1. Jyaanya India
Civic Action Startup
that never… started.

2. The problem:
A lack of convenient and accessible space
for citizens to feel engaged and empowered
by their government

3. The [initial] pitch:
A mobile app to inform citizens about
government-related information and make
it easy for them to be “active citizens”

4. The concept:
1. Informative resources for civilians
 Upcoming elections & party platforms
 Constitutional rights & duties
 Public support services
2. Political action features
 Contacting your MP
 Signing petitions
 Participating in campaigns

5. What we did:
• Began to research relevant statistics and
information to be used in info resources
• Began to survey Indian civilians on how
they identify with their government
• Created draft wire frames to show the
flow of app and SMS features

6. Roadblock 1: The Political Scientist
“Constitutional rights mean nothing to
someone who does not experience them on
a daily basis.”

7. Solution 1: Recruit him!
New objective:
To establish a relationship between citizens
and their government via their MP, and
engage citizens in discussions together
through use of an online portal

8. New Concept:
1. Online social media platform
 Posting of concerns: problems, questions and
proposal
 Categorization of posting by topic, MP
 Commenting & upvoting
2. Curation and optimisation
 Contextualising concerns with information & updates
 Repacking concerns and sending to MP
 Updating user on resulting political activity

9. What we did:
• Began to research MPs to contact for their
support and feedback
• Created draft wireframes of website, app
and SMS features
• Began to research related initiatives:
found none the same! But why...

10. Roadblock 2: Mentor Problems
“Why should MPs care?”

11. Solution 2: or lack of…
We realized the sad truth:
Politicians would only care if their power
was threatened.
The likelihood of our platform just being
another “trend” then fall dormant
(NOT what we wanted)

12. [still] Unanswered Questions
Q: How can we engage with MPs sustainably?
– in establishing relationships with them?
– in getting them to listen? And act?
Q: How can we get citizens to engage together?
– in getting them to become informed?
– in getting them to reflect and debate upon their own
issues?
& THEN: How can we translate these methods in
the mobile and online forms?

13. Some of our positive learnings:
• It is not about what you know or don’t know
but about the ideas you bring forward
• That we can learn a lot from each other
and each other’s cultures and knowledge
• To not expect to get it right the first time
or the second... or the third...
• If you want to go after a big problem...
you must truly understand it first
and from ALL angles

14. To Keep in Mind:
Not to start with the solution
(what you can do)
But with the problem
(what you can’t)
“If we can really understand the problem, the answer will come
out of it, because the answer is not separate from the problem.”
Jiddu Krishnamurti

15. Question for You:
What did you learn from your fellow
entrepreneurs this weekend?

16. Special Thank You’s
Hari Krishnan
(iamharikrishnan.com)
Prakash
Badri
Sandeep
Tejas
Sohus
Ishan
Mohan
Mani
Akash, mentor
Startup Weekend
Microsoft Accelerator
AND
MANY
MANY
MORE
(but NOT Syed)