DeansMusings

Startup forums and resources for entrepreneurs are full of advice about what you should know before you start your venture, or the qualities a successful entrepreneur needs. Startups are booming in India. What is different in the business environment today is that it is easier to do business in a completely legal way and make a profit. Startup founders are more willing to take risks. Entry barriers are lowered – Access to money, connections or the right community matters less. One consequence of the rise of the startup culture is that government departments have become more startup friendly and there is more choice and more professionalism in the services a startup requires - Law firms, Marketing & PR, design firms etc.   In my years of first running a startup, then being part of angel investor groups and advising a few startups and entrepreneurs, I find the people who want to take the plunge into entrepreneurship are not asking themselves what I think are basic question...

 While writing about and discussing the Ukraine war in my blog series, a comment I hear most often about India’s position, is that India is: Cosying up to Putin by buying Russian oil, or India is deliberately violating sanctions by buying oil – and financing Russia’s military. Those who do not attribute any malafide intention on India’s part claim India is doing so to avail of big discounts on Russian oil. This is not just incorrect, but hides the more cynical economic interests of the countries sanctioning Russia. Before analyzing Indian oil purchases from Russia, I few basic points for readers: Oil is exported in crude or refined form. Since refineries are often located close to where the end product is consumed, oil exporters usually have lower refining capacity than their crude producing capacity. Oil price movements have been the subject of innumerable studies. In general: Oil demand generally increases less than GDP growth. It is reducing in advanced economies where ...

  This post has been written because all discussions on terrorism in India – which is Pakistan sponsored, focus on losses on the Indian side. A justification for Pakistan continuing state sponsored terrorism is that for a relatively small cost, India spends a large amount on security and is taking unsustainable losses, and will eventually lose its will to retain Kashmir. As I pointed out in my article on Kashmir – 5 years after article 370 revocation, Kashmir is in fact at its most peaceful in years and it is actually terrorists that are taking unsustainable losses.  https://rpdeans.blogspot.com/2024/07/kashmir-5-years-after-article-370.html   What has been ignored is Pakistan’s own terrorism problem, which unlike India, is home grown and less publicised. Terrorism in Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is worse than Kashmir.    Terrorist Incidents Civilians killed Security forces killed Terrori...