Wedding is now the 2nd biggest industry in India, next only to grocery

In fact, Indians spend more on their child's wedding than 18 yrs of education

But how can a one-time event like wedding rival needs like grocery & education?

THREAD: How weddings became a show of wealth🧵 The Ambani wedding bash is the talk of the town

— they spent more than a whopping Rs. 500 crores on this event!

And while not all of us were on the Ambani guest list, we are all familiar with the BIG FAT Indian weddings as most of us have been to at least one!

In 2019, Yogi Adityanath was sad that NCR citizens had to struggle with traffic in & out of Delhi Airport

So he set out to build an international airport near Noida

The crazy part? It's going to be Asia's largest & world's 4th largest airport!

THREAD: here’s the master plan🧵 Noida International Airport (NIA) is being constructed in Jewar, Uttar Pradesh — to the south of Greater Noida.

The Airport has a 4 phase master plan to handle 70 million passengers annually when it is fully developed.

In June, OLA Electric got a nod from SEBI to IPO

But why are they listing OLA Electric, which is burning cash & not OLA Cabs, which is profitable?

The Crazy Part? It has only ₹1100 Cr left in the bank but is burning ₹250 Cr a month!

THREAD: Why OLA Electric is going public🧵 After Maruti Suzuki’s 2003 IPO, OLA Electric (OE) is set to be India’s first automaker in 2 decades to go public.

With a green flag from SEBI, OE is likely to list on the stock exchange later this year or early the next.

In 2017, a startup set out to help India file taxes online

The biggest problem? Even if honest taxpayers want to file taxes, the process is extremely hard

And one mistake can result in a scary tax notice!

THREAD: how TaxBuddy is democratising professional tax filing🧵 If you review the lists of the most dreadful tasks that you do, tax filing would definitely make it to the top.

And you see it coming since it’s the tax season.

You’re suddenly surrounded by paperwork & deadlines, and the pressure is starting to build up.

In the 1980s, Japan was on its way to beat the US and become a superpower

Major Japanese companies like Toyota and Sony swallowed the global markets

But then came a period of crisis known as THE LOST DECADE which broke its spirit

THREAD: why Japan never became a superpower🧵 More often than not, we talk about the crisis that took place in the US, Europe and South Asian countries,

— but most of us are not even aware of the crisis that brought the economy of the land of the rising sun into darkness.

Last year, Tim Cook visited India to open India's 1st Apple store

But why fly 13000km for a store-opening? Because these are no ordinary stores

These are Steve Jobs' greatest invention, even bigger than iPhone!

THREAD: Why you'll never see shopping the same way again🧵 Apple — the world's most innovative and ingenious technology company is also the most successful retailer of our time!

It's a bold claim, we know. But it's not if it is true.

So, without wasting time, let's see from the beginning:

Volkswagen is one of the most valuable car makers on earth

Yet, most of its money doesn’t come from Volkswagen-branded cars

Instead, most of it comes from its other brands like Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, and Porsche

THREAD: How Volkswagen consolidated the luxury car market🧵 Volkswagen (VW) was first established in 1937 by the German Labour Front as a nationalistic campaign with the aim to have a car in every German household.

Engineering during WW2 was a state-funded and streamlined effort in Germany,

India is the 2nd largest consumer of tobacco on earth

In fact, it’ll become a ₹6L crore market by 2032 inspite of deaths

The crazy part? North East men are the highest consumers of tobacco beating UP & Bihar

THREAD: why tobacco is growing & why isn’t the govt. banning it🧵 “Shauq Badi Cheez Hai”? Is that why pan masala is being promoted as a mark of sophistication & style?

And yeah “Bolo Zuban Kesari”! Because ofcourse stained mouth is really a badge of honor for us!

Well, maybe this is the downside of being an aspirational population after all.

Last month, OYO withdrew its IPO papers

And is now raising a round at a $2.5 Bn valuation, down 75% from its peak $10 Bn valuation back in 2019

The crazy part? The company just posted its first annual net profit of ₹100 Cr!

THREAD: How OYO’s profitability hurt its valuation🧵 The famous branded network of hotels, OYO, was valued at a staggering $10 billion in 2019 and clocked its first ever profitable year in FY24.

So, what caused OYO's valuation to be slashed by over 75% to just $2.3 billion, even though it finally turned profitable?

India is half the size of the US and yet, India has only 1 timezone while the US has 6

And we are losing 4.1 billion dollars every year due to this

The crazy part? Before Independence, India used to have 3 time zones

THREAD: Why India needs more timezones 🧵 Before Independence India had 3 time zones. Bombay Time, Calcutta Time, and Madras Time.

Bombay Time and Calcutta Time were used to help traders make use of the daylight.

The Madras Time was set up so that Railway companies could follow one time zone.

