Tasty Morsels from Groovy Hubs #6
WhatsApp as a content distribution medium, Learnings from Yes Bank debacle, New weird trend on TikTok
Hi, Lovely people!
I know a few of us are scared of the pandemic that is Corona Virus. Some more than others. The good news is that more than 56% of people who had the virus survived. The mortality rate is less than 3%, which is lower as compared to other deadly illnesses such as SARS & Ebola. People at the other end of the fear spectrum are begging us to look at the exponential growth with which the virus is spreading. It is already prevalent in 71 countries, with over 3100 people dead. Irrespective of where you are in the fear spectrum, the times we live in today are changing. For better or like most of us like to believe worse.
I wanted to address the underlying fear we are collectively facing before I moved onto the other stories in this week's edition.
Changing landscape of distribution mediums for Writers on the Internet
Blogging ushered in an era where people who could write found a medium to express and, more importantly, an audience who would read. Though restricted to the eccentric people at first, more people joined the trend as the mediums became accessible and easy to use. Hundreds of blogging platforms popped up catering to every itch you can think of. Then micro-blogging became a thing with the rising popularity of Twitter. The long-form writing paved the way for brevity, and people who had wit had a field day.
We moved from blogging to micro-blogging platforms and add to it the self-expression social media apps like Instagram and Snapchat.
The new trend is to leverage WhatsApp to deliver your writing. In India, alone WhatsApp has more than 400 million MAU (monthly active users), which is approximately one-third of the Indian population. Take a second to absorb this phenomenal statistic. The leading minds in Indian Tech have started delivering daily newsletters on WhatsApp for a one-time cost. One particular newsletter I would like to highlight is "Keeping up with India," in which Anmol Maini, a techie in the US who works for Fast, writes about startups from India and the world. Anmol leveraged the marketing strategy of scarcity by opening only a few slots per week for people to subscribe.
More than a decade ago, Wired editor Kevin Kelly wrote an essay called "1,000 True Fans," predicting that the Internet would allow a broad set of people to make a living off their creations. The new insight is that 100 is the sweet spot. It looks like we are ushering into a new era, again.
The Yes Bank debacle & the life learnings it brings us
RBI put Yes Bank under a moratorium (restricting deposits and withdrawal activity) on March 5. This act led to chaos in the fintech space of India. PhonePe was the most affected as they had put all their apples in one basket, by partnering only with YesBank instead of multi-bank partners. Heroically, PhonePe was able to resurrect their service within 24 hours by changing their system to link to their new partner ICICI. What does this debacle teach us, though?
Diversify - Never rely on a single source when you can have multiple sources. Be it an investment, banking partners, data sources, always look at multi-channel support than a single channel.
Fundamentals - If the inflow of money is slow because of non-performing assets (NPA for banks and salary for individuals), then the outflow of money (loans for banks and spending for individuals) should be more deliberate.
Nobody will solve your problem - Yes Bank was wooing investors to provide them with a lifeline of credit to stay afloat and turn the tide. After talking to many potential investors, including a HongKong investor group, the money never arrived. Instead of waiting for someone else to come and solve your problem, it is best if we clean our house on our own. This learning cuts too close to reality.
Did you know?
People on TikTok are live streaming themselves sleeping in the comfort of their homes. If that isn't weird, they are earning money by doing it. Turns out people who watch these live streams use the TikTok's live chat feature and turn it into a chat room to talk with strangers. Read more about this crazy phenomenon in the NY times article.
In addition to the stories here are my recommendations for the week:
Product: Mailbrew helps you set up automated newsletters on things you love. Instead of spending time scrolling through the endless scroll of Twitter, you can set criteria and let the tweets come to you in an email. I have set up a few of these newsletters and already see a lot of value in reading them.
Video: Why new diseases keep appearing in China I was not clicking on the video though this was being recommended to you for some time now. I was afraid it is going to be a racist or an Asia Phobic video. It turns out facts and logic back it. Watch it to understand the wild animal trade and wet markets of China.
Quote, I loved reading this week:
Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere. —Jean Rhys
Thank you to everyone who reads the newsletter every week. Every edition is an attempt to improve and deliver more value. I started the newsletter to offer morsels of insights that otherwise are hidden in the long-form articles across the Internet.
If you find value in reading this newsletter, I request you to forward this to a friend who might enjoy reading it. And, as always, if you have feedback or comments, please respond to the email. Thank you!
Have a great rest of the week.
Until next time,
Adi Patil