Category: Billion Dollar Companies

Making Money From eSports

The rapid expansion of the eSports industry, including the growing millions of viewers who tune into to watch their favorite players battle it out, means there is plenty of money to be made from this lucrative new space.

The opportunity eSports presents is not just one for the game creators or media giants, players and teams are set to make their fortunes too. That’s not all, a thriving new sector creates possibilities for startups, entrepreneurs, and investors.

The sector is driven by, and for, the millennial and Gen Z generations, many of whom lean more to the space than to traditional sports, hobbies, or viewing.

Kent Wakeford, Co-founder, and COO of the world’s 7^th most valuable eSports company, Gen.G, told VentureBeat recently:

“What you’re seeing is a tectonic shift in viewership and consumption from the millennials and Gen Z — gaming is the preferred entertainment.”

The eSports industry is likely to generate around $1 billion dollars this year, a figure set to grow to $1.65 billion in 2019. By 2023 the value of the eSports industry could reach $2.17 billion. Wakeford’s company Gen.G is valued at $110 million.

The U.S eSports Industry is Set to Grow

Wakeford says that more than 22% of American millennials watch eSports, and that’s more than the number who watch Major League Baseball or the NHL. The total number of eSports viewers is around 300 million today and likely to grow by as much as 50% by 2019. Around 50% of eSports viewers live in the Asia-Pacific region, a further 15% in the U.S, and around 18% in the EU.

“I believe that in the future we’re going to see viewership continue to grow and surpass traditional sports, including the NFL.”

Prizes, Endorsements, Streaming, and Merchandising

eSports players and teams are making their money from tournament prizes, sponsorship, and endorsement, as well as appearances and merchandising.

Just a handful of Fortnite’s top players have earned a combined $1.2 million already in prize money and the top ten eSports companies and teams are worth a combined $1.5 billion.

Nike recently sponsored it’s first eSports player, League of Legends player “Uzi.”

Players can also earn as much as millions, and certainly thousands, from streaming their live play and other broadcasts on platforms like Twitch and YouTube. Tyler Blevins aka “Ninja” now earns more from streaming than he does winning tournaments and is worth around $10 million.

eSports fans are engaged by the stories and daily lives of their favorite players. Celebrities like Ninja can make their fortunes, but amateur players can also make plenty of money through streaming and vlogging, taking advantage of the monetization opportunities of the web.

Other players are paying their way through college by coaching online for popular game titles.

Game Revenue, Live Events, Media Rights, Advertising and Big Buck Sponsorship Deals

Event organizers, gaming companies, and rights owners earn millions from live events, sponsorships, and a very lucrative income from media rights.

In January 2018 Overwatch League and Twitch signed a historic partnership which made sure the Overwatch tournaments were available to viewers around the world. Overwatch creator Blizzard entertainment is worth around $18 billion. League of Legends, developed by Riot Games, is worth $15 billion alone significantly contributing to the overall value of Riot Games at $21 billion.

Gen.G COO, Wakeford, expects media rights to be a key growth area for both big game leagues and for individual teams and players:

“That’s a key area of differentiation from traditional sports, where esports teams are highly engaged and doing a lot of innovative content creation through streaming platforms.”

Sponsorship deals, as well as the number of opportunities, are becoming more profitable too, Wakeford explained why:

“Well-known Fortune 500 brands and marketers coming into the space.”

These brands are beginning to understand the eSports industry and the scope it presents for sponsoring teams and players, as well as live events with audiences set to rival traditional sports.

Mastercard became the first global sponsor of League of Legends in September 2018, joining other big name sponsors who have committed at a regional and national level including Mercedes Benz, Doritos, Gillette, and Adidas.

Spin-Off Opportunities

This burgeoning industry is creating eSports cities, jobs, inspiring startups and entrepreneurs, and even reviving traditional sports as this sector learns from eSports how to engage the millennial and Gen Z generations.

