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Market summary: 📊
Great opening to the week in India as well as in the US. Hope the momentum lasts as some earnings reports start rolling in through the week.
US:
S&P 500 - up 1.80%
Nasdaq 100 - up 2.25%
India:
Nifty 50 - up 0.76%
Sensex - up 0.71%
Oh my dear! 🤐
You cannot make this stuff up—the UK missed reporting some 16,000 coronavirus cases because of a computer glitch which did not allow officials to record data in a timely manner. The glitch in question, wait for it, is an Excel spreadsheet which reached maximum data storage capacity and wouldn’t update. 🙄
Some perspective—the Government of UK spent some £12 billion on the coronavirus contact and trace system and let that program hinge on a freaking spreadsheet! You thought you’re cool for pitching fancy chat SaaS to corporate buyers, while governments are literally running countries glue taping Excel… As 2020 as it can get.
Taste of Victory… and a sea change on the horizon 🌊
Google India received a damning setback. Caving in to the developer uproar, Google ended up pitifully backing off from its 30% Play Store commissions policy, delaying the tax until after April 2022, ringing in a HUGE victory for the local ecosystem.
In a lengthy blog post clarifying the company’s stand, Google underlined that it won’t pressurize developers to integrate Google’s native billing system imminently. Google also promised to keep an ear to the ground to acknowledge local sentiments here on out. The only thing lacking in the press release was the word “sorry”, in what so far has been a PR disaster for the company in India. 👎
Why this sudden generosity—a few days ago, several prominent founders and execs from startup-land joined hands to form an alliance to pressure Google into reducing its fees, as well as to support the creation of an alternate app store if need be. The government apparently had informally even supported the initiative.
Negotiations with Google may not even have begun yet but clearly Google got the chills here, sensing how quickly things could turn if this debate is centered around nationalist pride— something Indians quite dearly care about.
Although the company claims it won’t change its policy entirely and that the extension only gives developers some time instead of “unduly stressing” them right now, we think that’s just a cover. Its hard to imagine Indian developers cowering down 2 years from now only because the daddy thinks it's time to start filling up its coffers.
Key takeaway: this is a consequential victory for the domestic ecosystem. It signals the independence and coming of age of the Indian venture community, and at the same time sends a clear message to Big Tech that you’re welcome to play here IF you behave and if you respect the local agenda. Keep your strong arming back home. Much needed?
Your loss is my gain! 👏
Striking while the iron is hot, Paytm has launched its own mobile app store to a grand welcome. Developers will be able to distribute simple web apps and biggies including Decathlon, Ola, Park+, Rapido, Netmeds, 1MG, Domino's Pizza, FreshMenu, NoBroker, plus some 300 other developers have already jumped onboard.
Why this matters — Paytm is an expert in riding big waves — when mobile phones took over India, Paytm made millions by facilitating seamless prepaid recharging. When demonetization came knocking, Paytm again found itself sitting atop a treasure, growing massively in a matter of months allowing cash strapped India to run its economy on mobile phones.
Now, when Google appears to be stifling domestic developers and at a time when the “build for India” cry is at its loudest, Paytm again finds itself in the best position to lead fresh disruption in the market. Snapshot of what they bring to the table —
Unrivaled distribution (150M+ MAUs)
Solid track record of innovating fast
Decent clout with the Government
Capacity to raise big money for a crusade
Maverick founder at the helm
Google may have unintentionally ended up arming them up—and this wave could be a much bigger one than Paytm has managed to ride successfully in the past.
So far, the company promises it won’t charge developers any fees and has offered a range of options for in-app payment processing. If Paytm manages to lure the best developers to build on its nascent platform, it can virtually run the service for FREE for years to come, seriously undercutting and hurting Google in the long run.
The big picture — by limiting the scope of the app-store right now, PayTM is testing the waters. If the experiment is successful, even a custom version of Android OS developed by PayTM, sealed with strategic smartphone maker (OEM) partnerships is not an entirely unimaginable proposition. This could blow up in no time baby!
Thanks for coming to my Josh Talk! ❤️
Microsoft bets big on Greece 🤝
The tattered economy of the Greeks, which suffered from a fiscal crisis a couple years ago, and is currently being hammered from declining tourism in the wake of the pandemic, got a modest shot in the arm with Microsoft announcing a $1 billion project to build three data center sites in Greece.
The locations, Microsoft’s first in the country, will be built around greater Athens and will join the fleet of 7 other data centers the company owns in the EU, serving MSFT’s cloud computing expansion plans in the European region.
Greek PM and Finance minister rolled the red-carpet for Microsoft management. It took some nine months to negotiate a favorable deal and a promise to digitally upskill around 100,000 government officials, private sector employees, and students was included in the agreement. Well, if MSFT can teach them NOT to run billion-dollar government aide programs in Excel like the Brits, I think we can call it a win. Read more.
Interest relief brewing? 🤞
The government has filed a response in front of the Supreme Court advocating its support for waiver of “interest on interest” charges (basically compound interest) on any loans of upto ₹2 crores for borrowers in the most vulnerable category.
Simply put, any compound interest charged on unpaid dues, can be relieved for about 6 months if payers asked for a deferral. The government assured the Court that it will place a proposal in front of the parliament for due procedure. MSME loans, all individual loans that include education, personal, consumer, credit cards, and Auto loans, all of under ₹2 crores will be covered.
It’s not clear yet how the government plans on taking care of banks and lenders that will be owed this money although officials project the cost of the program to be in the ₹5000-₹7000 crore range assuming all affected avail the moratorium relief.
So far, it sounds like a cheerful move for those hurting from non-payment of accumulated interest, however, the government has amply made it clear that no broader interest waiver will be coming. Expect more clarity and details on the subject in the coming weeks.
Tweet of the day —
What else are we snackin’ 🍿
🍿 Out the door - Netflix has finally managed to release its web series — Bad Boy Billionaires in India. They’ve released all episodes except the one involving the founder of Satyam computer services, B. Ramalinga Raju, after the “legend” tried to have it blocked in court.
✋ Uber okay, Ola no-okay - London's public transport authority has refused to grant ride hailing giant Ola a new operating license saying that the taxi app is not fit for safe operations. Ola had just started operations in London in February this year and now has 21 days to appeal the decision.
🤗 Good neighbors - India has handed over 3K vials of Remdesivir to Myanmar to help the country in its fight against COVID-19. General Naravane and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan paid a 2 day visit to Myanmar to further expand ties in a range of areas including connectivity, defense and security.
🙌 More partnerships - Short video apps including Sharechat, Chingari, MX TakaTak have plans to invest upto ₹200 crore each year in licensing catalogues of music labels such as T-series, Zee music, Sony and Times Music.
Hit that 💚 if you liked today’s issue.
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