👨🏻‍💻From Blog to Riches (Issue 016)

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In today’s Issue 📥 :

• From Blog to Riches.

• Collective History.

• Adani’s big buck business.

• The Dark Side of Dal.

From a blog to a multi-million company

The Birth of Unstop: Ankit started a blog back in 2010 while pursuing his MBA at IMT. He wanted to participate in various programs and contests that were held in different colleges, universities, and companies. However, the information about these events would not reach him on time. This is when he started a blog where he would post the information as soon as he got it.

The Turning Point: Ankit joined Harvard Business School to pursue a scholarship program and noticed the same trend at Harvard too. The students wanted to explore more opportunities, find out which industry they were suited for, gain CV points, and eventually get placed. In consecutive months, the Aditya Birla Group and Reliance approached him, and they asked him if he could reach out to students and start an employer brand. Ankit then decided that this was the right time to transform that blog into a website.

Unstoppable

When Ankit started Unstop in 2019, the company was quite restricted, collaborating with only a few schools. Slowly, they started building on it and incorporated different fields being offered in colleges, such as engineering, arts, and commerce in 2020. Then, in 2021, they pivoted from being just a listing platform. Now, a user can create web pages, make and take payments, do coding, and also do assessments on their platform. Unstop is now an early talent engagement and hiring platform, a combination of Naukri.com, LinkedIn, and an assessment platform like Mettl.

The Shark Tank Experience: Ankit recently appeared on Shark Tank Season 2, where the ‘sharks’ offered his team Rs 5 crore, the highest offer in Shark Tank history, which they refused. Ankit said that it was an amazing experience, seeing all the sharks and answering their questions. Initially, it can be a little intimidating, but he was prepared with all the numbers. He added that the ‘sharks’ saw so much potential in the business, which is really motivating.

Future Plans for Unstop: Ankit’s future plans for Unstop include forming a community of students and employers. They want to grow their five million users to 10, 20, and so on. They are not looking into the revenue side of the company but the community side for now.

Ankit’s journey is an inspiration to all those who have a bug in them that keeps pushing them to become an entrepreneur and build something of their own. His journey has shown that with perseverance and hard work, one can achieve their dreams. We wish Ankit and Unstop all the success in their future endeavors.

IMPROVEMENT SIP

Collective History

Throughout history, more than 107 billion people have lived on this planet. While there are roughly 7.7 billion people alive today, the legacy of those who came before us lives on in the lessons they learned.

Each of those billions of people tried things, failed, and then tried again in new ways. They discovered new solutions to problems, and they shared their insights with others. When we are born, we inherit the collective knowledge and wisdom of those who came before us.

This cumulative knowledge is the greatest gift we will ever receive. We are not smart because of our individual genius, but because of the collective knowledge of humanity.

As historian Niall Ferguson has noted, the dead outnumber the living fourteen to one. Ignoring the accumulated experience of such a huge majority of mankind is a perilous mistake. Instead, we should embrace the insights of those who have come before us, and use their wisdom to guide us forward.

“History is a vision of the future, informed by the experience of the past.”

— Arnold Toynbee.

HOT SIP

Exploring the Controversial History of India’s Favorite Staple Food Amongst the Poor

What’s dark? The khesari dal narrative serves as a reminder of how the wealthy in India trample on the underclass.

In 19th-century India, frequent famines caused by drought-induced crop failures resulted in millions of deaths from starvation and disease. In addition, a paralyzing disease called lathyrism affected thousands of people in the northern and central regions, with the culprit being a semi-wild vetch called khesari or teora dal that was popular among the poor. Despite awareness of the link between the consumption of this dal and the disease, people continued to consume it, leading to a call for methods to persuade people to give it up.

From Ancient Texts to Concentration Camps:

Grass pea, also known as khesari or triputa kalaya, has long been suspected of causing the paralytic disease known as lathyrism in India. Ancient texts like the Sushruta Samhita and the Bhavaprakasa link it to diseases that cause trembling of the legs and joint loosening. Even a verse in the Shukraniti-sara recommends feeding enemies a mix of cottage cheese, honey, or jaggery, and the carpel of triputa kalaya to cause them harm. The exact neurotoxin responsible for lathyrism, Beta-N-Oxalyl-amino-l-alanine, was only identified in the mid-20th century. Despite the Indian government banning its sale and storage in 1961, it is still cultivated as animal fodder.

Culinary staple:

The central ban on the cultivation and sale of khesari, a type of grass pea linked to lathyrism, was successful in reducing consumption and cultivation in India. The ban was put in place in 1961 following the recommendation of Indian scientists and epidemiologists who were convinced that consuming large quantities of khesari could cause lathyrism. Despite its popularity in Indian cuisine, khesari was embedded in the culture, and a ban imposed by the Maharajah of Rewa in 1907 had no effect. The ban led to massive campaigns across India to warn people of its toxicity.

The Misunderstood Pulse:

Khesari’s Low Cost and High Nutrition Touted as Solution for the Poor, Despite Lathyrism Risk. Researchers argue that neurolathyrism is virtually non-existent when grass pea is part of a balanced diet fortified with other dietary essentials. However, the exploitative bonded labor system prevalent in India has led to the poorest and lowest-caste workers being paid in cheap, coarse khesari, resulting in many contracting lathyrism and being turned out by their masters.

SMALL SIPS

Co-worker: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) feels generative artificial intelligence platforms like ChatGPT will create an “AI co-worker” and not replace jobs.

Thieves: Apple iPhone users use the passcode feature on the device to help protect their data. But what if we tell you that the passcode can give thieves access to your data and money? Shocking right? According to a report published by The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern and Nicole Nguyen, there have been instances of thieves spying on the target’s iPhone passcode before stealing the device to get access to their data.

Rebuild Homes: Weeks after the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria and killed over 50,000 people, Turkey has now begun to work to rebuild homes. The death toll in Turkey due to the massive earthquake has crossed over 44,000.

Rapidly growing: Astronomers have discovered a rapidly growing black hole in one of the most extreme galaxies known in the very early Universe, according to a new study.

Youngest Alzheimer: A 19-year-old Chinese student has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s after extensive tests, making him the youngest patient of the disease in the world. Capital Medical University in Beijing conducted several tests on the body of a person who has been suffering from memory issues for the last two years and was diagnosed with mind-robbing Alzheimer’s which progresses with age.

With CHAI ☕

Ceo: Blackstone CEO Schwarzman Reaped Record $1.27 Billion in 2022.

How to: be worthy one day…

Aww: Dance Dance Dance.

It’s Interesting: Disney will lose the copyright to the original Mickey Mouse in 2024.

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