STRATEGY & MANAGEMENT
M.B.A.s’ Latest Pitch to Investors: Skip the Startup, Invest in Me (WSJ)
“For M.B.A.s, the search-fund model is a way to become a CEO and business owner soon after graduation, without starting a business from scratch...”
Corporate breakups and spinoffs are back on Wall Street — but are investors up for the ride? (Sherwood)
“According to the WSJ, a big driver is activists pushing back against bloated empires. Their argument? Fast-growing divisions get dragged down by sluggish ones, and those much-hyped “synergies” from megamergers hardly show up.…”
Kraft Heinz wants to press 'undo' (Finshots)
“Once the merger happened, the problems began to show. Managing so many overlapping brands under one roof wasn’t easy. The company struggled to decide how to spend its money and resources between Kraft’s old-school groceries and Heinz’s faster-growing condiments. This tug-of-war meant that some brands didn’t get the attention they needed. At times, Kraft and Heinz products even ended up competing against each other for shelf space in the same stores. That hurt sales instead of helping them…”
The valuation gulf between Coke and Pepsi hasn’t been this wide in decades (Sherwood)
INDIA
Inside India’s ₹67,000 Cr Cola War 2025 (Breakdown)
What's going on at EaseMyTrip? (Finshots)
“From being an efficient, focused travel platform, EMT tried to become too many things at once. The diversification lacked a clear direction, the acquisitions lacked synergy, and the core business bled in the process…”
Strategic Musings
“You'll never meet a hater who is doing better than you.” —Konstantin Kisin
Caught my eye…
