Deep Impressions

Nepotism : The answer lies in Technology Instead of criticising nepotism, the solution lies in making it irrelevant.  ( Also published in movietalkies.com )        ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   In his widely read research work, Management guru Michael Porter, has talked about competitive strategies that make successful companies. He states that one key competitive strategy that makes companies successful and command high valuations on stock market is creation of entry barriers against new entrants. These barriers could be :           Denial of access to customers/vendors         Network effect          Brand loyalty      In film industry, all the above are essentially bye-products of the current buzzword ‘nepotism’. So if building entry barrier is lauded by consultants and stock markets, should that really be a matter of concern? Before we answer that, a quick look at the history of the reward system in t

Real Estate : Revival without Reliefs Fiscal reliefs for real estate are a must but they can only provide short term survival.  Demand revival without impacting govt revenues is the key to the long term health.     --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zooming through the various webinars on revival of real estate, one would have observed that the prominent suggestions were GST input credit, reduction in GST rates, reduction in municipal charges, limited period zero stamp duty etc for reviving real estate. There is no doubt that most of these are much needed measures should be implemented. However, there is a difference between survival of the supply side and revival of the demand side. The above measures will provide the much needed ventilator to developers but not a long term immunity. Time and again, it has been proven that the long term survival of the industry lies only in the vaccine

(Category: Finance) Also published in  CNBCTV18 As an equity investor should you prefer investment inequities of a geographically diversified or that of a developer focussed in limited locations. The obvious answer would possibly the former. Unfortunately, the same is not true                           ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the face, a geographically diversified developer appears to have lower risks than a developer operating in limited locations. So, the former is often believed to be a better equity investment option for a portfolio investor. Is it indeed true? One of the key criteria for assessing the investment potential of any equity stock is the competitive advantage enjoyed by the company. In case of a real estate developer, the Competitive Advantage to an extent lies in things like construction skills, design skills, etc. But most of these skills can actually be outsourced

(Category: Finance) (also published in  CNBCTV18.com  ) In general, equity partners normally reduce the risk for promoters but do PE investors in real estate do the same? ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------ One of the key expectations from any equity investor is that he would reduce the risk for the promoter. So does the entry of a private equity investor reduce the risk for the developer? By definition, equity investment can reduce the risk for the promoter if it can reduce the promoter’s loss in adverse market conditions. A developer’s risk, therefore, can come down only when the investor not just participates in the upside but also shares the developer’s loss. Most PE investments in India, however, are in the form of Structured Debt. Such structures have a minimum guaranteed return to the PE Investor. This guaranteed payout is independent of the profits from the project. With

(Category: Marketing) Also published in  CNBCTV18.com Real Estate can be very profitable but is it a scalable business? A lot of people believe real estate is a very scalable business, but in reality, it is not. There are numerous factors which hinder the future growth of real estate, making it non-scalable. Huge profits made by developers, quite often makes investors and analysts  conclude that real estate is a very scalable model. The fact is that real estate is very low on scalability. Scalability for any business is high where beyond a point, incremental growth of business requires neither large capital nor specialised skills. Also, in a scalable business, every new customer adds more value to the business. Most new users come to Facebook through references, requiring no major capital or specialised skills. And with every new user, the value of Facebook increases. But, in real estate business, every sale reduces the inventory available for sale, thus shrink

Myth # 3: Higher FSI is the solution to Affordable Housing  (Category: General Business Reading) Also published in  CNBCTV18.com Purpose of Myth Series : While real estate is amongst the fastest growing businesses in India, it rarely finds respectable space in curriculums of business schools. Also, there are hardly any case studies available to explain the intricacies of the sector. For these reasons, many facts and theories floating about real estate follow a ‘common sense-ical logic’. Unfortunately, many of these are misconceptions, myths or even downright false.  The purpose of this series, therefore, is to take one real estate myth in each blog and provide insights on the real issues. The ten myths have been classified into three categories – Finance, Marketing and General Business Reading. ====================================================================== Often, when it comes to reducing the costs of new homes, it is suggested that the

(Category: Marketing) Also published in  CNBCTV18.com Purpose of Myth Series : While real estate is amongst the fastest growing businesses in India, it rarely finds respectable space in curriculums of business schools. Also, there are hardly any case studies available to explain the intricacies of the sector. For these reasons, many facts and theories floating about real estate follow a ‘common sense-ical logic’. Unfortunately, many of these are misconceptions, myths or even downright false.  The purpose of this series, therefore, is to take one real estate myth in each blog and provide insights on the real issues. The ten myths have been classified into three categories – Finance, Marketing and General Business Reading.   ===================================================== When prices of iPhone drop, its demand increases. The same happens to commodities like jute, aluminium, polyester fibre etc. Lower prices increase

Towards Making Hindi The New X-Factor Also published in Movie Talkies http://www.movietalkies.com/news/towards-making-hindi-new-x-factor/ Link to the Hindi version of the same article : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When spoken it resembles Urdu, when written it is like Marathi ; while its origin is Sanskrit, its name itself originated from Persian. Hindi is like the River Ganga. Alaknanda, Mandakini, Bhagirathi have different identities and characteristics, yet they all are ultimately Ganga. Hindi becomes Hindustani, when you add a few Urdu words to it ; pepping it with Urdu phrases, makes it morph into Urdu. With addition of English words, Hindi become Hinglish. Be it any form, the core of Hindi is to provide communication and emotional connect among Indians in India and among South Asians across the world. More than a language, Hindi is a movement. L

हिंदी बने एक एक्स-फेक्टर Also published in Navbharat Times on 9 th Sep 2018. ( on the occasion of Hindi Divas - 14th Sep ) http://epaper.navbharattimes.com/details/808-69551-1.html जब वह बोली जाती है तो उर्दू के निकट लगती है, लिखी जाती है तो मराठी दिखती है । अपना नाम उसे फ़ारसी से मिला है और मूल उसका है संस्कृत । बहु-वर्णीय हमारी हिंदी भाषा - गंगा नदी के समान है। अलकनंदा, मंदाकिनी, भागीरथी जैसी अन्य अलग पहचानें हैं, अलग अलग चरित्र है, फिर भी समग्र रूप से गंगा है।  हिंदी में थोड़े से उर्दू की शब्द मिलने से वह हिंदुस्तानी हो जाती है। नुक़्तों और महावरों से ज़रा शृंगार कर दो तो उसकी शक्ल बदल कर उर्दू की तरह हो जाती है।अंग्रेज़ी शब्दों का मिश्रण करने पर हिंदी हिंग्लिश बन जाती है। किसी भी रूप में हो, हिंदी का काम तो भारत में भारतियों के बीच और दुनिया भार में दक्षिण एशियाइयों के बीच संवाद और भावनात्मक जुड़ाव पैदा करना है। एक भाषा से भी अधिक, हिंदी एक आंदोलन है। भाषाएँ तो इंसासों को बाँट भी सकती हैं, लेकिन आंदोलन लोगों को जोड़ता है। आंदोलन, किसी तयशुदा रास