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Manu Rishi Guptha

Sureshot failure of Ecommerce and its underpinnings in the Indian mindset

A few days back I was oppressively put off by a mountain of garbage on my way to work and this area is Koramangala – The fulcrum of ecommerce revolution in India, with highest per capita in the country,  home to dozens of startups, stone’s throw from the offices of flipkart and Accel partners (the posterboys of ecommerce and PE funds). While my belief in Modi’s Swachh Bharat and Acchhe… Read More »Sureshot failure of Ecommerce and its underpinnings in the Indian mindset

The Story Greed, Deceit and its effect on Organisational Culture

When I first read Greg Smiths resignation letter 3 years ago on the ides of march, I knew something wasn’t right in the way financial institutions operate. A myriad of thoughts ran through my mind. When we trust the people who advise us and implicitly follow the financial institutions that handle our hard earned money, we believe that we are buying professional advice at a fee that is normal. Reality… Read More »The Story Greed, Deceit and its effect on Organisational Culture

The Run Rate Conundrum – ‘Or the beginning of The Great Depression’

Being a citizen of a country obsessed with cricket, the only run rate that I ever knew was the runs that a batsman makes per over and that i thought defined the run rate – till recently when I realised that even businesses (read new e commerce world) are getting discounted and valued on their run rates. It must be very interesting for those old brick and mortar industrial houses… Read More »The Run Rate Conundrum – ‘Or the beginning of The Great Depression’

The Futile Rant About Stress and Work-life Balance

Every Sunday newspaper supplement invariably carries an interview of some CEO or a leader with an opinion on work-life balance and how the same has become so vital in today’s busy industrious metro ‘something’ lifestyles.  Advice is freely available that ranges from ideas such as ‘Ways of switching off from work’, ‘The power of saying no’, ‘Taking regular holiday breaks’ to ‘Finding specific time out for hobbies’ and ‘stress management’.  The… Read More »The Futile Rant About Stress and Work-life Balance

Martians, Modi and A Challenge for The PM

For the fear of being left behind I thought it imperative to opine on my Prime Minister for whom I voted and also wanted to write a non economic, easily comprehensible, data-free article that anyone can understand especially my international audience. I haven’t been as amused lately as I am now, looking at the various marketing machineries for Modi who has been creating an aura of invincibility and humbling the… Read More »Martians, Modi and A Challenge for The PM

BlackBerry And The Art Of Becoming Irrelevant in the Business World

Around the time when Mark Zuckerberg was floating around in the dorms of Kirkland House figuring out Facebook (FB) or allegedly plagiarising the Winklevoss brothers’ ideas, the market cap of BlackBerry (BB) was about US$64 billion. Fast forward to 2015, the market cap of FB is at about US$225 billion while BB is less than US$6 billion. There was a time when owning a BB was associated with busy high-level corporate executives who always… Read More »BlackBerry And The Art Of Becoming Irrelevant in the Business World

License to Corruption

Research and data can throw rather interesting theories and a recent one by Uma Karmakar, a Harvard Professor and Bryan Bollinger of Fuqua threw up an interesting argument. Their research drew a correlation that shoppers who brought their own bags to recycle would tend to buy more organic versions of food. One green action led to another. But the same people were most likely to buy ice cream, chips candy… Read More »License to Corruption

Is Life and Commerce – a Casino?

GMAT is a popular exam that most MBA aspirants appear for. And the sample tests available online throw up a very interesting food for thought. If one is just hovering around being an average or just above average (Joe Bloggs) in academics he/she would score about 550-570 out of a total of 800 ie 65 percentile (approx) if that person were to mark the entire exam randomly as per ones… Read More »Is Life and Commerce – a Casino?

The Hero who moved me

More than often our lives get crowded by motivations that we draw from the super achievers, the great scientists, the billionaires, the inventors, the business leaders who have made an amazing difference to the planet and to the mankind. Mine does too. But a few days back my wife and I visited Mallaya Hospital Bangalore, for a general health checkup and while waiting for my reports that were seemingly taking… Read More »The Hero who moved me

How Boards expedite the demise of some of the best Companies

We were in absolute-absolute awe of TESCO during my days in the UK, during the hey days of TESCO. The retailer had established itself as the most efficient company, churning out QOQ of phenomenal growth, managing its working capital cycle so beautifully that 3 months of working capital cash (zero debtors and 3 months creditors) allowed it to become the most wealthy real estate company as well. Sir Terry Leahy… Read More »How Boards expedite the demise of some of the best Companies