Let’s not forget too, the impact on game development and the wider video game industry. eSports may be dominated by brands like Epic Games and Riot Games but independent developers publishing directly to the web and app stores have an enthusiastic gaming audience to lever too.

December 3, 2018
Can All Elite Wrestling Challenge Billion Dollar WWE Network?

Is someone finally going to challenge the monopoly the WWE Network has had on professional wrestling for the past 15-years? Apparently, a new wrestling organization called All Elite Wrestling is rumored to be on the verge of finalizing a national television deal in American to challenge Vince McMahon’s control over the industry.

The WWE Network has long had a stranglehold on the wrestling business, but the times are changing with the emergence of other wrestling companies and the rumored All Elite Wrestling headed by Cody Rhodes, former son of wrestling legend Dusty Rhodes.

WWE Network Monopoly

The WWE Network has been the only major player on the pro-wrestling scene for the past decade, with other independent organization such as TNA and Ring of Honor (ROH) barely denting the mega-company. This has created a massive gulf in the industry, and up until recently, if you weren’t signed with the WWE, you were pretty much a non-entity in the business.

Over the past two years, the Japanese wrestling company, New Japan Wrestling has been making a name for itself not only in the far east but also on American soil. New Japan has helped to garner some big name American talents such as the lauded tag-team the Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and the Bullet Club faction that was initially headed by now WWE stars AJ Styles and Finn Balor.

The popularity of Bullet Club and Young Bucks merchandise rival anything on the WWE Network at the current time and are sparking a renaissance

Changing Times for Pro Wrestling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rDUeqsq54s

One of the golden ages of pro-wrestling or sports entertainment as Vince McMahon calls it today, was when WWE (called the WWF) and WCW went head-to-head with the Monday Night Wars back in the mid to late 1990s.

In a period between 1995 and 2002, McMahon’s WWE was on the verge of failure as World Championship Wrestling (WCW) run by billionaire Ted Turner stole some of the then WWF’s star talents such as Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash. Vince and his WWE prevailed and the rest is history.

Former WWE wrestler Cody Rhodes, now known only as ‘Cody’ since leaving the WWE Network, has been drumming up big business with the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega, collectively called ‘The Elite’. They tested the waters when they filled a 10,000 capacity stadium earlier this year on American soil that sold nearly 200,000 PPVs.

Now it is rumored that the collective is planning to rival Vince McMahon’s WWE Network and are close to securing a TV deal.

The Elite is currently a massive force with pro wrestling fans who have made their opinions known as WWE are experiencing the lowest viewing figures for their Monday Night Raw and Smackdown programs in decades. Although their profits are actually at an all-time high due to their online network, which is apparently worth $1.5 billion.

Could an All Elite Wrestling organization challenge the might of the billion-dollar WW Network empire? Vince McMahon’s competitors usually end up in the poorhouse, so it will be interesting to see what happens.

Featured image from YouTube.

November 28, 2018
Microsoft’s Value Momentarily Overtakes Apple’s for First Time in 8 Years

The ups and downs of FAANG stocks alongside what seems like a change in strategy for Apple have yielded another unexpected market result. Microsoft’s overall value yesterday surpassed that of Apple for a short time, and for the first time since 2010.

Microsoft’s market capitalization at $812 billion yesterday at one point was greater than Apple’s. By the end of the trading day, Apple had recovered its lead with a market capitalization of over $835 billion.

The unanticipated shift was made even more so considering the two-technology behemoth’s values just a few months ago.

Apple became the first U.S company to achieve a whopping $1 trillion market valuation, with a wide lead over Microsoft which was at the time valued at around $887 billion.

Apple’s Share Price Has Declined

Fears of slowing demand for Apple’s iPhones are not helping Apple’s valuation. The price of iPhones has been gradually increasing, with new September 2018 prices even higher than expected by Wall Street traders.

Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan predicted in September:

“Although investor expectations are for some moderation in pricing for 2019 models, we expect Apple to continue to price the iPhones for value, which should drive upside to consensus estimates.”

