H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (22 January 2019) – Bezos vs Ambani: The Billionaire Bout That Had to Happen; The Amazon founder will be fighting the battle for Indian consumers with one hand tied behind his back; Life is dhukka; Return on Courage : A Business Playbook for Courageous Change

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (22 January 2019) – Bezos vs Ambani: The Billionaire Bout That Had to Happen; The Amazon founder will be fighting the battle for Indian consumers with one hand tied behind his back; Life is dhukka; Return on Courage : A Business Playbook for Courageous Change

Companies

• Tencent Music stock upgraded by JPMorgan and HSBC (MBW)
• SMS Co’s medical information company MIMS expands to US, Europe through tie-up (BT)
• Recruit Holdings’ Job board Glassdoor, announced that it has entered the Asia Pacific with the launch of localised website and mobile apps in Singapore, Hong Kong and New Zealand. (SI)
• Machinery maker Hiwin Technologies Co (上銀) could achieve double-digit growth in annual revenue this year, with the second half of the year likely to be better than the first half (TT)
• Kakao Pay, KT to take part in govt’s Zero Pay (Investor)

BATTSS – Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, TSMC, Samsung, Softbank

• China approves third batch of video games; still no Tencent (Reuters)

FAANNMG – Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Nvidia, Netflix, Microsoft, Google

• Bezos vs Ambani: The Billionaire Bout That Had to Happen; The Amazon founder will be fighting the battle for Indian consumers with one hand tied behind his back. (Bloomberg)
• Facebook’s WhatsApp limits text forwards to five recipients to curb rumors (Reuters)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Ad for fraud-linked medical group causes uproar on Q&A site Zhihu (Technode)
• China’s co-working operators squeezed by a lack of funding are shutting down (SCMP)
• US government shutdown delays 20 Chinese companies’ IPO plans (KRA)
• China Wants to Dominate the Internet; Its new geopolitical strategy is a threat to open networks. America and its allies must respond. (Bloomberg)
• Data sharing among ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ goals (Japan Times)
• Thai virtual reality startup Infofed dips its toes in game-casting; Infofed’s plan is to build e-sports into a tourism subset and encourage a new professional workforce. (KRA)
• Indian budget accommodation unicorn OYO enters Philippine market (KRA)
• OVO participates in Warung Pintar’s $27.5m series B round; Founded in 2017, Warung Pintar now has 1150 kiosk partners and aims at more than 5000 by end of this year. (KRA)
• Travelstop launches in 7 markets to expand further in Asia’s business travel sector (KRA)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Invoice finance platform MarketInvoice raises $33.5M from Barclays, Santander (TC)
• Flexciton is using AI to help factories optimise production lines (TC)
• Kaia Health gets $10M support for AI-powered management of chronic pain (TC)
• The challenges of moderating online content with deep learning (TNW)
• Intel’s Tough Act to Follow; Chip-making giant faces several challenges following record-breaking year (WSJ)
• Meal-delivery startup Munchery shuts down after raising $125.4m (MW); Just Eat CEO Quits Without Delivering the Takeaway; Plumb is leaving before his plan to build an army of delivery drivers shows signs of paying off. (Bloomberg)
• Tesla’s real problem is that a lot of the traditional methods for cutting those costs have been tapped (FT)
• Cofounders Of E-Payment Service Used By Netflix and Spotify Are The Netherlands’ Newest Billionaires (Forbes)
• Qualcomm’s Stealth Program More ADAS than AV (EE Times)

Life

• Life is dhukka (Ascent)
• Shares of Thailand’s top hospital operator by market value and its No. 2 airline sank after the resignation of their billionaire founder, who was banned by the country’s securities regulator for share-price manipulation (Bloomberg)
• “Attention without feeling . is only a report.” (BP)
• Remembering Jack Bogle and Herb Kelleher, Two Great Strategists (HBR)
• Grit + Imagination = Success (Mission)
• Three Traits of Mission-Driven Founders (Medium)
• The Best Entrepreneurs Are Missionaries, Not Mercenaries (HBR)
• The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth 1st Edition (Amazon)
• Unlocking Creativity: How to Solve Any Problem and Make the Best Decisions by Shifting Creative Mindsets 1st Edition (Amazon)
• Game Changers: What Leaders, Innovators, and Mavericks Do to Win at Life Hardcover – December 4, 2018 (Amazon)
• What’s Your Competitive Advantage?: 7 strategies to discover your next source of value Paperback – December 6, 2018 (Amazon)
• Disrupt-It-Yourself: Eight Ways to Hack a Better Business—Before the Competition Does Hardcover – January 29, 2019 (Amazon)
• Return on Courage : A Business Playbook for Courageous Change Hardcover – January 15, 2019 (Amazon)
• Bruce Berkowitz on Analyzing Free Cash Flow; Accounting for hidden costs in a cash flow analysis (GF)