👻 The Souled Store

Plus: Why Less is More? Giant AI experiments.

Author

Chai Sip
March 29, 2023

ISSUE #039

☕ Good Morning! Sippers,

Indian lifestyle brand The Souled Store has announced that it has secured Rs135 crore (approximately $16.46 million) in a funding round led by mid-market private equity firm Xponentia Capital Partners. Existing backers, Elevation Capital and RPSG Capital, also participated in the round.

In today’s Issue 📥 :

  • The Souled Store Secures Rs135 Cr.

  • Why Less is More?

  • Giant AI experiments.

SIP WORTHY

The Souled Store Secures Rs 135 Crore Funding for Major Expansion Plans

The Souled Store plans to use the funds to expand its operations into new categories and launch over 100 stores pan India within the next two years. The company also plans to offer a buyback of 100% of vested employee options using a part of the proceeds.

Revenue Streams and Future Plans: The Souled Store claims to have an annualized revenue of over Rs 450 crore GMV and currently generates 70% of its revenue through its app/website, 15% from offline stores, and 15% from online marketplaces. From now on, the company plans to ramp up its presence in tier 2 & 3 cities in India. As much as 60% of its revenue comes from outside the top 10 cities.

The Souled Store aims to reach Rs 1500 crore in revenue over the next three years and plans to create destination stores to excite its customers. The company also intends to go public after achieving this target.

Xponentia Capital Partners’ Plans and Portfolio Companies: PR Srinivasan, Managing Partner at Xponentia Capital Partners, expressed the firm’s interest in working with entrepreneurial teams that are setting new standards to disrupt their markets & create high-growth business models. Xponentia Capital Partners’ portfolio companies include Altigreen, a commercial electric vehicle maker, Zype, a new-age fintech platform, and Easy Home Finance, among others.

Xponentia Capital Partners is currently on the road to raise capital for its second fund, which it expects to close by June this year. While the final corpus of the fund is yet to be confirmed, sources suggest it could be around Rs 1000 crore (approximately $122 million), surpassing the initial target of Rs 750 crore.

IMPROVEMENT SIP

The Art of Simplicity: Why Less is More When It Comes to Mastery

Robin Sharma once said, “The highest level of mastery is simplicity.” This quote speaks to the idea that true expertise lies not in complexity, but in the ability to distill the information down to its essence and focus on what really matters.

One example of this principle in action is the story of Steve Jobs, who famously insisted on simplifying Apple’s product line to focus on a few key devices. He believed that by doing so, Apple could provide the best possible user experience and avoid diluting its brand.

Another example is Sachin Tendulkar. Despite being widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Tendulkar remained dedicated to simplicity throughout his career. He focused on the basics of the game and worked tirelessly to perfect his technique, rather than getting bogged down in complex strategies.

In the words of Leonardo da Vinci, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” This quote speaks to the idea that simplicity is not a lack of complexity, but a deep understanding of what truly matters.

So how can we apply this principle in our own lives?

One approach is to focus on the essentials and eliminate distractions. We can identify the key areas of our lives where we want to excel and then eliminate the things that don’t contribute to our success.

By doing so, we can free up time and mental energy to focus on what really matters.

Author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry:

“Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

HOT SIP

Giant AI experiments

Marlena Sloss/Bloomberg via Getty Images

What’s sipping? ☕ Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and more than 1,000 other experts have signed an open letter calling for a pause in the development of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The letter, issued by the non-profit organization Future of Life Institute, follows the release of GPT-4, a powerful language model from OpenAI. The signatories want to ensure that shared safety protocols are developed, implemented, and audited by independent experts before advanced AI models are created.

✳️ Concerns over risks to society: The letter outlines potential risks to society and civilization that could arise from the development of human-competitive AI systems. These risks include economic and political disruptions. The letter also calls for developers to collaborate with policymakers on governance and regulatory authorities to mitigate risks and protect society.

™️ Europol joins chorus of ethical and legal concerns: This call for caution follows similar concerns raised by the EU police force, Europol, about advanced AI models like ChatGPT. The police force warned about the potential misuse of these systems for cybercrime, phishing, and disinformation. Musk has also been vocal about his concerns about the use of AI. His carmaker, Tesla, is already using AI for its autopilot system.

💬 OpenAI has not commented: While OpenAI has released GPT-4, the chief executive at OpenAI, Sam Altman, has not signed the letter. Future of Life has said that Altman has not commented on the letter. OpenAI has not yet responded to a request for comment.

📲 Experts call for caution: Gary Marcus, a professor at New York University, who signed the letter said, “The letter isn’t perfect, but the spirit is right: we need to slow down until we better understand the ramifications. They can cause serious harm… the big players are becoming increasingly secretive about what they are doing, which makes it hard for society to defend against whatever harms may materialize.”

SMALL SIPS

Alibaba: to split the empire into 6 units as co-founder Jack Ma returns to China.

Microsoft: The latest of Microsoft’s AI assistant tools — the software giant likes to call them Copilots — uses OpenAI’s new GPT-4 language system and data specific to the security field, the company said Tuesday.

Dasara: Nani’s most anticipated film Dasara is gearing up for a grand release on the 30th of March 2023 ie, today. The film is sold for huge rates everywhere which are also the highest ever in Nani’s career.

This stunning: image of the Moon was captured from lunar orbit and transmitted by the Hakuto-R lander, which was constructed by the Japanese private space technology firm Ispace.

Uncommon condition: that impacts blood flow may affect women with a sedentary lifestyle.

With CHAI ☕

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