Nishika's Profile

Thanks for this article and super interesting! While I can understand why market would react not so positively on the acquisition of a low return and high risk entity because of it being in the direct consumer space. I still see this as an exciting opportunity for SunEdison to create a larger ecosystem and longer value chain from utility to end consumer. I am curious to understand if the reaction is much more drastic because of the potential of tax credits expiring in the near term future. The tax credits, as you have mentioned, have allowed easier access to capital for both utility and consumer based companies and hence, I wonder if it is the compounded effect of the risk that has brought down the stock prices. You mentioned there is a probability for SunEdison to walk away from this deal. That could be quite probable. Do you think there is a timing issue as well and that this merger could make more sense in the coming years? Thanks.

Thank you for this post. It brings back so many memories. I bought my first blackberry when I was in undergrad and they had just launched their more economical versions which were less oriented towards corporate. The attraction was always security (as you mentioned) and the exclusivity. This is what individuals and corporate paid for. My brother worked in Banking and I remember his blackberry had a disabled phone camera. The Blackberry Messenger, one of their early and very popular features – was part of the enterprise service which let you send unlimited data across to other blackberry users. However, soon they couldn’t deal with the rush of OS agnostic apps like whatsapp, which were free and reduced exclusivity. Few years later, RIM decided to make BBM platform agnostic. A risk but a necessary one, some say, to reduce the restriction its users felt. Whenever I look back – I wonder if there was anything inherently wrong in their business model to charge a fees for the ‘service’ they provided. My personal view – I don’t think so. Today with rise of Android and iOS, firms are questioning the privacy and security issue. While a decade back, RIM ensured your data was encrypted and safe, today banking and consulting firms are spending a lot to test and make these new OS safer and still keep a circle of exclusivity. I believe it is important to evaluate the likelihood that customers will ask for the same ‘service’ again and does it, then, make sense for RIM to invest so much to change for the customers today or rather invest for the customers of the future.

Aya, this was super interesting. Thank you for sharing. Zara opened their first store in India, a couple of years back and ever since, I have been a loyal supporter. Having now traveled to other Zara stores across some International locations – I have realised that there is a significant delay between collection launches between US/ Europe and Asia markets. Surprisingly, some collections don’t even reach emerging markets. I am wondering if this is because of the limitations of the centralized distribution model or is this is a planned strategy to test out collections in the West first? This is similar to what TV industry did earlier. Serials produced by HBO would release in India almost a year later but soon they realized that the delay harmed them, in the form of piracy. Now, they try to atleast launch the popular series on the same date across the world. As shoppers in emerging markets become more conscious to this disparity – I am wondering if this can harm them in the future.