From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
I completely appreciate that people think social media is a waste of my time, but spending all day being obsessed with our customer, interacting with them in every way that I can, answering every question, trying to understand everything that I can about them, matches everything that we do and everything that we produce.
Global investors were awash in cash due to current account surpluses in emerging economies and easy monetary policies. Investors from emerging economies first invested their rapidly rising wealth in risk-free Treasuries, but once they had their fill of Treasuries they looked for higher yield in what they thought was the next safest thing, U.S. residential mortgages.
Research shows that empowering women to gain financial independence generates lasting impact, with women typically investing 90% of their income back into their families. In addition to this, McKinsey estimates that if women and men were to play an identical role in labour markets across the world, an extra $28 trillion would be added to the global economy by 2025.
Entrepreneurial businesses innovate, change, evolve and meet customer needs… it's about creating things that people value and love.
If you are able to share the things you're scared people will find out? That's real transparency, and that's how you earn the trust that transparency can bring, but if it doesn't feel uncomfortable, it's just marketing.
A lot of negatives have already happened in Greece, and now there is an opportunity. Most Greek assets have been going down in price at some time, and if you happen to hold the right assets? You'll make a killing!
I often pose a critical question to businesses: if the economy began transitioning towards sustainability, would this be a boon or a bane for your business? If it's perceived as a threat, your paramount priority should be to modify your business model until this transition becomes an opportunity.
Our apps and platforms are addictive by design. We know this both because the tech titans behind them have admitted it publicly, and because the dominant apps and social media platforms use the same suite of techniques that are well-proven to ensnare us.
Telecommunications has not only connected India, but it has also given India global recognition and a new respect for Indian talent. It has created our own multinationals, and created a huge amount of foreign exchange reserves.
Two major themes emerged: How quickly do they decide whether they want to invest? How fast do they decide if they like the entrepreneur? The answer to both is often within a matter of seconds. First impressions are key.
After Amaranth, I think to a significant extent, the business side became more important and of greater focus for institutional investors than the investment side.
Think of 'branding' as burning in a name on an animal such as a cow so that the cow's owner would be known. This protects the owner in the event that the animal is stolen. But we can use the name 'branding' whenever anyone affixes their name to something that is available for sale.