Thread by @raunak246

Notes from @paraschopra and @kunalb11's podcast:

1) Two kinds of startups: One that increases efficiency in existing behaviour, and the other that creates new behaviours.

2) In absence of future data, we use conventional status signals to indicate trust, be it money, power, good-looks or degrees. Quite weirdly "wasting money" signals massive status.

3) Bootstrapping your way through status requires popularity, since most monetization models require massive distribution. For example, an athlete becomes famous for his sport and then earns through endorsements.

4) A lack of strong father figures in life leads to you chasing someone else on the world to play that role, be it "babas", politicians, or other people with high status and psychological control

5) Need for immortality is to constantly propagate your genes through mating. Therefore polygamy is inherent to our biology, but monogamy is enforced to ensure civil behaviour in society.

6) Humans are designed to create inequality. The only choice is what kind of inequality do you want to exist?
Status inequality is zero-sum, wealth inequality is far better for prosperity.

7) Communism ultimately creates economic devastation. South Korea and North Korea is a simple example of how economic orientation changes the wealth of a country.

8) The secret behind building trust like Tata, is the conscious choice of investing money in the future of India, like education, hospitals and job-creation. Once trust is built, low-trust societies reward you with massive status.

9) India has islands fo trust, concentrated in specific communities, like diamond merchants, and Kachchi shopkeepers. However, we lack the ability to scale trust.

10) What's tricky about India is that we don't have a clear identity and goal. We tend to have pride in our past, but no paranoia about the future. That makes the masses delusional and therefore incompetent to act in the present or build for the future.

11) Demonstration os success creates trust, which unlocks opportunities for further demonstration of success. The loop goes on, and that's just the way it is. Hating people and complaining doesn't do you any favours.