From Gold to Credit: what kept entrepreneurs buzzing this week
From product and service launches to epic fandom moments, the week that went by saw some pretty big announcements and reveals from a variety of companies – market leaders and startups alike. These developments were naturally exciting for the company founders, who took to Twitter to talk about what was happening. We take a look back at some of the biggest news from the week that was, through the lens of what the folks behind these brands said on Twitter:
New ‘Gold’ services add extra sparkle for consumers and Zomato alike
The Indian consumer couldn’t be happier hitting the jackpot with Zomato. The launch of Zomato Gold, a membership programme for premium dining out and social drinking experiences, saw an overwhelming response. Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal was clearly stunned by the response, and took to Twitter to talk about the same:
Xiaomi continues its upward trajectory
This week there was a lot more that founders of unicorns had to celebrate. IDC’s latest Quarterly Smartphone Tracker for Q3, 2017 was released this week and ranked Xiaomi the #1 Smartphone Brand in India. Manu Kumar Jain, the MD of Xiaomi India received this happy news with characteristic humility, posting the below tweet:
Amazon makes fantasy and television fans very, very happy
Mid-week brought news that Amazon had acquired global television rights for JRR Tolkien’s acclaimed fantasy epic The Lord of The Rings. LOTR, as the series is often known, has been one of the most successful fantasy sagas of all time, with the books selling millions of copies and Peter Jackson’s movie adaptations becoming legendary blockbusters. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos brought smiles to many faces with a simple tweet about the announcement:
Tesla pushes the boundaries – again
Automobile manufacturer Tesla is no stranger to pushing the boundaries of innovation and technology, with its personal vehicles already received rave reviews and attention. Now, the company has gone and pushed the envelope by announcing its first ever commercial vehicle, the Tesla Semi truck. This is a big step for the company, and founder Elon Musk was clearly pumped and excited about it, as revealed by his tweet a few hours before the vehicle’s big unveiling:
Paytm takes the next ‘logical step’ in the evolution of its offerings
As one of India’s largest digital payment platforms, Paytm has seen rapid growth and change in recent years. From simply a “digital wallet”, the platform has evolved to incorporate an online marketplace and a bank among other services. Now it’s added another element – instant credit. Paytm this week announced the launch of a new PostPaid service in conjunction with ICICI bank, giving customers the option to get credit against later repayment options. Founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma called it the platform’s “logical next product” in a tweet:
Bill Gates weighs in on the fight against Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the biggest healthcare problems facing the world right now. Affecting an estimated 29.8 million people worldwide in 2015, with 1.9 million fatalities, the disease is also one of the most financially costly health care issues. Bill Gates posted a video this week in a tweet where he highlights five key focus areas that need work to give the fight against Alzheimer’s a boost. Take a look below:
We’re sure plenty of other notable events also took place and were tweeted about by key entrepreneurs and business leaders this week. What/who did we miss? Let us know in the comments!