Vishishtha Upul’s Post

What kind of entertainment do you prefer- Sinister and Evil or Virtuous and Good? The landscape of entertainment is vast and surprisingly diverse. While Disney out there continues to produce some of the most heartwarming movies, British company Jagged Edge Productions specialises in making budget horror reboots of classic nursery-rhyme, and mythological characters like Jack and Jill and Humpty Dumpty. In 2022, the copyright on A.A. Milne’s original Winnie the Pooh character had expired. What followed next was the release of a horror film called “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.” It was a box office success with a 60X return. As we entered 2024, the earliest version of Mickey Mouse came into the public domain. The trailer for a Mickey Mouse horror film has already dropped, along with a Mickey-inspired horror video game. I find it fascinating (and a bit shocking) how human interests span such a broad spectrum, allowing us to appreciate both the light-hearted and the macabre. Does the thought of your favorite childhood characters being ruined upset you (I was absolutely horrified)? Or do you enjoy seeing them in a different and darker avatar? #business #movies #copyright #horror #disney

As we turn the page from 2023 to 2024 today, I hope we can all focus our attention on what truly matters to each of us this year. Wishing you a joyous New Year, everyone!

Google is a monopoly. You heard that right. Google has monopoly in the Android app distribution markets and in-app billing services. Last week, I wrote about the landmark Epic vs Google trial. To recap, Epic took Google to court for 2 main reasons - 💰 They weren't happy with the high commissions charged on all transactions through the Play Store. 🚫 They were against the provision of Play Store being the only method for in-app payments with all other third party PGs being blocked. The outcome of the trial is in and Epic has won. Surprisingly, Epic had taken Apple to court for the same reasons in 2021 and Apple had won. If the issue is the same, why the disparity in outcomes? Apple has a closed ecosystem. This means iOS is not used by any OEM other than Apple. Hence, it can't be called a monopoly. However, Android is different. There are a lot of different smartphone makers who install Android as the default OS on their devices. The evidence presented in the trial proved that Google struck secret deals with OEMs that use Google’s Android system to power their phones to make Play Store, along with its search engine and voice assistant, the default on the company’s mobile devices. This has been deemed anti-competitive by the court as it stifled competition. Epic didn't sue for monetary damages. All it wanted was for the court to allow app developers to introduce their own app stores and billing systems on Android. Despite the win by Epic, will we really see radical changes in the Play Store system or is Google going to get away with another sweet deal? Well, we will have to wait until January to find out. #business #technology #antitrust #google #epic PS- If you want to read more, you can find the link to the posts I had written about the trial in the comments.

What's the cure-all to all societal challenges? Innovation. Isn't that what we all believe?   While visionary ideas, in tandem with a robust execution plan, can indeed change the world, recent years have witnessed the emergence of the "Shiny wrapper, Empty box" dilemma. Swayed by flashy presentations and eye-catching visuals, venture capitalists end up investing hundreds of millions of dollars into projects, propelling entrepreneurs to stardom, unfortunately, with little or no value created. We have seen numerous stories of meaningless innovation in recent years. For a recap, just take a look at the Forbes Hall of Shame—a list of entrepreneurs who were featured in Forbes, only to later be revealed as shams. But why does this keep happening? Is it because, as a society, we have collectively started encouraging "the appearance of innovation" more than "innovation" itself? #technology #business #innovation #entrepreneur

How would you feel if you found out someone else paid a lower price than you for the same service? Angry? Unfair? That was the sentiment after some shocking revelations in the ongoing Epic vs Google lawsuit. But before delving into that, let's recap. Yesterday, I wrote about the Epic vs. Google & Apple lawsuit over in-app purchases (or IAP) payment processing fees. In-app purchases (IAPs) are one of the primary models of monetization for app publishers. An in-app purchase is any fee in addition to the cost of downloading the app on a smartphone. These include purchases made to access: 🚫 Ad-free content 🎮 Virtual goods like themes in a game 💳 Regular subscriptions Every time a user makes an IAP, the Apple and Google Play Store collect a fee. Developers refer to this as the app tax. And not everyone wants to pay it. That's what the Epic vs. Apple/Google lawsuit is about. In general, this is the kind of fee structure they have: 💰 15% from all app payments that generate < US $1 million 💰 30% from all app payments that generate > US $1 million But the recent lawsuit revealed a couple of interesting facts: 🎬 Google tried to offer Netflix a special discounted rate of just 10% for the exclusive use of its payment system, but Netflix refused. Netflix no longer offers an IAP option on Android. 🎵 Spotify only had to pay a 4% commission on what it earned from users (as opposed to the standard rates) who chose to make payments via Google. It has already dropped support for Apple’s App Store billing system This has raised a few questions about Google's practices. Is offering a special price to a preferred partner really unethical? Or is keeping it a secret unethical? Maybe this is simply the leverage that the giants of the game have due to their deep pockets and massive influence. #business #technology #appstore #Google #Apple #payments

