Startup Saturday: Take their word for it, it’s all about content - Hindustan Times
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Startup Saturday: Take their word for it, it’s all about content

Hindustan Times, Pune | ByNamita Shibad
Mar 14, 2020 04:28 PM IST

Welcome to content entrepreneurship, where, as one PE advisor puts it: “Content is free online. No startup in the content domain has posted a net profit,” says the fiscal soothsayer. In Pune, for one of these globe-trotting keyboard bashers, content is not free; and for the other, free content is the key

Welcome to the world of content entrepreneurship, where, as one PE advisor put it aptly: “Online, content is free, therefore, the toughest to build a business out of”.

Sean Davidson (in white), a former city-based journalist, has spent the better part of a decade heading pricing firms – the biggest in the world – specifically for the metal industry.(Rahul Raut/HT PHOTO)
Sean Davidson (in white), a former city-based journalist, has spent the better part of a decade heading pricing firms – the biggest in the world – specifically for the metal industry.(Rahul Raut/HT PHOTO)

“Nobody in the content domain in India or anywhere in the world has posted a net profit,” says the fiscal soothsayer from his Andheri office in Mumbai.

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The Athletic reinvented the game and BuzzFeed defined a genre that did not exist, both of whom, still have to post a profit.

Well, in Pune, for one of these globe-trotting keyboard bashers, content is not free; and for the other, free content is the key. Reboot.

The Davis Index

Founder: Sean Davidson

Launch date: Jan 2020

What: Daily price index for scrap metal, secondary nonferrous alloys, steel ingots, billets, and TMT bars; news and market commentaries on the global metal industry. The index covers metals in 80 countries.

Funding: Since operations began less than a year ago, the company has invested close to $ 1 million which comprises funding by the founder and private equity investors.

Number of current users: 400

Cost of access: $799 p.a.

Sean Davidson, a former city-based journalist, has spent the better part of a decade heading pricing firms – the biggest in the world – specifically for the metal industry.

What is that sector valued at? “The global metal scrap industry is valued at $500 billion and India’s share of this is $11 billion,” says Davidson, rattling off the numbers like a proselytising preacher.

The one thing Davidson knows is the metals business; and scrap metal to be precise.

“In countries like India, scrap metal is bought and sold without any framework to operate in. Often, it depends on individual negotiations or auctions that can easily be manipulated,” he says, seated on the first floor of the Davis Index HQ here in Pune, located in Lullanagar.

“In the US and Europe, the industry uses published benchmarks to procure scrap from manufacturing companies and this has led to extremely profitable recycling industries. I felt that there needs to be a similar system in India, Southeast Asia and Far East Asia, where we (Davis Index) provide the benchmarks needed to facilitate the purchase of scrap metals and the sale of processed scrap to consumers like steel mills and secondary metal smelters,” he explains of the reasoning behind his million-dollar investment. Yes, US that is.

To give buyers and sellers an idea of the price at which scrap metal is being traded, means having the data, which in India, is easier said than done.

In 2019, Sean undertook this exercise and put feet on the street.

“We asked each and every major market player who has bought or sold ferrous and nonferrous scrap for details of every transactions. Every day. In over 90 countries,” says Davidson, pausing for dramatic effect.

On-ground data in place, he then developed a technology platform with two teams - one in Pune and the other in the US.

“Our entire platform is Iosco compliant – this is a standard for price reporting agencies. And we made it highly customisable. The market currently has hundreds of price ranges, but barely 10 indices. We publish only indices. No price ranges. And we publish 920 indices globally,” is the Davidson home-run.

“Davis Index is now the global standard for quality, compliance and accuracy,” declares Davidson, in terms of pricing for scrap metal, we might add.

The Davidson methodologies and calculations are proprietary claims the 38-year-old Puneite, adding, “There are a few who collate data and put out a price, but they charge an arm and a leg for it. As a result, only the big players can afford to access scrap market data. Over and above this, they barely do any indices, only price ranges,” he adds.

The Davis Index has metal commodity index teams in Pune, Dallas, Toronto, Chicago, California, Singapore and Dnipro (Ukraine).

Training began in September 2019 and the company launched three weeks ago.

“We are on track to be profitable in the first year itself,” is the other content-defying statement Davison lays claim to.

Sean owns two-thirds of the company and has great plans for the future.

“In India we should have a platform that covers all commodities and all products. It is a shame that we have to depend on bad data or on over-priced services by foreign entities that contribute close to nothing to improving Indian industry,” he says.

The scrap metal evangelist concludes: “Recycling has been a neglected industry in India for way too long and if we don’t play our parts to give it the tools it needs to thrive our already overfull landfills are going to be the tip of the iceberg. This is too important an industry, to not be sustainable. We’re playing a crucial role in it being sustainable. My business is not only about giving back to society, it’s about doing the right thing.”

