Welcome to this month's curated collection of insights spanning entrepreneurship, technology, culture, and economic transformation. This edition brings your thought-provoking analyses on how capitalism shapes our perception of time, practical guides to AI-powered content creation, deep dives into India's corporate success stories, and updates on the evolving startup ecosystem—from coastal Karnataka's tech ambitions to government-backed funding opportunities.

Platform Announcements

Likhai's Growing Presence

Likhai continues to establish itself as a fresh voice in the Indian writing landscape. The platform recently launched on Product Hunt and has been featured across multiple interviews discussing its mission as an alternative publishing platform for Indian writers.

• Support Likhai on Product Hunt

• 90-Minute Substack Live with Raj Menon [Read more…]

• Interview with Likhai's Founder on Medium [Read more…]

Culture & Philosophy

No Time: Capitalism and the Future

Mark Fisher's diagnosis of our historical moment reveals how capitalism has colonized not just markets, but time itself—creating an endless present where genuine novelty struggles to emerge and nostalgia replaces possibility.

• There Is No Time: On Capitalism, Inner Life, and the Recovery of the Future [Read more…]

Engineering Culture Through Writing

Writing forces abstraction and creates what anthropologist Walter Ong called a "textual culture"—abstract, analytical, and universalist. Discover how the written word becomes a single source of truth that shapes organizational culture.

• Engineering Culture Through Writing [Read more…]

Technology & AI

Claude Code: Your AI-Powered Content Army

Imagine having an entire team of specialized AI assistants working seamlessly to transform your ideas into polished content. That's Claude Code in 2026—and it's more accessible than ever.

• Claude Code: Your AI-Powered Content Army - Complete Guide 2026 Edition [Read more…]

Business Strategy & Investing

The Rahul Dravids of Corporate India

India's stock market chases flamboyance, but a deep dive reveals that sustained wealth creation comes from companies that operate like Rahul Dravid—unflashy, introverted, and intelligently tenacious.

• The Rahul Dravids of Corporate India: A Deep Dive into the Unusual Billionaires [Read more…]

Why Startups Really Fail

Most startups don't fail because the idea is bad—they fail because founders build the wrong type of company. This quieter failure mode is more dangerous than bad execution or weak product-market fit.

• There Are Only Four Reasons to Start a Business—Mix Them Up and You'll Fail [Read more…]

Book Review: 7 Powers

A cult business book essential for understanding your competitive hedge or moat. Hamilton Helmer's framework reveals the foundations of lasting business strategy.

• Review: 7 Powers - The Foundations of Business Strategy [Read more…]

Startup Ecosystem & Funding

Government Support for Startups

The Indian government is stepping up with AI-powered matchmaking platforms and substantial funding opportunities for innovators.

• India's Tinder for Startups: Startup India Investor Connect Uses AI to Match Founders [Read more…]

• PM Modi's 2026 Startup Funding Ecosystem: A ₹4 Crore Opportunity for Indian Innovators [Read more…]

Regional Development & Tech Hubs

Coastal Karnataka's Transformation

TiE Mangaluru's launch marks a structural pivot in coastal Karnataka's economic narrative—from being a "leaking bucket" of talent to building a thriving local startup ecosystem.

• Structural Disruption: How TiE Mangaluru is Redefining the Coastal Startup Ecosystem [Read more…]

Silicon Beach: Mangaluru's Tech Ambitions

The vision of "Silicon Beach of India" promises a globally competitive digital economy while preserving the region's quality of life.

• Silicon Beach: Mangaluru's Ambitious Transformation from Education Hub to Tech Powerhouse [Read more…]

Karnataka's ₹967 Crore Tech Decentralization Plan

Karnataka has approved massive funding to build tech hubs beyond Bengaluru. India's tech map is changing as Mysuru and Mangaluru rise with substantial incentives.

• Karnataka Unveils ₹967 Crore Plan to Decentralize Tech Beyond Bengaluru [Read more…]

Trade & Export Infrastructure

India's Digital Trade Ecosystem

India is transitioning toward a digital-first trade paradigm supported by specialized portals, aiming to drive the country toward its ambitious target of US$2 trillion in exports by 2030.

• India's Digital Trade Infrastructure: Five Portals Driving the $2 Trillion Export Goal [Read more…]

Stay curious, stay informed.

The Blessing of Not Succeeding (Immediately)

Sometimes, not being successful is the biggest blessing. If my first set of apps had blown up, I might’ve ended up embarrassing myself in front of a lot of people. They simply weren’t ready. They had no traction, and at the time it stung — but in hindsight, that quiet failure gave me something invaluable: time.

