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Tag: Business

  • Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

    Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra landed in India in January 2024 at Rs 1,29,999 for 12 GB/256 GB. Unlike the S24 and S24+, every Ultra worldwide used the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, which was a relief for Indian enthusiasts. It also debuted Galaxy AI features such as Circle to Search, Live Translate and Generative Edit.

    The frame switched from aluminium to titanium, and the 6.8-inch QHD+ panel is finally flat, which helps S Pen use and reduces accidental touches. Corning's Gorilla Armor glass has an anti-reflective coating that makes the screen noticeably easier to read outdoors. At 232 g it remains a heavy phone, but the squared-off design is more balanced than before.

    Samsung replaced the 10x telephoto with a 50 MP 5x lens, betting that sensor cropping would hold up at 10x. Results at 5x are excellent, and 10x stays good in daylight, while the 200 MP main and 12 MP ultrawide carry over. Battery life from the 5000 mAh cell is superb. Against the iPhone 15 Pro Max it offers the pen and more zoom flexibility, but charging is still 45W.

    Key specifications

    Launch price (India)Rs 129,999 (base variant)
    India launchJanuary 2024
    SegmentFlagship
    Display6.8-inch, Dynamic AMOLED 2X, LTPO, 120Hz, 1440 x 3120
    ProcessorSnapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy
    RAM12 GB
    Storage256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB
    Expandable storageNo
    Rear cameras200 MP main + 12 MP ultrawide + 10 MP 3x telephoto + 50 MP 5x telephoto
    Front camera12 MP
    Battery5000 mAh
    Charging45W wired, wireless
    Software at launchAndroid 14, One UI 6.1
    5GYes
    Water/dust ratingIP68
    Headphone jackNo
    Weight232 g
    ColoursTitanium Black, Titanium Gray, Titanium Violet, Titanium Yellow

    What we like

    • Anti-reflective flat display is superb outdoors
    • Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in every market
    • Seven years of updates
    • Versatile four-camera system with built-in S Pen

    What could be better

    • Very expensive
    • Heavy at 232 g
    • 10x zoom no longer optical
    • 45W charging

    Who should buy it

    Anyone who wants the most capable Samsung phone with a stylus, strong zoom and long-term support.

    Specifications and price are as at the India launch (January 2024). Prices change after launch – check current prices before buying.

  • Zero to One

    Zero to One grew out of a course on startups that PayPal co-founder and investor Peter Thiel taught at Stanford in 2012; student Blake Masters's class notes became the basis of the book, and he is credited as co-author. Its title captures Thiel's central distinction: copying what already works takes the world from one to n, while genuine innovation takes it from zero to one.

    Thiel argues that competition is overrated and that great companies are monopolies, built by dominating a small niche and expanding outward through proprietary technology, network effects, economies of scale and branding. He asks founders a provocative interview question about which important truth few people agree with them on, and criticises indefinite optimism that expects a better future without a concrete plan.

    Chapters also cover the power law in venture returns, the importance of founding teams and sales, the role of secrets, and how humans and computers might complement each other. The tone is aphoristic and opinionated, which has made the book both a Silicon Valley favourite and a frequent target of debate.

    Book details

    AuthorPeter Thiel
    First published2014
    Original languageEnglish
    GenreBusiness
    TypeNon-fiction
    Pages (approx.)224

    Themes

    • Innovation
    • Monopoly
    • Contrarian thinking
    • Startups
    • The future

    Who should read it

    Founders, investors and anyone interested in how Silicon Valley thinks about building companies that create new markets.

    If you liked this, try

    • The Lean Startup
    • The Hard Thing About Hard Things
    • Good to Great

  • The Lean Startup

    Eric Ries drew on his own startup failures and on lean manufacturing ideas from Toyota to propose a scientific approach to entrepreneurship. He defines a startup as a human institution creating a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty, a definition that includes teams inside large companies and government agencies as well as garage ventures.

    The core of the method is the build-measure-learn feedback loop. Instead of spending months on a perfect launch, teams release a minimum viable product, measure how real customers behave, and use that evidence to test their leap-of-faith assumptions. Ries introduces innovation accounting, actionable rather than vanity metrics, split testing, small batches and continuous deployment, and the disciplined choice to pivot when the data says the strategy is wrong.

    Examples range from IMVU, the company Ries co-founded, to Dropbox, Intuit and Zappos. The vocabulary of the book quickly entered the mainstream of product management, and its ideas now underpin accelerator programmes, corporate innovation labs and agile product teams around the world. Ries later built on the approach in The Startup Way, aimed at established companies.

    Book details

    AuthorEric Ries
    First published2011
    Original languageEnglish
    GenreBusiness
    TypeNon-fiction
    Pages (approx.)336

    Themes

    • Experimentation
    • Validated learning
    • Product development
    • Uncertainty
    • Iteration

    Who should read it

    Founders, product managers and corporate innovators who want a disciplined way to test ideas before investing heavily in them.

    If you liked this, try

    • Zero to One
    • The Startup Owner's Manual
    • Inspired

  • Good to Great

    Jim Collins set out to answer a question his earlier book Built to Last left open: can an ordinary company become a great one? His team screened Fortune 500 firms for those whose stock returns had been average for fifteen years and then beat the market by a wide margin for the next fifteen, ending with eleven examples such as Kimberly-Clark, Walgreens and Nucor, each compared against a similar company that failed to make the leap.

