| Sunday, 28 September 2025 |
A community-powered Sunday newsletter on mental models, self-reflection, learning, growth, photos, books, and more Subscribe here
Good morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],
Dear reader, good morning! Sometimes you’re in a “good morning” mood, and sometimes you’re in a “good morning!” mood. Clearly, I’m feeling the latter this week.
That’s because I’m all wired and charged up after a very productive week. A week in which I joined my colleagues Praveen Gopal Krishnan (aka PGK) and Brady Ng to co-host a brand-new podcast and write an (overly) ambitious edition of a new column. They’re both called Zero Shot. We cover the world of AI!
I’m now part of three podcasts (First Principles, Two by Two and Zero Shot) at The Ken, a newsletter (you’re reading it!), and a column (Zero Shot). And I’ve (over) eagerly signed up for even more.
I should be feeling overwhelmed and tired and burnt out. Instead, I’m feeling energised and ambitious.
Balancing all of these journalistic endeavours together with my day job on the business side is what I thrive on. The more, the better!
Last month, I met one of our subscribers at The Ken’s office. We spoke about her career first, and then The Ken’s evolution and principles. There was no specific objective to the meeting other than to just exchange ideas and thoughts in person.
Towards the end, she surprised me by asking, “How do you write? I’m very curious.”
Her question was about my method. Did I have a process? How did I decide what topic to write a particular edition of First Principles on? When did I actually write? How long did it take? Where did I get ideas from?
All of us evolve our methods and rhythms over time. I’m fairly certain my writing process started in the early 2000s with the earliest days of blogging. Then, it got crystallised in 2008 when I shifted professions to become a full-time business journalist with (the as-yet unlaunched) Forbes India magazine.
I enjoy reading The Ken because it is informative, the articles are well researched, well written, without the spin and bias. I admire The Ken team for their dedication to getting closer to the true picture.
Hari Buggana
Chairman and MD, InvAscent
Transparent, Honest, Detailed. To me, The Ken has been this since the day I subscribed to them. The research that they put into each story and the way it is presented is thoroughly interesting. Personally, I’ve always had a great time interacting with the publication and reading the stories.
Harshil Mathur
CEO and Co-Founder, Razorpay
The Ken has proven naysayers wrong by successfully running a digital news publication on a pure-subscription business model in India. They have shown that discerning readers are willing to pay for well-researched, well-written, in-dept news articles.
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
Executive Chairperson, Biocon Limited
As a designer, it’s easy to get lost in the craft of building products. As a business owner however, keeping up with a rapidly changing landscape is key to saying relevant. The Ken doesn’t just help me stay on top of what’s happening in India(and beyond), but makes it fun to do so.
Rahul Gonsalves
Co-founder and CEO, Obvious Ventures