When trying to understand a business, this is probably the most important question you need to understand- What market is the business operating in? Why? Because well, the market defines basically everything. The battle of Epic Games against the fees charged by app stores on Android and iOS has underscored this point yet again. Let me give you a quick recap. 🎮 Epic Games is the game studio behind Fortnite, an extremely popular game. It is free to play and makes money via in-game purchases. 📱 If the player installed the game through an official app store on their Android or iOS device, the purchase triggered an in-app payment fee to Google or Apple 💰 On August 13, 2020, unknown to either Google or Apple, Fortnite deployed an update which let users directly make purchases through its own payment processing option at a discount. ⚖️ Apple and Google retorted by kicking Fortnite off their app stores. In retaliation, Fortnite sued both Google and Apple in separate lawsuits for their alleged monopoly. Now when we talk about monopoly, the question comes down to "Which market is the company operating in?" The Epic vs Apple lawsuit took place in 2021. Epic claimed that Apple had a monopoly in the "iOS Mobile App ecosystem". Apple claimed that Epic was operating in the "digital game market" where Apple wasn't a monopoly. The judge ruled that the conflict wasn't about the gaming space or app ecosystem, it was about "digital gaming transactions". And while Apple did have a considerable market share, it could not be labelled a monopoly. The Epic vs Google lawsuit is currently taking place in 2023. And this time, Epic is fighting Google's alleged monopoly over Android app store. Google claims the market is "app stores on smartphones" which makes Apple its competitor, thereby dismissing any claims of monopoly. It will all boil down to what the decision makers consider the relevant market. The verdict will define the future of the Android Play Store. Meanwhile, the The Epic vs Google lawsuit has surprisingly drawn out a lot of skeletons from everyone's closet. Those make for some juicy topics on business and technology. I will be covering those in my subsequent posts this week, so keep a look out. #business #technology #appstore #monopoly #payments #Android #ios

I have decided to pledge 10 lakhs to eliminate climate change. Sounds far fetched? Well, let me tell you another story. You can then decide which is more believable. The United Nations climate conference, COP28, is underway right now where the future of fossil fuels is being decided. The goal is to phase out fossils with the major push coming from the less-wealthy countries who have been facing the brunt of climate disasters Well, we are not going to do away with all fossil fuels. The use of coal, oil, and gas can continue as long as there's a mechanism to capture the CO2 emissions. (There's no evidence that the technologies used for this purpose will be effective at scale.) 🇦🇪 The conference is being hosted by the United Arab Emirates, one of the world's top oil producing nations. This is a country whose GDP relies on oil and gas- 30% directly and the rest indirectly via other industries such as airlines, tourism or construction, all of which are heavily linked to fossil fuel consumption. It has one of the world’s highest emissions rates per capita — even greater than Australia and the US. 👑 Also, the conference is being led by Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. Do you really think the conference is promising? Isn't it futile to let the very person and country who invest heavily in the fossil fuel industry lead the talk to eliminate fossil fuels? That's like a woodcutter advocating against deforestation. In addition, a whistleblower has come forward to reveal that the UAE has plans to strike new oil and gas deals with foreign governments during the conference. I am not surprised at all. Are you? What do you believe? #business #sustainability #technology #greenwashing #climatechange #cop28

You know what they say about mistakes—making them is human, but owning up to them is when real learning happens. Forbes has done exactly that by publishing a list of 10 individuals previously featured on its 30 under 30 list, who were later found to be tainted by multiple allegations. Forbes expressed regret, wishing they could retract their earlier statements. This hall of shame includes entrepreneurs across diverse domains, from finance and pharma to real estate. Some were young individuals who compromised their ethics in running the show, while others shrewdly manipulated stocks and duped investors with catchy pitches. The key lesson here revolves around the role of integrity in running a business. However, a broader question looms—now that Forbes has owned up to its mistakes, will they ensure a comprehensive deep dive before featuring individuals on the 30 under 30 list, or are we destined to see a similar list a decade from now? #business #technology #enterpreneurship #ethics

Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Day by day, and at the end of the day-if you live long enough-like most people, you will get out of life what you deserve. This particular piece of advice stands out as my favorite among the countless priceless lessons imparted by Charlie Munger throughout his life. To the man who lived to be 99, experiencing everything from The Great Depression and World War II to the COVID pandemic, you were truly a walking talking book with 2 legs sticking out. Your legacy will continue to reverberate through time, shaping the understanding of life for generations to come. Rest in peace, Charlie Munger! #business #investing #wisdom

Are you an expert in Girl Math? If you have been on Instagram recently, you might have come across reels talking about "Girl Math". "Girl Math" started as a trend featuring women talking about their internal feminine logic they use to make certain everyday decisions. It started off as a joke, and then entered "Boy Math", the equivalent for men. And somehow, a lighthearted joke became a commentary on gender and stereotypes. I am not going to debate what that signifies or whether such a portrayal is right or wrong. I am more curious about this post by an influencer asking for a highly trained specialist on "Girl Math." What does it even mean? What qualifications do you need? Do you need to have watched all the reels on this topic to be called a specialist? Or do you need to know about the origin of this trend and its evolution through time (time refers to days in Instagram land)? Or should you have created reels on this topic to qualify as a specialist? I am amused by the requirement. People don't even become highly trained specialists after years of study and training, but well here we are. What a world to be living in! #technology #trending #girlmath #socialmedia