Aug 24, 2022ShopBack: Smarter Buying, Smarter SellingHow would you like some free money? That’s what ShopBack is offering. It’s a discovery and rewards platform for shopping that helps consumers compare discounts across different merchants. Each time you use the app before making a purchase, you get up to 25% cashback on what you spent. All this…Startup14 min readStartup14 min read
Jul 19, 2022Antler: The Global Startup Factory“People will tell you that more than 90% of startups fail. That is true, but the majority fail for the wrong reasons. We root out the reasons that cause startups to fail.” When it comes to building startups, no accelerator is as disciplined as Antler. It believes that startups are…Startup25 min readStartup25 min read
Published in Mind Cafe·Jul 11, 2021Member-onlyNothing More Than Econ 101Take one idea, and take it seriously. — Morgan Housel once wrote that “being good at something doesn’t promise rewards.” He continues, “it doesn’t even promise a compliment”. Because what’s rewarded in the world is scarcity, he says, all that matters is what you can do that other people are bad at. It makes sense. In fact, it’s…Ideas6 min readIdeas6 min read
Jul 10, 2021Member-onlyYour Biggest FanOne of the most surprising things I’ve learnt from writing on the Internet is that your biggest fan is likely to be someone you don’t know. A fan is someone who’s excited by your work; a true fan is someone who will buy anything you produce. This is quite different…Creativity2 min readCreativity2 min read
Published in An Idea (by Ingenious Piece)·Apr 29, 2021Member-onlyWhen Efficiency Isn’t The PointPillsbury started making instant cake mix in the 1940s, but it didn’t sell well. It didn’t make sense to them because the mix made things easier. All you had to do was add water and you had something you could eat. Other companies sold instant cake mix as well, but…Life Lessons3 min readLife Lessons3 min read
Dec 13, 2020Member-onlyBonini’s Paradox: Why Simple Rules Triumph In A Complex WorldBonini’s Paradox states that the more complete a model of a complex system, the less understandable it becomes. This is a useful concept to remember because the world is a complex place, filled with complex institutions and complex people. Aphorisms aim to cut through such complexity. They are meant to…Self Improvement4 min readSelf Improvement4 min read
Published in Ascent Publication·Jul 2, 2020Member-onlySignalling: The Unspoken Language We Use Every DayNot having enough information is a problem. — George Akerloff was the first to detail this. In his Nobel-winning paper, The Market for Lemons, he observed that markets with asymmetric information would eventually collapse. Because only sellers would know the condition of the goods they sold, they could always mask defective products — lemons — as quality products…Life Lessons7 min readLife Lessons7 min read
Jun 23, 2020Member-onlyThe Superstar Effect: What Happens In A Winner Takes All WorldWhen Michael Jordan came out of the University of North Carolina, he was selected by the Chicago Bulls as the 3rd overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft. …Entrepreneurship7 min readEntrepreneurship7 min read
Published in The Beta Mode·Dec 8, 2018Member-onlyPrincipled Negotiation: How To Find Common Ground Without CompromisingShow me a disagreement, and I’ll show you a negotiation. Negotiation happens every day. You see this in corporate boardrooms where you have lawyers trying to settle a complex claim. But negotiation also takes place whenever you decide with your friends where you should go for dinner. Or which movie…Negotiation8 min readNegotiation8 min read
Published in Personal Growth·Oct 13, 2018Member-onlySprezzatura: The Art Of Making Difficult Things Look SimpleIf there’s one type of person we admire, it’s the person who’s able to get things done without even trying. You know that person. He’s the student who aces the final exam “without even studying”. She’s the Instagram model who woke up with perfect hair. And both of them are…Life Lessons4 min readLife Lessons4 min read