The belief at the time was that higher phone prices would trigger better share performance. New iPhone pricing was revealed on September 12, 2018, and after a slight dip, share prices peaked on October 3, 2018, before declining ever since.

Apple Share Price Source: Google

Mohan, speaking in September said this:

“If perceived higher pricing is interpreted as a negative post event and the shares pull back, we would see that as a particularly attractive opportunity to buy the stock.”

Apple’s share price has now fallen more than 20% since October 2018, with now only 2.3% growth seen for Apple in 2018 overall.

The decline could be fuelled by a number of factors. Apple’s latest sales figures are relatively flat, with the addition of concern over higher per-product prices. If the global economy starts to struggle consumers are less likely to choose higher priced and luxury products.

Apple has also indicated that Apple services including ApplePay, Apple Music, and the App store will be a growth area, but its plans aren’t immediately apparent or effective in the eyes of investors.

Carolina Milanesi analyst at market research firm Creative Strategies told the BBC:

“If we know that sales for the iPhones are going to be either flat or down and then there’s nothing else to compensate that, then of course there are reasons for concern but I think it’s too early…In a year’s time, if we don’t see the services business pick up in the way we expect, then I think the concerns could be legitimate.”

Lastly, Apple is impacted by global market concerns, not just the threat of recession and the fluctuations of technology stocks, but also trade tensions. China, and the greater China region, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, forms around 20% of Apple’s market for sales.

Cloud Computing Could Sustain Microsoft

Microsoft, in comparison, is still seeing sales growth mainly due to its cloud-computing focus. The Microsoft Azure platform’s success has slowed compared to the last two years, but annually revenue figures from the division are still up 76% across 2018.

Microsoft Share Price Source: Google

Microsoft shares have fallen, down around 8% from September 2018, but that’s not quite the decline experienced by Apple. A performance that has allowed Microsoft to close Apple’s lead by company market value and indeed overtake that lead for the short period yesterday.

The cloud services market could continue to fuel growth for Microsoft and its Azure platform, allowing it to continue to more successfully compete with Apple by market capitalization. Analysts, in October 2018, said Microsoft and rival Amazon’s shares were still a good bet off the back of the cloud computing market.

November 27, 2018
Bet365 CEO Denise Coates Gets $281m Paycheck

Some say gambling doesn’t pay. BET365 CEO Denise Coates would beg to differ. The founder of the popular betting website pulled in a whopping paycheck of $281 million this year making her the highest paid CEO of a private company in the UK.

Bet365 are one of the leading online bookies in the United Kingdom, which is a nation that loves to have a bet. The company has just had a very successful year as is evident with the paycheck of their founder and CEO.

Happy Days for Bet365 CEO Denise Coates

Although gambling is banned across many nations, especially across Asia, the bookie business continues to skyrocket in Great Britain. Figures released earlier this week from the past year from March 2017 to March 2018 show that Bet365 CEO Denise Coates raked in a salary of $281, which is 10% higher than the previous year.

Although Denise Coates name wasn’t identified in the figures, Bet365 have received awards for having the highest paid director, which has pretty much spelled it out in capital letters.

Not only does the figure put her at the top of the CEO list in the UK, but she also becomes one of the highest paid executives of a private company in the world. Her bank-busting yearly salary is actually higher than any CEO on the S&P Index of US public companies.

Bet365 Billionaire Businesswoman

Bet365 CEO Denise Coates is a powerful businesswoman and is listed as having a $5.8 billion fortune and currently owns over 50% shares in the business.

The company is the second largest betting firm in the UK in terms of sales, second only to GVC Holdings Plc, who is also an online betting platform. Other notable online betting platforms in the UK are William Hill, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power.

As the home of football, golf, cricket, horse racing, tennis and a myriad of other sports, the United Kingdom is one of Europe’s premium betting epicenters. Typically speaking, there are anywhere between 14 to 30 horse races per day in the UK, all centered around the betting industry.

Bet356 saw massive profits last year rising over 31% to a total in the region of $800 million alone for the company.

