I s s u e
1
|
M a y
2 0 2 1
shieel l
The
magazine
Entrepreneurial-Economics Magazine
Musk's Mind
6 companies, 65,000+
employees, $17,050 crores,
incalculable flair. Read more
on pg 23.
Shark Tank
Currency
Why are investors so crazy for
an alternative currency created
by a phantom? Read on pg 12.
Haven't watched it? Do so now, but
only after reading our article. Read
more on pg 18.
City Montessori School, Gomti Nagar 1
Index
3
2
Agents of Shieeld
4
5
Industrial
From the Board's
Psychology
Quill
10
Inspiration for
Generations
11
9
Development
Our Guiding
Lighthouse
Acknowledgement
8
Leisure
12
From the Activity
Coordinator's Pen
6
Entrepreneurship
7
Economics
13
Thank You
Note
1
Prolusion
PROLUSION
S.H.I.E.E.L.D. IS AN ACRONYM FOR:
S TRATEGIC
H UB FOR
I NDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY,
E NTREPRENEURSHIP,
E CONOMICS,
L EISURE AND
D EVELOPMENT.
The Magazine presents informative articles relating to
economics, entrepreneurship and business psychology.
This magazine has been months in the making and we
are exuberant to finally unveil it.
S.H.I.E.E.L.D's significance lies in its ability to provide a
platform for effective research and growth. More
importantly, it aims to engage students in the world of
business and finance which are the driving forces behind
today’s society and social relations. The magazine
endeavours to make people realize that their optimum
potential can only be achieved once they grasp the
fundamentals of economics and its impact on the 21st
century.
REGARDS,
THE BOARD
TEAM S.H.I.E.E.L.D
PAGE - 1 | SHIEELD
We would like to express our special gratitude to the
Founder Manager of our school, Dr. Jagdish Gandhi; the
Founder Director of our school, Dr. Bharti Gandhi; the
President of our school, Mrs. Geeta Kingdon and the
Chief Executive Officer of our school, Mr. Roshan
Gandhi for establishing this prestigious institution and
guiding us towards our bright futures. We would also
like to extend our utmost gratitude towards our
Principal, Mrs. Abha Anant; our Vice Principal, Mrs.
Yasmeen Khan and our coordinators for providing us
with platforms to express our views and talents.
We are deeply indebted to our Activity Coordinator, Dr.
Manju Anand for her patient guidance, enthusiastic
encouragement and continued endeavours towards
the promotion of interests and talents of us students.
We owe tremendous gratitude to La Plume, the
Editorial Board, CMS GN-1 for having provided their
expertise and assistance. They provided immense
guidance at the time of providing final touches to the
magazine.
PAGE - 2 | SHIEELD
Agents of
SHIEELD
SAKSHAM GUPTA
DIVYANSHI AGARWAL
FOUNDER, PRESIDENT
preSIDENT
ARUSH N. SRIVASTAV
IT Head
VAGMITA
Chief Content Head
ARCHITA SHUKLA
Content Head
PRIYANSHI SINGH
Content Head
ARYAN A. VERMA
IT Head
PAGE - 3 | SHIEELD
LLIUQ
S'DRAOB EHT MORF
Dear Envisioning Entrepreneurs,
Economics is the cornerstone of civilization. It's not the study of superficial dimensions
or subatomic realms of science. It is not the study of hypothetical worlds of literature.
It is the study of neither fantasy nor fiction. What it is is the study of the entire material
world and the human species as a society, and I feel that to not have the basic
knowledge of economics is like looking at the world through blindfolds.
Today this world is a competitive entrepreneurial space in its entirety. Why should it
even be anything less than that? Competition that brings about this entrepreneurial
spirit brings about constant innovation and increase in value proposition and it
essentially has got us to where we are today.
So, I proudly present before you the hard work of our team and our efforts in trying to
demystify all the aforementioned subjects to your liking in the form of this magazine,
S.H.I.E.E.L.D.
Saksham Gupta,
Founder, President
& Content Creator
Dear Budding Businesspersons,
We are elated to present the very first issue to all the readers. As soon as the idea
struck us, we brainstormed and shaped it into the magazine it is today with the help
of a sterling team. This is an appreciation for all the people who took this journey with
us. We couldn't have done it without your help.
Happiest reading!
