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What do you expect a top bracket investment banker to do right after quitting his or her job at the pinnacle of the firm? Well, <a href="http://www1.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=nikesh+arora&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Nikesh Arora</a>, who just quit as the President of Japan’s <a href="http://www1.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=softbank&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">SoftBank</a>, is spending all his precious time tweeting replies to the over-concerned public, AND, fending off the overtly-curious television media on Twitter, who have been nonchalantly pursuing him for phone interviews! 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/As-Nikesh-Arora-quits-SoftBank-will-continue-its-focuson-Indian-startupsnbsp/articleshow/52851915.cms">READ ALSO: As Nikesh Arora quits, SoftBank will continue its focus on Indian startups </a> 
 
The (now) Former SoftBank President Arora, who has largely been seen as the key reason behind the Japanese Bank’s huge investments into India startups, is actually replying to everyone who is asking him about his next move on Twitter. He is being witty enough to fend off popular business channels that tweeted to him seeking a quick reaction on television. 
 
Arora, who joined SoftBank two years back, said he did not want to be a CEO in waiting past his sell date. However, he will remain an advisor to SoftBank for a year, as a means of transition. 
 
Arora is clearly having the time of his life, answering questions on SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, the song he is humming right now, also if he’s been offered the position of RBI’s next chief. It is raining resignations, indeed. 
 
Read on: 
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		I am not sad. I learnt a lot, sitting with Masa at dinner and chatting about life in the future. <a href="https://t.co/6TW1k6d6Nh">https://t.co/6TW1k6d6Nh</a> — <keyword id="6371777" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nikesh-Arora">Nikesh Arora</keyword> (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745212629677813760">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		Thanks Amit. Going to chill for a bit. <a href="https://t.co/gtZ1mVpYen">https://t.co/gtZ1mVpYen</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745213484401459200">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		:). If you have ex Googlers you already have a brain trust. <a href="https://t.co/xpJeyymVqI">https://t.co/xpJeyymVqI</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745213593910542336">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		I misspelt thorough but thanks for correcting. <a href="https://t.co/TxWsKvkBCC">https://t.co/TxWsKvkBCC</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745213732133822464">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		Lol dexit? <a href="https://t.co/7ivTXmcIH1">https://t.co/7ivTXmcIH1</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745213925919076356">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		Lol. Funny guy. <a href="https://t.co/LsbgUHmUq8">https://t.co/LsbgUHmUq8</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745214099412262913">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		Done. <a href="https://t.co/3mUjfZHtzv">https://t.co/3mUjfZHtzv</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745214138985545730">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		All good. Masa wanted to be CEO for longer, I did as promised, time to move on. <a href="https://t.co/cQsgTe1Ig6">https://t.co/cQsgTe1Ig6</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745214832454963205">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		Not at all. Love the Indian startup scene. <a href="https://t.co/GIPR4MFeuW">https://t.co/GIPR4MFeuW</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745215942829834240">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		They were on the call I did. Talked to Bodhi. <a href="https://t.co/oWVm0mDxDY">https://t.co/oWVm0mDxDY</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745216026090995712">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		Funniest response. <a href="https://t.co/HO0nHhGPOe">https://t.co/HO0nHhGPOe</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745217638083657728">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		How do you do thumbs up? <a href="https://t.co/ALMls4X5oT">https://t.co/ALMls4X5oT</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745217727787204609">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		Ask them to tweet :) <a href="https://t.co/uwfXrq0tBD">https://t.co/uwfXrq0tBD</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745217846007889920">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		I love YJ! Miyasaka San is great, and I am always there whenever he needs me. <a href="https://t.co/jbjCVXWPdo">https://t.co/jbjCVXWPdo</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745218142599667712">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		The plan is no plan... <a href="https://t.co/g21kUyVFo6">https://t.co/g21kUyVFo6</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745222987356344320">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		Hmm... This way I don't get reinterpreted when I tell the truth. <a href="https://t.co/xZvEQOSmZ0">https://t.co/xZvEQOSmZ0</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745227313676091392">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		No...didn't want to be CEO in waiting past my sell by date :) <a href="https://t.co/PRDaQprmyl">https://t.co/PRDaQprmyl</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745228070747963392">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		Honestly I think I responded to more customer complaints than most investors :). It's the company's job! <a href="https://t.co/5beTAGbFlG">https://t.co/5beTAGbFlG</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745230299986989056">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		I have never had a leash...ask my mom. <a href="https://t.co/4oupOEjvn3">https://t.co/4oupOEjvn3</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745232775653924864">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 (Image: Indiatimes)

Nikesh Arora, right after quitting SoftBank, spent all his time replying to Tweets, fending off the curious media

Nikesh Arora stepped down as SoftBank President after shareholders questioned his track record. 
 
However, an internal probe had cleared Arora, who will remain as an advisor to SoftBank. 
 
As per reports, Arora faced flak from shareholders over some deals, his compensation, and few investors even questioned his qualifications. 
 <keyword id="2914119" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="SoftBank-CEO-Masayoshi-Son">SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son</keyword> had chosen Arora and had, reportedly, plans to announce him as his successor. 
 
