FinFloww

Kolkata was once supposed to be India’s Silicon Valley, not Bengaluru. The city had everything going for it: Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata ran India’s first electronic computer in the 1950s, Webel was building an electronics hub by the 1980s, and the city already had colonial‑era advantages like early electricity, telegraphs, railways and a major port backing a dense belt of elite colleges and industry. On paper, this should have been the place where India’s tech story took off. Instead, Bengal’s politics went to war with computers. The CPM government spent the 70s and 80s backing protests against computerisation in banks and offices because they feared computers would eliminate jobs. The message to business was very clear: if you bring technology here, you will face resistance. While this fear was driving policy in Bengal, Bengaluru and Hyderabad were opening their doors to the same companies. So the big IT parks, global tech campuses, startup activity, and serious capital flowed there, not to Kolkata. And once that happens, it is very hard to catch up. Regions that resist new technology suffer from what economists call “technology diffusion failure”: early adopters keep getting compounding benefits from knowledge spillovers, while laggards fall further and further behind. When an ecosystem settles in places like Bengaluru, network effects and skills start to lock in those advantages, and late entrants face higher costs, weaker local talent pools, and capital quietly moving elsewhere. TMC arrived promising to correct this. And some IT investment did come in; the state talks of around ₹14,000 crore in IT and new parks in Salt Lake and New Town. But Bengal still did not become the first choice for large product companies or global tech hubs, because the deeper issue remained: investors had seen how politics could suddenly turn against a project. The best example of that is Singur, where Mamata Banerjee’s agitation forced the Tata Nano plant out of Bengal. That is exactly what can finally change now. When Tata left Singur, Gujarat under Narendra Modi showed what a pro-industry state can do by turning the same project into a showcase at Sanand. If the newly forming BJP government brings that same investor-friendly mindset to Bengal, the pitch to companies changes in a very practical way.

That’s a very good insight. Even founder led growth was a small window. Now if a founder is too involved in building a personal brand they feel like a try hard. Too much salesy. It becomes worse when VCs do it because they can’t help but make it feel very preachy. One good way of going about it is by making it look nonchalant (even if you’re making an effort). Make it look like you’re simply sharing your notes. Or airing discussions that you usually have (peak example Nikhil Kamath)

the worst thing VCs can do is to become content creators.

@aryan_kochhar MBA is expensive, but does have an ROI if the college is prestigious. Do you think that’ll change in sometime and education will become a non-concept? Or something like the Network School will take over.

Most people in their mid twenties going for post grad, MBA or any other useless qualification are simply trying to delay real life from happening to them. Because the truth is they won’t be able to take it.

Zero-posting is signalling higher status than someone who is too much out there. When everyone is an influencer, nobody is. That exclusivity and less posting is also being rewarded by the algorithm apparently. Someone who is posting a lot is getting okayish reach. But someone who seldom posts is more sought after. This goes against traditional thinking of consistency on socials. Just a few insights we collected from our own Insta and our some of the brands we work with.

@aryan_kochhar MBA is expensive, but does have an ROI if the college is prestigious. Do you think that’ll change in sometime and education will become a non-concept? Or something like the Network School will take over.

Its like asking it’s 2026 and you still use an iPhone? RE is clearly the iPhone of bikes in India. They’ll have that status because the company is extremely dedicated for its mission. The products are built to make you feel premium, when everyone else is creating mass products. As our country’s disposable income increases, RE will be the best mass-premium play.

Its 2026 and people still ride Royal Enfield????? Why????

the sudden downfall of Instagram needs to be studied. People only post on stories these days. What happened ?

@RaoSumukh Became something of a status play over regular Nestlé in certain households. And apparently, it has strong word of mouth. Status may have been the initial driver, but people might actually be enjoying it.

Genuinely curious: Why is Davidoff instant coffee so popular? This shit is also needlessly expensive. Head to a coffee shop, pick some nice beans as per your preferred roast and undertones, get them ground for a filter/moka pot/french press, and enjoy real coffee.

Raghav Chadha never wanted to join BJP! Because he was so close to cracking something no other politician was able to do in the last 15 years. He saw that if a country elects someone as Prime Minister thrice, they really have to love him. If they are getting him in power again and again, he has to be doing something right. Now, if you criticize everything he’s doing,  It's a pattern that voters will ultimately see through. And once they do, they'll take the opposition to be destructive. This happens because the current opposition focuses entirely on Position issues. These are highly debatable topics, that have a for the motion and an against the motion. But these issues polarisé. And hence, they shrink the audience. Like Kejriwal’s brand of politics divides the voters. You either hate him or love him. So Raghav devised a very strategic plan countering exactly this dilemma. He focused on something called as Valence issues  These are issues that have consensus from all sides. Like better working conditions for Blinkit & Zepto riders. These issues bring people together. For the first time in 15 years, someone was able to create a worthy opposition against PM Modi.

“My friend” for Donald Trump is back. This and the Hormuz part shows that India isn’t using the traditional Non-Aligned position in the on-going US-Iran war. It’s taken a Multi-Aligned position. India has never been against Iran during the course of this war. This also makes India the only powerful country to be able to make a point that the other side, Iran, will take seriously. Donald Trump might use India’s help with Hormuz and business side of this war.

