Trendcetera: Recent Episodes
VCBay
Trendcetera is a VCBay podcast where we analyse and deconstruct the latest trends across emerging industries, offering useful insights in a fun and exciting way.
Tune in every Wednesday to get your dose of Trendcetera!
Coinbase had a stellar run last year, with its US$86 billion Nasdaq debut, 4x YoY increase in monthly transacting users (MTU), and an 11x YoY increase in net income, but since the beginning of this year, its shares have tanked almost 20%, falling from US$252 on Dec 31st, 2021 to around US$202 as of Mar 28th, 2022. So what explains the steep drop in its share price? What are the acquisitions made by Coinbase?
Click here to read the article.
HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
Clubhouse's global monthly app downloads grew to an astounding 9.6 million in Feb 2021, and invites were selling for hundreds of dollars on eBay. But then downloads fell precipitously to around 2.7 million in Mar 2021 and never breached the February peak.
What explains Clubhouse’s downfall? Who are Clubhouse’s competitors? Is this really the end of the road for Clubhouse?
Click here to read the article.
HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
Homes reflect their owner’s identity, and hence women solve their need for shopping and home pride by shopping for home goods that not just delivers on their needs but also reflects their taste and perceived status in life.
The need for a multifunctional home, with requirements beyond just stay and recreation, has generated new needs inside homes and hence homeware shopping will see a significant bounce back post-pandemic.
Click here to read the article.
HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
Unemployment is the biggest challenge to a developing nation. And there is immense scope for startups to enter this space and create a business opportunity.
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HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
The latest disruption in the Online Music industry has democratized music to the extent that it can be consumed virtually free by every single individual with access to the internet.
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HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
All of us have gone through the chagrin of forgotten passwords and would be very happy to kill the password needed for digital access. Security breach, hacking, stolen data, identity theft etc., are increasingly telling us that passwords are the weakest link in cybersecurity. So will the passwords evolve or will they become redundant?
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HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
The tech space continues to surprise and baffle the world with its ground-breaking developments. A prime example of this is the no-code/low-code movement shaking the industry today.
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HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
Airbnb has revolutionised travel, and its 4 million hosts have welcomed over 900 million guest arrivals to approximately 100k cities in almost every corner across the globe.
So what are the risks that Airbnb faces? What are its future plans? How does it make money?
In the third edition of our newest series- Deep Dive, we are focussing on Airbnb.
Click here to read the article.
HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
Virtual reality (VR) technology, the use of computer software simulation and modeling, allowing an individual to interact with artificial three-dimensional visual or other sensory environments, is revolutionizing the industry today.
we traverse the world of virtual reality, its growth and trends in the industry, areas of application, and some startups leading the virtual reality revolution in the world today.
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HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
What if you could book a cab or order your favourite dish online by just thinking about it? Life would be so simple right?
Enter Brain-Computer Interface that can make such imaginations turn into reality soon.
HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
We all know how Uber is one of the largest taxi companies that function without owning any vehicles. Do you think that the same can be done in the banking sector? Well yes, Neobanks are doing it, and it is going to be the next big disruption in the Banking Industry
HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
Ghost kitchens have become the defining trend of the restaurant industry given that there are 100,000 virtual restaurants in the U.S. alone, and research firm Euromonitor predicts that they will turn into a US$1 trillion industry within the next decade. So what are ghost kitchens? Why are they popular now? Is the restaurant industry in good spirits about the rise of ghost kitchens? Or are they spooked by its prospects?
Click here to read the article.
HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
GDP has become the defining indicator of the last century and the ultimate measure of an economy’s welfare. But the pandemic combined with the climate crisis and rising levels of inequality has cast a shadow on the usefulness of the measure. So why has GDP lost its relevance? Which measures can replace it?
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HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
The metaverse is the latest idea that has captured the imagination of Silicon Valley bigwigs. Mark wants Facebook to be seen as a metaverse company and even created a separate division for it in the Reality Labs. Satya Nadella wants to build an enterprise metaverse.
So what is the metaverse? What is Facebook’s vision for it? Is the metaverse grounded in reality?
Grab your VR headset and wear your haptic gloves as we are diving into the metaverse!
HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
Deep Dive is a brand new series that will dissect businesses and delve into their business model, financials, the risks they face and much more. In the first edition of the series, we’ll be analysing Palantir Technologies.
Click here to read the article.
HOST : Aishwarya Singh
Editor : Kishore Kumar
2020 was a phenomenal year for SPACs, which raised $83 billion (USD) through SPAC IPOs, which is 1.77 times more than the amount raised between 2009 and 2019. It is projected that there can be more than 1000 SPAC IPOs this year, more listings than any time in history-traditional IPOs and SPACs combined.
So what are SPACs? Why are they popular now? How do SPACs differ from IPOs?
Click here to read the article
HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
For the past one year, NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), have taken over the internet and that’s all that anyone’s talking about. Everyone from Taco Bell to Twitter’s founder Jack Dorsey has jumped on the NFT bandwagon.
