Bharat's Fortnightly - May 16th, 2020
Given enough clout, anyone can report. At the same time, not everyone is a journalist
This is the first newsletter I am publishing therefore I will use this to give a sense of the kind of content you may expect from me, in a certain format. So let’s begin.
Capitalism ++
I am a rookie when it comes to equities and shares and have only begun to understand the world of venture capital. There’s a lot to learn and so far this is my understanding. I would explore more in this space.
The economy is a machine that ensures circulation of money. The money can needs to be in constant flow for exchange of value. In an ideal scenario, granting general public immense value you may levy money and accumulate it. Basic Capitalism. But rather just a tender for value exchange, quantified.
A video by legendary hedge fund investor and long time meditator Ray Dalio has been the best explanation of money I have found so far:
I see this video from time to time to improve my understanding.
Here’s Elon Musk explaining what the economy is not in a small video from twitter:
PS: I’m not a 100% capitalist or socialist.
Entrepreneurship (or Startups)
The title is self-explanatory, this will have business practices, startup activities focusing on the world with a focus on NYC.
Cornell Tech finished it’s Open Studio where it extends 4 winners yearly a $100,000 in pre-seed funding for their projects. My personal favorite was Invictus BCI, a startup elevating the prosthetic hand functionality to a near natural functionality using brain computer interaction. This will not only improve the quality of life for thousands of people but also create a great enterprise focused at social good. Vini Tripathii, the co-founder has a mission to change the industry forever.
Here’s a video that starts right at their pitch from the competition. Check it out.
💰Today, GIPHY has been acquired by Instagram for $400M and NYC’s Lerer Hippeau celebrates their exit. Congratulations are in order!
💰Social Networks have made a comeback in Silicon Valley with an app called audio-visual app called clubhouse raising about $10M for a $100M valuation led by Andreesen Horowitz. Read More
Design
Design must be intuitive. If you have worked in tech this is most overused words to be thrown at a designer. Now design really starts with understanding the user and prioritizing their needs. Now traditionally, intuitive design means something from memory, that is familiar. There are chances that users may be accustomed to bad designs! Hence, it is not intuitive. Though, my knowledge is limited I want to propagate instinctive design, Something that the user is familiar with and can work with instantly without a big learning curve.
The iphone set out to make a phone that did not require a user manual, driven by intuitive design. The navigation of a story, tap for next and hold to pause was copied from snapchat to instagram, instinctive design. Something that is instinctive, builds on what currently stands. Instinctive may not be the best design format but It would work in en environment where quick on-boarding or user acquisition is key. In the long run, aiming for intuitive design works.
In both cases, the goal is similar. To reduce friction with users that demands helper content. Since helper content is nothing but design for our deployed design.
Mental Health & Meditation
The coronavirus has isolated everyone to an extent. We are subject to the same surroundings with minimal contact. This definitely has increased mental health problems. While Time reports a 3 times increase in mental distress, many of my friends seem more irritable, anxious and stressed.
TIME: COVID-19's Psychological Toll: Mental Distress Among Americans Has Tripled During the Pandemic Compared to 2018
People around the world know that a mental practice can solve this. Chris Hemsworth & Sri Sri Ravi Shankar are crowd favorites as Goto’s for meditation as reported by Google.
How do you begin to know if you are affected? Start to observe yourself swinging from anger to sadness, an oscillation between frustration to depression usually does the trick.
What to do? 3 things:
Eat Lighter (Since activity is limited) replace chips with fruits and stick to fresher food
Exercise, release the extra energy. Spot jogging for 10 minutes is great for start.
Meditate. Loads of live meditations taking place, pick any that works for you.
Fun Stuff
I’ll sign off every fortnight with these:
A SaaS product I’m excited by
SaaS: Roam Research - An absolutely revolutionary note-taking tool for networked thought.
An indie song recommendation from an upcoming artist & a spotify link.
Music:
Something I streamed on Netflix/Prime or any other platform I recommend
Netflix: Live Shows episode 2. (Jigsaw) by Daniel Sloss
An exception article I read & I believe you must take the time out
Medium: The American Spring by Naval
Let me know what works, what was news to you and what you already knew, what added the most value to your life! If you like this newsletter, Subscribe
& Share with friends!
looking lovingly forward to the mental health section in this time of dire need and always going to wait up for the song recommendations and the rest under the fun stuff coloumn.
good job, keep dong it, its good to refresh and learn the economy once again