Thank you
Divyanshi Agarwal,
President
PAGE - 4 | SHIEELD
INDUSTRIAL
PSYCHOLOGY
PAGE - 5 | SHIEELD
MARKETING
BECAUSE WHEN YOU STEP INTO THE WORLD OF MARKETING, YOU
ALSO STEP INTO THE WORLD OF MISCONCEPTIONS.
Contrary to
popular belief,
marketing is not
just expensive
advertisements.
It includes all
efforts and
expenditure
spent by a
business to
market any
product. To
maximize sales
in a highly
competitive
environment,
businesses take
the help of
Industrial
Psychology: the
practice of
applying
psychological
theories and
principles to
workplace
environments.
Industrial psychology is also referred to as the ‘psychology of
marketing’ as it anticipates consumer behavior by understanding
their cognitive biases and aims at improving product sales. Most of
the advertisements reflect the use of such psychological strategies.
For example, many ads include the phrase “approved by experts” to
boost the trustworthiness of their product.
However, for marketing to work in the free market economy, deep
industry analysis is needed. Businesses must know the Unique
Selling Proposition (USP) of their product, i.e. they must know what
factor makes their product better than the competition. They must
also know the key demography they are targeting in order to
understand the channels through which they should market and
how.
All marketing expenditures are coined into one index known as
Customer Acquisition Cost. Businesses after marketing for some
time figure out their Customer Acquisition Cost, which essentially is
the cost of acquiring one customer. It is generally calculated by
dividing the total expenditure done in all channels of marketing by
the number of customers that bought one unit of the order, or by
the assumed average order that one customer makes according to
the business.
In terms of unit economics, the percentage of marked price held by
marketing is about 40-50% since the ratio to the revenue and
marketing expenditure is low for them. In short, new businesses
need to market a lot more while established companies may spend
only around 12-15% of their revenue on marketing.
PAGE -6 | SHIEELD
THERE IS A CLEAR BIFURCATION BETWEEN THE EXPENSIVE
AND INEXPENSIVE MARKETING STRATEGIES. ONE CAN
DECIDE EITHER ON THE BASIS OF ONE’S WORKING
CAPITAL, BUSINESS MODEL AND EXTENT OF EXPOSURE.
INEXPENSIVE STRATEGIES
1. SEO (Search Engine Optimization): For every
EXPENSIVE STRATEGIES
1. Referral Marketing: It encourages people to share
search, Google has thousands and millions of
the marketed product with other people by
results, which it ranks on the basis of the
forwarding some link to the owner's website or to
inclusion of keywords that the person searched
the product in exchange for some incentive like a
for. The inclusion of these keywords in a
website’s columns and articles improves its
exposure. SEO is necessary only when
businesses have their own website to sell
products or a blog to promote them.
2. Content Marketing: Content marketing catches
people’s attention by creating content in the
form of small videos, posters, etc. and
promoting the product on social media sites
and search engines, thus increasing the
popularity of the product.
3. Creating Communities: Companies aim at
influencing their customers to post about their
products on social media, creating a chain
reaction that would encourage other
consumers to buy the products and further
share their experience with the product on
social media as well. This way a community of
people is formed. A company that perfected
this technique is a US-based female underwear
company, BootayBag.
promotional discount code on the next purchase,
etc.
2. Influencer marketing: It involves paying
celebrities/people with huge social media
following/bloggers with large active customer
bases to promote the product. For example, Nike
and Cristiano Ronaldo have a perpetuity
advertising contract of one billion US dollars.
We would also like to shed some light on a very
popular marketing technique that has been used
by companies like OnePlus, Hypercar
Manufacturers and various smartphone
companies. What they used was:
3. Scarcity Marketing: When OnePlus initially came to
India, it didn’t just start selling to everyone and
everywhere. There were selected stores in just Delhi
NCR regions where one could buy OnePlus
merchandise. OnePlus knew their products were
good and that they were better than the
competition. They created immense demand for
their product and people grew impatient to buy
their product.
THUS, SUCCESSFUL MARKETING STRATEGIES CAN GREATLY IMPROVE THE SALES OF A
PRODUCT AND IN TURN THE REVENUE GENERATED FROM IT. NEEDLESS TO SAY,
BUSINESSES NEED TO MARKET THEIR PRODUCTS EFFECTIVELY IN ORDER TO BUILD A
CUSTOMER BASE AND ESTABLISH THEIR BRAND IN THE WORLD’S MARKETS.