Time to experiment.

Time to learn the craft of building apps.

Time to understand what actually matters in personal knowledge management.

Over this long stretch of learning, something unexpected happened. I realised the perfect to-do app for me… had to be built by me.

So here I am on my second attempt — older, wiser, and far more confident. I’ve completely rebuilt my note-taking app from scratch. This time, it’s voice-first. You speak your note; the app automatically transcribes it and files it into the right project and the right bucket.

The buckets are simple and actionable:

Today | This Week | Next Week | This Month | Next Month | Someday

If you’d like to try it, there’s a 7-day free trial. It’s currently a progressive web app, and I’d genuinely appreciate your feedback as I prepare it for the App Store.

👉 Wanotes.online

⸻

I’ll Audit Your GTM Strategy for Free

In the past few weeks, I’ve consulted around 10 startups through an accelerator on their go-to-market strategy. And I’ve realised something: most founders deeply understand their product, but very few have a clear picture of whether their GTM economics actually make sense.

So I built a simple process.

Fill out a short form with details about your channels and costs. Using that, I calculate your LTV:CAC ratio and give you a clear verdict on whether your GTM strategy is healthy or headed toward trouble.

This is a free report, no strings attached.

The only thing I ask is that we get on a quick call afterward — the numbers are useful, but interpreting them is where the real value lies.

👉 GTMLab.online

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I Wrote a Novel in 30 Days

Somewhere between building apps and consulting startups, I did something unexpected: I wrote a novel.

It’s a fast, 270-page fiction piece you can finish in under four hours. I wrote the first draft in 30 days, and it became a story I’m genuinely proud of.

The book follows a Mumbai billionaire and his daughter, who carries a secret burden: occult knowledge that shapes — and complicates — her privileged life. It’s a story about power, privilege, and the hidden costs of knowing too much.

I’ve made it free to read and download:

👉 thebbc.shop

And if you want to support my writing, you can also purchase the print edition.

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Want to Write a Book? I Can Help.

Finishing and publishing my novel in 30 days — and releasing it worldwide — gave me a strange kind of confidence: I now know I can write a book in just 10 days.

Yes, it’s AI-enabled. Yes, it’s AI-supported. But the system works. And you can use it too.

If you’ve always wanted to write a book, or if you already have an idea, I’d be happy to show you exactly how I did it. And if you want me to ghostwrite your book, I can help with that as well.

More details here:

👉 jeevankatha.online

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Thanks for reading this month’s newsletter.

See you in the next edition.

⸻

If you don’t recollect me, let me tell you we have emailed each other. That is how I have your email address. I have had a diverse career and you might have interacted with me as one of my avatars.

Some of my avatars are as below.

1. Publisher of hyperlocal website (Bandra info and Powai info)

2. A mechanical engineer running my small manufacturing unit assembling electrical switchgear and making plastic moulding.

3. An avid knowledge management aficionado at FutureOfKM If this still doesn’t ring a bell, do not panic. There is an unsubscribe button at the end of this email.

I am emailing you because I am a writer and love to write. I pledge to write and die hungry if needed. But maybe you all will help me not die of hunger. 😀

If you still want to verify whether I am a human or an AI agent, please head to my CV at manojnayak.com, and while you are at it, give me some work!

What work can I do?

1. I can help you set up your Instagram campaign for just Rs 1000 monthly.

2. I have an AI agent which creates a strategy for the SMB’s. Do you want one?

3. I can write lead magnets to help you improve your lead quality by at least 30 per cent.

4. Do you want to read a book and don’t find time, I create personal deep dive podcasts on the book, so that you can digest the book in under 20 mins.

A summary of what I wrote lately (Some content might be behind a paywall, Remember, I am a hungry writer🥲).

I don’t care what happens

In this post, I explain, how we Indians are fatalistic but expect only ‘good” things to happen to us. Read here.

Is your Boss the master and you the Slave in the 21st Century India?

Are you in a job where you hate it? It is not new, we have had a conflicting relationship with our bosses since time immemorial, It was only in the 18th Century that the great Western philosopher gave us a deep insight into this conflicting relationship. Read here.

Connection Vs Authenticity

Our lives are torn between these two fundamental human needs. Creative types like myself lean more toward authenticity while security-loving people would depend more on connections. Both are good, and it all depends on where your priorities lie. For some, family is everything; for others, society is everything! Read here.