So what exactly are NFTs? What explains their sudden rise in popularity? How is it connected to Cryptokitties?
Click here to read the article
HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
The 90s signified the birth of a new era for anime as Cartoon Network through Toonami introduced Sailor Moon and the legendary Dragon Ball Z to the American audience. Now, three decades later, anime has become a new frontier for the ongoing streaming wars.
HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
Artificial Intelligence has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years, increasingly applied to every facet of life, from TikTok to Tesla cars.
But there is a quirky and vulnerable side to it that often goes unnoticed- where AI struggles with basic tasks like distinguishing a toaster from a banana.
So, let’s dive into the weird and wonderful of AI.
Click here to read the article
HOST - Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR - Kishore Kumar
With the onset of the pandemic, the news media understood how fragile their business model was as the advertising dollars which were critical to the functioning of the industry quickly dried up, and newsroom employees were laid off en masse. Those who were sacked were left in the lurch, and newsletters seemed like a viable option to substitute the loss of income.
So what are newsletters? What does Substack do? How is Big Tech disrupting the nascent industry?
HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
2020 was a roller coaster ride, with more downs than ups- it was a truly disastrous year for humanity. Yet, the stock markets were hitting all-time highs, and Big Tech was surging like never before. So what fueled the rise of Big Tech?
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HOST : Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR : Kishore Kumar
In the first few months of 2020, when the pandemic was still in its initial stages, many of us were asked to work from home. This relatively minor shift in our collective workplace has led to some transformational changes in the way we behave and the future of work itself.
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HOST - Aishwarya Singh
EDITOR - Kishore Veekay
What connects images of China’s megacities, smartphone location signals from Tesla’s factory in California and the amount of time people are ready to wait to get their hands on a new iPhone?
Answer: Alternative Data
click here to read the full article
Host : Aishwarya Singh
Editor : Kishore Veekay
In the first part of the series we focused on understanding Libra-its origins and fundamentals. In the second and final part of the series we’ll focus on what exactly is at stake for Libra and what does the entry of Libra mean for the economy?
Click here to read the full article
Host - Aishwarya Singh
Editor - Kishore Veekay
Over the years, multiple companies have been highlighted for their creative and out-of-the-box ways of marketing their products on many occasions. Here are a few brands that not only managed to catch the public’s eye with their brilliant strategies but also revolutionised the industries throughout decades of advertisement.
Host : Aishwarya Singh
Editor : Kishore Veekay
Instagram’s influence on the real world has grown in tandem with its users. Photos on Instagram with their carefully staged, colour-corrected, glossy-looking aesthetic have performed so well that they’ve become synonymous with the platform and have slowly crept into the real world. So what is the extent of Instagram’s influence on the real world? Is the Instagram aesthetic on its way out? How has it affected us?
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Host: Aishwarya Singh
Editor: Kishore Veekay
Days after ride-hailing giant- Didi Chuxing’s US$ 4.4 billion listing, China opened a cybersecurity probe into the company, which later culminated in Didi’s app and 25 other apps linked to it being removed from the app stores. Didi’s shares were down by 20% on Friday after reports surfaced that the Chinese government was contemplating “serious, perhaps unprecedented, penalties” for the company. In the past few months, China has gone full throttle, cracking down on domestic tech giants.
Listen to the podcast to know more.
Click here to read the article
Host: Aishwarya Singh
Editor: Kishore Veekay
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, governments across the world rushed to support companies and citizens, pushing global debt to unprecedented levels. By the end of last year, global debt reached an all-time high of $281 trillion (USD) or more than 355% of global GDP, according to the Institute of International Finance. With the global debt tsunami upon us, deficit debate has heated up among politicians and pundits alike, but this time, inflation has replaced debt as the primary concern, which augurs well for the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT).
click here to read the article
Host - Aishwarya Singh
Editor - Kishore Veekay
The previous decade witnessed the rise of digital platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Vine which allowed individuals to amass large followings but failed to provide them with an avenue for direct monetization. But that’s quickly changing. Creator focussed platforms such as Substack, Patreon and Clubhouse are enabling anyone with unique skills to monetize them. In this podcast we unravel the trends in the creator economy.
Click here to read the article
Host - Aishwarya Singh
Editor - Kishore Veekay
Indian D2C brands work in a brand starved ‘neo-consumerist’ group and profit from learning from the blunders of their global competitors. Today, India is seeing the ascension of D2C brands across categories and is calculated to have US$ 100 billion addressable markets by 2025.
In this podcast we talk about India’s D2C market in detail.
Click here to read the article.
Host - Aishwarya Singh
Editor - Kishore Veekay
Announced in mid-2019, Facebook’s foray into the world of cryptocurrencies was backed by the biggest names in the industry including PayPal, MasterCard, Uber and Spotify, to name a few. But then Libra was quickly met with resistance due to Facebook’s spotty record with privacy and concerns over its ambitions. In Oct 2019, six of Libra’s founding members announced that they are backing out of the project, with PayPal being the first one to announce its departure.