PAGE - 7 | SHIEELD
PIHSRUENERPERTNE
PAGE - 8| SHIEELD
From
B
an
to USINESS
IDEA a
THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD IS AN ENTREPRENEURIAL SPACE, VERY CONDUCIVE
FOR
THE
SUCCESS
OF
SMALL
SCALE
BUSINESSES
OWING
TO
GENERAL
AWARENESS, ENTERPRISING SPIRITS OF INDIVIDUALS AND THE MOTIVATION
BEHIND CREATING COMPETITION FOR THE PERFECTION OF CONSUMER GOODS.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS NOT KNOWLEDGE, IT'S A SKILL.
HAVEN’T MOST OF US THOUGHT OF BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR AT LEAST
ONCE BUT WE JUST DON’T KNOW HOW TO START? SO, HERE’S HOW TO LAUNCH
FAST-MOVING CONSUMER GOODS (FMCG) OR RETAIL AND CONSUMER PRODUCTS.
USP and Prototype
Be sure of your product’s utility and USP
(Unique Selling Proposition), for your
product must stand out while presenting a
clear selling point. Extensive market research
and industry analysis help to figure out
necessary portals for selling, the volume of
inventory to be produced and the best
marketing ways. For this, you need a
prototype (a working model) of your product.
Patent (Optional)
From an idea to a product, it's a long
journey. This is contingent on the product
but most of the time it is advisable to get a
patent on your product. Getting a patent
protects you against plagiarism and gives
you sole control while adding substantially
to your company’s assets. There are
various types of patents like utility, design
and provisional.
Funding
Start with a small capital coming from your savings
or borrowed funds, or get a business loan. Other ways
are inviting outside investment, doing equity offering
rounds, or participating in funding competitions but
if your business lacks proof of concept, analytical data
and assets, its valuation will be low, making you lose a
big chunk of equity before even launching. Getting a
proper strategic partner might boost your business,
save you your time and money, and help you market
and increase your sales.
PAGE - 9 | SHIEELD
Production
You can go with manual production in your workshop.
It is suited when just a small volume of supply is
needed or it’s a beta test or just fulfilment of your
crowdfunding order.
Getting a contract packer reduces the per-unit cost of
production. He manufactures your product in his
factory since a new startup doesn't have enough
capital investment to carry out effective production.
For edible consumer products, perfect the proprietary
formula of your product and figure out if it’ll be sold as
perishable or frozen. Then, approach commercial
kitchens working on mass production scales to
manufacture your product.
Business Model
Now you need to have a business model. You need to
be sure about how and where you want to sell your
products. The two very fundamental business models
are going into retail or going direct to consumers.
Going into retail means that you wholesale your
product to retailers, for instance, big box stores like
Walmart. Direct to consumer business model is
where you ship the product directly to the customer's
home. Here too, you could be selling on multi-vendor
marketplaces like Amazon and Shopify or you could
sell via your own website. You should knock on all
doors to earn the most revenue.
Licensing
Another way to go is to license your products. You’ll
still own the proprietary technology but the other
party manufactures markets and sells the product. In
exchange, you get paid as per the terms of payment
mentioned in the licensing contract.
The entire cost of production including packing and
shipping is about 30-70% of the sale price and the rest is
gross profit. It lowers with an increase in the scale of
business.
To sum up, new businesses have to spend quite some
money on marketing. But owing to their small scale of
operations, the net profit does no justice to the amount
spent on marketing. Small businesses might not be
profitable in the initial years but it's all about the
business idea, model and flexibility in making
improvements and adapting to market trends.
PAGE - 10 | SHIEELD
ECONOMICS
PAGE -11 | SHIEELD
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Currency, the one concept
we all share similar knowledge
about, has come a long way: from
barter to coins to paper money to
banknotes to digital currency and to the
relatively new and intriguing cryptocurrency.
When human civilizations started, people prod-
uced several commodities and then exchanged the
surplus for items they needed, from people producing
those items. Although simple, this barter system wasn’t
static or reliable as the value of the commodities remained
inconsistent. But the barter system is not discontinued. According
to the US Department of Commerce and the GATT (General Agree-
ment on Tariffs and Trade), barter still accounts for about 25-30% of
all transactions worldwide.
Later, value came to be held in precious metals in the form of coins which
ensured uniformity in size, weight and purity. Coinage is the most ancient form
of currency that relates to modern currency.