Do not take Salary or charge fees, do this instead.

When doctors send accident patients away to a far-off hospital and the victim dies while on the way, you get a sense of how our economic setup sucks. I got inspired by the author of NVC(Non-Violent Communications) and wrote this one. Read here.

That’s all for this week! See you next week! Adios 🙏

Best Regards,

Manoj Nayak

These are the famous words of one of the biggest contemporary philosophers from modern India; his name is Jiddu Krishnamurti. If you want to understand how the mind works, Jiddu’s talks are the most enlightening you will find out there. He is called the philosopher of the intellectuals. As Osho attracted artists, architects and creative types, Jiddu attracted scientists and academically bent. Jiddu just sat on the stage and just spoke for an hour and a half, you have to listen to him intently to understand how he goes on to make a point. It is not for the flippant ones.

In one of his videos, he says, “I don’t care what happens’ is what defines him. It has also become one of my life’s philosophies. This is also what defines me. It sounds like a cocky statement, it means I don’t mind anything, anything and everything is fine, I will deal with it. I read today that life is 10 per cent action and 90 per cent reaction. So 10 per cent is what happens to you cannot define you, it is how you reach the most trying challenges and sufferings. No one escapes suffering, the more you endure, the better you can face the harsh realities of life.

Whenever I say to people this philosophy, people panic a bit. They sometimes think I am a nihilist (which I am not), they think I am a negative thinker (who thinks only the worst can happen to him), no, I mean I “totally” believe that I will win 100 crores lottery tomorrow (as you know, one crore doesn’t buy you even a house in Mumbai). People then judge me as delusional, I think people hate extreme beliefs; they want you to remain in the normal zone so you are predictable.

But people say the same thing, “I don’t care what happens to me”, in a rather euphemistic way like “Jo hota hai ache ke liye hota hai” (Everything happens for a good reason, even the bad stuff) and then I see the irony. This statement “Everything happens for the best” (like the death of your loved one? Really, how is that so?). If the death of a loved one is also for a good reason, then the person who believes in “Everything happens for a good reason” is also saying “, I don’t care what happens” Get it?

The above quote is popularised by Amitabh Bachchan, the Superstar. This again indirectly says, I don’t care what happens. If things don’t happen as per your wish, be open to anything (read plenty of sufferings) from God.

This is the famous Shree Krishna quote from the epic Mahabharat, which could explain why we Indians are perhaps not so good at execution as the Chinese or Americans. This is my thesis on why there is so much chaos and indiscipline in India. I don’t blame Shree Krishna; I feel most Indians have not thought deeply about this phrase. This phrase also means the same thing, i.e.“ I don’t care what happens” (Trust the process, and results are expected to be delivered by God if he thinks you are worthy of the same).

In the world of business, results are everything.

This kind of fatalistic attitude contradicts the expectations in the business world. Imagine you goof up on a major delivery for a customer, and you tell your boss, “ Jo Hota hai acche ke liye hota hai (Whatever happens, happens for good). It won’t take much time for your Boss to kick you out of the door.

Destiny Vs Free Will (Choice)

Nietzsche says you may will to eat and apple, but where did the “will” to the apple arise from? In another popular dialogue from the movie Matrix, when Keanu is offered a pen by the Oracle (lady), he replies, do you know if I will choose to take the pen or not? She tells him, you have already made the choice, you are here (on earth) to know why you made the choice. How profoundly explained, you have chosen your destiny already (that closes the Destiny vs. Free Will argument for me), I am just here to know why I have made the choices (desires & accompanying sufferings).

I have been dabbling in Western philosophy since June this year. I had never considered it of any value until I fell into the rabbit hole. The most impressive are the German ones, like Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, and Hagel. The only English philosopher I would like to read is David Hume.

Hagel came up with the dialectic theory of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. Hagel is the OG of philosophers who came up with the Master-Slave morality philosophy from which Karl Marx got inspired and applied the same to the economic reality of the early capitalistic Western world and invented Marxism, which perhaps led to the death of more than 10m people in Russia and China only. Nietzsche inverted the entire master-slave morality on its head, saying we should have master morality and avoid slave morality. Those who are uninitiated about this philosophical concept can listen to my deep dive podcast here.

The master always looks at his employees as objects.

Hagel claimed the master and slave relationship is such that the master always looks at the slave as an object whose fruits of labour he will consume while the slave has no agency in his creation. Whatever the slave toils to create is usurped by the master. This leaves the slave without a self. But eventually, the master depends on the slave for his labour, and now it is the master who is dependent on the slave rather than the slave, this is when the power balance starts to tip in favour of the slave. The slave rebels, there is a fight, and a new order is born.

