In an era, where the customer is not sold but adopted, the community is the “new” moat which helps protect against competitors entering into your space/area. Community of users has a network effect leading to greater higher switching costs, economies of scale while bringing more awareness and more meaningful exposure and customer experiences.

Communities can come in the shape of forums, social media pages, private groups, or, in some cases, a mix of each.

Having a competitive edge using features or pricing alone does not help considering the endless choices people have. That is why companies like Salesforce or Figma…

Soon enough we’re going to see the beginning of a new era in the form of IPOs that are going to hit the markets. A number of large brands like Zomato, Paytm, PolicyBazaar, Delivery, most of which are loss-making. The initial set of IPOs may teach us regarding the assessment of the price, growth metrics & new ways of valuation for the companies going forward.

Indian investors may get used to the valuations sooner than later based on growth rather than traditional earning ratios.

For a number of startups, the competitive advantage is really how nimble or agile they are…

Owning stuff was simple in the past. We went to the store paid money and took the product with us back home. We could do whatever we wanted with the things we owned as those things belonged to us.

Over time, we’ve seen a paradigm shift in the way we own things & soon enough the idea of owning things might become obsolete.

We’ve heard how millennials prefer experiences over physical goods compared to their predecessors. Everything we’ve considered a product has now become a service. …

A life of leisure was once the aspiration of the upper class. But now, bragging about busyness is how people indicate their status.

Busyness is a powerful social signal, though a somewhat counterintuitive one. At the turn of the 20th century, economists predicted that the ultimate symbol of wealth and success would be leisure — showing others that you were so successful that you could abstain from work. Instead, the opposite occurred. It’s not free time, but busyness, that gestures to a person’s relevance.

In 1928, the economist John Maynard Keynes gave a lecture, later published as Economic Possibilities for…

Stock market is open for specific time on selective days. In case of a crash or high volatility, investors get some time to clear thier heads & take stock of the situation. Regulators & Policymakers can think through & enact policies to contain the freefall.

It is quite likely that in last March NIFTY 50 might have fallen much more than 30–40% range in case stock market was open 24/7.

On the contrary, with the recent fall in bitcoin it is evident that as it is open at all times, effect(either positive/negative) is amplified across. …

Last week we lost David Swensen- the man behind the “Yale model” which revolutionized how endowments & institutions invest their money by focusing on asset allocation & taking on more equity risk.

While his ideas have been used institutions across the globe to generate higher returns, some of his learning transcend into retail investments as well.

He emphasized upon three major pillars that affect long term performance —

Asset allocation: What are the asset classses you buy.

Security selection: Which securities you buy within those asset classes.

Market timing: When do you buy them.

However, as he explained during a…

We often come across activities that are terrible for us and yet do it anyway. This is not only stands true for consuming dangerous drugs or alcohol but daily tasks such as mindlessly scrolling thorugh social media knowing that you will just end up feeling regretful.

Doctors and philosophers have spent considerable time & effort to understand human propensity for self-destructive behavior. However, if you struggling in the direction of addiction realted to social media, Harvard Business School professor Arthur C. Brooks has shared a trick for us to try.

One novel way he shares is to assign your downtime…

You’ve probably heard about a common denominator you’ll find among most smart people — Reading.

But all good ideas can be taken too far.

Although it helps us open up to new ideas & knowledge, but this can be equally dangerous if you’re reading anything and everything landing your way.

A filter is needed to channelise the content being consumed.

Sherlock Holmes said in The Study of Scarlet:

”The skillful workman is careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any…