Flipkart, Murder, and more

Interesting Reads, Girish Mathrubootham, and Life Updates - Sept 26, 2021

Hi,

Hope you are doing well. Happy to share that this is the 50th edition of my newsletter. I don’t know if I have added value to you, my dear reader, but I am so glad I have been doing this. Today’s book recommendations are:

Big Billion Startup: the Flipkart Story by Mihir Dalal.

Growing up, Flipkart was one of the biggest success stories in the country and was influential in leading many youngsters to set up their own businesses. This book captures the stories of the major players - the Bansals, he IIT Delhi boys who were part of the early team Lee Fixel - the VC legend from Tiger Global who backed them, the transition to newer management, the sale to Walmart, etc... It gives us valuable lessons - like how they hired smart people and let them weave their magic, how they built relationships with distribution firms, and how builders step down to let their companies grow.

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Obsessed with 'learning', I had stopped reading fiction for quite some time. But, there is nothing as engaging as a well written whodunnit. Horowitz in this celebrated book from 2016 gives you a meta-murder story - 2 for the price of 1. Set in an idyllic English village, slow paced yet strewn with twists, this is a great book to ease yourself into a reading habit.

Video Recommendation:

This week, Girish Mathrubootham’s Freshworks listed in the US and has given a huge moral and economic boost to the Indian SAAS and startup system. He was neither a man with super wealthy parents nor was he from one of those colleges where the tag would get you Sequoia funding. Interestingly, he is from Trichy.

This video of his from a couple of years ago is a good introduction to his company and the man himself:

Article Recommendation:

I had drafted this article and scheduled it by 1030 PM yesterday. However, an annoying sprain forced me to wake up early today. I am grateful that happened, as I ended up reading a brilliant article by Vedica Kant on the history of Infosys. Fifty-Two, where this article is hosted posts one article a week on very interesting topics, like - Indian hockey, the NRC, and queer love in India. Unfortunately, while I have not had the time to read many of their long-form articles, I have relished the ones I read.

Life Update:

In a month from now, I will pack my bags and move to Bombay where I will be working with a law firm. Work aside, I want to explore content creation, as it is fun, makes me feel happy, and helps me think wider, deeper, and better. As I had mentioned earlier, this led me to start this newsletter, my blog, and now I am starting a podcast - available on Youtube (Video) and on Anchor (audio). Please do check it out. Every Saturday, I will discuss one book, some trivia, and whatever I found interesting that week. It will soon be out on Spotify and wherever you get your favourite podcasts from.

Here is the Youtube trailer:

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.