What happened to Facebook's Libra? Find out in this podcast!
Click here to read the article!
Host - Aishwarya Singh
Editor - Kishore Veekay
Digital transformation for the insurance industry is not necessarily disruptive (as is perceived by most). New technologies lead to significant changes, but change has always been a part of the industry, and insurers and their core business model have always survived. This shows a growing need for managers in the insurance industry to think of digital transformation less as a threat and more as an opportunity to grow.
The current level of technology and the potential for growth of the industry reveals that insurance is still in its infancy and will most likely experience significant developments in the times to come. To prepare for a digital future, insurers today must adopt the instruments of digital transformation and find innovative ways to optimize all areas of their operations.
Listen to the podcast to know more!
Click here to read the article
Host: Aishwarya Singh
Editor: Kishore Veekay
The global chip shortage, which first reared its head late last year, has sent shockwaves across industries. According to Goldman Sachs, at least 169 industries, from automobiles and guided missiles to lawn equipment and shipbuilding, have faced disruptions due to the shortage, potentially shaving 1% off US GDP in 2021.
The pandemic combined with electrical grid failure and maritime disasters has led to a perfect storm for the US$ 522 billion semiconductor industry. But, with the effects of the crisis said to last until 2022 it begs the question of what led to the chip shortage? What are the implications of the shortage? How can we fix it?
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Host - Aishwarya Singh
Editor - Kishore Kumar
More than half the world’s population lives in cities, and cities are projected to add another 2.5 billion people over the next three decades. But behind the facade of safety and energy efficiency lies the dark side of smart cities where ‘smart’ is often a euphemism for surveillance. With major cities embracing surveillance technologies and nearly one billion CCTV cameras deployed worldwide, there are increasing concerns of smart cities turning into dystopian surveillance states.
Find out about the dark side of smart cities in this podcast.
Click here to read the article.
Host - Komal Pattanayak
Editor - Kishore Kumar
Sovereign wealth funds (SWF), the titans of the venture capital world, command more than $8 trillion (USD) in combined assets or roughly 10% of the worldwide assets under management (AUM). The term sovereign wealth fund, which was coined in 2005, signifies a mechanism through which countries make investments. Usually, countries that use SWFs are overly reliant on one source of income. The income derived from oil or other commodities is used to invest in shares, bonds, infrastructure, real estate or other suitable areas in order to diversify and become less reliant on a single source of income.
Listen to the podcast to know more!
Click here to read the article
Host: Komal Pattanayak
Editor: Kishore Veekay
Apple and Google’s recent privacy initiatives have come under the scanner, with critics calling Google’s initiative mere “privacy theatre” and Facebook arguing that Apple’s new privacy features will hurt small businesses. So what are the implications of these initiatives? Is there any merit in Facebook’s argument? Does Big Tech really care about your privacy?
Listen to the podcast to know more!
The gaming industry in today’s world has hit an all-time high in its growth trajectory, especially with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. Being one of the few industries to flourish amid the pandemic, the gaming industry has witnessed significant growth in the world today. Due to their prolonged time at home, gamers have had the chance to purchase and download new video games, consoles, and so much more. With the state of the global gaming industry today, it comes as no surprise that various high-profile investors are clamouring to invest in this lucrative industry. Some of these investors include Sequoia Capital, Techstars, Y Combinator, 500 startups, Footwork, Greylock, Slow Ventures, and First Round Capital, to mention a few.
In this podcast, we talk about the recent trends in the global gaming industry.
Host: Aishwarya Singh
Editor: Kishore Veekay
It is expected that India’s gig economy will triple over the next 3-4 years to 24 million jobs in the non-firm sector from the existing 8 million, according to a new report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. The number of gig jobs could rise to 90 million in 8-10 years, contributing an incremental 1.25% to India’s GDP.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced people to work from home and many even got kicked out of their jobs. However, this led to an influx of gig workers in 2020. With the success of platform-based companies like Uber (in ridesharing), Swiggy (in food delivery) and Urban Company (in personal services, home renovations and repair), many businesses are embracing the gig work culture with open arms.
Find out more about the surge of gig culture in India in this podcast.
Speaker - Komal Pattanayak
Editor - Kishore Kumar
Biohacking originated in Silicon Valley, U.S., and today the world is gradually starting to notice and embrace this phenomenon. The global biohacking market was valued at approximately US$ 12.1 billion as of 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 20.4%, reaching about US$ 54 billion by 2027.
Investors are currently clamouring to exploit the vast potentials this innovative industry has to offer. In an era characterized by ground-breaking advances in technology, the majority believes biohacking presents an opportunity to take the human race to the next step of the evolution ladder. The industry is already making impressive progress and seems to be advancing rapidly in its goal of providing a future where humans can adjust their biological components (naturally or scientifically) in line with their preferences.
What are the major types of Biohacking? Which companies are working in this field? What are the trends in this industry? Find out in this podcast.
Hosts: Komal Pattanayak and Mukul Rana
Editor: Kishore Kumar