India's First Trillion Dollar Company - Potential

Prof G's T-Algorithm for JIO Platform

Here is some good news ! I received my LinkedIn Badge for completing Prof G Strategy Sprint July 2020. And it was fun-filled two weeks of learning and insights with more than 1,000 other learners from many of Fortune 500 companies . Prof Scott Galloway made it hugely impactful through his thoughtful videos/exercises and of course two livestreams. The exercises and reflection questions made it easier to keep pace. The final assignment helped to put all of 14 days work into detailed analysis and concrete actionable strategy. Perhaps you would be able to imagine the fun and excitement in the course by looking at the Cool Course Completion Logo for the Strategy Sprint Online Course.

DTW
During the Week, while Mukesh Ambani announced his plans to make India 2G-mukt (Freedom from 2G), I submitted my final assignment for the Prof G Strategy Sprint July 2020 and as expected I ended up analysing Jio Platforms. To paraphrase, billion dollars is good but you know what is better, A TRILLION Dollars ! And I think Jio Platform would help Reliance Industries achieve a trillion dollars market valuation !
I would be sharing my work in two parts- First, examining the Potential of Jio Platforms and Second, Way forward for Jio Platforms if it has to help RIL become a Trillion Dollar Company.
Here is Part One of the story !

In his book the four, Prof Scott Galloway explains his now famous T-Algorithm. This could be used to analyse whether any enterprise could get to a Trillion dollar valuation and gain extraordinary market power like AAFG.

Here is summary of the Eight Factors as proposed by Prof G and of course I have added one more related to Government Relations (After all we are talking about Reliance Industries ).

Jio Platforms scores very high on Appeal to Human Instinct, Rundle, Benjamin Button Product, Visionary Story-telling and of course Government Relations. With its super lower prices, Jio has danced its way into consumers’ gut instinct of “more for less” and giving it an opportunity to create a recurring revenue bundle “Rundle” of data, entertainment and groceries. This access to customers’ data also helps them to keep improving the “product” even as it gets older thus creating a Benjamin Button Product. (If you are still wondering about BB Product, watch either Curious Case of Benjamin Button or Paa).
Jio Platforms or rather Reliance Industries’ ability to tell a Visionary Story has never been in doubt. Whether it is about creating shareholder wealth in Oil to Chemical Business , launching India first Mobile Revolution -remember Kar Lo Duniya Muthi Mein or now starting Jio Revolution, Indian consumer has always responded with enthusiasm. Way back in 2000, Sumantra Ghoshal, Gita Piramal and Christopher A. Bartlett in their book, Managing Radical Change: What Indian Companies Must Do to Become World-class have extensively written about how Indian companies must capture a bit of Reliance Spirit. Instead of reading my interpretation , you may want to read an excerpt from their book about Reliance Industries Core Competencies.

Managing Radical Change- Ghoshal, Piramal and Bartlett ,2000

As an emerging business, Jio Platforms has to cover considerable ground on Growth+ Margins, Vertical Integration and Likeability. These factors cannot leverage on the parent company immediately but do not look insurmountable. Only worry would be the lack of Likeable Leadership at Jio Platforms as evident by innumerable memes of the third generation Ambani leadership.

Anjali Jain @helloanjali

Now that Isha & Aakash are married, the Ambani's will soon need toys for grandkids... #Hamleys

Pankaj Ahuja @panku_

Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries buys 100% stake in global toy retailer Hamleys. https://t.co/AaXh3dD2dC

I would be offering Two Day Management Development Program on Managing Platform Businesses through the Centre for Management Development at IBS Hyderabad. We would be mainly covering modules on identifying market failures, building a customer acquisition strategy and effectively dealing with marquee customers through a mix of short cases, readings, exercises and frameworks.

Do let me know if you or your colleagues would be interested in this online program. Do share your details in this Google form.

In a subsequent newsletter, I would discuss the way forward for Jio Platforms so that it can fuel Reliance Industries growth to be india’s first Trillion Dollar Company.

OTW

Over the Weekend, I read some of the reports based on United States House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee’s hearing. I was most impressed by the commentary of Tim Wu who is a professor at Columbia Law School and a frequent critic of the BigTech. I am a huge fan of his book The Attention Merchant which is a seminal work to understand the role of BigTech to change our consumption behaviour.

Since its inception, the attention industry, in its many forms, has asked and gained more and more of our waking moments, albeit always, in exchange for new conveniences and diversions, creating a grand bargain that has transformed our lives. In the process, as a society and individually, we have accepted a life experience that is in all of its dimensions—economic, political, social, any way you can think of—mediated as never before in human history.
Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants

This trend towards attention economy coupled with the extraordinary financial strength of the BigTech has caused concerns about their unbridled power and their ability/intent to use this influence for common good of the society. Like Tim Wu says- Some of these companies invite their partners/competitors for Lunch and then have them for Dinner !

Tim Wu @superwuster

How FB monopolized social by buying instagram : "There are network effects around social products and a finite number of different social mechanics to invent. Once someone wins at a specific mechanic, it’s difficult for others to supplant them” MZuckerberg

theverge.com“Instagram can hurt us”: Mark Zuckerberg emails outline plan to neutralize competitorsAntitrust panel says the messages show Zuckerberg trying to buy out his competition.

With Great Power comes Great Responsibility- Peter Parker Principle.

And BTW, Happy Friendship Day !

I Love You.

Shailendra

PS- We would have S2 E3 of MountainSpeak at 7 PM on 9th August 2020. You could catch up with the S2E1 here & S2E2 here. You may want to sign up for the next episode by clicking on the link.