Ritesh Banglani: “The venture business model relies on the portfolio effect: In a high-risk sector, you need to fund several companies to generate one large winner. A fund will only find it viable to invest in a new sector when it sees an opportunity to invest in at least 15-20 such startups over a 3-4 year period. Only then will a VC fund invest in the expertise required to evaluate them. A new space attains a critical mass of fundable opportunities when at least 100-200 credible new companies are created in it every year. When this starts to happen in deep technology areas, we will likely see VC money rush into them. Hopefully, we will finally be able to put the moonshot debate to rest then.” TN Hari: “It’s just a matter of time before VCs in India realize that deep-tech bets are no longer as risky, and that they are probably better off with deep tech than going after less risky ideas on a path of diminishing returns. A new generation of VCs, whose partners come from deep science or tech backgrounds, is likely to emerge and help set off the next wave of tech entrepreneurship in India.”
NYTimes: “On one level, “Shark Tank” is your basic reality TV show. The pitches, which last about 45 minutes, are edited to snappy 12- to 15-minute segments with music scored for suspense over tight shots of bug-eyed, sweaty supplicants. Some founders leave the tank defeated, humiliated or in tears. Others leave triumphant with handshake deals. Stories about overcoming struggle and self-doubt feel calibrated to make you cry…But if you watch the show as I did — most of its 15 seasons in one year — you might be struck by something else: the way it reflects the shifting contours of the American economy. The show started in August 2009, in the pit of the Great Recession. Over the next decade and a half, 1,275 people pitched their ideas on air. The comfort food and DVDs featured in those first years were replaced by the rise of online direct-to-consumer businesses, the allure of Silicon Valley and its build-at-all-costs mentality, and then the shock of the pandemic and the ingenuity that came out of it.
WSJ: “Anime is shaping up as the country’s next big export industry, beyond cars and electronics…Japan’s anime and manga, the Japanese word for comics, have created many well-known characters and franchises over the years, such as Pokémon. And it looks to be getting even more mainstream.” More in the Economist.
FT: “[Hilton CEO Chris] Nassetta says he is aware that turning round a company such as Hilton — which has around 8,000 hotels in 126 territories and about 500,000 employees — “takes a village”. “I’m not that special”. He has to manage his ambition with delegating appropriately and realising that “if you don’t stop, take a deep breath, celebrate successes, and give credit where credit is due, people just burn out”. “Earlier in my leadership journey, I probably didn’t take enough time to slow down,” he admits. He says other business leaders often ask him how a company can transform itself. Turnrounds, he notes, fail because of “bad strategy or bad culture”. Good leaders are able to get not just managers onside but also staff lower down the chain. “You need to get people to believe in where you’re going and in you.” He says he attempts the latter by being authentic, hardworking and a good listener, although admits he could always improve.”
