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Our top reads of the week

From Stellaris Venture Partners' contrarian bets to Sabyasachi Mukherjee's business philosophies, here are our most popular stories of the week

Published: Nov 19, 2022 09:00:00 AM IST

Our top reads of the weekEvery week, catch up on the best long form stories from Forbes India. Often peppered with our binge-worthy podcasts, videos or infographics too. Image: Shutterstock

1) Contrarian bets and magic of discipline

Our top reads of the weekIn 2017, Alok Goyal teamed up with Ritesh Banglani and Rahul Chowdhri to start Stellaris Venture Partners, an early-stage and sector-agnostic venture capital fund. Their shared belief: Most of the outsized money in venture (capital) is made in contrarian bets. They even look at downturns as an opportunity to find good bets, even if they are loss-making. Goyal reckons if the sole metric of investment is profitability, then patient investors can take advantage of that choppy market, and invest in companies that have sound fundamentals and are less cash-guzzling. Is there a flip side to this approach? Read more

2) Good ol' days
Our top reads of the week
For the first time in almost a decade, India’s banks are in a sweet spot—the balance sheets of several public sector banks and private sector banks have seen a remission of bad loans, led by higher provisions, which were possible due to government-induced recapitalisation. Private sector banks have also seen improved asset quality due to better provision, slippages being brought under control and increased deleveraging by corporates. This has also meant benign credit costs for banks in recent months. What are the reasons behind these "good days" for the banking sector? Read more

3) Paytm's road to recovery
Our top reads of the week
Vijay Shekhar Sharma's Paytm was listed at the initial public offering price of Rs 2,160 in 2021. The stock was hovering around Rs 540 as the lock-in period for pre-IPO investors expired on November 15, 2022. But the Q2FY23 results on November 8 were still upbeat because revenue from operations grew 76 percent year-on-year. The reason behind the scorching revenue growth is Paytm’s loan distribution business which it has silently been building out over the last 18 months. Is that enough to prop up the stock which is down 75 percent from its year-ago listing price? Read more

Discover


1) Listen: The correct definition of work-life balance
 Our top reads of the week
Tony Fadell, the co-creator of the iPhone and the leader of the team that built the first iPod at Apple, has written a new book—'Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making​'. It is all about how to find one's place in the world, think differently about work-life balance, solve problems, and the lessons he learnt from his mentors, including Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Google co-founder Larry Page. Listen to his masterclass. Listen here

2) Samina Hamied shares her 'Leadership Mantras'
Our top reads of the week
Through insightful conversations with some of India's top business personalities, Forbes India's new show Leadership Mantras attempts to tell you how leaders are made. These stalwarts share timeless wisdom and life lessons on what it takes to be ahead of the pack, and whether there is a secret silver bullet to success. In the first episode, Samina Hamied, executive-vice chairperson at Cipla, shares insights from her decade-long journey in the company and opens up about suffering from imposter syndrome and how she coped with it. Watch here

3) Sabyasachi Mukherjee on Forbes India Pathbreakers
Our top reads of the week
In this edition of Forbes India Pathbreakers, Sabyasachi Mukherjee engages in a free-wheeling conversation about his 'fairytale childhood' and his fascination for Kolkata. Find out how he stumbled into the world of fashion, listen to his life and business philosophies that made him one of India's most successful and loved fashion designers, and know how he feels about the almost meteoric rise in the industry. After an initial phase of the struggle, Mukherjee discovered his passion for telling the India story through his clothes. Proud of his humble roots, Mukherjee aspires to build a global luxury house to authentically showcase India's rich heritage of craft and culture. Watch here

4) Navigating rough waters
Our top reads of the week
In this episode of Daily Tech Conversation, our guest is Ashwini Asokan, co-founder and CEO of Mad Street Den—a Silicon Valley and Chennai-based software company offering AI products that help customers organise and "stitch together" their data and extract useful information. Asokan talks about how businesses are frustrated with tall claims about artificial intelligence, and how there is an "uproar of demand" for products that offer tangible returns on AI investments. The current macroeconomic business environment, however, is tough, with many imposing caps on SaaS spending. Listen here

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