Modern workplaces make us all zombies

Though Hagel wrote about the Master slave morality in the 18th century, human psychology remains the same. Even in the 21st century, almost all Bosses look at an employee as a means to an end (goal). They don’t want to see the employee as a whole; they only want that part of the employee which will meet the production target to get the work shipped. The rent of the labour (credit for the work) is always snatched by the Boss. It is his business, his baby, his invention. The employee was just a cog in the wheel. An object.

The abolition of work.

Rob Black wrote this anarchistic book called “The Abolition of Work”. He says all businesses are dictatorships; an employee is dehumanised and objectified. He claims there is more violence in workplaces than in any other place; he says workplaces are like a police state where informants (now CCTV cameras) snoop on you. It removes all autonomy and dehumanises you.

There is a huge moment called “Lying flat” across China where young people refuse to take up a job. In the 1970s, some Autonomist theorists viewed “precarious work as good”, but Franco “Bifo” Berardi is an Italian Marxist theorist and activist associated with the Autonomia movement said it was escapist and nihilist.

Today, I heard former Chief Justice Makrand Katju say that every year India adds 12M workers to the workforce, but there are corporate jobs for only 0.5M. The rest become hawkers, kidnappers, etc lol.

India does seem to be in crisis, with the GDP growth slowing down to 5.4, we seem to be ready for rough waters. The upside of precariousness is that we can no longer remain isolated, we need to cooperate and help each other to get through the tough times.

In case you read so far and have any feedback, do DM me.

In life, there are two main imperatives: one is your need for connection, and the other is your need for authenticity.

What is Connection?

There are various semantically related words to connections: you may call it attachment if you indulge in spiritual speak, or call it community if you are a liberal, or if you are a conservative, it is conforming to society. It ultimately comes down to how much you rely on others and compromise on your needs with respect to theirs to maintain the delicate dance of relationships for the sake of connection. Dr Gabor Maté explores the dilemma of connection versus authenticity in his book “The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture”. He points out that our need for connection can be rooted in our early childhood, even though we might be well on our way to old age.

We all want to belong.

Connections are why we are patriots, why one is a family man or always on call for a friend. We try to be the ideal employee to belong to an organisation. We feel secure that we are not alone; there is someone to back us up. We will lay down our lives for the nation, an idea, or an ideology which connects us to others.

The flip side of “connection” is disconnection from your true self. The self that wants unlimited freedom, to be what one wants, to do what one wants to do. To be not answerable to anyone, to be your own master, your “own” boss! No mother asking you to work hard, no father pushing for higher grades, no grumbling wife because she doesn’t have a rich husband, no husband making you cook for his children, no envious brothers and sisters, no boss telling you he is always right.

What is Authenticity?

Authenticity is the freedom to be yourself; you don’t have to live up to the ideals of what your family, friends, community, or society want you to be. You can say what you want to whom you want; there is freedom of speech and freedom of expression. No one is going to gag you for being yourself, for wearing what you want, or for working when you want, if you want. You can be dead broke without being judged, and you can be filthy rich without having pesky relatives and friends.

It is said nobody is free! We are all bound by societal conditions; we are bound by our belief systems, and we are trapped by a lack of knowledge or an excess of knowledge.

A person who believes he is authentic can be delusional or exhibit hubris. Without connections, he is not able to make sense of life. He has no support or sympathy; he doesn’t know his place in the world, and he doesn’t know which direction to take. It is isolating and nihilistic; he can escape into the addiction of his choice.

A person who is dominated by others will try to lean towards authenticity; it is an act of rebellion because manipulation of his will doesn’t work. He will let go of his connections because he is not being understood or given space to be himself. He is always expected to be what others think he should be.

Balancing between Connections and Authenticity

It is ironic that in this hyper-connected world, we feel lonely. It is not there is a lack of connections, but there is a lack of genuine connection to others. Everyone is objectified or categorised, so it is easy to maintain the system. Instead of the hyper-connected world making us feel secure, our society has a mental health epidemic.

How do we know which connection is genuine?

If you have the sense to discern between good feedback and bad feedback, then you already have good connections who give you space to be authentic. In case you don’t have good connections, it is a long, arduous process of discovering which connections to keep and which connections to give up. One will need to throw their crutches and security blanket to prune your tree of connections.

