The West’s feeble response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted Shekhar Gupta to write this piece the sum of substance of which is that we should laud India’s political leadership – across parties – for pursuing India’s nuclear agenda over the past 40 years. In a world where the West’s assurances of protection and civility […]
As India’s economy and society has changed rapidly over the past decade, one straightforward source of competitive advantage – in business, in investing, in politics and generally in Indian life – has accrued to those who have made the effort to understand the new India. Govindraj Ethiraj is amongst those who has made strenuous efforts […]
We have highlighted before the sort of Orwellian propaganda the Chinese Communist party likes to use to keep its vast kingdom under control – see https://marcellus.in/story/chinas-troll-king-how-a-tabloid-editor-became-the-voice-of-chinese-nationalism/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=MIMPL&utm_campaign=3L3S-9th-Jan-2022&utm_content=LR1.This piece from ProPublica illustrates how even a sporting event like the Winter Olympics is airbrushed by the Communist Party. Whilst such articles will be viewed by some as a sign […]
Paul Graham, the English-American computer programmer, is the legendary founder of the Y Combinator, the seed capital firm which 20 years ago transformed start-up investing in the Silicon Valley. Now retired, he lives in England and writes thought provoking blogs about seemingly simple topics which, under Graham’s treatment, yield rich insights. In this blog he […]
This month we place the spotlight on Ultramarine & Pigments Limited (UMP), a top 3 global manufacturer of inorganic Ultramarine Blue pigment (and the leader in India and Asia-Pacific) and amongst the top manufacturer of anionic surfactants in India. Ultramarine’s pigment business enjoys significant manufacturing complexities around yield, purity and consistency particularly for industrial grade […]
Marcellus’ CCP companies grew their revenues in 3QFY22 (vs 3QFY20) at 19% CAGR. This is significantly higher than: a) the 17% revenue growth reported over FY14-19 (i.e. prior to Covid-19); and b) the 16% revenue CAGR that was reported in 2QFY22 (vs 2QFY20). The drivers of this acceleration can be categorized into two types. Firstly, […]
For those of us who went to school in the 1980s, Bappida was the coolest, hippest music composer because he had almost singlehandedly dragged India into the disco age. Just as RD Burman captured the fusion of Indian, jazz and rock better than any other music composer, Bappi Lahiri blended desi and disco and booked […]
In the rest of China, the Government’s approach to dealing with Covid-19 involved brute force and a dodgy vaccine: “China fought the virus in Beijing, Xi’an, Tianjin and in Henan province by flooding the zone with testing, tightly restricting flights and mobility, and aggressively isolating those who tested positive, locking down whole cities when necessary. In […]
Herman Pontzer, a scientist at Duke University, has conducted research and shown what some of us have long suspected: exercise and a more active life does NOT help you lose calories. What exercise does is it helps you stay healthy, stay fit i.e. those who exercise more tend to suffer fewer illnesses as they age. […]
Even in the current age of tech & digital, the dominant form taken by private sector enterprise is the family run business rather than listed businesses. Both in India and in the US such family run businesses account for the vast majority of the nation’s employment: “According to the U.S. Census Bureau, family businesses — companies […]
Covid-19 and its aftermath has made even the most resilient of us take mental punches as the lives of our nearest & dearest were turned upside down by the pandemic. In such circumstances it is useful to take inspiration from those who face psychological pressures and physical dangers far more intense that what we encounter […]
We have run Financial Services businesses outside India and now in India, we have the good fortune of managing Marcellus. We find that the contrast between how the law treats entrepreneurs in the developed world and in India remains stark (even after 30 years of liberalisation). As a result, Marcellus has a large and growing […]
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