The Mountain Walker

Founders: Sanjay Mukherjee, Ameen Shaikh and Abhishek Kaushal

Sanjay Mukherjee, one of the founders of Mountain Walker. (Milind Saurkar/HT Photo)
Sanjay Mukherjee, one of the founders of Mountain Walker. (Milind Saurkar/HT Photo)

What: Online technology company focused on the Himalayan tourism industry to enhance safety, deliver accurate information, improve quality of authentic travel experience, and contribute to local economies through meaningful job creation

Funding: Initial startup capital from all three founders; debt route: business loan of Rs 20 lakh from a bank; angel investment: Oil & Gas industry professional Swarjit Samajpati, through preferential shares

Revenue

2018-19: Rs 7 lakh

2019-20: Rs 12 lakh

2020-2021 (forecast): Rs 22 lakh (financial year profitability)

Of current revenue, 70% comes from tours; 20% from publishing; content asset sales and advertising contribute remaining 10%.

Audience: 72,000 followers across website and social media platforms

Sanjay Mukherjee, patented the beard and long-hair look 25 years ago.

Today, it seems, to borrow a cliché from our post-modern, neo-uber literature, like a Simpsons episode of the 90s forecasting a bearded, long-haired business clairvoyant would one day head off into the mountains.

Head off into the mountains he did. And came back he did. On the esoteric nature of the evolution of a content specialist we cannot comment.

On the business idea? Here’s what the Mumbai-born-in-Pune-for-the-last-30-years Mukherjee, now 49, has to say.

Let’s start with: “An injustice to the magnificence of the mighty Himalayas”.

Mukherjee, a former journalist, who was part of two successful startups previously, claims 30 years of climbing experience in Himachal Pradesh and has been blogging ever since.

In May 2016, he tied up Ameen Shaikh and Abhishek Kaushal, both aged 38, to incorporate, The Mountain Walker.

“We began doing what we had always been doing - travelling across Himachal Pradesh - but we also published our content for free on our self-designed website. Being a journalist, I wrote extensively while Shaikh and Kaushal shot photos and videos. We know the history and geography of the mountains we write about,” says Mukherjee.

“Apparently, Shimla came out of nowhere in the early 1800s - it was established in the years after the 1815 Anglo–Gurkha war when people came and settled there, but many people may not know is that it was (and still is) one of the world’s best natural sanatoriums - the fresh air and climate just revitalises you. It eventually became the summer capital of British India in 1864. The first train in the country was the Kalka Mail that was meant to transport the government machinery from Calcutta to Shimla. The Indian Railways grew from that first train,” is Mukherjee’s display of his subject knowledge.

Like any other business, the challenge is how to monetise the offering.

This is where Mukherjee is aiming to prove that for quality content, people will pay.

He structured his management team to use their inherent knowledge, competence and professional experience.

Shaikh (automotive engineer) uses his research skills and process orientation to drive operations and regulatory compliance as COO; while petroleum engineer Kaushal leads business development and core coding initiatives (the duo is born and brought up in Shimla).

And the trio is focusing on following the milestone-based business plan they established at the outset.

Publish to push

Sensing another gap in the market, Mountain Walker launched a publishing line.

“Have you tried to buy a travel book? They are ridiculously expensive for typical information that you can look up on the internet. We priced our books at Rs 295 so it is affordable, people can make use of the content and also hopefully inspire people to write. Our focus is to publish books written by native Himalayans and by those who have extensive travel experience in the Himalayas,” says Mukherjee.

Tour it like you know it

Tourism in the Himalayas needs to shift focus to a sustainable and responsible travel mode, is the differentiator pitch.

“Himachal, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and the others are agrarian and tourism-driven economies. Why not create interesting tours that can add to the economy?” says the former journalist-turned-online educator-turned-content maverick.

“Holidays planned by the likes of online travel aggregators are geared to providing the cheapest rate to their customers. The way this is done is by guaranteeing stays at various hotels thereby getting discounts. This kind of cost cutting affects the local economy. Why should the people not earn a legitimate amount? Why should it always be discounted? We built our services model around a value-based cost plus concept - a nominal 10-15% over our partner fees,” says Mukherjee.

The network of service providers that who would agree to fit into their version of holidays in Himachal came from the Shaikh-Kaushal combine, who grew up in the mountains.

“We knew car owners and drivers, people who offered home stays, tour guides, all who would provide a true taste of the region and not just give a superficial experience,” Mukherjee says, to which Kaushal adds, “It all starts with why you want to travel to the Himalayas. Whether you spend 1,000 bucks or Rs2K, you must get appropriate value and experience.”

Tap the corporates

Trekking in Uttarakhand, tracking snow leopards in Spiti, or history in Sikkim, the Mountain Walker offers it all.

“For the past two years we have been testing our flagship offer of leadership training to corporates. Basically aimed at mid-level managers there are only three aspects we address - risk assessment, decision making and performance management. We’ve already done a soft launch of this module and will launch the full program after summer in 2020.”

The big focus for 2020 is the launch of their technology platform, which will connect any user to the tomes of data (diaries) they have gathered over the years as also to a network of services.

Onward, upword and forward, not necessarily in that order, but very much the plan for the Mountain Walkers.

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