7 Things I Have Learned From Startup Founders
In my day to day advisory interactions with new age businesses, including clients, acquaintances, referrals and friends, there is much I have learned. Hope the gist of these learnings will help refine your own thought process while building a #startup
Building a Fintech? 8 Counter Questions to Avoid Strategic Blunders
A workable Strategy for a Fintech requires a balance of creativity grounded in basics. I share a 3 line gist of some 8 long and interesting conversations with Fintechs with the hope is that this triggers some introspection and helps refine their strategy
What is Tapering and Quantitative Easing?
US Fed Reserve has recently indicated the need for ‘Tapering’ owing to inflationary pressure. Not long ago we were hearing ‘Quantitative Easing’.
We demystify both these terms in simple words.
RBI accepts key recommendations of IWG
RBI has accepted 21 key recommendations given by Internal Working Group (IWG) in November 2020. This is a quick summary of most significant points
Promoters in Indian Banks- A quick look at Guidelines, Data and twists!
A quick look at RBI guidelines and some data on Promoter holding in Indian Banks. Rules are rules, but RBI knows there is a need for some pragmatism too. So we have all kind of banks- with promoters, promoter-less and foreign promoters!
How much Cash is there in the economy? A Quick look at data from India and World
A quick look at data on Currency in circulation in India and the world. While the Currency in Circulation (CIC) as a % of GDP is a good indicator, it has its own limitations. Overall Cash in the economies, the world over, has been increasing.
Lessons from Archegos Capital : Quick story
Archegos Capital (AC), a New York based family office, was in news recently for its inability to meet margin calls by lenders. Wall Street was jittery reminiscing the nightmares of LTCM. Media stocks like Viacom tumbled 25-30% while marquee Investment Banks like Nomura and Credit Suisse indicated significant losses. We cut through the clutter of media reports, deep dived, simplified the story and picked a lesson or two for us bankers.
Where is my ATM: A look at data on India’s ATM network
India has lagged behind the world in increasing ATM network. While the network grew from 1 Lakh ATMs in 2012 to 2.35 Lakhs in 202, it was still low. Building physical infra is always a costly affair!
In this storyboard, we looked at deep dived into data and got everything you need to understand India’s ATM story, at one place.
Banking Frauds in India: A look at Data and its revelations
Frauds have been Bank’s Achilles heel for time immemorial. FY20 saw a astonishing 160% rise in the reported frauds over previous year. This is despite the increased regulatory oversight, use of technology and increasing digitisation of data. But seems the fraudsters move one step ahead of the system. But there are some twists in the tale. In this storyboard we looked at the reported data for Indian Banks, deep dived and found some interesting observations.
Global Central Bank Policy Rates
From – 0.75% (Switzerland) to almost Zero in most of Europe to around 4% in India, Central Banks in most economies remain accommodative. Although inflation mostly remains benign, some high inflation economies like Argentina (38%) and Venezuela (39%), have their plates overflowing with challenges. While the GDP projections are encouraging, whether cheaper credit can fuel a rebound in economic activity, remains to be seen.