Author: Abhjit Roy
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Reality-check for the pandemic business models as countries reopen
The exuberance of a pandemic induced growth of tech companies and startups is facing a harsh reality check. Netflix is losing subscribers in hundreds and thousands, Zoom’s stock price is down over 80% from the pandemic highs, the nearly invincible Amazon announced its first loss since 2015 as sales slowed, costs rose and its investment…
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A Weakened Economy Is The Disease; Falling Rupee Is Just A Symptom
The chart above is a graphic story of the Indian Rupee vs the United States Dollar over the last five years. It, therefore, shouldn’t surprise anyone that the INR fell to an all-time low of Rs 77.4 to a US Dollar a few days ago. What has happened was inevitable. The reality is that India’s…
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The Great Back-To-Office Confusion
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, recently announced employees can work from home forever. He calls the office an ‘anachronistic form’ that is ‘from a pre-digital age.’ Apple’s director of machine learning, Ian Goodfellow, has departed in protest of his company’s return-to-work policy. Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently shared his views on why in-office work is better,…
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The ‘Swoosh’ That Sweeps Away Competition
Earlier this week, Nike shared a letter from its founder Phil Knight on its social media channels. In the letter, Knight celebrated the 50th anniversary of a make-or-break moment in his company’s history. On May 1, 1972, Onitsuka Co, the Japanese shoemaker whose shoes Nike (then called Blue Ribbon Sports) had been licensing for the…
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World War-1 In Cyberspace – It Could Drag NATO Into The Ukraine War
As Europe plunges into a conventional war, the world is bracing for the First World War in Cyberspace. On 23 February 2022, as of 16:30 Kyiv time, the websites of the Ukrainian parliament, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Council of Ministers (including all individual ministerial sites), and the Security Service of Ukraine, were all unreachable.…
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War Mauls The Russian Economy
As Russia threatens the world with its nuclear weapons and proposes talks at the same time, western economic sanctions have come to bite. Its financial resources to fight the war are running out faster than anticipated. If the Ukrainians can hold on for a few more weeks, the Russian economy will be devastated. It will…
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The Djokovic Dilemma and The Kohli Crisis
Novak Djokovic, the world’s number one tennis player has created what is being called a ‘Djokovic Dilemma’ in the world of sports celebrity sponsorships by super-brands. With assets of over US$220 million, Djokovic’s earnings from sponsorships are several times more than his court winnings. And this is at risk now, after his refusal to get…
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India Overlooks Business, Shopping Apps But Bans Chinese Games And Beauty Filter
hile the Indian government is making a big show about banning Chinese apps, investors from the communist country are routing their funds into Indian IPOs and companies via neutral countries and Hong Kong. The current ban was mostly on games and beauty filters apps, leaving out business, shopping or payments. With Chinese investors facing rules…
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Erosion Of Trust Is Modi’s Biggest Failure; Farm Law Protest Is The Beginning Of The End
If one takes a dispassionate view of the three farm laws, that Narendra Modi has promised to roll back, then a few nagging questions remain. The idea that the laws will introduce free market forces and allow farmers to benefit from those, freeing them from middlemen, needs to be examined closely. I am no agriculture…
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A Tango To Watch – The Red Dragon and The Taliban Fox
In the last few weeks, after the Taliban takeover of most of Afghanistan, headlines have screamed about the country’s trillion-dollar mineral wealth, especially its fabled lithium deposits. Lithium will power the next-generation batteries for electric vehicles that would trigger a new economic revolution. As of now, China seems to have stolen a march over western…