Received a call from my friend President Donald Trump. We reviewed the substantial progress achieved in our bilateral cooperation in various sectors. We are committed to further strengthening our Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership in all areas. We also discussed the situation in West Asia and stressed the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and secure. @POTUS @realDonaldTrump

The interesting thing is, when in the market, almost all teams are sold for roughly around the same price. We saw that with RCB and RR. Because through his brand value no team has actually been able to make much money. Indians don’t allocate much of their purse to cricket. But they do allocate their time. That’s why major money is made through broadcasting rights, that are shared by all teams. No differentiation. So the real value isn’t in the franchise itself, but IPL as a tournament.

Mumbai Indians was bought for $111M in January 2008 by RIL RCB was sold for $2B in 2026, and MI with 5 IPL titles should be worth at least 20% more At a valuation of $2.5B, it has 20x in 18 years beating Reliance's 3.6x since Jan 2008 "Expensive" bet now huge

@aryan_kochhar Bro and his team have completely different views:

Just got to know the writer of Ramayana the movie is Shridhar Raghavan. His best works include Pathaan, War, War 2, Tiger 3, Chandini Chowk to China.

People are really pissed with Ranbir Kapoor’s Ramayan Because its first look was launched in Los Angeles USA, instead of India But why are we appeasing foreigners for our own heritage? If you combine India’s biggest films Dhurandhar 1 and 2’s collection, you’d see till date it's earned around Rs 3000 crore. Whereas Ramayana alone carries a ₹4000 crore budget. So was LA just to recover this cost? Well, not completely. As Indians, Ramayan is our heritage. But not for the rest of the world. So this Ramayan was designed for the world from day 1. Because for the longest time, India has been a consumer of global cinema. But Ramayana is an attempt to make the world consume our history. That’s why they brought in Hans Zimmer, and built the VFX to match films like The Avengers and Avatar. So that when the entire world watches India’s legacy,  it doesn’t feel like just another regional movie. It becomes India's answer to Avatar and Marvel. And to get the world to buy a ticket, you have to give them a reason to care. The test screening in LA was that reason. This is the same place where even Marvel test their films. A controlled room filled with distributors and theatre chains watching early footage and giving feedback, Hence creating the initial buzz it needs.

@jammypants4 The storyline is predictable though..

Ranbir Kapoor unintentionally giving movie spoilers will remain consistent lol!

@aryan_kochhar So many tweets from you on Dhurandhar, Ranveer and Ramayana. What’s cooking?

I think we should be happy that both Ranveer Singh and Ranbir Kapoor are from India. They’ll not remain Indian massy fame superstars, they’ll make India conquer the world’s narrative building. They’ll rule the next 2 decades.

A cameraman is clearly visible in this shot from Dhurandhar the Revenge But how could the King of Peak Detailing, Aditya Dhar, make such a silly mistake? You can see the same thing in The Dark Knight. Or in the Matrix. And even in Harry Potter. These are mistakes that deliberately stayed in. The question is why? Aren’t directors like Nolan, and even Dhar, obsessed with removing imperfection? Actually, NO. See, films aren’t products where polishing every edge makes them better. When you enter a theatre, you know whatever’s being shown is an illusion, Yet to make you feel it’s real, The film has to preserve something deeper than visual neatness. It's capturing the moment and preserving the integrity of that moment first. Authenticity is true perfection for filmmakers. Dhar could have easily reshot the scene from another angle. But thank god he didn’t! Because that preserved the raw build-up of emotions between Jassii and Pinda. Fixing a micro-second glitch meant risking to dilute that lived-in feeling. And who knows, this might not be a mistake at all, But the artist’s’ flair And a subtle homage by Aditya Dhar, the king of peak detailing! To another master of the craft, Christopher Nolan. If you want more such pieces on your feed, follow @FinFloww.

When asked about buying an IPL franchise in Nikhil Kamath’s podcast, Kumar Mangalam Birla said he’s not really into it because it’s a question of capital allocation. There’s better opportunities elsewhere. Probably what changed is the fact that RCB’s brand at the $2 B mark might be a great value buy.

RCB might have to change its name. Because the name Royal Challengers Bengaluru was supposed to promote the Royal Challenge Whiskey sold by its current owner Diageo. But now RCB is on sale. And whoever buys it next will end up in a dilemma. It's the legacy trap Vijay Mallya set at the start of the IPL. If the new owners keep the name Royal Challengers Bengaluru, they’ll basically be running a free marketing campaign. That too for an alcohol brand they don’t even own. But if they change it, they risk a steep collapse in brand value. Because you can’t recreate the same connection fans built with the original name.  At least not that fast. But there’s a way around this problem. See, most people relate with the abbreviation RCB. So why not retain that but change the full form to Royal Champions of Bengaluru. It’ll take away the explicit connection with Royal Challenge whiskey. And it's actually the perfect way to describe the team’s journey. Because when they are already the reigning champions of IPL, there’s no better time for Royal Challengers to become the Royal Champions of Bengaluru.

RCB sold to Birlas! Great move.

Iran just blocked the busiest oil highway on Earth, Strait of Hormuz. To put that in context, 20% of the world’s oil and gas move through this narrow lane every day. And because there is no real alternative route if it gets blocked, energy agencies rightfully call it one of the world’s most critical chokepoints. But why should you care? Because oil is unlike any other commodity. It affects petrol, diesel, electricity generation, manufacturing, transport, food prices and even government budgets. If supply through Hormuz slows or stops, prices jump instantly because markets price in risk before shortages even happen. For India specifically, nearly half of India’s crude imports move through this route. So when prices go up: • Fuel becomes more expensive • Goods cost more to produce and transport • Food and travel inflation rise • Governments have to spend more on oil imports Follow along @FinFloww for more updates on how this new-age gulf war will affect you.