Then, paper money, having several advantages as well as disadvantages, was
first devised by the Chinese. Loans could now be taken on gold and silver with
interest. It also enabled the sales of stocks in joint-stock companies. But, when
the notes first came into existence, their volume in circulation was linked to
valuable commodities. Authorities issued more notes than they had species to
back them up with. Often, demand for paper money fell to zero.
PAGE - 12| SHIEELD
Today, almost every currency is fiat currency, issued by the government and not
backed by any tangible asset. You might question why not print uncountable
notes and make everyone rich? Because that would cause inflation, making
everyone poor. Too much supply of money would cause the value of products
to
keep
fluctuating
declining.
This
is
and
the
called
purchasing
inflation,
power
when
of
each
people
note
would
hyper-increase
keep
their
consumption and start hoarding, causing a shortage of products and further
inflation
which
can
cause
an
economy
to
crash
and
currency
to
become
worthless, as has happened in Venezuela and many Latin American economies.
Thus, the supply of money and amount of goods and services produced must
be directly related. This is regulated by the government or a central
autonomous body like the RBI in India or The Fed in the USA. Too many restrictions
on supply of notes can cause the currency’s value to increase which
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EE
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CC
causes people to hoard money as it becomes an appreciating asset. Economic activities reduce, capital investments disappear and consumer
expenditure decreases, finally causing a recession in the economy.
So, governments must maintain a complex and delicate balance,
considering past indices of inflation, international trends and
unemployment rates. Well, a little inflation does promote
economic growth as people invest money and
maintain consumption creating a higher capital
formation rate.
PAGE - 13 | SHIEELD
Case Study
Cuba
Cuba is inarguably one of the most bizarre economies on the planet
today. Through this article, we will demystify before you the
country where a cab driver makes more money in an hour than a
neurosurgeon makes in a month.
Cuba, a small picturesque nation with a
population of a measly 11.3 million, is situated
between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.
Its economy swings from a hardcore capitalist
society to a worker’s paradise and is now trying
to make the good old, not to mentioned, flawed
and outdated, communist economy work.
So let's start from the very beginning. At the
onset of the 20st century, Cuba was really a
different nation than it is today. A land of freewheeling capitalism and possibly a more
liberal market than the United States. With the help of the US, Cuba established
various infrastructural facilities and focused heavily on the sugar production
economy.
This is good. Infrastructural development and creation of new industries leading to
employment, right? Well, not exactly. Sure
the country was getting wealthier and
wealthier on paper but little to none of it was
going to the hardworking Cubans. And the
problem was that America owned everything
i.e. most of the arable land and sugar refining
factories and 90% of all sugar produced
where profits were retained. When oil
explorations
started
there,
foreign
companies like Texaco swooped in claiming
majority of oil fields.
So essentially, Cuba had gone from Spanish colonialism into the hands of Corporate
colonialism. America essentially owned Cuba without having to stick a flag in it or
defend it. In 1959, after a long and bloody revolutionary war, the Cuban Communist
Party rose to power.
PAGE - 14 | SHIEELD
It started by nationalizing its telecommunication industry, its farmlands and its oil
refineries. Cuba’s President also declared a
ban on the export of sugar, cutting the
lifeline of the economy. The US was
infuriated with Cuba nationalizing all the
American owned infrastructure and thus
decided this was a good way to suffocate
their economy as they were almost solely
reliant on the US for trade.
Russia saw a great ally in Cuba, being famous in the communist business
themselves and it was geopolitically beneficial for them to have an attack outpost
so close to the US during the Cold war. So they bought Cuba’s sugar and provided
them with refined petroleum, infrastructure and everything else. Cuba was on the
fast track to development, up until the
Soviet Union, Cuba’s only friend in the whole
world, ceased to exist.
During 1989-1992, the Cuban GDP shrunk by
40%. Cuba became something very close to
North Korea. Widespread unemployment,
starvation, a strong military presence and
reliance on debt to even sustain.
To tackle this, Cuba did what India did
around the same time. They liberalized and
globalized their economy. They opened their
country up to tourism and foreign trade and foreign investment promoted selfemployment and, most ironical of all, made the US dollar a legal tender in their
country. It's a satire really to think that FDI from the US which, was the reason why
Cuba was poor in the first place, became the road to salvage what remained of it.
To address the neurosurgeon and cab driver
statement, we have to look back at the history
of vehicles in Cuba. In the 1940s, the Cuban
middle class was rich enough that most of
them imported American cars to their homes.
Consequently, Cuba imported 125 thousand of
these beauties and at one point, Havana has
been deemed the Cadillac Capital of the world.
