When paradigms change, previous winners have the hardest time adjusting; that is why AI might be a challenge for many incumbents in Big Tech - An excellent analysis​ by Stratechery 

Zepto, founded by two 19-year-old Stanford dropouts, has grown into an ₹11,110 crore revenue machine in India's quick commerce space, achieving 150% annual growth while moving toward profitability. The company has built a network of 900+ dark stores across 35+ cities and is expanding beyond groceries into categories like café, electronics, and private labels, aiming for an IPO. However, Zepto faces stiff competition from well-funded rivals Blinkit (backed by Zomato) and Swiggy Instamart, who have larger market shares and the ability to sustain losses longer. Read the holistic deep dive here. 

Did you know - already google search views are -8% within 24 months a user starts using ChatGPT. This and other interesing analysis and predictions by Coatue Management around AI trends 

Mary Meeker, one of the most influential VCs aka Queen of Internet, is back with latest report on AI Trends. Check it out.

I quite enjoyed reading the newly released report by Bain & Company on How India Shops Online 2025 and here are my top takeaways: 1) Quick commerce, trend-first commerce, and hyper-value are the 3 disruptions shaping the future of online commerce in India i.e. fastest growing segments; 2) Tier 2+ cities is where the opportunity lies (60%+ of new online shoppers) and 3) GenZ shoppers have started dictating the rules of oline commerce (~40% of online shoppers)

Such a great piece by Amana Begam for ThePrint. Operation Sindoor is so much more - and this is the best thing I've read about it.

There's a lot of talk and chaos caused by tariffs in 2025. Here's some good episodes by Planet Money (NPS) covering the history of tariffs and when they work and when they do not.

About 12 years ago, Manas Rath, my interviewer, recommended that I should read JK Rowling's commencement speech titled 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Every few years since, I enjoy going back to it. Because it's probably one of the greatest commencement speeches (or maybe second to the one by Roger Federer's).

I enjoyed this interview of Aravind Srinivas, CEO and Cofounder of Perplexity, at Stanford GSB. Particularly the part where he talks about hiring individuals who may not be experts yet but possess resilience and a willingness to experiment, thereby encouraging a dynamic and innovative workforce ready to tackle challenges head-on. In contrast, if you've solved a problem once, you'll be less hungry to solve it again.

That really got me thinking about some of the biggest problems in tech in recent history solved by industry outsiders.

A pretty interesting deep dive by Financial Times on Pinduoduo (PDD) & Temu. I do expect this gamification of shopping and cheap products penetratration increasing in India, probably making customers buy products we don't need.

PDD & Temu seem to be disrupting e-commerce across international markets, estimated at about $200bn, amongst the largest in the world. Most of the parcels are shipped directly to customers from China, without paying tax if the value is less than $800.

Invest in character. Its power is underestimated. Excerpted from Dialed In: Do Your Best When It Matters Most by Dr. Dana Sinclair

Building a successful business or team is a lot easier when you have the right people. Those who can add significantly to the performance of your group are key ingredients to quality results. Interestingly, avoiding a red flag may be even more important than finding people with skill and talent.

Did you know why Finland is ranked the happiest country in the world, for the seventh consecutive time?

Great free education? Sorta.
Affordable healthcare. Perhaps.
Corruption-free. Maybe.

But, it's mostly because the Finns sweat out the negative thoughts. Finland has 3.5mn saunas, >1 per two persons. All govt buildings have saunas, and its promoting the sauna culture across the world, most recently in Berlin.

Who would've thought right?

National Women’s Soccer League is No. 5 on the list of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2024.

It did the seemingly impossible in terms of valuations - In the past, new NWSL team franchises were sold for roughly $5 million. But in 2023, the league auctioned off expansion rights in Boston and the Bay Area for $53 million apiece (bringing the league to 14 teams), with the new owners pledging to invest an overall $100 million and $125 million, respectively, into their teams.

