Author: Vivek Srinivasan
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Learning by Proxy | Selling Air (India)
The world seems to be in suspended animation. After a year, that has taken a lot out of each one of us, everyone is just taking a breather. On the one hand, it felt like everything was forced to transform and change in 2020; on the other hand, did it really? The year began in…
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Book Recommendations 2020
About 9 months ago, my sister decided to start a book club. The idea was to read one book a month. She and all the other members fell behind after the first month. There were many spirited efforts made to keep up with reading. Ultimately, since we all shared her Kindle account, it turned out…
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Learning by Proxy | Price of Data
Facebook did not buy WhatsApp or Instagram for the data but for the products that they had built. They brought a lot of the users to the products and now they are too powerful. On the other hand, companies are getting bought only for the data that they have. Is that data worth the money…
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Marketing Vs. Sales
Marketing is a long term investment. You determine the way you want people to perceive you, craft communications to that effect and find the best way to reach the customers. You try to ensure that people can understand your philosophy and gravitate towards you. Marketing creates long term value for the company and if done…
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Learning by Proxy | Farm Bill
On the eve of Guru Nanak Jayanti, a group of Punjabi farmers camped at the border of Delhi cooked food for the night. The government asked them to move to designated areas so that talks could be held on the 3rd of December. A couple of days before, the Prime Minister of the country flew…
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Social Contract
It was in the mid-1700s that Benjamin Franklin proposed that a firefighter service be established in Philadelphia. This was unique to the city at the time and was paid for eventually by the residents of the city. To overcome the occurrence of weather-related fires, Franklin also invented a device that saved a lot of lives…
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Learning by Proxy | COVID Climate
While climate change has been a topic of intense conversation, no world leader would have come anywhere close to forcing the kind of change that COVID has done. It also makes you wonder if nature knows how to protect itself. Snuff out the virus called Humans. It is also causing industries to alter in unthinkable…
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Learning by Proxy | Chips
Potato Chips, known as Crisps in England are thin slices of potatoes that are deep-fried. The earliest known recipe can be found in a book published in 1817 called The Cook’s Oracle by William Kitchiner. But that is not what this edition is about. Technology dominates our life. Also, it plays an important role in…
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Just Imagine
Just imagine, if you were to go back to 2010, tapping a slab of glass a few times and expecting a cab to appear would have seemed like magic. It is commonplace and normal today. Just imagine, if you were to go back to 1990, sitting and home and clicking a pointing device and accessing…
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Learning by Proxy | Climate>COVID
COVID has had a huge impact on business in general. Some businesses have been heavily hurt while others not so much. Some are even thriving [healthcare, except in the US]. To me, this just seems like a glimpse of what is to come when the climate goes off the handle. Reminds of a cartoon. COVID…