Here's a sense of how beauty defines every aspect of our lives.
Nature is not out to win any contests.
But our notion of beauty, even with respect to vegetables, creates unnecessary waste in food chains.
Blemish-free extends to vegetables as well in the US. So potatoes, tomatoes, onions and all types of vegetables are picked out of wholesale piles and only the ones that meet display standards are put up for sale.
What happens to the rest? They are labeled as 'ugly' vegetables and even though they are perfectly fine to consume, their market value plummets.
They are sold at prices far lower than the ones closest to 'perfection'
Apart from waste, this skews the market price as well because the cost of vegetables being thrown away has to be factored in.
And this was the opportunity Abhi Ramesh came across after having pursued a series of ventures, successful and not-so-successful.
He launched a brand called Misfits Market.
They experimented to find out if customers would buy - and found buyers were more than willing
Demand skyrocketed when the vegetables were sold online at prices far lower than what supermarkets charge.
In just a couple of years, they employ over 1000 employees and are valued at over $1 billion
Who thought such a makeover was possible? It required some talent to make misfits stand out.
Ugly vegetables are looking positively delectable now.
Email is the millstone round our necks
If one of the world's largest companies struggles with an email migration project, what does it tell you?
It's become too big. And it does fail. Spectacularly.
IBM had sold some of its products to HCL Technologies in India and wanted to move the entire email system to its own servers.
Now that's a tricky move.
We've accumulated thousands of emails and attachments and organizing or managing the load varies wildly
Some of us delete all emails every month.
Some never delete anything. Add multiple updates and versions coexisting.
This huge variance sets up all kinds of minefields.
IBM developed its own version of email on the cloud called Verse and it's gone from bad to Worse. Sorry, couldn't resist that one.
The project was supposed to be completed in 18 months but shows no signs of being close to completion.
Website migration has better protocols and processes in place, but email is like transporting jelly in an open cart over potholed roads and expecting the consignment to arrive perfectly intact.
Not going to happen.
So, thousands of IBMers are now stuck with a combination of their messaging systems, phones and laptops refusing to play ball.
It's the kind of thing that makes CIOs sweat.
Forty odd years after email was invented, it's become something we can’t live without.
Or live with.
Billionaires and their space sagas
Jeff Bezos announced that he would be flying into space as one of the first private citizens in the world.
The combination of billionaire dreams and space travel attracted swarms of media chatter.
Bezos announced his brother would be joining him on the trip.
Coverage of brotherly love and close embraces followed.
As well as details of the casual $20 million plus dollar tab for the trip. What's a few millions for an out of the world experience?
The countdown began.
Blue Origin was all set to launch on 20th July.
The sidelight was an 82-year-old who was also supposed to fly with Bezos - one of the lucky ones chosen.
As the rest of the world watched and waited, other billionaires seethed.
This is space travel in the sense that the spacecraft goes 60 miles into space and then returns, not a destination like the moon or Mars.
Now, Richard Branson, the Virgin brand billionaire has stolen the thunder.
He's announced that he'll be flying into space on 11th July - a week before Bezos.
That gives him bragging rights Bezos can't refute.
Suddenly, the richest man on earth has been relegated to second place.
It looks like having billions in the bank makes no difference - it goes all the way from flaunting cars to mansions to space travel.
Meanwhile other notable billionaires must be tending to bruised aspirations.
Unfortunately, there's no magic potion for disappointments.
Every week, I'll plant a few ideas in your mind on branding, behavior and markets. Triggers for your thoughts. Spread the word to your friends. All you have to do is click the link and enter an email address.
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