Valuing Investments, Understanding Web3 and Tesla in India
Three articles that were my best reads of the week
Hi,
This week the interesting reads I came across spanned valuing investments, understanding Web3 and why Tesla isn’t entering India.
Let’s get started.
How do you value investments?
Sometimes big valuations hide deep problems.
Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank is known as a “swashbuckling gambler” who embraces volatility. He has often pledged his Softbank holdings for loans to fund his lifestyle and other investments.
One of his investments is in OYO, the budget hotel aggregator. In 2019, he increased Softbank’s stake in OYO, valuing the startup at $10 billion.
The round has a few interesting nuances though. As part of the round, Ritesh Agarwal, the founder of OYO invested $2 billion, further upping his stake and the money was loaned against a personal guarantee by Son.
It seems like a win win situation. Softbank marks its investments at the new valuation, Agarwal consolidates his position and Son sees his investments in the green.
But is OYO worth that much and does this point to a deeper problem in private market valuations?
Read it here→ Crouching Tiger, Hidden Problems
A 101 piece on Web3
Web3 is a term signifying the next avatar of the Web. The promise is to improve upon the achievements made in Web 1 and 2 while correcting for the missteps made along the way.
Fintech Inside did a beautifully written Web3 101 earlier this year which was a great read.
My favourite part of this article is the story of ‘The Internet’s Original Sin’. It explains the reasons behind the misalignment of incentives between platforms and their users leading to the advertising driven model that we have now.
Read it here→ Web3 101 | Fintech Inside Edition #51 - 23rd Jan, 2022
Why isn't Tesla coming to India?
A major factor is high import duties.
The rationale given behind the high import duties is to protect domestic manufacturers. It’s the same narrative on repeat, first promoted by the Bombay Plan in 1945.
Have we not learned that by interfering in a market, the Indian manufacturer would be incentivised to focus only on the domestic economy and lose their export competitiveness?
Read it here→ Why isn't Tesla coming to India?
Currently pondering
The above tweet made me think - Does it really? Can I be in control of my thoughts?
I hope you enjoyed this edition of Filtered Kapi. Do let me know if something struck a chord with you.
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