This past week has been a gentle reminder of how intertwined our journeys are with the voices that guide, nurture, and challenge us. On Teachers’ Day, my phone started ringing early morning onwards. Messages came through emails, DMs, and quiet office visits, each carrying a warmth that words alone could not capture. What touched me most was not just the gratitude expressed, but the shared stories of growth, struggle, and eventual clarity. It was a reminder that teaching is not a solitary act; it is a dialogue where both teachers and students shape each other.
One of the most heartening moments was hearing that my internship mentee, Guru Saran, had been awarded the IBSAF Best SIP Award 2025 for his work at nicheBrains with Lakshmi Moorthy. His success was not just his alone—it was a reflection of the collective effort of mentors, peers, and the environment that allowed him to experiment, stumble, and eventually find his footing.
In his recognition, I saw echoes of all my teachers who once gave me the confidence to stand and speak, even when my voice trembled.
Finding your voice, I have realised, is never an isolated pursuit. It is seeded by teachers—sometimes formal, sometimes disguised as colleagues, friends, or even students themselves. And it is sustained by a community that listens, corrects, and encourages. As I stood amidst the celebrations, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude: to my teachers for showing me the path, and to my students for constantly reminding me that learning is a two-way street.
A teacher may appear to speak to a room full of students, but in truth, the words almost always land on an individual ear, sparking a moment of recognition or quiet reflection. Teaching, then, is less about addressing the crowd and more about igniting the voice within a single listener. Each student hears differently, interprets uniquely, and carries forward their own version of that learning. In those one-to-one connections, often invisible to others, lies the real magic of education—the discovery of confidence, clarity, and the courage to shape one’s own voice. In the end, the true gift of teaching and learning is not knowledge alone, but the courage to speak, the patience to listen, and the grace to keep evolving together.
DTW
During the Week, A16Z moved its newsletters to the Substack platform. On the surface, it may look like a tactical publishing decision, but in reality it reflects a much larger shift—the restacking of the creator economy. Interestingly, A16Z is not just migrating its newsletter to Substack—it is also a major investor in the platform. This dual role as both participant and financier underlines the conviction that Substack represents the next frontier of creator-led media, where distribution, monetisation, and authenticity converge. The A16Z move signals legitimacy: if one of the world’s most powerful venture firms embraces Substack, then the model of creator-first distribution is not just viable but foundational. What was once an industry dominated by a handful of publishers and media houses is now being rebuilt by individuals, small teams, and niche platforms who are finding new ways to connect directly with audiences.
Here’s where the Big Restack Framework (TBR) helps us decode what’s happening. The creator economy is not merely about social media virality or monetisation tools. It’s an ecosystem reshaping itself across business, technology, and revenue models. Using TBR’s four lenses, we can see the contours of this restacking more clearly.
Spot the Complement Shift- The complement to creativity used to be distribution—newspapers, TV networks, and film studios controlled access. That’s flipped. Today, creators find complements in AI-powered editing tools, low-cost production gear, and distribution engines like YouTube Shorts, TikTok, or Substack. In Indian cinema, regional OTT platforms like aha (Telugu) or Hoichoi (Bengali) are enabling voices that once lacked a channel. The scarcity model of distribution is dissolving; the complement shift empowers creators to focus on storytelling while infrastructure handles reach.
Map the Architecture- The old media stack was linear: producer → distributor → consumer. The restacked model is layered and modular. A YouTuber may shoot on an iPhone, edit with CapCut, distribute via Shorts, monetise through Patreon, and cross-promote on Instagram—all without a central gatekeeper. In India, TikTok’s absence created space for Moj, Josh, and Chingari, showing how quickly the architecture can be re-bundled. Even OTT players are experimenting: JioCinema is bundling IPL cricket and Bollywood films with original content, effectively redrawing the content-to-consumer pipeline.
Tempo matters: Bollywood films once had multi-year cycles; now, web series drop in months, and viral reels take hours to produce. The tempo of creation and consumption is accelerating, fuelled by algorithms that reward immediacy. Regional OTTs are experimenting with shorter, faster content drops, responding to audience appetite. At the same time, the tempos of regulation—India’s debates on digital media laws, or the EU’s scrutiny of platforms—add friction. OTT platforms face pressures from state and community groups on what kind of stories are acceptable. Indian cinema continues to grapple with certification bodies and political sensitivities, even as creators push boundaries on gender, caste, and identity. Governance is no longer just censorship from above; it is also community standards, platform policies, and global–local tensions.
Target the Constraint- In every restack, constraints define the battle lines. For the Creator Economy, three constraints dominate. First, monetisation: while reach has exploded, turning followers into sustainable income remains elusive for many. A YouTube channel might garner millions of views, yet advertising payouts are thin unless supplemented by subscriptions, brand collaborations, or direct patronage. Second, regulation: TikTok’s ban in India disrupted thousands of livelihoods overnight, showing how fragile creator businesses can be when dependent on a single platform. Third, discovery: the sheer abundance of content means that creators must battle algorithms and noise to be noticed. Regional OTTs face their own constraints—pricing models that suit Tier 2/3 audiences and limited bandwidth in rural areas. Even A16Z’s shift to Substack reflects constraint: legacy distribution channels no longer gave them the authenticity or agility they sought. The next breakthroughs will come not from amplifying abundance but from redesigning systems that loosen these constraints—better monetisation engines, fairer algorithms, and robust creator–platform contracts.
The Creator Economy’s restack shows that monopolies built on scarcity mindsets no longer hold sway. Whether it is A16Z publishing on Substack, TikTok empowering grassroots creators, or regional OTTs reshaping viewing habits, the creative field has shifted to a model where abundance, diversity, and decentralisation thrive. The line between consumer and creator has blurred; audiences are no longer passive recipients but active participants in cultural production. For India, with its linguistic diversity and young digital population, this represents a generational opportunity: not just to consume global culture, but to export uniquely local stories to the world.
OTW
Over the Weekend, Ganesh Visarjan at PBEL City felt like a bittersweet pause. For ten days, the community is alive with dhol beats, modaks, and neighbours catching up more often than they otherwise do. And then, as the idol is carried to immersion, there’s that familiar tug—joyful songs mingled with the quiet ache of goodbye. Yet the farewell is not final. It’s more like closing one chapter to make space for the next.
Almost immediately, conversations shift. With Pitra Paksha observed- a period of remembrance and gratitude for ancestors, the cycle turns again—this time to welcome Maa Durga. Pandals are planned, decorations thought through, and the excitement of cultural evenings begins to stir. The rhythm is seamless: one deity sent off with gratitude, another awaited with open arms.
That’s the beauty of our festival calendar—it teaches us that endings are not loss, but preparation for renewal. Faith, community, and togetherness never pause; they simply take new forms.
Thanks for being in my life.
I Love You.
Shailendra