In some countries, high-end bookmakers are criminals, but in the UK, Bet365 CEO Denise Coates is a billionaire businesswoman, and rightly so!

Featured image from The Times.

November 23, 2018
Ratan Tata GBE – India’s Real Money Maker for More Than Two Decades
Ratan Tata GBE, born 1937, was the chairman of the Indian conglomerate, Tata Group, from 1991 to 2012. He also held the position for four months between 2016 and 2017. During his time as chairman annual revenue grew from $5.7 billion to more than $100 billion. His personal wealth is believed to be just shy of $1 billion. Despite the meteoric rise of the Tata Group during his stewardship Ratan Tata doesn’t really get the recognition he deserves. The main reason for this is due to the way that the Tata Group has been structured.

This year the conglomerate is celebrating 150 years since it was founded by Jamsetji Tata back in 1868. The holding company of the Tata Group is Tata Sons. The holding company is as old as the trading company with two-thirds of the shares belonging to charitable trusts. The two biggest trusts, with over 50% of the shares are the Sir Dorabji Tata and Allied Trusts and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust.

Tata Philanthropic Trusts

Dorabji and Ratan were the two sons of the Tata Sons founder, Jamsetji Tata. Ironically Dorabji and Ratan both died without any sons to pass the business on to. The Trusts that were created after they died are amongst the oldest philanthropic Trusts in India. Sir Ratan Tata (1871 – 1918), not to be confused with Ratan Tata GBE, and his brother Dorabji were both knighted in the days of the British Empire. Whereas Ratan Tata GBE received his honorary “knighthood” in 2014, long after the fall of the British Empire.

The Tata family have been leading philanthropists for more than 100 years with a focus on education and medicine. In 1941 the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust set up the Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai and other notable donations have included:

$50 million awarded to Cornell University in 2008, the University Ratan Tata GBE graduated from.

“The endowment consists of $25 million to establish the Tata-Cornell Initiative in Agriculture and Nutrition, which will contribute to advances in nutrition and agriculture for India; and $25 million for the Tata Scholarship Fund for Students from India, to help attract more of the best and brightest students to Cornell from India.”

$50 million awarded to the Harvard Business School (HBS) to build Tata Hall. Ratan Tata also graduated from the Advanced Management Program at HBS in 1975. Tata Hall was constructed as an academic and residential building for executive education.

Other well-known philanthropists like Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates have tended to amass their fortunes and then distribute their wealth to good causes. For Tata, the philosophy has always been to benefit the employees and the society as a whole rather than its Directors. Hence the two-third ownership of Tata Sons by the Charitable Trusts.

Tata Brands

Tata founder, Jamsetji Tata, set up the business to trade tea and opium with China. In 2000 Tata expanded their tea business when it purchased the inventor of the Tea Bag, Tetley. At the time it was the largest international takeover in history by an Indian company. Ratan Tata said of the Tetley takeover:

“It was a momentous occasion for the company and a bold move which he hoped other Indian companies would follow.”

Tata has been involved in steel production in India since 1907 and in 2007 Ratan oversaw the purchase of UK based Corus for $12 billion. In 2008 he was also involved in the acquisition of global brands Jaguar cars and Land Rover for $2.3 billion. Ratan is also responsible for the “$2,000” Tata Nano, at the time the world’s cheapest motor vehicle.

Interesting Facts About Ratan Tata GBE

Like his namesake Sir Ratan Tata and Sir Dorabji Tata he has no sons and has never married but came close on four separate occasions. He qualified as an Architect from Cornell University and is also a qualified pilot. Ratan has his own private jet, a Falcon 2000. He was also the first Indian to fly a supersonic F-16 Falcon jet.

Ratan Tata GBE has an impressive collection of motor vehicles. Which is not too surprising based on his previous control of Tata Motors, Tata Daewoo, Land Rover, and Jaguar. His fleet of vehicles includes a red (his favorite color) Ferrari California, Maserati Quattroporte, a red Cadillac XLR convertible, Chrysler Sebring, and a red Jaguar F-Type convertible.

