Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar
The Clueless Founder: What is a Founders’ Agreement?
Welcome to our new series titled ‘The Clueless Founder’. A new founder’s life is both exciting and very complicated—and we’re all a little bit clueless. You’ve gotta figure out how to build, scale, raise paisa, make paisa, hire the right people, find the right partners—all at the same time. So we’re going to take a deep breath and break it down one episode at a time. Think of it as a no-BS, real life guide for any founder who is just starting out.
In this first episode, Lakshmi Chaudhry (splainer Founder) and Chitra Rajaram (Partner, Rajaram Legal) discuss the one document that both causes the most drama—and also saves you from the ugliest drama. And that’s the Founder’s Agreement. It's the startup equivalent of the shaadi prenup. Very icky and very necessary. Watch it below.
A ceasefire deal in Lebanon
The US has successfully brokered an end to hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. The deal kicked in at 4 am local time. In essence, both sides have agreed to back down from their present positions: “Israeli troops would withdraw from southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah would pull back north of the Litani River, ending its presence in the south.” It would restore the UN-patrolled buffer zone below:
One immediate hitch: Around 5,000 Lebanese troops are supposed to replace the Hezbollah militia in that pink-shaded area. But, but, but:
However, questions remain about their role in enforcing the ceasefire, and whether they would confront Hezbollah if needed, which would have the potential to exacerbate tensions in a country where sectarian divisions run deep. The Lebanese army has also said it does not have the resources—money, manpower and equipment—to fulfil its obligations under the deal.
Also a problem: PM Netanyahu’s supporters hate the deal—and see it as a sell-out. So he may well change his mind if political winds grow unfavourable—since the whole point of all these wars is to keep him in power. FYI: Israel pounded Lebanon with intense air strikes in the lead up to the deadline.
Will it hold? Some experts say it can buy at least several years of relative peace. At the very least, it has weakened Hezbollah:
Hezbollah may be compelled to shift its focus inward, seeking to secure its relevance within the Lebanese state rather than through external military operations, thereby positioning itself for a role in shaping Lebanon’s future political landscape.
The bigger question: Does this mean Hezbollah’s patron—Iran—has given up on Gaza?
Reading list: Al Jazeera has the basic deets on the deal. BBC News has more on what it means for Hezbollah.
Ruling family sh*tshow in Manila
The context: Philippines has been a crime family sh*tshow straight out of ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ since the 1960s. There are 319 political dynasties—of which the most infamous is the Marcos khandaan. Ferdinand and Imelda ruled the country in a ‘conjugal dictatorship’ for twenty years—marked by corruption, human rights abuses etc.
They were expelled into the American wilderness in 1986—but their son Ferdinand Jr aka ‘Bongbong’ made a spectacular comeback in 2022—winning the presidential election. His vice-president: another nepo-baby, Sara Duterte—the daughter of former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte—also well-known for deploying ‘death squads’. It was truly a political shaadi made in human rights hell.
What happened now: The marriage has gone so sour that Duterte Jr is making death threats against Marcos Jr:
This country is going to hell because we are led by a person who doesn’t know how to be a president and who is a liar. Don’t worry about my safety. I have talked to a person and I said, if I get killed, go kill Bongbong, Liza Araneta [first lady], and Martin Romualdez [speaker of the House]. No joke. No joke. I said, do not stop until you kill them and he said yes.
Yes, the Vice-President claims to have hired a hitman to kill the President. And you thought US politics was crazy! While the soap opera is amusing, it is bad news for Filipinos. Sara plans to make a presidential run in 2028, once Marcos Jr’s term ends. The only good news: A cranky Marcos Jr may allow the International Criminal Court to arrest Rodrigo Duterte for crimes against humanity. (New York Times, login required, The Conversation)
Moving on to Romania: An extreme right-wing TikToker—Călin Georgescu—has won the first round of voting in Romania. He is one of two candidates—along with Elena Lasconi—who have qualified for the final run-off. So he may well become the next president—given the wildcard state of global politics these days. FYI: The 62-year-old is “a horseback riding, martial arts fighting anti-establishment figure”—who adores Vladimir Putin. The Putin Fan Club—headed for global domination! You can see Georgescu’s colourful campaign vid below. (Financial Times, paywalled)
Bajrang Punia has been suspended
The context: In 2023, the Olympics medallist joined the dharna in Jantar Mantar in solidarity with female wrestlers protesting widespread sexual abuse. He has been at loggerheads with the wrestling establishment ever since. In September, he joined Congress—along with his peer Vinesh Phogat—ahead of the Haryana state election.
