Alpha Ideas

The Book ‘ Modern Monopolies’ is written by Alex Moazed and Nicholas Johnson who are entrepreneurs and consultants.

The Book is about ‘platforms’ like Google, Amazon etc which are taking over the world.

It contains interesting case studies about Nokia, RIM etc and how these powerful companies collapsed in front of the onslaught of platform cos.

In today’s world , a product ( such as a smartphone) or a software is a commodity. What is valuable are networks – networks of users, transactions or data.

The beautiful thing about platforms is that as networks increase, their utility increases, their marginal cost goes down and they become even more profitable.

Hence it is no surpise that investors love platforms. It is estimated that by 2040, 50% of the S&P 500’s net income will come from platforms.

In India, unfortunately there are hardly any listed companies that are platforms .

I would recommend this book as a good beginners guide to platforms.

The Book ‘Savarkar’ is written by Vikram Sampath, a well known author and Founder- Director of the Bangalore Literature Festival.

As the title suggests, the Book covers the life and times of Savarkar from 1883-1924.

Savarkar is one of the intellectual Giants who have died decades back and yet their thoughts and ideas take center stage even today in India’s politics

In the last Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi bitterly criticized Savarkar. In Maharashtra’s state elections, both Shiv Sena and BJP promised Bharat Ratna to Savarkar. As such , Savarkar is still relevant.

My interest in Savarkar came about in this video clip of beloved PM Vajpayeeji praising Savarkar. Please watch the first Ninety seconds…I have never seen such a powerful tribute to any person ever.

After reading the book, I fully endorse each and every tribute given to Savarkar by Vajpayeeji.

The Book is a very serious biography and is backed by meticulous research.

It beautifully captures the British Raj in India and the abysmal and piteous conditions of the Indians under them.

The author does a masterful job in weaving the narrative and ensuring it remains fast paced.

After reading the Book, one can probably understand why Savarkar is probably more popular in Maharashtra than Mahatma Gandhi .

I would strongly recommend this book to very serious students of history.