But in 1959, a ban was placed on the import of
cars and car parts entirely.
So, Cubans kept these cars running by swapping in parts from lawnmowers, boats
and basically anything that had a motor, even to this day.
PAGE - 15 | SHIEELD
Today, Cuba is home to the most classic, old
fat American muscle beauties and tourists
are willing to pay anywhere from 30-35$ for
a one hour tour around town for the
boutique experience, which is again, what a
neurosurgeon earns in a month. This is
because Cuba’s entire healthcare system is
owned by the government and thus the
doctors get a state-sanctioned salary of 30$,
plus the standard social welfare.
So what is Cuba today? Well, Cuba is a country that was affected by every major
geopolitical event in the world from colonialism to corporatism to the cold war to
the Cuban Missile Crisis, the closest 13 days the world ever came to an apocalypse,
and now economic development. But what it really is one of the most beautiful
countries on the planet and one of the most affordable destinations for tourism
with its vast and glorious beaches, its
colourful buildings and the 60,000 iconic and
majestic vintage American beauties that still
roam the streets. It's also a nation with huge
oil reserves and vast farmlands with a
very conducive environment for agriculture.
It is a country with a per capita income of
8,822$ a year but an HDI of 0.778! To put that
into context, China, a vast industrialized
nation with a per capita GDP of 16,790$, has an
HDI less than Cuba's, 0.761.
Something to think about!
Colossal Cuba
PAGE - 16 | SHIEELD
LEISURE
PAGE - 17| SHIEELD
So, are you ready to dive into the ruthless world of business
and entrepreneurship with just the product that the world
needs? Are you ready to jump into the Shark Tank?
The Shark Tank is a critically acclaimed and multi Emmy Award-winning,
entrepreneurial-themed American reality show. It is based on the Japanese 'Dragons'
Den' format, created by Nippon Television Network Corporation. The ‘Sharks’ (Kevin
O’Leary, Barbara Corcoran, Daymond John, Robert Herjavec, Lori Greiner, and Mark
Cuban) are tough, self-made, billionaire tycoons, looking to invest in businesses that
are likely to show exponential growth and provide them with good returns on their
investments.
The entrepreneurs seeking investment introduce themselves and begin their pitch
by underlining the need for their product and explaining their value proposition.
Sharks try to analyze the valuation that the owners place on the company. After the
entrepreneurs wind up their pitch, the investors ask them questions that give them
clarity about the nature and health of the business and the Product-Market Fit. After
this, the investors offer their individual offers to the entrepreneurs, who may accept
the same or give counter-offers. If both parties accept the terms of the final offer, a
deal is signed otherwise it falls through.
The Sharks have unparalleled chemistry, which makes it even more interesting to
watch them quarrelling for an idea worth sinking their teeth into. Guest sharks like
Ashton Kutcher and Chris Sacca have also stopped by the show to lend some of their
business acumens. Furthermore, while binging the many seasons of Shark Tank, you
may come across something worth purchasing for yourself. But the best of all is that
Shark Tank acts as a crash course in entrepreneurship. You would be acquainted
with the vast terminology relating to business and pitching after watching only a few
episodes.
The 12th season of Shark Tank is airing right now on various channels like Voot. It is
our strong recommendation that you give it a try.
PAGE - 18| SHIEELD
DEVELOPMENT
PAGE - 19 | SHIEELD
DEVELOPMENT OF AI
AI can basically be defined as machines
performing cognitive functions like learning,
interacting, understanding and reasoning. Up
until now, the one thing that differentiated
humans and machines was the ability to
interact with outside stimulus.
is a tiny fraction of the total autonomous
intelligence out there today.
Al is the new electricity now.
Once fully autonomous and self-sustaining, AI
opens up possibilities that are not very
pleasant to think about.
Tesla’s self-driving system is already tens
of thousands of times better than a human at
navigating us through roads and that is only
through cameras and without lidar (light
detection and ranging).
The DeepMind System, which is a selftaught computer, meaning no human input or
guidance was provided, has beaten the world's
best players together at the strategy game GO
and games like chess.
LawGeex put a three-year-old algorithm
trained to evaluate contract up against twenty
experienced attorneys with the robot being
the clear winner.
Now we have the very first working
prototypes of Artificial Intelligence coexisting
with us. At the very least, many businesses are
developing AI technologies and algorithms to
study consumer purchase patterns and
behaviour and provide them with a better
experience. Tesla uses AI wherein each
information learnt by one car is transmitted to
the entire fleet. Smart voice assistants like Siri
and Alexa are advanced examples of these
algorithms.
