The Inside the Mind of the CEO interview series explores a wide range of critical decisions faced by chief executives around the world. For more insight, see PwC’s CEO Survey. As Indonesia’s emerging economy develops and the country transitions into an industrial society, family-owned conglomerates such as the US$21 billion Lippo Group are playing an important role. They are independent from the government but have often grown up and evolved with it. In Indonesia, both the economy and Lippo are growing: The country’s GDP is expected to be around 5 percent this year, and Lippo Karawaci, the flagship real estate…

Jürgen Klopp, head coach of soccer team Liverpool FC, and recently voted FIFA’s Best Coach of 2019, likes to tell a story about motivating his players ahead of an important match. He showed them movie clips from Rocky IV of Rocky Balboa preparing to take on Ivan Drago. Klopp gave a rousing speech about Soviet technology, Siberian training camps, and good versus evil. But when he looked at his players, he realized they were too young to have heard of Rocky. No one had a clue what he was talking about. “We think we’re giving the greatest speech in the…

Shifting your focus to a larger cause can deepen your understanding about entrepreneurship. February 21, 2020 4 min readOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. I recently signed up to do a volunteer phone-banking shift for a presidential campaign. I’m not usually a very politically active person. I vote and follow the news, and I care about the direction of the country, but until now I had never gotten directly involved with political volunteering. But while cold-calling prospective voters in New Hampshire to talk about why I believe that one particular presidential candidate is the right choice, I…

Here are the trends and takeaways from Salesforce’s annual sales conference. February 21, 2020 5 min readOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Dreamforce is an annual Salesforce conference with keynotes on the latest trends and developments in marketing, communications, technology, and — of course— customer relationship management (CRM).  The latest conference saw over 171,000 attendees from 120+ countries. Keynote talks included topics from AI and 5G to the value of improv skills in the workplace. As an annual attendee, I think there’s a lot that happened this year worth noting. Related: What Is a Sales Funnel? The…

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Most business owners love what they do. Unfortunately, much of the world doesn’t necessarily care, as reflected in the high failure rate among startups. Unless entrepreneurs convince people that what they’re selling is absolutely special, consumers will simply choose alternatives that are more widely available. Entrepreneurs, therefore, must reiterate their company’s value proposition, i.e. a feature or attribute that makes a product or service appealing to customers. Secondly, people’s attention spans have become extremely monetizable, especially online. More than half of business professionals said a great story captures their focus and keeps…

Despite the slump in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have continued to invest in India. Since the time the finance ministry took a number of measures to provide an impetus to the economy’s growth rate, they have engaged in spirited buying. But retail investors need to bear in mind that a strategy that works for FPIs may not be suitable for them. Reforms such as the Goods & Services Tax (GST), Bankruptcy Code, Digital India, Start-up India, Make in India, skill development, affordable housing, and steps like a timely boost…

Investors pumped Rs 1.2 trillion into various mutual fund schemes in January, after pulling out a massive Rs 62,000 crore in the preceding month, primarily on account of infusion in liquid and overnight schemes. Mutual fund inflows will gather further momentum in the coming months, Union Asset Management Company CEO G Pradeepkumar said. According to data by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), net inflow of Rs 1.2 trillion was witnessed in mutual fund schemes last month as compared to an outflow of Rs 61,810 crore in December. …

One of the major changes proposed by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her second Union Budget relates to the taxation of dividends. The Budget has proposed to abolish the Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT), and moving to the classical system of taxing dividend in the hands of individuals. Current situation: Currently, a domestic company is required to pay DDT at the rate of 15 per cent (plus applicable surcharge and health and education cess) on the dividends. Further, dividend income from a domestic company is tax-free up to Rs 10 lakh. Dividend in excess of Rs 10…