infotonic

The more things change, its turn out to be the  same as it ever was.  A new book about the history of work reveals that today’s workers have much in common with all those who have come before them over the past 12,000 years.  People’s appetites drive them to produce more than they need, and they build political and economic institutions to help them do it. Then those institutions drive them to do more. NYT ( see the story in the link)  also talks about  Gluttons for punishment.  We work so much because we want so much. That was anthropologist James Suzman’s conclusion after studying hunter-gatherers in the Kalahari Desert who satisfied their survival needs with roughly 15 hours of weekly labor. But modern, urban societies cause us to develop unlimited desires, which lead us to endless labour https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/29/podcasts/transcript-ezra-klein-interviews-james-suzman.html?cid=other-eml-onp-mip-mck&hlkid=38845d000b404e829c41b7395739f39a&...

2 news item and one McKinsey article is the reason for this post. First the news.    The news   • Piping hot, but with a fragile crust. Global growth, according to one index, is at its highest since the exuberant days of 2006. But today’s booming economy could be destabilized by fallout from three risk areas: the unvaccinated, supply-and-demand imbalances, and the looming withdrawal of government stimulus. ( https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/07/10/the-new-fault-lines-on-which-the-world-economy-rests?cid=other-eml-onp-mip-mck&hlkid=1f8b5ab63d7246b988bc63b65592ed40&hctky=9431270&hdpid=d5a90330-bdac-4cfe-94b2-0d822ed4fa11) • Inflation 101. Many CFOs are managing inflation for the first time in their car...

Dogecoin, the dog-themed satirical cryptocurrency that had soared nearly 16,000% year-to-date (YTD) at one point in 2021 (in mid-July, it stands at more than 4,000% growth YTD), holds some interesting lessons on trending marketing tactics and channels. So how can we explain the recent Dogecoin frenzy? From the perspective of marketing, what turned a joke into the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap? 1. Memes in Your Content Strategy and Entropy  If  you are struggling to improve engagement or grow follower numbers on social media, you may consider using memes in your content strategy. Over 1 million users share memes every day, according to 2020 Instagram  data . ( https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2020/12/instagram-says-that-1-million-memes-are.html) "Meme" originally referred to imitation of a survival-enhancing gene as a biological phenomenon. Its current marketing-related definition is "remixed and iterated messages which are rapidly spread...

ET recently reported   that Softbank-backed Oyo Hotels & Rooms has shortlisted investment bankers to raise a billion dollars through an IPO.  The question to be asked is :   With the pandemic still hanging on our head and a majority of adults in the country -- and the world -- yet to be vaccinated, and columnists writing epitaph for business travel, is this the timing right.  The answer is to be found in a recent investment by Microsoft, valuing them at over $9 billion. Clearly they know something that regular investor doesn't.   The growing queue of start-ups waiting to list has not only added glamour to the market, but also forced investors to reassess their methods for valuing companies. Several of them are loss making and their dazzling growth is fueled by burning cash. With several companies lining up to raise funds and with more than 50 companies achieving the unicorn status of hitting $1billion in valuation, SEBI’s rules ...