With artificial intelligence, we
are summoning the demon.
We are blindly working towards something
that might just cause an existential crisis for
us. The percentage of human intelligence in
the world is rapidly decreasing and while it is
something not quantifiable yet,
The development of full AI
could spell the end of the
human race.
▪
▪
▪
If AI reaches its imaginable
potential, we will be to AI
what unicellular organisms
are to us.
PAGE - 20 | SHIEELD
AI is likely to be either the
best or the worst thing to
happen to humanity.
Up until AI turns against us, it will have
unparalleled benefits. It will accelerate
production by a big factor, bringing down the
cost of production and cost of the finished
product and would create total disruption of
the labour market.
Humans will become as obsolete and
replaceable as any other methods of
production in the past, leading to global
unemployment and an existential crisis. But
when AI can finally realize that humans are of
no utility to it or the Earth and are just
squandering its resources, it might just
eradicate us. It's not unnatural. It's just the
laws of evolution. It's what happened to
Neanderthals when Homo Sapiens came
around. AI would not hate us but would be
motivated by reason just as: while building a
road, we don’t mind destroying an anthill that
comes in the way.
DeepMind, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.
working towards the development of AI, has
admin-level access to all of Google’s servers.
So, we know where the first shocks might
come from. What’s to even say when AI is any
different from us! Both our processors run on
electrical impulses, them being digital and us
being analogue.
So are we just a moth to a flame now? Is our
doom impending?
The entire effort of AI is
essentially a fight against
computer's rigidity.
The only viable escape from this is to merge AI
with human intelligence, to develop some sort
of human-machine interface. If you think
about it, we already have a digital extension of
ourselves. We have a digital presence, the
thing being that the speed of input is at best at
hundreds of bits (typing) and decreasing by
the day (we used to provide input through 10
fingers and now just the two thumbs and even
further, S-Pens used on digital screens) while
the output is at billions of bits per second of
speed (computer processing).
So wouldn’t it be so cool if we can be part
machine? Now that’s finally a world I want to
live in and a future I look forward to!
PAGE - 21| SHIEELD
Featured:
INSPIRATION FOR
GENERATIONS
PAGE - 22| SHIEELD
ELON MUSK
Elon Musk, an inspiration and idol for millions, is a self-made entrepreneur of the perfect
proportions. Being the world’s second-richest man as of 18th March 2021 11:50 a.m. IST,
with a net worth of 172 billion USD, he had been in cutthroat competition with the Amazon
CEO, Jeff Bezos. At his best, he took the position of the richest man in the world on January
7, 2021, surpassing Jeff Bezos.
Born in South Africa in 1971, he developed an interest in coding. Learning programming
through a textbook manual, he developed his first BASIC based video game, BLASTER
which he sold to PC and Office Technology magazine for 500$. He went to the Queen’s
University, Ontario in Canada for his undergrad, transferred to the University of
Pennsylvania where he graduated with a BA in Physics and BS in Economics. In 1995, he was
admitted for a PhD program in Energy Physics at Stanford. But he dropped out in 2 days to
join the Internet Boom and launched his first company.
Zip2, a web software company, developed an intercity guide with map directions and
yellow pages. Renting a small office, and having just one computer to work from, the
website ran live during the day and Musk coded through the night. Their hard work finally
paid off when the Compaq Computer Corporation bought Zip2 for 307 million US dollars in
cash and 34 million in stock options in 1999 where Musk had a 7% equity.
He put everything he got pulling his equity into fueling his next hot startup, X.com. X.com,
an online financial service company, was one of the first banks to be federally issued. X.com
merged with Confinity, another online bank. Soon enough, Musk was ousted as the CEO and
Peter Thiel, the founder of Confinity, was made CEO.
In 2002, he founded SpaceX, today a leading partner and supplier for NASA, with the
revolutionary but the then seemingly insane idea of reusable rockets. Today SpaceX is
developing its 11th prototype for this Mars transporter after Starship SN10 was successful
in its vertical soft-land attempt. SpaceX stands at a 76 billion USD valuation as per the last
equity offering it concluded on 19 February 2021, accepting 879 million. Some of its many
achievements include the first privately funded liquid-propellant spacecraft to reach orbit
spaceflight to the international space station (Falcon 1 in 2008) and the first reuse of an
orbital rocket (Falcon rocket in 2017). Two of its hottest undertakings right now are the
STARSHIP and STARLINK program. Starlink aims to provide high-speed internet across the
globe at cheap prices through orbiting satellites, and Starship is designing and testing
rockets meant for crewed interplanetary spaceflight.
