| Sunday, 05 January 2025 |
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Good morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],
It’s been a while since I’ve struggled to write an edition of First Principles Sundays. Saturday was that day for me.
I’d been playing around with ideas, reading older notes to myself, speed browsing books, and even looking out the window at the blue skies and warm January sun for hours. And yet, nothing. At least, nothing good enough to be worthy of being “the first edition of 2025”.
After a few hours “wasted” (by now, you know it was anything but), I came to the realization that I was stuck because I did not want to enter 2025—the third year for this newsletter—merely carrying over what we did the last year. I never want to be in a state with this newsletter where you can guess or predict what it will be about. Because being able to guess what someone is about to say (in an article, a book, a movie, etc.) is a lead indicator for what often follows as a lag indicator, boredom.
I decided to look closely at the evolution of FP Sundays in search of answers. Because of all the things we do at The Ken, FP Sundays is easily the one that’s most organic and dynamic. Except for its start, virtually everything has been a to-and-fro between us.
So, how do we keep FP Sundays unpredictable and interesting in 2025?
Before we get to that, and the other things my fellow writers have for you this week, here are a few photos of the nearby lake that Gabru and I went walking around today morning. Thanks to copious rains last year, this is the fullest I’ve seen the lake in years, for a January. The banks were still brimming. Ducks, pelicans, and cormorants were everywhere. And fish jumped between little pink lotuses, making that thud-whoop-splash sound that’s so characteristic if you’ve grown up around lakes or backwaters.
Here’s everything we have for you today:
1. Evolution
2. What next in 2025? Vol. 2—Recommendations from The Ken 📚
3. A colourful start 📸
4. Two by Two: Are we past peak Amazon India? 🎙️
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
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Rahul Gonsalves
Co-founder and CEO, Obvious Ventures