During his career, he has received a plethora of awards with honorary doctorates from Universities across the globe. These include Ohio State, Warwick, Cambridge, Carnegie Mellon, York (Canada) and New South Wales. In addition to the GBE, he received from the UK he also holds the following titles:
- Commander of the Legion of Honour (France)
- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (Japan)
- Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy).
Ratan received the honorary title of Chairman Emeritus by the Tata Board in 2012. He technically falls well short of the top 10 richest people in India. However, based on his impressive record as Chairman of Tata he is regarded by many as one of India’s leading industrialists.

Featured image from Shutterstock.
November 23, 2018
IKEA Cuts 7,500 Jobs Worldwide to Focus on their Online Business

The world-famous Swedish home furniture brand, IKEA, is the latest victim of the increased popularity of online shopping as it cuts 7,500 jobs worldwide and 350 jobs in the UK to focus on other areas of their business.

If you are a fan of assembling your own household and garden furniture, is it time to put down the screwdriver to mourn the end of the Swedish flat-pack assembly kingpins? Not just yet!

IKEA Keeping in Line With Spending Habits

Although the news that IKEA plans to cut 7,500 jobs across the world seems like a doom and gloom move, the company contends that they are simply shifting focus from their large stores to their online sales and smaller shops.

The Swedish group is cutting the jobs to streamline their business moving forward to focus their emphasis on the growing online market, which is essential if IKEA wants to compete in the modern consumerism sector of today. The 7,500 jobs are mainly for office workers to help the company conform to new shopping habits.

The biggest losers in this scenario are the UK. IKEA employs 12,100 people across the United Kingdom and will be cutting 350 jobs. However, they hope to counterbalance this by opening a new store in Greenwich in 2019 that will create a further 500 jobs, mostly on the front line.

Putting the Cuts Into Perspective

Putting this into perspective, IKEA currently employs 160,000 people worldwide across 367 stores and 30 countries, so relatively speaking, cutting 7,500 jobs is not as stark as it appears.

IKEA believes that it would also be creating a further 11,500 jobs across the world as it moves its focus from megastores to online shops and new store formats.

The chief executive of IKEA, Jesper Brodin, told The Guardian newspaper that the cuts are not all negative for the future of the company by saying:

“We continue to grow and perform strongly. At the same time, we recognize that the retail landscape is transforming at a scale and pace we’ve never seen before. As customer behaviors change rapidly, we are investing in and developing our business to meet their needs in better and new ways.”

If former megacompanies such as of Toys’R’Us and Kodak would’ve had the same foresight to change with the times, maybe they would still be in a competitive position instead of languishing in pain. It seems that IKEA is readying itself to evolve with the consumer marketplace.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

November 23, 2018
Coca-Cola Cannabis Drink Anyone? Apparently Not Says CEO

Amidst news and rumors that Coca-Cola was looking to penetrate the cannabis industry, the CEO of the soft-drink giants, James Quincey, has come out to say they are not interested in concocting a Coca-Cola cannabis drink.

As companies and celebrities from Mike Tyson to Richard Branson show a willingness to promote the fledgling cannabis industry, Coca-Cola is now distancing themselves from entering the pot affray.

Coca-Cola Cannabis Infused Drink?

Over the past two months, the news was circulating that the soft-drink company was interested in developing a Coca-Cola Cannabis CBD beverage infused with the medical aspects of cannabis that would be used to treat a number of conditions.

Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey has now poured scorn on the idea and has said that the evidence on consumable cannabis is still sketchy.

That’s quite amusing considering how many chemicals are in your pre-existing drink that you happily sell to people of all ages, especially kids. Sounds like someone needs a slap with the contradiction stick! Cannabis infused drink or chemical soup? I know which one I prefer.