Federer’s words to the graduating class of Dartmouth were a masterclass in emotional intelligence, boiling down his wisdom into 14 powerful words:

Effortless is a myth. It's only a point. Life is more significant than the court."

I spent this morning reading the latest newsletter First Principles by Rohin Dharmakumar. I really enjoy this newsletter & podcast, it forces me to reflect on things, events.

This week was about the top 3 values considered important. The third value, particularly. Here's what he believes: “Doing things” is the value I consider important enough to be in the top three for both adults and children. You may know it through fancier versions, such as “taking initiative” or “bias for action”.

How's Zudio winning in the crowded fashion retail market? Found this a very insightful & refreshing read, when offline fashion retail is disrupting the market, even much coverage is focused on online retail.

Such a great read!

"Human intelligence makes a very broad range of life outcomes better. Smarter people have better outcomes in almost every domain of activity: academic achievement, job performance, occupational status, income, creativity, physical health, longevity, learning new skills, managing complex tasks, leadership, entrepreneurial success, conflict resolution, reading comprehension, financial decision making, understanding others’ perspectives, creative arts, parenting outcomes, and life satisfaction."

​Whatever Elon does in the government, when campaigning and with his dramatic X posts are all distractions. Distractions from an otherwise pretty insane clarity from someone running multiple businesses, being extremely mission focus and working on first principles. This episode distills key lessons from the biography of Elon Musk and how he operates through "hard core" mental models and the lessons it has for each of us. 

Walmart executives predict that traditional search boxes will become obsolete as the retailer rolls out Sparky, an AI shopping agent designed to handle everything from routine grocery orders to complex purchase research. Read more on this topic here. 

Bengaluru has the highest coffee consumption in the country. This newsletter from UnboxingBLR tracks its history across the 3 waves of coffee from the first wave that began in the 1920s in a modest home in Basavanagudi to more recently coffee workshops, coffee raves and so on.

Parental involvement is good. But too much parental involvement leads to diminished self efficacy and eroded competence. Anand Sanwal, founder of CB Insights, digs deeper in this fantastic essay.

If there's one book on money that is a must read, it's got to be The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. And this blog does a great job at visually capturing top lessons from it.

An in-depth essay on the Subko brand story, a fast emerging specialty food and hospitality brand in India. "Subko’s visual identity draws on colours, textures, images and typography that evoke the subcontinental terroir and ethos. To express the region’s linguistic diversity, for example, Subko’s design language combines elements from Sanskrit, Anglo / Western and Islamic typographic traditions."

A good essay by Mariana Mazzucato, and Rainer Kattel, both professors at University College London (UCL), explaining why ongoing efforts to run the state like a business are doomed to fail.

Around the world, governments are trying to reinvent themselves in the image of business. The problem is that governments and businesses serve vastly different purposes. If public policymakers start mimicking business founders, they will undermine their own ability to address complex societal challenges.

A great read on Richard Feynman, one of the greatest physists of the last century and also someone who didn't take himself too seriously.

In this podcast, Marcellus investors Saurabh Mukherjea and Prashant Mittal deep dive on LVMH – one of the world's leading luxury conglomerates. They explore how Bernard Arnault built an empire, from iconic fashion houses like Louis Vuitton and Dior to champagne, jewelry, and hotels. They uncover LVMH’s shrewd business strategies, acquisition secrets, and what truly makes an LVMH brand so desirable.

Word. Marketing needs to stop being so 'preachy' all the time. Just tell me what you will do and go away. Love the Parle-G example.

They've been feeding India's chai ka saathi for generations without claiming to solve world peace. Their brand purpose? Making tasty biscuits that don't break the bank. Nothing more, nothing less. Yet somehow, they've managed to become a cultural icon without needing to position themselves as the saviours of mankind, or participating in “culture”. Sell a good biscuit and disappear, I love it!

Watched these and loved them - Melinda French Gates thanks for doing these for all of us

1. Billie Jean King, former American number 1 tennis player, sharing  how she coped after being outed, the epic Battle of the Sexes match years ago to fight for equality.

