smart & curious
Livestream shopping is big in China
Viya is China’s biggest influencer, and she’s sold everything from cosmetics to clothes to a rocket launch for $5.6 million. And she isn’t on Instagram, but on Alibaba’s live streaming platform TaoBao. And Viya draws record audiences (37 million), way more than the finale of GoT or the Oscars. Bloomberg News has her story of success. But this older Jing Daily story highlights her key tactics—which may be useful for all of us in the business of selling.
A list of good reads
- There is the average movie star profile. Then there is this cracker of a Huffington Post story on Abhay Deol.
- The Independent makes an excellent argument as to why TV adaptations should just stick to the damn book. Damning evidence: GoT, 13 Reasons Why, Killing Eve etc.
- The founder of Zoho Sridhar Vembu moved from San Francisco to a little village outside Chennai. Forbes has his real-life Swades story.
- Lede has a must-read on the grim working conditions Indian nurses—self-described “slaves in a white dress”—endure in the Middle East.
- Thanks to the lockdown, a young football player from Ghana spent 72 days at Mumbai Airport—kinda like Tom Hanks in ‘The Terminal’. Mumbai Mirror has his story.
- Also in Mumbai Mirror: This must-read essay by historian Ranjit Hoskote on the “great city” that is also a “terrible place.”
- This out-of-the-ordinary story of a young Kerala man who tried very hard to kill himself—even hiring a contract killer to do the job. He is now a Covid hero.
This second-hand car costs $3.7 million
And there are only 20 such Lamborghinis in the world. The rare and highly prized 2017 Centenario Roadster is up for sale in Toronto. Did we mention this one is second-hand? Photo below. For car nerds: A test drive video from Motor Week.
This super-smart Sherpa is made in Bengaluru
Say hello to Sherpa: a very intelligent self-driving vehicle that can transport cargo inside factory floors, warehouses and even construction sites. And its cousin—the mini-Sherpa—will likely find a host of new uses thanks to lockdowns and social distancing. It’s the invention of Ati Motors, whose founders include Saad Nasser—a teenage prodigy who dropped out of school at the age of eight!
OMG, OMG, rotary phones are back!
And they’re being repackaged as the ‘distraction-free cellphone’. We can’t believe it! Photo below. Gizmodo’s story here.