services in the past few years, this income source will only increase. What's this income source? Be as specific as possible.

Q3. The idea behind this service was a 'self-completing to-do list'. It began as a Whatsapp-based business, growing to over 100 groups before becoming an app. What's this very-loved service?

Q5. This word, while in fashion now, originated way back in 1992. It is a combination of 2 words created by the author Neal Stephenson in his science fiction novel Snow Crash. While used by the author to denote virtual reality, the word now denotes a much more overarching concept (including VR)....more like the 'new internet'.

Q6. This tech stack 'X' is an ambitious project by the govt. to digitize India. There are 3 layers to this stack - identity, payments & data. a) Aadhaar is the main component of the identity layer b) Digilocker is the main component of the data layer c) 'Y', a global innovation, is the main component of the payments layer? Name X (the stack) & Y (the payments component) PS: There are multiple components in each layer but I have focused on one major component for each payer)

Q7. Connect and fill in the missing piece. There are 2 parts to the answer X: The connection between the companies Y: The missing company

Q8. Broker Network is a property-tech company founded by 'X' in 2020. It's a supply-focussed company, ie, it creates tech tools for brokers to maximize their business. Interestingly, this is not the X's first foray into this sector. He had co-founded a demand-focussed prop-tech company 'Y' in 2012 before infamously being let go. Name X (founder) and Y (the previous company)

Q9. American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) are a financial instrument that is equivalent to shares. They are used by American investors to hold shares of companies registered & operating outside the US. Below is a list of ADRs of all Indian companies listed & traded on the NYSE or NASDAQ. Two names are blocked out and both belong to the travel sector - Name the 2 missing online companies.

Q10. The phrase 'to pull oneself up by one's ______" began to be used in the early 19th century to denote an 'impossible task'. At that time, the common form of footwear used to have a loop or handle at the top used to hang/pull it along. And it would be impossible, even funny, to pull on the handle yourself. Over time, the phrase evolved to a single term, just the _______ in the above phrase and the meaning changed to 'doing something without external help'. Given how rarely this term occurs in the startup ecosystem, I'd say it still retains a bit of the original meaning of doing an impossible task. What's the term?

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