2. Michelle Obama being her awesome self and talking about the Power of Small, small changes and small impact. 

3. Gayle and Oprah about the power of female friendships and how important it is to have this person who's happier for your success than even you are or is unabashedly true to you

4. Reese Witherspoon about her journey as a young actress with children and how that's now changing, to creating a company Hello Sunshine for telling female driven stories.

5. Ava DuVernay's on being one of the first black female filmmakers, career transitions in the forties and being raised by a gentle man surrounded by strong women. 

6. Megan Rapinoe on retiring from professional Soccer, being an activist for numerous LGBTQIA organisations and showing empathy and understanding for even those that disagree with you

Hermès - Mastering Scarcity.

In Economics 101, we were taught about scarcity. Quick refresher: artificially control the supply side and boost demand curve. Voila! You have exorbitant prices.

And, no one does this better than luxury brand Hermès. Thanks to the brand’s fanatical fan base and the absurd lengths they’ll go for a shot at a Birkin handbag, one of the world’s most exclusive and elusive products.

When I look around me, I agree with this research that the biggest issue facing us today as a society of young people, esp. GenZ is loneliness and friendlessness. While this research is US focussed, it applies as much to India.

Here's the except that hit home -

As the oldest members of Gen Z reach their late 20s, their troubles are carrying over into adulthood. Young adults are dating less, having less sex, and showing less interest in ever having children than prior generations. They are more likely to live with their parents. They were less likely to get jobs as teens, and managers say they are harder to work with.

Watched Akash Banerjee on this episode, centred around failures, happiness and role of parents, in the background theme of continued rise in student suicides in the country.

I think this is a *must watch* for everyone. And I really appreciate the candid and passionate narrative in this episode.

Very smart people can fool themselves with elaborate stories about why something happened.

There is so much that we not only don’t know, but can’t know, about why complex systems like the stock market and economy behave the way they do, because human emotions and shifting social preferences can’t be distilled down to a formula. Humility is a superpower that prevents overconfidence.

But being very smart makes it harder to harness that humility.

In line with author and coach Scott Stabile shares: We can't always know why things happen the way they happen, or why a person makes the choices they do. Knowing why isn't necessary to move forward, unless we make it so. You may never find out why. Don’t let that keep you from moving on with your life.

This detailed document breaks down what strategy should look like: 1) The strategy argument, where you explain your reading of the market, your plan and why you think it will work; 2) The strategy statement, a short practical statement of the strategy in a nutshell; 3) The implications, a list of few things we need to do in a nutshell; 4) The execution flow, a suggested order and prioritisation of these actions

This is one of the most interesting and hilarious things you will see on LinkedIn today! Some super interesting and hilarious feature ideas

Dan Hock's excellent essay on why Vibe Analysis could be even bigger deal than Vibe Coding. In the US alone, an estimated 10 billion hours a year is spent on reporting on business performance, assessing new products and features, and deciding which experiments to ship and which growth opportunities to pursue. The essay shares how who and how analysis is done is going to change very significantly. 

Time to “Think Different”? Apple CEO Tim Cook succeeded founder Steve Jobs in 2011 and has since helped turn the company into a $3T behemoth. But after more than a decade on the job, some are now questioning whether he’s still the right person for the role, per CNN

Founding Fuel's three-part investigative series on the Air India Flight AI171 crash, sharing the story behind the tragedy that’s shaken flyers and regulators alike.

An in-depth analysis by Platform guru Sangeet Chodhary on the real reason why big box retailers find it hard to drive online market share.

"The bigger reason offline retailers fail at online commerce is their inability to profitably manage fulfilment, returns, and dispute resolution. These are the three factors that determine transaction economics."

Virtual try-on to assess fit, drape, etc. on you, price drop alerts and an agentic AI checkout experience - great demo by Google Search labs at Google IO to redefine the future of fashion online shopping. Curious to see trends in adoption and how this might potentially change the trajectory for Google shopping going forward

If there's one book on money that is a must read, it's got to be The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. And this blog does a great job at visually capturing top lessons from it.