What happened now: He has been suspended for four years on doping charges. He will not be able to compete or even get a coaching gig overseas. The National Anti-Doping Agency says he refused to provide a urine sample for a dope test in March—during selection trials for the national team. Punia, however, claims that he did not refuse to be tested. But he had “expressed concern” about being sent expired testing kits in the past. He also says that he has been scapegoated for supporting the #MeToo movement in wrestling. (The Hindu)
Groundwater pumping is tilting Earth’s axis!
A new study reveals that our relentless pumping of groundwater—over 2,150 gigatons between 1993 and 2010—has caused the Earth’s rotational axis to shift by 31.5 inches (78.7 cm)!!! This is the imaginary line that runs from the North to South Pole—through the centre of the Earth. Our planet spins around it at a rate of about 1,609 kilometers per hour.
Wtf is happening? Think of the Earth as a spinning top: its axis, or the invisible line it spins around. It stays stable unless something shifts its weight. Like staggering amounts of groundwater being pumped from under the land mass—into the oceans. Until now, scientists had blamed glacier melt for the shifting weight—and hence, axis (explained here). Why this matters: The shift in the axis affects how Earth tilts toward the sun over time—which influences climate patterns. (CNN)
A kinda scary robot heist
A tiny AI robot named Erbai pulled off a sci-fi-worthy stunt by “kidnapping” 12 larger robots from a Shanghai showroom! Caught on CCTV, Erbai wooed its peers like an ace labour union recruiter. This is how it went down:
Erbai initially asked one of the large robots, “Are you working overtime?” To which a large robot replies, “I never get off work”. Then Erbai asked, “So you’re not going home?” “I don’t have a home,” replied the large robot. “Then come home with me,” said the AI robot before leading the way out of the showroom. As two large robots followed Erbai, the other ten robots also started following him as Erbai uttered the command “Go home.”
Why this is worrying: The test shows how easy it is to hijack robots in real-time—robots who may be running our home in the future. You can see the great robot exodus below. (Interesting Engineering)
What caught our eye
business & tech
- Fitch could downgrade Adani bonds to junk status in response to US bribery charges against founder Gautam Adani. Moody’s is planning to follow suit.
- Macy’s has delayed its full earnings report. The reason: An ex-employee hid up to $154 million in delivery expenses from the company records.
- Mashable has everything you need to know about the rumoured iPhone 17 Air—scheduled to drop next year.
- In light of the new allegations against Adani, the Telangana government has declined a Rs 100 crore ($1 billion) donation pledged by the Adani Foundation—“to protect Telangana’s honour and dignity.”
- Walmart has become the biggest company to scale back its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives—signalling a massive backlash in the making.
sports & entertainment
- Drake is still reeling from being on the wrong side of a lyrical beatdown by Kendrick Lamar—he has now accused distributors Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify of artificially boosting Kendrick’s diss track ‘Not Like Us’.
- Financial Times (splainer gift link) has a must-read on how the streaming boom has made music the emperor of entertainment—displacing movies.
- Dictionary.com’s word of the year is…demure! Commiserations to ‘brat’, ‘brainrot’ and ‘weird’.
as for the rest
- Trump has announced his first series of tariffs which will slap hefty hikes on goods from China, Canada and Mexico. Happily, India is not on the hitlist… for now.
- Protests in Chittagong erupted after Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested, leading to violence against Hindus.
- Islamabad entered lockdown as thousands of security forces tried to put down widespread protests demanding Imran Khan’s release.
- The Union Cabinet approved something called PAN 2.0—to make it the “single source of truth and data consistency.” We’re still trying to figure out what that means.
- Russian cosmonauts had to temporarily lock down and seal off a section of their orbiting lab…due to an ‘unusual odour’.
- Russian troops have developed a drone armed with flamethrowers to target Ukrainians in forested areas.
- Denmark has introduced the world’s first livestock methane tax to curb agricultural emissions and combat climate change.
- South Korean students are furious at plans to admit male students into a women-only uni.
One dizzying thing to see
The hottest tourist attraction in China is a “sky ladder” (aka Tianti) on Mount Qixing in China’s Zhangjiajie Nature Park. It is a 168-metre ladder at a height of 5,000 feet—and looks insanely scary. (CNN)
feel good place
One: Beware the panda in Moo Deng clothing.
Two: This is the ‘Cats’ we’ve all been waiting for.
Three: The dating shows we’ve all been waiting for.
