My one favourite place when in London is a Borders Bookstore. I have spent many pleasant hours is their flagship store on Oxford Street. The third floor there has a Starbucks where you can, after you have vacuumed for your favourite books from the stores’ aisles below, ordered a latte, proceed to waste the dayContinue reading “Unsustainable Business Models”
Category Archives: Strategy
Medocrity is inevitable. Resistence is futile.
Or is it ? Why ARE most solvent companies mired in mediocrity ? Why do companies start in a burst of creative big bang and then slowly atrophy? Microsoft. IBM. Xerox. Yahoo. GM. Is it Risk aversion ? A concept in psychology, economics, and finance, based on the behavior of humans whilst exposed to uncertainty,Continue reading “Medocrity is inevitable. Resistence is futile.”
Systems Thinking Primer
I just finished reading a piece by the always thought provoking Paul Krugman of the NYT. An Article entitled ‘Eat the Future’ , talking about how the GOP is sacrificing the future for the present over in US. It bought back to mind an article a while ago about free TV sets distribution by a corruptContinue reading “Systems Thinking Primer”
Weak Moats in Business
Recently I wanted to buy a book a blog recommended. The book sold in India for 1300 rupees online. It was available in Amazon UK for 240 rupees, gbp converted to inr. I had friends in the UK who could get it to me quickly. A good test of the fundamental strength of your business/Continue reading “Weak Moats in Business”
An end to Information Asymmetry
Think about how you and I book tickets today before you fly. Then think about how your dad booked his tickets 40 years ago. We open Kayak, farecompare.com and airasia.com on 3 seperate tabs and it’s the data, our preferences and the credit card in a silent poem to the reality of low prices whenContinue reading “An end to Information Asymmetry”
The farce that is Security Theatre
EVERY DAMN TIME. I get frisked every damn time I enter a mall, a theatre, a hotel here in NCR (delhi-gurgaon-noida region). This here, as the debate rages over in the US, where many are very vocally deriding the silly invasive body scans and accusing of it just being security theater. If those earnest checksContinue reading “The farce that is Security Theatre”
Why ‘Cost Plus Pricing’ is passé
Most of us here learn pricing strategy in business economics 101 from a cost plus angle. I want to sell this killer mouse trap Mr.Venture Capitalist/Loan Officer : It costs X dollars/rupees/pounds to make. I will add a y% margin and sell it. Voila! That strategy died sometime in 2002. Unless you are a pioneerContinue reading “Why ‘Cost Plus Pricing’ is passé”
The dilemma of hypersuccess
Since some of us were naive students asked to mug the begineer concepts epoused by Kotler, we students were de facto led to believe that the success of a product or service we sold is a good thing. More success is a great thing and hyper success the holy grail. Now place yourself at customer# 53912482 of ….. BombayContinue reading “The dilemma of hypersuccess”
How some brands redefine their Niche
There is a concept in business called ‘the triangle of truth’ Air Asia bills itself as a Low Cost Carrier (LCC). Its tickets are, if you book them early enough, Cheap. Air India is not a low cost carrier. It is India’s nationalized airlines and competes by offering the lowest fares vs competitors. It’s aContinue reading “How some brands redefine their Niche”
The Logistics Paradox: Why AliExpress & Temu Beat the Cheap Flight Revolution
TL;DR Summary : In early 2000s, the “Cheap Flight Revolution” promised to disrupt local retail by making global markets a weekend trip away. The hypothesis? Budget airlines would do to physical showrooms what Amazon did to bookstores. But by the 2010s, the disruption didn’t come from travelers filling suitcases in Bangkok; it arrived via massiveContinue reading “The Logistics Paradox: Why AliExpress & Temu Beat the Cheap Flight Revolution”
Third Eye Observations 