Category Archives: Business

India business optimism positive, but is lowest in 4 years: Report

NEW DELHI, DEC 26:   Business leaders in India remained largely positive, but their level of optimism has dropped to its lowest level in four years even as it has hit a two-year high in the Asia–Pacific, says a report. According to the latest Grant Thornton’s report, Asia–Pacific business optimism has hit a 2 year high, largely driven by improvements from Read More


Is Your Angel Investor Playing Power Ball or Money Ball?

Sophisticated investors in high potential start-up companies generally take one of two approaches to angel investing, which I call “power ball” and “money ball”. Either of these approaches can yield high financial returns, but their success requires angels to stick to the rules of the game they are playing. Investors do poorly when they confound the two games. Types of Read More


The Size of Angel Investments

About a week ago, I put out the statistic that the typical, or median, size of an angel investment is $10,000. Many people have responded that they don’t believe the number because they see companies receiving $250,000 to $500,000 from angels. But these numbers aren’t inconsistent. Data from a survey of a representative sample of the adult age population in Read More


39% of Small Businesses Get a Return On Investment From Social Media

Thirty-nine percent (39%) of small business owners are seeing a return on investment from social media.  That is according to a recent survey by Manta, released just last week. Manta, an online small business community, surveyed more than 1,200 of its members to generate its quarterly Small Business Wellness Index, where these findings are from.  Chart excerpt: Now you might think Read More


5 metrics to evaluate life insurance business

Till now you have interacted with life insurance companies as a customer, and so you needed to understand the different products they sold, embedded costs, performance record of the insurer and processes of making a claim. But last year, with ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd going public, followed by two other insurers this year namely SBI Life Insurance Co. Read More


Ola acquires Foodpanda to enter food delivery business in India; to invest another $200 million

Ola’s rivalry with Uber has just entered a whole new dimension. Seven months after Uber launched its on-demand food delivery app UberEATs in India, Ola on Tuesday announced that it will acquire Foodpanda’s India business. In the bargain, the food delivery business in the country is likely to get a big boost, much to the delight of couch potato foodies. Read More


Apple India Revenue Doubles Year-Over-Year, Tim Cook Says Still ‘A Long Way to Go’

Apple reported strong quarterly results ahead of the iPhone X launch on Friday, with iPhone sales at 46.7 million unit, up from 45.5 million in the year-ago quarter. The company posted quarterly revenue of $52.6 billion (roughly Rs. 3,39,595 crores), an increase of 12 percent year-over-year (YoY), with international sales accounting for 62 percent of the revenue. India revenue doubled year-over-year, though the Read More


Saudi’s $19 Billion Stimulus Will Prioritize Housing and Small Business

Saudi Arabia on Thursday unveiled a 72 billion-riyal ($19.2 billion) program to bolster private-sector growth, with money to support housing construction as well as fee waivers for small businesses, Commerce and Investment Minister Majid Al-Qasabi said. The package, part of a four-year, 200 billion-riyal stimulus program announced last year, contains 17 separate initiatives the government hopes will result in direct and Read More


Small Business Groups Prefer Senate Tax Cut, But Mostly Don’t Love It

House Republicans appear to have largely given into their Senate colleagues on a tax cut bill, news reports suggest. (Photo by Aaron P. Bernstein/Bloomberg) You might have thought that when it comes to the competing tax cut bills that have been duking it out behind closed doors at the Capitol, advocates for small business would feel like they’re living in Read More


Morneau’s small business tax changes promise simpler rules for income sprinkling

Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau on Wednesday released new rules to clarify how family members will be treated under tax changes for small businesses. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press) The federal government has unveiled its new proposal to curb “income sprinkling” by some small business owners to family members, with substantive changes to a much-criticized initial proposal unveiled in the summer. But Read More