Coca-Cola Firmly Sidelines Cannabis Drink

As Canada and many parts of the USA are now accepting the herb with open arms, and minds, Coca-Cola is heading in the opposite direction. Although a Coca-Cola cannabis drink sounds delicious, CEO Quincey gave his opinion when talking to CNBC’s Jim Cramer:

“I have a very simple way of thinking about ingredients, including CBD: is it legal, is it safe and is it consumable? It’s not legal in the United States and it’s not even legal for beverages in Canada yet. The science is out [on safety].”

Aspartame is fine though of course! Thank god Quincey is here to safeguard human beings! Because everyone knows that his main concern is people becoming health conscious, right? If so, Coca-Cola would’ve already gone bankrupt.

He went on further to say that consumers want are looking for trust. He also went onto to say in the same discussion that:

“We want to sell drinks that people can drink each day, so it’s not like something you have once, you have to be able to have [for example] one a day.”

So, is he concerned with people’s health or creating a product that will consistently sell? We already know the answer to that one. What a hypocrite.

I don’t think herb consumers will be concerned that a Coca-Cola cannabis drink is not being produced as they smoke on their phat blunts. Maybe it’s a decision Coca-Cola will come to regret.

Featured image from Maxim.

November 21, 2018
The Rise and Fall of Multi-Millionaire Carlos Ghosn, Chairman of Nissan

In a sudden and shocking development, French-Brazilian-Lebanese millionaire, Carlos Ghosn chairman of Nissan and one of the most influential figures in the automotive world has been arrested for financial misconduct.

Ghosn, also chairman of Renault and Mitsubishi Motors as well as Nissan, is legendary for creating a global alliance of the three automotive companies. Combined, the three auto-makers employ over 470,000 staff in 122 automotive manufacturing facilities and sold over 10 million vehicles in 2017. The three share both resources and costs in a model that other automotive companies have looked to copy. Rebecca Lindland, an auto analyst for Cox Automotive said:

“He was the creative genius behind all of this, and set the parameters to run these fairly disparate companies.”

Ghosn is credited with saving French car-maker Renault after a restructure that returned it to profit and earned him the title “Le cost killer.” When Renault formed the first alliance with Nissan in 1999 Ghosn became the leader of both companies and was then credited for turning around Nissan. He became CEO for Nissan in 2001 and Renault in 2005 and was the first person to be in charge of two Fortune Global 500 companies at the same time. Writing in 2002, of Nissan’s return to success, Ghosn said:

“This was, quite literally, a do-or-die situation: Either we’d turn the business around or Nissan would cease to exist.”

Ghosn went on to become chairman of Mitsubishi in 2016 when Nissan bought a controlling portion of the Japanese company. He was also chairman of the Russian automotive manufacturer AvtoVAZ between 2013 and 2016.

The Hardest Working Man in the Automotive Industry

Born in Brazil in 1954, Ghosn moved to Beirut, Lebanon, at the age of six before going on to study in Paris graduating as an engineer in 1974 from École Polytechnique and from the engineering institution École des Mines de Paris in 1978.

He went on to work for Michelin for 18 years at plants in France and Germany before becoming a plant manager in France in 1984. In 1985 he became COO of Michelin’s South American operations, developing his cross-cultural management style and bringing the division back to profit. Ghosn is quoted as saying:

“You learn from diversity … but you’re comforted by commonality.”

He then became COO and then CEO of Michelin North America in 1989 and 1990 respectively, moving to America, before becoming an Executive Vice President for Renault in 1996 and saving the struggling car company.

Ghosn, now 64, has a net worth of $100 million and a last reported salary of $17 million per annum. In 2003 he was ranked as one of the 50 most famous men in global business and politics. He pioneered the $5 billion investment by Nissan to build the first mainstream electric car, the Nissan Leaf.

Forbes Magazine once called Ghosn the hardest working man in the automotive industry for his traveling 150,000 miles by air per year between Paris and Tokyo. Japanese media has nicknamed him “Seven-Eleven” for his ability to work from dawn to dusk.

