Hey, I’m Alankar.
I grew up in Bombay and, during my time in the Emirates, developed an interest in writing.
I use this site to keep some of my thoughts, occasional advice, and a record of books I have read. I tend to write about companies, innovation, cities, progress, ambition, and how people think.
Essays on innovation, companies, cities, ambition, progress, and behaviour.
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Creative Gravity
Why a handful of cities repeatedly become places where talented people find one another, raise the standard, and make more ambitious work possible.
Cities·4 min read - →
Beyond the Product
A company becomes durable when good judgement, trust, and standards survive beyond the product or person that first made it successful.
Companies·4 min read - →
The Room Is Not a Stage
Our own mistakes feel enormous from the inside, which is why we often imagine that other people noticed far more than they actually did.
Human Nature·3 min read - →
The Long Term Has a Short-Term Problem
Long-term thinking sounds obvious until somebody has to pay the cost today for a benefit that may arrive years later, possibly under somebody else's name.
Progress·4 min read
Books rated Great
- The Everything Store
- Zero to One
- Shoe Dog
- Thinking, Fast and Slow
- Alexander Hamilton
- The Innovator's Dilemma
- The Intelligent Investor
- Titan
- The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America
- Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Difficult beginnings
- DisneyWalt Disney · 22
- UPSClaude Ryan and Jim Casey · 19
- KFCColonel Harland Sanders · 40
- IKEAIngvar Kamprad · 17
- WalmartSam Walton · 44
- RelianceDhirubhai Ambani · 25
Notes on progress
- SafetyThe world is safer than it has ever been
- PovertyExtreme poverty is collapsing
- EnergyRenewables are cheaper, smarter, and growing faster than ever
- LongevityBreakthroughs in longevity research are unlocking how we age
- EducationEducation is more accessible than ever before
- SpaceSpace is becoming accessible