Our top reads of the week

In 2005, Rituraj Kishore Sinha was only 25-year-old when he stood in front of Thomas Berglund, the then president and CEO of Securitas, proposing a joint venture with Security and Intelligence Services (SIS). The deal didn't happen but junior Sinha started the cash logistics business on his own. As the world entered recession in 2008, Sinha decided to expand business outside India, and SIS bought Chubb Australia for $238 million. Over the last decade, Sinha has been diversifying domestic play and expanding with an aggressive inorganic route overseas. The gambit seems to be paying off. Can he keep up? Find out here

Yannick Colaco and Prasana Krishnan are sports fans. Just like all of us out here, they too were tired of navigating the fandom multiverse. So they decided to create FanCode—one site to book tickets, one to watch the games, one to buy merch, and in the fandom bind them! Replete with interactive live streaming (FC Live), sports data, analytics and statistics (FC Stats), and an online fan merchandising store (FC Shop), FanCode wants to deliver a fan experience that's immersive, personalised, 360-degree, and a paradigm shift from the linear services that traditional platforms offer. For more

When the pandemic hit, businesses had to pivot. Parle Agro did the same. First, it launched B-Fizz, an extension of Appy Fizz, in a record 30 days from lab to market in September 2020. A malt-based drink, B-Fizz has the taste and feel of beer. It turned out to be hit. Brand sales totalled Rs 500 crore in just one year. Success notwithstanding, Nadia Chauhan (Joint MD of Parle Agro) was plotting an even bigger expansion into dairy beverages. Frooti-maker's latest launch of Smoodh is on a quest to win the Rs 800 crore flavoured milk market and they seem to be off to a good start. For more

Saurabh Saxena, the co-founder of Uable, a social networking app for teenagers, has been an educator for 13 years. His interactions with students taught him that it is always hard for the young to find acceptance in the digital landscape, despite being digital natives. To help kids discover their passions, interests, and activities to excel in, Uable provides 20 clubs, or virtual communities, which they can join, depending on their interests. These clubs cover interests such as design, art, gaming, career, anime and K-pop. The question remains—in the world of Instagram reels, Snapchat filters, and Discord, can Uable stand out as a teen social networking app? For more

Girish Mathrubootham, CEO and founder of Freshworks, is a massive fan of thalaivar Rajinikanth. That is why the code name for the IPO of his company was SuperStar. The listing was blockbuster. “Pera kettaale chumma adhirudhulla! (Don't you feel an instant tremor at the mere mention of my name?),” said Mathrubootham, dishing out a dialogue from Rajinikanth’s movie Sivaji: The Boss. Fast forward to May 12, 2022. Freshworks' poor stock performance hasn't rattled Mathrubootham. "This is like an interval scene in a Rajini movie. When everything looks down, the hero stages a comeback,” he smiles. For more