Arrested for Financial Misconduct

Ghosn was arrested in Tokyo, Japan, November 19, 2018, for financial misconduct pertaining to underreporting his own income and using company assets for personal use. Reports indicate Ghosn and Nissan Director Greg Kelly have been under investigation for a number of months for under stating their earnings to securities regulators in Tokyo. A statement by Nissan revealed:

“Numerous other significant acts of misconduct have been uncovered — such as personal use of company assets — and Kelly’s deep involvement has also been confirmed.”

The millionaire chairman has reportedly under declared his income by $44 million over a period of five years. The arrest is part of a process in Japan before Ghosn’s case can be brought to court and does not, as yet, confirm his guilt.

Nissan plans to meet this coming Thursday to discuss Ghosn’s official removal from the Nissan board of directors. Hiroto Saikawa, Nissan CEO and now the only remaining top executive at the firm will recommend Ghosn and Kelly’s dismissal citing their:

“Clear violations of the duty of care as directors.”

Saikawa, in a press conference, went on to say:

“I have to say that this is a dark side of the Ghosn era which lasted for a long time.”

Ghosn had been working to secure the alliance between Renault, Mitsubishi, and Nissan, including the potential of a merger, for a time when he would no longer lead the collaboration. He stepped down as Nissan CEO in 2017 and was likely to step down as CEO of Renault before his official term ended in 2022.

Renault’s share price has already fallen 15% and Nissan’s share price 11% in the aftermath of the news.

Nissan Share Price Source: Google

The automotive icon joins Mark Zuckerberg in the news this week as industry leaders under scrutiny. Zuckerberg, though not accused of personal misconduct, is facing further concerns over Facebook’s operations.

November 21, 2018
India’s First Homegrown Satellite by Exseed Space to Launch on Tuesday

Strap on your seatbelts, pray to your deities and get ready for blast-off! India’s first homegrown satellite, built by Exseed Space is almost ready to take-off and will be launched on Tuesday on-board SpaceX Falcon 9.

India is poised to send their first-ever satellite into space, designed and produced in Mumbai-and Hyderabad, by the Mumbai-based startup company Exseed Space.

One Small Step for India and Exseed Space

The first living thing human beings successfully sent to space was a monkey named Albert II on June 14, 1949. We don’t want to tell you what happened to the original Albert I. It’s safe to say he went on a scenic journey to a special place in the cosmos.

A new chapter for India’s space exploration history will be written on Tuesday when their first ever homegrown satellite, named ExseedSat-1, will be launched into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The Indian satellite ExseedSat-1 will be one of 70 satellites from 16 countries that will be launched on-board Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Tuesday. It’s an exciting time not just for the Indian space industry and Exseed Space, but also on a global scale.

Exseed Space From Mumbai

Exseed Space is a Mumbai-based startup that has designed and constructed Indian’s first privately built satellite. They will become the first ever Indian company to send a satellite to space.

The firm was first established in 2017, founded by Kris Nair and Farhan Ashhar to build and develop small satellite platforms. They are hoping to become a major player in the design, assembly, testing, and integration of satellites.

Exseed Space is currently working to create Indian’s first satellite manufacturing facility that can cater to the growing interest and demand in global markets for Nano and Microsatellites, and Cubesats.

Exseed Space was funded by a Mumbai finance company named First Cheque, who is also in the early stages of helping 100 new startups over the course of the next five years in India.

The takeoff time for the SpaceX Falcon 9 and ExseedSat-1 will be at 6.32 pm GMT on Tuesday, November 19. Everyone will be holding their breath simultaneously as the Exseed Space satellite will be propelled into outer space creating history for India.

November 19, 2018
Cashless Transactions in India Set to Boom over the Next Few Years
The proportion of cashless transactions varies widely across the globe with some countries, like India, still considered a cash economy. Last year more than 70% of Point of Sale (POS) transactions in India were in cash and just 20% were credit or debit card transactions. Whereas cash transactions in South Korea were only 11% with credit and debit cards making up a staggering 85% of POS transactions. However, data suggests that cashless transactions in India are set to boom over the next few years.

