What Indian startup founders are reading; Amit Trivedi on balancing creativity with business

Hello,

The way AI is built is about to change.

That’s what OpenAI’s co-founder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever thinks as he predicts that pre-training is bound to end soon. Next-generation models, he predicted, are going to “be agentic in a real way.” 

He also said future AI systems will be able to work things out step-by-step in a way that is more comparable to thinking, unlike today’s AI, which mostly pattern-matches based on what a model has seen before.

OpenAI, meanwhile, wants payback. The ChatGPT maker published a blog post featuring Elon Musk’s old emails in which he pushed for the AI startup to be a for-profit. The move comes in response to Musk moving the court to stop OpenAI from moving to a for-profit business. 

The published emails also revealed Musk sought to be OpenAI's CEO and outlined a plan where he would “unequivocally have initial control of the company” but said that would be temporary. The two other OpenAI co-founders objected, saying he would hold too much power.

ICYMI: Why OpenAI whistleblower, Suchir Balaji, who resorted to suicide, was critiquing ChatGPT.

While many folks on Instagram are having a light-hearted moment enjoying AI-generated spoofs of Bollywood movies, investors are serious about where to put the big bucks.

 Software firm Databricks, which helps enterprises process and analyse their data using AI, is nearing a deal that could become one of the largest venture capital funding rounds in history. It's close to raising $9.5 billion.

If finalised, it would far surpass OpenAI's $6.6-billion funding round—the largest-ever venture capital round in history.

Talk about scoring big bucks.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• A peek into Indian entrepreneurs’ reading list
• Amit Trivedi on balancing creativity with business
• This bar offers cocktails ‘ASPER’ seasons

Here’s your trivia for today: What is considered the oldest library in the world?

Books

Inside Indian entrepreneurs’ reading list

As the Indian startup ecosystem continues to innovate and disrupt the tech infrastructure, entrepreneurs and investors keep going back to business manuals and handbooks that have helped forge their decision-making skills to keep pace. 

YS Life dives into the personal libraries of some of the most notable Indian entrepreneurs and investors to uncover the books that have shaped their thought processes in 2024. 

Page turner:

• Kaivalya Vohra: Co-founder, Zepto: Atomic Habits by James Clear reminded me that progress is about compounding those tiny 1% improvements every day—whether it's improving customer experiences or team efficiency.
• Kunal Bahl: Co-founder, Snapdeal and Titan Capital: I loved Poor Charlie's Almanack (by Charlie Munger) multidisciplinary approach, emphasis on mental models, and focus on integrity and lifelong learning.
• Priyanka Gill: Co-founder, Good Glamm Group: The Hard Thing About Hard Things is like a trusted mentor for navigating the realities of running a business. It addresses the gritty, complex challenges of entrepreneurship with unfiltered honesty.

Upbeat

Amit Trivedi on balancing creativity with business

Earlier this year, the playback singer and composer Amit Trivedi announced his latest album—Azaad Collab—which features 22 music artists across 13 tracks. Amit has collaborated with the likes of Sunidhi Chauhan, Armaan Malik, Jubin Nautiyal, and Neeti Mohan, among others, to celebrate diverse voices in the Indian music industry. 

“It is a freedom of expression, of creating something that I resonate with, and like putting out there, without anybody telling me what to make and how to make it,” he reflects. 

Passion for music:

• “There is nothing called struggle, you just flow and you need to love what you’re doing, and be very passionate and dedicated to it…Things just flow and fall into place, that’s what happened to me,” Amit says. 
• Deadlines in particular are spoilsports for creativity. “Creativity is very fluid, it’s not stuck to a particular time limit…But as far as films are concerned, they have release dates set way in advance. We have to work according to those dates…”
• Music-composing is art, at the end of the day, Amit says. Having said that, to also keep creating tracks that are ‘commercial’ and resonate with the masses, it is important to find a balance. 

Wine and Food

This bar offers cocktails ‘ASPER’ seasons

It's not just Gurugram’s skyline that vies for attention; its cocktail-forward restaurants and bars, too, are making noise for the right reasons. The newest kid to join the block is ASPER, set in the millennium city’s popular hotspot, The Kitchens, in DLF Phase 3. 

Highlights:

• Dolce and Banana cocktail is a spin on the fashion brand D&G. This whisky-based drink from the ‘Spring’ section, with the addition of banana cordial, cinnamon, tincture, and lime juice, bursts with tropical flavours.
• If you are an out-and-out chai fan, there's a drink called Between the Sheets. The masala tea-infused gin cocktail includes tender coconut water and pandan leaf, creating an earthy taste on your palate.  
• Among the small plates, Shrooms and Burrata, Yam Koobideh Kebob paired with fresh pita, labneh, and fresh chilli sauce, and the Tamarind Caramel Pork Belly with crispy garlic chips on the side left an impression. 

News & updates

• Fake news: The BBC has filed a complaint with the US tech giant Apple over AI-generated fake news that was shared on iPhones and attributed to the broadcaster. One of the group notifications by Apple Intelligence suggested that the BBC News website had published an article claiming that Luigi Mangione, who was arrested in the US over the murder of a healthcare executive, had committed suicide.
• Mainstream: MicroStrategy, the preferred high beta play on the price of bitcoin, will join the Nasdaq 100 index, a move that could further increase demand for the controversial stock that has been on a torrid run this year, alongside the price of the cryptocurrency.
• Social media ban: A US appeals court rejected an emergency bid by TikTok to temporarily block a law that would require its Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest of the short-video app by January 19 or face a ban on the app.

What is considered the oldest library in the world?

Answer: The Royal Library of Ebla, located near Mardikh, Syria. It is estimated to date back to 2500-2250 BC. 

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