Catch-22 Situation
Growing Platform Businesses in 2022
Happy New Year 2022.
2020 was a struggle but there was hope.
2021 was a complete disaster and barring few green shoots has been a complete wash-out.
2022 is when we ought to step up the game and make it count.
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DTW
During the Week, Chinese government raised a complaint with the UN authorities in Vienna alleging close encounters of Starlink’s satellites with their space station.
Chinese government is demanding that UN or other world bodies regulate the space and SpaceTech. Regulating industries before they grow is a tricky question. I have written a three part series on platform regulations- Size does Matter , 800 Pounds Gorilla Unleashed and Taming 800 Pounds Gorilla!
The central thesis of three part series is as follows- Platforms gain extraordinary power through user side network effects and commodification of supplier and use access to cheap capital to execute Predatory Pricing and Vertical Integration. Governments must maintain oversight over platforms by continuously evaluating the threat to Customer Welfare and work towards Preservation of Open Markets.
Talking about important strategy lessons for both early and late stage start ups from a growth perspective, I would recommend that you watch “The Social Network”, if you haven’t yet. One of the sequence that I have linked below tries to solve this dilemma of controlling vs letting an enterprise figure out its true “meaning” . What comes first was the question that Mark and his co-founder were grappling and managed to figure out (customer satisfaction/retention over revenues).
Of course, another problem with over regulation is the higher probability of killing an industry even before it has had chance to prove its usefulness to human enterprise.
For example, let us look at the whole drama which unfolded over twitter (where else) when Jack Dorsey started a mini web2.0 vs web3.0 debate. According to the proponents of web3.0 , blockchains and cryptocurrency systems will allow users to “own” the next generation of digital assets unlike web2.0 where FAANG or BAT seem to have all the power and hence all the profits.
Jack Dorsey joined hands with Elon Musk to ding on the Web 3.0 folks through their tweet interaction and caused some serious burn for the a16z guys who seem to be championing Web3.0
Anyways, both Elon and Jack are great fans of crypto currencies but alas Indian regulators are still not clear about its future in India.
Indian crypto products ecosystem has been pushing the envelope for sometime now (if IPL ads are any indication). We have seen the struggle to prevent public exposure to unstable financial product vs developing robust ecosystem to foster innovation in financial products. The story continues ….
OTW
Over the Weekend, family and friends called up to exchange the new year greetings. We had spend the last week of 2021 at Aurangabad where we had gone to visit Archana’s mother. It was fun time and full of some awesome conversations about good old days, tales from past and usual state of affairs of Indian politics. We hardly stepped out of house and had almost like an AirBnB experience as our regular host (Archana’ sister) was traveling. Of course, in line with the old practice of recovery after a good marathon, I have stayed completely off running for almost a fortnight. New Challenges await in 2022. Would keep you posted.
I am reminded of this wonderful quote by Jim Collins- Transactions might make you rich but only relationships will make you wealthy. One of the bitter sweet experiences of the 2021 has been preponderance of innumerable transactions (online interactions are so 2D, there is absolutely no depth) though there were few relationships which were strengthened with passage of time.
Talking about relationships, as a new year resolution I signed up for the mission to support Blood Donation for Thalassemia Patients by signing up the Blood Bridge initiative by Blood Warriors. This wonderful initiative encourages you to start a bond with a Thalassemia and Leukemia Child for regular blood donation.
My favourite prayer says: "For as long as space endures, And for as long as living beings remain, Until then may I too abide, To dispel the misery of the world." And, in trying to fulfil that aspiration, I feel my life has been of some benefit.
-Dalai Lama
I am also really proud of my running buddies at Peerancheruvu Runners who have always stepped up for a good cause. Many of us have been regular blood donors and keep motivating others to donate regularly and not wait for emergencies. Our good friends at Aarohi Blood Bank led by Dr Aditi Kishore and Dhiraj Kaveri have been doing a yeoman service to the cause of voluntary blood donation. Please get in touch with them if you are in Hyderabad or your local blood bank.
Stay Safe.
I Love You
Shailendra
OTM
Opportunities through MountainSpeak are available at Aarohi Blood Bank for social media and promotional partnerships. Please get in touch with Dhiraj Kaveri if you would like to contribute to their mission of “Bringing Dignity to Life of people by making Quality blood and blood products”.
For more information on their various initiatives, please register at their website.
Happy New Year Sir. Jim Collins quote is something which needs to be pondered around with especially at this point in time.