PAGE - 23| SHIEELD
As successful as SpaceX is, it falls somewhat short when compared to Elon’s biggest
success. You guessed it, it's Tesla. In a decade, Tesla went from being able to
produce 500 cars a year to roll out over 2,000 cars each year. It not only drove the
world towards clean and renewable energy but is building the infrastructure so that
the world goes 100% sustainable. It sold the world on renewable energy through
cars, coming up with a sports car running entirely on electric motors first, the Tesla
Roadster making Tesla an 837 billion $ company.
The Boring Company, a new addition to his portfolio, started in December 2016. It is
close to a billion-dollar valuation according to the really old funding round.
Speculation is that it could be worth about 16 billion after completion of the 18-mile
high-speed tunnel that would cost ~$1 billion to build. Musk also expects the Boring
Co.’s pods, which are designed to carry 16 passengers at a time, to cover the 18-mile
distance between downtown Chicago to O’Hare in just 12 minutes.
Neuralink is another venture of Elon’s that is developing implantable high bandwidth
brain-machine interfaces. Elon believes and well it's quite true that we all have a
virtual existence, that we all have an extension of ourselves in the virtual world. We all
talk, shop and stream over the internet. The bandwidth of the input is about 10-100
bits per second, with our thumbs typing, while the output is trillions of bits per second.
So you can see where we need to focus. Neuralink works to counteract and prepare us
for the evolution of AI. AI, while it could be the greatest invention and most probably
the last invention we’ll ever have to make, is a slippery slope.
On a related subject, Elon also owns the non-profit(1 billion USD pledged) Open AI
Inc. Open AI's mission is to ensure that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)—by which
we mean highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically
valuable work—benefits all of humanity.
In conclusion, what are the things you can make out common to all of Elon’s
undertakings? It's uniqueness, far-sightedness, practicality to the future
and tackling the world’s most grave problems. Elon proves that success has
no shortcuts while also proving that the secret to success is hidden to no
one. It's innovation!
PAGE - 24| SHIEELD
OUR GUIDING
LIGHTHOUSE
Respected Founder Manager of our school, Dr. Jagdish Gandhi
and Dr. Bharti Gandhi, respected Founder Director of our school.
Our founders, Dr. Jagdish Gandhi and Dr. Bharti Gandhi were greatly
influenced by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Sant Vinoba
Bhave. They started CMS with the vision of inspiring generations of
children to become socially motivated and conscious citizens of both,
India and the world.
Their motto ‘Jai Jagat’ has been the school's greeting from the
beginning, posing a deliberate contrast to the popular ‘Jai Hind’ greeting
at the time. CMS students are taught the value of 'Vasudhaiva
Kutumbakam' or the 'Earth is but One Country and Mankind its Citizens'
as soon as they begin learning at this prestigious institution.
PAGE - 25| SHIEELD
FROM THE
ACTIVITIES COORDINATOR
Dear Parents, Guardians and Students,
Greetings from City Montessori School - Gomti Nagar,
Lucknow!
However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do to
succeed. That is exactly what educationists like us and educational institutions
like ours have gone ahead and done in the past months.
Given the global threats of mass quarantine, due to COVID-19, connectedness is
just as important as oxygen, food and water. While this new virus is no laughing
matter, the more we can find ways to stay connected, whether through humour,
virtual happy hours or sharing our personal life at home with our peers, the
healthier we will all be.
This befuddling time of pandemic has taught us to navigate the inner strength
and hidden potential of our students. In our quest to help our students discover
their hidden potential and inherent talents, we at CMS GN 1 have created an
online curriculum for all the students. With compassion and perseverance, they
designed this entrepreneurial and economics magazine, ‘S.H.I.E.E.L.D.’ to help
students develop research skills, critical thinking, collaboration, risk-taking,
experimentation, resilience and entrepreneurial competencies which will prepare
them for life.
Felicitations to team S.H.I.E.E.L.D. GN-1 for releasing the first issue of the
monthly Entrepreneurial and Economics Magazine!
- Dr. Manju Anand,
Activities Coordinator
PAGE - 26| SHIEELD
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