It’s not just India which is expected to see an upsurge in cashless transactions though. If you run a business with an international client base it’s important that you follow the trends in eCommerce and POS systems.

Potential customers will look elsewhere for goods and services if you make it too difficult for them to pay you. During a recent visit to the UK, I was surprised to find that cash is no longer king.

It started before I even arrived in the UK with British Airways no longer accepting cash, of any kind, on their flights. At London Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest airports, traditional cashiers have been replaced with self-service, cashless tills in at least one store.

Worldpay Annual Global Payments Report

Worldpay published their annual global payments report a few days ago and the first thing you will notice is that it’s twice as long as their 2017 report. The 108-page PDF starts with a global summary of the status of eCommerce and POS payment methods.

In 2018 eWallets are expected to account for 36% of online payments and to increase to 47% by 2022. Globally POS payments in cash are expected to fall from 31% to 17% over the same period.

Source: Worldpay Annual Global Payments Report

The Worldpay report goes on to provide data for North America, Latin America, EMEA, and Asia Pacific. The data is then broken down by country. At present, cashless transactions in India are considerably lower than the average for the Asia Pacific region.

“Cash continues to be the primary payment method for point of sale purchases and eWallets dominate for online payments.”

With only an estimated 45% of the population in India currently having access to the internet eCommerce and cashless POS payments have not yet reached the levels of many other nations.

“As internet penetration and the digital economy continues to grow, there will be room for ongoing shift of payment forms.”

Why Cashless Transactions in India Are Set to Boom

In some areas, India is already ahead of many nations when it comes to cashless payments. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI), promoted by the Indian government, is one such example. It allows users to send funds based solely on knowing the recipients mobile phone number.

Traditionally India has tended to use feature phones rather than the more expensive smartphones. UPI works with either type of phone but smartphones are much more user-friendly. Smartphone sales in India continue to grow and IDC announced November 15 that they now match those of feature phones.

More than 42 million smartphones were purchased in India in Q3 2018 with Xiaomi leading the way with 11.7 million units sold in the quarter.

Increased smartphone usage in India will see an increase in eCommerce and cashless POS transactions in the coming years. Worldpay estimates that eCommerce will expand by 21% per year between 2018 and 2022. Smartphone adoption is being driven, in part, by lower costs for internet use.

Pushing down the Cost of Internet Use in India

Mukesh Ambani, Forbes ranked 18th wealthiest man in the world and India’s richest person, is helping to reduce the costs of using the internet in India.

He’s the largest shareholder in Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). Jio, a subsidiary of RIL, has slashed 4G data costs in recent years. Jio offers an annual, pre-paid 4G contract, with 1.5GB of daily data allowance for around $24.

The annual contract brings the cost per GB down to less than $0.05. Previously costs for 1GB of mobile data in India were as high as $2. Jio has also launched 4G feature phones from as little as $20.

With the significantly reduced data tariffs, Jio was able to attract 100 million customers in just three months. They now boast a customer base of more than 250 million customers.

Keep up to Date with Payment Trends

It’s important that business owners know what payment systems their customers have access to and they vary significantly across the globe. For much of the world, traditional debit and credit cards are very popular. Some of the most prestigious cards used by the rich and famous include:
- Coutts World Silk card – believed to be favored by the Queen of England
- JPMorgan Chase Palladium Visa – the “ex-US President Barack Obama” card
- Bank of Dubai First Royale MasterCard – diamond embedded card
- American Express Centurion Card – used by Oprah Winfrey and Kim Kardashian
Some of these cards have no credit limits but are often available via invitation only and come with undisclosed perks.

In recent years cryptocurrency cards like Wirex and Revolut have grown in popularity. Many merchants are now accepting cryptocurrency payments on their websites with some incorporating instant, almost fee-free processing.

It might be quite sometime before your cash is refused in India but don’t visit this British pub with only cash in your pocket.

Featured image from Shutterstock.
November 18, 2018