The existential philosopher Søren Kierkegaard said, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” This insight raises a profound paradox — and challenge — for those who lead. Focusing on the constant demands of the present moment and the future can keep you from fully learning from what you’ve done in the past. An inability to reflect wastes experience, leaving its value only partially harvested. As I write, there have been more than 11.4 million COVID-19 cases worldwide, causing more than 534,000 deaths. Unlike most crises that arise and fade away quickly, COVID-19 is persisting and…

Indian shares closed lower on Friday as record daily increases of domestic coronavirus cases threatened to disrupt an economic recovery, with financial stocks taking the brunt of the losses. The NSE Nifty 50 Index fell 0.42 per cent to 10,768.05 and the S&P BSE Sensex 0.39 per cent to 36,594.33 points. But the indexes closed the week up about 1.5 per cent each, recording their fourth straight weekly gain, following a rally driven by a flush of liquidity and hopes for a Covid-19 vaccine. Cases in the world’s second-most…

Why YouTube shuttered its self-service influencer marketing platform. July 9, 2020 4 min readOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. It would be great if working with influencers was like hiring someone on Fiverr. Give them the money, they do their magic, and voila — campaign success!  But, as Warren Buffett said, “You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.”  It’s a hard lesson to learn. One that YouTube has learned for themselves. Three years after acquiring Famebit, the self-service influencer marketing platform, they’re shutting it down. That platform allowed brands to submit…

Mutual fund (MF) distributors have seen shrinking incomes with the gross amount paid by fund houses slipping to a three-year low of Rs 6,134 crore in 2019-2020 (FY20). The payouts were 22 per cent lower than previous year’s tally of Rs 7,938 crore. Market participants attribute this to a combination of factors. “Fund houses are looking to control costs by rationalising the commission-linked structures. As more fund houses get listed, the commissions could fall further, as MFs would look to further optimise their overall costs,” said Srikanth Matrubai, chief executive officer of Sri Kavi…

US stock indexes fell in choppy trading on Thursday as fears of another lockdown to contain a surge in coronavirus cases overshadowed data pointing to a declining trend in weekly jobless claims. The Labor Department’s most timely data on the economy showed 1.31 million Americans filed for state unemployment benefits in the latest week, down from 1.43 million in the previous week. However, the labor market remains fragile as the United States reported more than 60,000 new Covid-19 infections on Wednesday, setting a single-day global record. “We are reaching levels of…

Brands and influencers are embracing the power of loop giveaways. Here’s how they work.Free Book Preview No BS Guide to Direct Response Social Media Marketing The ultimate guide to – producing measurable, monetizable results with social media marketing. July 8, 2020 4 min readOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. While platforms like Instagram and Facebook originally provided space for regular people to share details of their daily lives, it is no secret that these outlets have become finely-tuned marketing machines for brands. Plenty of influencers and products have risen to prominence due to tweets and posts…

Illustration by Peter StarkWhen disruption strikes a business, it is natural for its leaders to try to defend it by focusing on core business activities and improving current products and practices, even while creating a sense of urgency to bring about change. In a survey of 486 global CEOs PwC undertook in 2019, a significant majority said this was a good response to disruptive new entrants. On the face of it, this reaction appears to be a no-brainer. And there are numerous examples of companies whose defense succeeded. Take Sky, a European media and entertainment company that responded to…

The Karnataka High Court (HC) on Wednesday gave a preliminary hearing to the matter pertaining to wind-up of schemes by Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund (FT MF), and said the matter would be heard on priority in order to complete the hearing within three months, said people privy of the development. “The Hon’ble Karnataka HC considered the matters related to winding-up of six debt schemes of Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund and issued notices to the concerned parties. The parties are directed to file counter affidavit/statement of objections and rejoinder, if any, by July 22, 2020 and July…