    The findings are presented as a set of memorable concepts. Level 5 leaders combine personal humility with fierce professional will. Great companies first get the right people on the bus, confront the brutal facts while keeping faith, and focus on a Hedgehog Concept at the intersection of passion, best-in-the-world ability and economic engine. Disciplined culture and carefully chosen technology accelerate momentum, which builds like a heavy flywheel rather than through dramatic turnarounds.

    The book became one of the most cited management texts of its era. Critics note that several of the featured companies later declined, raising questions about survivorship bias, but the framework remains widely used in boardrooms and nonprofit strategy work. It also spawned a monograph applying the ideas to the social sectors.

    Book details

    AuthorJim Collins
    First published2001
    Original languageEnglish
    GenreBusiness
    TypeNon-fiction
    Pages (approx.)320

    Themes

    • Leadership
    • Corporate strategy
    • Discipline
    • Organisational culture
    • Sustained performance

    Who should read it

    Executives, managers and nonprofit leaders looking for research-based ideas on building an organisation that endures.

    If you liked this, try

    • Built to Last
    • The Lean Startup
    • Start with Why

  • Start with Why

    Simon Sinek's book expands on an idea he popularised in one of the most watched TED talks: the Golden Circle. Picture three rings, with why at the centre, how in the middle and what on the outside. Most organisations communicate from the outside in, describing their products first, while those that inspire loyalty begin with their purpose or belief.

    Sinek links this model loosely to the structure of the brain, arguing that the limbic system governs feelings and decisions while language lives in the neocortex, which is why people often cannot explain a gut choice. He illustrates the idea with Apple, the Wright brothers, Southwest Airlines and Martin Luther King Jr., and contrasts manipulation through price cuts and promotions with genuine inspiration that creates trust.

    Later chapters deal with what happens when a founder departs and the why fades, how to find early adopters who share your beliefs, and why clarity, discipline and consistency must line up. The book is popular in marketing, leadership coaching and company culture work, though scientists have called its neuroscience oversimplified.

    Book details

    AuthorSimon Sinek
    First published2009
    Original languageEnglish
    GenreBusiness
    TypeNon-fiction
    Pages (approx.)256

    Themes

    • Purpose
    • Leadership
    • Trust
    • Brand loyalty
    • Inspiration

    Who should read it

    Leaders, marketers and founders who want to articulate why their organisation exists and use it to rally people around them.

    If you liked this, try

    • Leaders Eat Last
    • Good to Great
    • Drive

  • Rich Dad Poor Dad

    Robert Kiyosaki frames his personal-finance book around two father figures from his childhood in Hawaii. His own father was a highly educated government employee who worked hard yet struggled with money. The father of his best friend left school early but built a string of businesses and taught the boys to make money work for them rather than working for money.

    From that contrast Kiyosaki draws a set of lessons: the rich buy assets that generate income while the middle class buy liabilities they believe are assets, a house being his most controversial example. He urges readers to learn accounting, investing, markets and law, to mind their own business in the sense of building an asset column, and to use corporations and taxes to their advantage.

    Written with co-author Sharon Lechter, the book was originally self-published and grew into a global bestseller and a large brand of games and seminars. It has been criticised for vague advice and for the uncertain reality of the rich dad character, but it is widely credited with getting ordinary readers to think about cash flow and passive income.

    Book details

    AuthorRobert T. Kiyosaki
    First published1997
    Original languageEnglish
    GenreBusiness
    TypeNon-fiction
    Pages (approx.)207
    SettingHawaii

    Themes

    • Financial literacy
    • Assets and liabilities
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Passive income
    • Education

    Who should read it

    Readers new to personal finance who want a motivational push to think about investing and side income rather than only a salary.

    If you liked this, try

    • The Psychology of Money
    • Think and Grow Rich
    • The Millionaire Next Door

  • The Psychology of Money

    Morgan Housel, a former columnist for The Motley Fool and The Wall Street Journal, argues that doing well with money has less to do with knowledge and more to do with how people behave. Each of the book's nineteen short chapters takes one idea, often opening with a historical story, and shows how emotion, upbringing and personal experience shape financial decisions.

    Among his recurring points: no one is crazy, because each person's money views are formed by the economy they lived through; luck and risk are siblings and both deserve humility; compounding rewards patience far more than brilliance; and the hardest financial skill is knowing when you have enough. He distinguishes being rich, a visible income, from being wealthy, the invisible savings that buy freedom and time.

    The writing is brisk and largely free of jargon or formulas, which helped the book become an international bestseller translated into dozens of languages. It offers few specific investment tips; instead it encourages readers to build a margin of safety, avoid ruin, and design a financial plan they can actually stick with.

    Book details

    AuthorMorgan Housel
    First published2020
    Original languageEnglish
    GenreBusiness
    TypeNon-fiction
    Pages (approx.)256

    Themes

    • Behavioural finance
    • Compounding
    • Luck and risk
    • Saving
    • Contentment

    Who should read it

    Anyone who wants a calm, story-driven perspective on saving and investing without spreadsheets or stock tips.

    If you liked this, try

    • Rich Dad Poor Dad
    • Thinking, Fast and Slow
    • The Little Book of Common Sense Investing