In 2023, 43% people in the US & 10% people in China paid income tax

In contrast, only 1.5% people in India paid income tax

The crazy part? A mere 0.3% of Indians account for 80% of the total tax collected!

THREAD: Why do so few Indians pay direct taxes & how we can fix it🧵 The figure—1.5%—is not just small; its shocking & disheartening! It raised some significant doubts in our minds.

The buzz surrounding the recent Indus Valley Report published by Blume Ventures prompted us to delve deeper into the topic.

Chess is a boring sport & yet Indians are going CRAZY over it

In fact, Chess(.)com has a 100M users & earns $100M+ a year!

The crazy part? Some high-profile chess matches have even surpassed the viewership of some cricket matches!

THREAD: How Chess became mainstream in India🧵 Not long ago, chess was just a board game for nerds.

But now, it is the new ‘big thing’ — so much so that you find people playing chess during class, while shopping, before bed, and in virtually every other pocket of time they can find in the day.

Skincare lovers HATE Mamaearth & people find its quality bad

And yet its parent company HONASA is valued at a staggering $1.2 billion

The CRAZY part? Mamaearth might not even be the main reason for HONASA’s success!

THREAD: how HONASA became the skincare industry's KINGMAKER🧵 Mamaearth is a consumer-product brand that was started as a baby-care product company by Varun & Ghazal Alagh in 2016.

Mamaearth appealed to mothers & built trust through its baby-safe products by delivering safer alternatives to those offered by Johnson & Johnson and Himalaya.

In 2019 4 friends began a newsletter startup in their college dorm

All of them had doubts about succeeding

But to their SHOCK, a silly video made them viral & caught Nithin Kamath’s eye, leading to 40 Cr investment

THREAD: How Finshots’ Ditto is changing the insurance sector🧵 We have to understand that insurance is a very complex sector in India, with many moving parts and complications.

So, when a group of college students started out, they didn’t aim to disrupt the insurance industry.

90% of Americans have never heard of a sport called cricket

And out of the 10% who do, only 1% know the rules of the game

Then why are they hosting the 2024 T20 World Cup?

THREAD: Decoding Cricket’s American Dream🧵 Look at this clip from Joe Rogan’s podcast that went viral last year.

In 2008, SpaceX changed the world as a private startup by launching cheap rockets

But now India’s Agnikul is making them even cheaper using 3D printing!

The crazy part? They just launched world’s 1st 3D-printed rocket engine!

THREAD: How Agnikul is becoming SpaceX of India🧵 Cheaper rockets were a dream for America until Elon & the gang proved to the world that it could be possible.

Meanwhile, in India, ISRO was also slowly creating a local ecosystem for cheaper space equipment suppliers without even realizing it.

Nandini Dairy is sponsoring Ireland & Scotland’s jerseys in this T20 World Cup

But why is a local Indian dairy sponsoring other low-ranked cricketing nations?

The crazy part? It doesn’t even operate in Ireland or Scotland!

THREAD: How Nandini Dairy is playing a masterstroke 🏏 There was a huge backlash in Karnataka when their local dairy decided to spend money on this.

That’s when Nandini came out with a statement, saying that they are doing this because they are entering the US market with a whey-based energy drink called ‘Nandini Splash’.

In most exit polls, the NDA is securing a majority with over 272 seats at the Lok Sabha

Now it seems clear that PM Modi is getting another term!

THREAD: everything you need to know about his plans for the next 5 years🧵 India being the 3rd largest economy seemed like a distant dream at first, but now, transforming this dream into reality is not only a vision but a firm commitment under Narendra Modi’s leadership.

Until 1970, Europe dominated the shipbreaking market

But because it’s one of the most dangerous jobs, they dumped it on Asians

The crazy part? India now accounts for 50% of global shipbreaking activity

THREAD: What makes India the most profitable destination for shipbreaking🧵 Ships, the silent giants & guardians of our civilization, connect our entire planet & shape the course of our world.

From raw materials to finished goods, from refugees to medical supplies

— these vessels traverse the oceans & weave the intricate web of international commerce.

IPL is beating English Premier League & all the other football leagues in the world by a huge margin!

But when football is watched by 4 billion people globally and cricket is watched by only 2 billion people,

then how is IPL doing better?

THREAD: Here's why this is happening🧵 Look at the per match cost of broadcasting rights of the major sporting leagues in the world.

IPL is clearly seen beating football’s biggest league, the EPL.

And the reason is not population, as more people worldwide watch football than cricket.

In 1968, India launched its first condom to control the rising population

It FAILED as nobody wanted to bring a piece of rubber to their bedroom

But a shift in marketing has now made condoms a $508 million industry

THREAD: How condoms went from a medical to a sensual product🧵 Population growth isn’t a problem anymore as India is already the most populous country in the world and, in the next few decades,

we are going to see a sharp decline in the population because India’s total birth rate has fallen below replacement level.