I don’t think people still get it. I have been trying to
shout on the top of rooftops and to everyone I meet. Digital is going to eat
your lunch and you don’t even know it. You idiot! There is digital everywhere
and in meetings and interviews I stand out like an anarchist. In fact there
were two such instances. Once at an important meeting with the super boss Uday,
he turned around and asked us what is the future and how do we compete with our
rivals. He swung around and asked me first. I think I destroyed the conversation
soon by explaining to him that I didn’t care about our known competition. The broking
industry is a shitty highly unimaginative and boring space. It’s easy to beat
the shit out of your competition because here the people are boring unimaginative
and highly lackadaisical. We sit on our laurels and reminiscence on the past
days. Knowing that when the market turns the people have no choice but to come
to us and invest. Bing bong… here comes the money.
So I looked around, my bosses, egged me on and told me to
speak my mind. And I did. I told the gathering that the competition is going to
come from some upstart app that will reach out and get the eyeballs and then
suddenly one day it will put a buy sell button and we are all doomed.
At another forum, actually it was an interview with a large
insurance firm, they ask me about my digital antecedents and boom – I get them
all riled up with my ‘digital is all in’ theory. You can’t have half measures
in digital. You have to be all in. You have to commit to it completely. Having one
stupid digital product guy or having one digital marketing guy is not it.
Digital is the mandate of the CEO. He has to commit to it knowing that there is
no choice. It’s all in. only a fool would waste money on traditional activities.
I look around me at all these other idiots and wonder what on earth is going
on. Why cant people see the truth. And then I speak to all these guys from the
digital industry, all these startups who are doing some great stuff and showing
some real traction. They are loving this and the fact that the older entrenched
guys are sitting on their heads and wondering what on earth is going on.
Look around me right now. I was explaining to Jispa that how
the taxi business has changed completely. At first we had the simple black and
yellows. We would always haggle with them, we would wonder where to flag them down
and we would wonder how dirty they were and would wonder if we would get any in
the morning. Then came the radio taxis. They came and challenged the status
quo. You could book them in advance for a particular time. they came with
airconditioning, uniformed drivers and were generally on time and reliable. Most
of these guy’s revenues came from airport pick up and drop. I guess the guys
who go to airports like the AC and want to keep their travel as airconditioned
as possible. And then comes Uber service. No radio calling, no number, no
office and hell… no taxis they own. They simply own the app on which you can
check on the taxis nearby. No you cant book in advance. you simply start the
app and request for a cab. Strategy is
often saying NO. they refuse to take cash. They only take a direct charge on
your card. So you jump in and out of cabs without touching your wallet. When the
RBI got in and said that’s not allowed… you need a double authentication at the
time of payment, they simply tied up with an e-wallet and started doing what
they do best. Get a ride without touching your wallet.
Look at all the side effects, the happy stuff. Now people
will pay with digi money. All that money leaves a trail. And when you have a
trail you can charge taxes. Taxes help people
come into the white and into the economy. Balance sheets get made and balance
sheets mean access to credit, means means for growth and leverage. Leverage means
more stuff can be consumed and hence produced. Its good for growth!
Digital is good. It Makes the economy more efficient and productive.
It allows for boundaries of exit and entry to be removed. It allows for goods
and services to reach all corners of society. I genuinely believe that digital
will allow more people to grow out of their current situation. Its great.
Here is one type of example
It gives these people a shot at fame and success! They have
an equal chance of grabbing your eyeball as Salman Khan. What more an equalizer
do you want?
Here a bonus video once we talk about Salman Khan
