Research ✦ notokenclub

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We're not here to just raise awareness about problems. We want people to actually build something about them. 1 step is greater than 1000 thoughts.

Published ✦ from the researchathon

The Papers

At our third event we handed out real-world problem statements. People went off and researched them properly, talking to people, reading market data and looking at who else is working on the problem. Then they came back with their own solutions. Here are the papers they wrote.

First page of the paperPaper 01
Event 03 ✦ Researchathon21 pages · PDF

E-Waste: Fixing the Broken Link Between Scrap Shops & Recyclers

by G. Kriday

The problem

Local scrap shops collect plenty of e-waste but can't sell it to formal recyclers. There's no buyer network, no grading standard, and shipping costs eat up the margin. Over 90% of India's e-waste is still handled by the informal sector.

Their solution

A fintech-enabled aggregation platform:

  • instant UPI payouts so scrap shops get cash the same day
  • pooled "milk-run" pickups into local micro-warehouses
  • bulk sales to certified recyclers, with EPR compliance handled

Research method: field interviews, Reddit & LinkedIn sentiment, 100+ data points

read the paper → download pdf
First page of the paperPaper 02
Event 03 ✦ Researchathon10 pages · PDF

Solving India's Urban Parking Crisis

by Mohammad Shahid

The problem

Indian cities weren't planned for today's vehicles. Close to 40% of road space in a typical city goes to parking, and a Delhi commuter spends 80+ hours a year just hunting for a spot.

Their solution

A shared-capacity parking network:

  • list idle slots in offices, societies and malls by the hour
  • demand-based pricing with UPI / FASTag and number-plate enforcement
  • partner with municipalities to digitise on-street parking

Research method: CSE, ORF and MoRT&H data plus transport-engineering studies

read the paper → download pdf
First page of the paperPaper 03
Event 03 ✦ Researchathon6 pages · PDF

Connecting Industrialists with E-Waste Shops

by AJ Pranav Muthu

The problem

Servers, network gear and industrial electronics sit in corporate warehouses for years. 75% of firms hold obsolete hardware because they can't find a recycler they trust with data-sensitive equipment.

Their solution

An Industrial E-Waste Exchange:

  • a trust-engine that verifies recycler licences upfront
  • multi-site pickup scheduling with end-to-end tracking
  • auto-generated CPCB / EPR compliance documents

Research method: 100+ data points from LinkedIn, Reddit, forums and government data

read the paper → download pdf

The ✦ format

Our Research Format

01

Pick a real problem

Not a toy dataset. Something you, or people around you, actually run into. Learning to spot real problems is what good founders and researchers have in common.

02

Dig to the core

Figure out what's really causing it, not just the symptoms. Read what's already out there, argue about it at the weekly meetup, and find the gap worth working on.

03

Build the smallest fix

Build something early. A rough version that works beats a perfect plan. This is where "1 step > 1000 thoughts" actually gets put to use.

04

Write the paper

Turn what you built and learned into a research paper you'd be proud to show people. We'll help with the structure, the citations and keeping the results honest.

05

Present + defend

Present it to the club, take the questions and defend your ideas. Then we put it up on our website and socials so people actually see it.

Why bother ✦

How is this going to benefit you?

01 ✦

You don't just learn about a problem and build a fix. You also write your own research paper about it.

02 ✦

Your work gets featured on our website and social media, so more people see it.

03 ✦

You end up with a paper you can put in your portfolio that shows how you think and solve problems.

04 ✦

You learn to spot and break down real problems, which is what good founders, researchers and product people do every day.

05 ✦

You work with people who care about the same things, swap ideas and see problems from new angles.

06 ✦

You get better at thinking critically, researching and explaining your ideas, mostly through honest feedback.

07 ✦

You get comfortable presenting and defending your ideas in front of a room.

Engineering our own luck, engineer yours too by joining us.

join notokenclub →

papers published

03▮

Three papers so far, all written by members. Yours could be the fourth. If you've got an idea, a rough draft or an experiment that only half works, bring it to us.

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