I recently read a book called “Non-Violent Communication” by Marshall B. Rosenberg, PhD, which led me to look him up on YouTube. I came across a talk by him. He narrates an incident in the video that when he was in counselling, he got a call from a poor mother who asked him how much he charges for counselling services for her son. He says he felt pathetic about being asked his price, which was about counselling. From then on, he decided on a principle that he would never charge ever again.

He explains this with an analogy. He says if a giraffe came to you and asked for help, would it ask how much you charge? So why do humans ask this question? Imagine if a person is dying and he cannot pay his hospital fee, which happens often, as we know. That person can die while on the way to a cheaper hospital that is miles away from the one that was better and closer to him. This is how brutal this kind of payment system is.

He says, if you come to me for any service, think you are a giraffe and come, as animals never are going to ask, how much do you charge, right? He tells people to pay him what they can; the idea is that people shouldn’t feel the pinch while paying them. If they have been over-generous, the good deed automatically passes to the people who haven’t been able to pay him. He goes as far as to claim that he likes to be poor but then jokes that, however, he makes sure he or his two three neighbours don’t go broke simultaneously.

I loved this system, but I haven’t talked about this with my neighbour. Will they agree? Will you agree? As you are my 1st-degree connection, in case you have found this blog post in your feed? Let me know.

Why be so greedy da? What is this mad rush for everyone to be super successful in our society? Can everyone be on those reality TV shows where the VCs decide whether you get the money or not?

I know it is, again, a utopian vision. I say not really; it is a paradigm shift in how we make money and how we look at our work. Why do we want to do rent capture from the poor?

A lot of businesses have this freemium model. For example — ChatGPT charges 200 USD for its pro plan. They haven’t spelt it out, but I have no doubt that it’s a way of subsidising the free users so they don’t keep running out of their investor’s money.

I have started on this path, yes, pay me what you like. Yes, I am looking for work, please check my CV here

> Listen to the podcast on the book Nonviolent Communications

This was so useful! Thank you for writing this one!

My trial for Vimcal is over. I have request access to Cron.

Looking for cheaper options, like 5 USD per month. Any other suggestions?

Many times we are bubbling with business ideas, but we are not sure which one to prioritise. If we end up prioritising the wrong idea then we end up giving that baby our 5/10 years of our lives. They say 99% of small businesses fail. But some might never fail and just keep you poor for the rest of your life. Yes, I am talking out of the experience.

Market Size

One thing to take into account is the market size. Now if you are home business making butter chicken and selling than your market size is limited. As for freshness is a prerequisite. In case you are developing an app than your market size could be the entire world.

Utility Delta

So once you get an idea of your market size, the next thing you need to figure out is how much difference your product/service is going to make to your prospective customer than currently existing businesses in the same category. This is also called as Utility Delta.

An image representation of Ulility Delta

The formula for Utility Delta

The total improved usefulness of something (utility delta) is equal to the usefulness to the average person, minus the next best similar item, multiplied by the number of people who would find it useful.

Or in math terms:

X = (Utility Delta) (Difference in Usefulness)

U = Usefulness to one person

C = Comparable item in usefulness & cost

P = Number of people this item would be used by/affectX = (U — C) * P

Source Reddit

Area Under the Curve

In the words on Elon Musk transcribed from the video

Excuse my bad drawing — This is the area under the curve!

Next thing you need is Leverage

In case you are going to make a small difference in than your competition then you need an ability to reach a larger market via leverage.

What is Leverage?

Capital, Labour, code, content are leverage. Naval Ravikant says Capital and Labour need permission, In the sense, it is not easily available. But code and content are permissionless leverages. For deeper insights — Read Naval twitter threads on How to get rich or if you want to dig deeper watch this entire video podcast here.

Summing it Up

Figure out the 3 parameters

1. Market Size

2. Utility Delta

3. Leverage

I've decided to rejoin Substack. I wasn't really interested in Substack before because it's meant for longer content. I prefer to have my own domain names for Substack. Substack does offer custom domain names, but it's pricey, around $75 US dollars. However, they've added some interesting features like chats and notes that have piqued my curiosity. Plus, it gives me an audience and helps me get discovered on the platform. So, I'm thinking, why not give it another try and see how it goes?

In the meantime, tell your friends!

Is this a mistake. Shouldnt it be "1000 people"

Where are the registration links to join?

Try GoodTask

because

1. NLP

2. ios reminder integration

3. so it is a breeze to add tasks via siri

Super, got it.