Start-ups and traditional businesses have a lot to learn from one another

Start-ups are cannibalising traditional businesses - from retail to banking. But there is a lot both the sides can learn from one another, the results of a survey found.

Start-ups, of course, have an edge in innovating faster since they are smaller in size and, therefore, more nimble than traditional businesses. They also work in an agile fashion where the software or the product developed is 'iterated' - the product, when released the first time, is hardly perfect but is updated and refined multiple times over a period. That marked a significant shift from the traditional mindset where an enterprise only released a perfect product after rigorous testing, a time taking affair.

Start-ups have beaten traditional businesses in many other areas. They operate real-time, have led in the usage of public clouds that meant lower capex, and have been able to deliver a more personalised experience. The survey, commissioned by EMC India and conducted by Greyhound Research, found that 88 per cent of the respondents were able to deliver "unique and personalised experiences", with 42 per cent of start-ups already doing this organisation-wide compared to 33 per cent of mid-large enterprises.

While traditional businesses need to adapt, they can also teach new-age companies a few lessons. Many start-ups surveyed had access to data but no access to data scientists - this implies they may miss business opportunities because of inefficient crunching of data. The traditional businesses can also teach the newer companies on being process oriented, on running a cash positive business, on security - some start-ups, Chief Analyst & CEO of Greyhound Research Sanchit Vir Gogia commented, can't differentiate between security and privacy.