The complete history and strategy of the Indian Premier League, started in 2008 and already worth ~$16 bn with only 8 teams. Also, featuring the story of its colourful founder Lalit Modi, all the Bollywood drama and match-fixing scandals associated with it across 4.5 hrs that's definitely worth the listen.

If there's one book on money that is a must read, it's got to be The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. And this blog does a great job at visually capturing top lessons from it.

Why is Quick commerce winning in India vs (almost failed) WW bets in US, EU, LATAM etc. I've read so many views on this in the last few months, but came across this neat analysis on Economics of Density by Sangeet Paul Choudary that pretty much hits the nail on its head.

We live in a world where wealth has increasingly become the primary source of social status, billionaires are viewed as entrepreneurial geniuses who exhibit unique levels of creativity, courage, foresight, and expertise on a wide range of topics. Yet it should be obvious that wealth is a poor metric for wisdom.

“Consider the following thought experiment. Who has greater expertise on carpentry — a good, master carpenter or a hedge-fund billionaire? It seems natural to choose the former; but the more that wealth confers status, the greater the weight attached to hedge-fund billionaires’ views, even on carpentry. Or consider a more relevant contemporary example. Whose views on freedom of speech carry more weight today, a tech billionaire or a philosopher who has long grappled with the issue, and whose evidence and arguments have been subjected to scrutiny by other qualified experts? Millions of people on X (Twitter) have implicitly chosen the former."

I've been geeking out reading the in-depth well curated deep dives called Company Arc on Indian startups in The Arc. Great job Aditi Shrivastava and team.

I was studying Swiggy and this one pager is the best I think there is on the web currently. Clear summary on all you need to know about the company, especially the sections on Valuation & Recent financials, Monetisation, News and Analysis. 

Really enjoyed reading this essay by The Paul Graham

There are some kinds of work that you can't do well without thinking differently from your peers:
- To be a successful scientist, for example, it's not enough just to be correct. Your ideas have to be both correct and novel. You can't publish papers saying things other people already know. You need to say things no one else has realized yet.

- The same is true for investors. It's not enough for a public market investor to predict correctly how a company will do. If a lot of other people make the same prediction, the stock price will already reflect it, and there's no room to make money. The only valuable insights are the ones most other investors don't share.

​

- You see this pattern with startup founders too. You don't want to start a startup to do something that everyone agrees is a good idea, or there will already be other companies doing this.

Couldn't agree more. Time dedicated to a good lunch, some banter and conversation, a "c'est la vie" attitude, and a love for the arts to nurture our creativity leads to a better and more productive professional life.

You and I are not perfect employees, so we cannot expect perfect managers.
We offer them our honest work and best efforts and must be satisfied when they give us the same, not perfection.

A great listen: *What do you choose to be bad at?*

You can't be great at everything, so being conscious about what you will be bad at helps you prioritise correctly, in business and in life.

A lesson from how the world’s greatest football player chooses to be bad in the first few minutes of a game, so that he can be great subsequently.

Every very year, renowned venture firm, a16z, publishes Marketplace 100, which stacks up the largest consumer-facing marketplace startups and private companies based on annual gross merchandise volume, or GMV.

I find this report particularly interesting, because while most of us are familiar with the most successful and established marketplaces, this one spotlights startups and helps answer "What are the new, rising marketplaces that will define the category in the coming years?"

One key takeway from the 2023 Marketplace 100 is: Marketplaces are getting opinionated, with platforms that carefully curate supply popping up across categories like food, clothing, and pets. This is a stark departure from the wave of “anyone can list” marketplaces that dominated 2010 to 2020.

Akhil Saxena is ex-VP of Operations at Amazon and a leader well-loved. In this candid conversation, he talks about mentorship, finding joy in simple activities to recharge and focus and how hard work leads to unexpected success.