Arora, a former Google executive, had joined Softbank two years back. 
 
During his stint in Softbank, Arora spent around $4 billion investing in startups around the world. 
 
Arora is also one of the highest-paid corporate executives in the world, receiving $135 million in 2014 and another $73 million last year. 
 
As per news reports, Arora’s resignation was announced a day after SoftBank stated a special committee investigating allegations raised by one group of investors found that the group’s claims were “without merit.” 
 
Arora tweeted he got a clean chit during the review meeting. 
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		Masa 2 continue 2 be CEO for 5-10 years, respect that. Learnt a lot. Clean chit from board after through review. Time for me to move on.
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745211712970756097">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		:). Life doesn't need to be orderly my friend. It's about having fun everyday. <a href="https://t.co/sskfQyYJCf">https://t.co/sskfQyYJCf</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745212458550255616">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		Going to continue to support the Indian startup ecosystem....can't change faith if you change jobs :)! <a href="https://t.co/ILIlS6qdcp">https://t.co/ILIlS6qdcp</a>
	— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) <a href="https://twitter.com/nikesharora/status/745214449951268864">June 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
 
Meanwhile, Son said the allegations had nothing to do with Arora’s resignation. 
 
Before joining SoftBank, Arora was an executive at Google Inc and prior to that he was chief marketing officer at T-Mobile Europe. 
 
In SoftBank, Arora sealed a $1 billion bet on Coupang, a South Korean mobile commerce startup, in a deal that was billed at the time as the largest internet investment in South Korea’s history. 
 
It was larger than SoftBank’s deal with Snapdeal and GrabTaxi. 
 
Also, SoftBank had huge India plans and Son had stated the company would invest around $10 billion in 5-10 years. 
 
SoftBank was expected to make first $350 million investment in a solar project in India. 
 
Apart from this, SoftBank also has a joint venture with the Bharti Group, Bharti SoftBank, the investments of which include the mobile application Hike Messenger. Its other investments cover real estate website Housing.com, hotel-booking app Oyo Rooms and Grofers. 
 
SoftBank, Bharti and Foxconn plan to invest in the joint venture called SBG Cleantech.

As Nikesh Arora quits, SoftBank will continue its focus
on Indian startups

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=SoftBank&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">SoftBank</a> COO <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Nikesh+Arora&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Nikesh Arora</a> surprised the business community when he leaped from his role as Google’s Chief Business Officer to Japanese telecom company <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Softbank">SoftBank</keyword>. He rose up the ranks quickly to become CEO <keyword id="357983" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Masayoshi-Son">Masayoshi Son</keyword>’s successor when he stepped down sometime in his 60’s. 
 
That changed quickly last week when Arora resigned. He pointed out Son was fit to carry on for five, if not ten more years, and there was no point in him staying on. 
 
He explained in a <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/06/25/nikesh-arora-interview/">recent interview</a> with Fortune that he was not interested in being “CEO-in-waiting.” 
 
In his own words: 
 
Honestly, as you might have read, heard, seen Masa present on Wednesday at the shareholder meeting, he was here six weeks ago we were chatting and getting ready for the annual shareholder meeting. There’s a slide in there that [indicates Son will still be running the company] in his 60’s. I said, “You’re about to turn 60 next year, are you ready?” 
 
He’s like, “Ready for what?” 
 
I said, “You told me when you turn 60, I was going to be CEO.” 
 
He said, “You know what, honestly I haven’t really thought about it that hard.” 
 
I said, “Well you’ve been going out there telling people out there that I’m your successor so I would really appreciate your thoughts.” He went back, he reflected, we chatted on the phone a few times. I think he came to the conclusion that he works really hard, he works anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day and he still hasn’t contemplated what life would look like if he gave up most of what he did. He’s a very hands-on CEO, as he has said publicly. He’s helping design the network at Sprint and has meetings with hundreds of people every week–when we do deals he gets involved in every element of the deal, like how do you structure the terms, which is great, but he’s a hands on CEO. 
 
He said, “I still feel young. I can do this for a lot more time.” 
 
*Awkward* He might not have seen that coming… 
 
I said, “How much time? Two to three years?” 
 
He said, “At least five if not ten.” 
 
And I said, “That’s a long time frame, which is your prerogative, you can make that decision. You’ve gone and told people I’m your successor and given the impression that you’d change things when you turned 60. I’m not worried if it’s 60, 61 or whatever but if it’s five to ten years, then you’re telling me something different.” He said “Yeah,” so I said “Okay.” I decided it’s probably better to become an advisor for a year and help out and keep the continuity with our portfolio of companies and the team we hired. But I don’t stay CEO-in-waiting. 
 
Nikesh admits Son hadn’t decided on the exact date he’d like to leave the company in somebody else’s hands. “Honestly, I don’t think he had fully thought through what it meant to transition the CEO role after 3 years,” Nikesh said. 
 
When asked about his India investments, Nikesh says it’s too soon to tell how his investments are doing, even the ones not doing well including the likes of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Housing.com&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Housing.com</a>. 
 
You can read the <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/06/25/nikesh-arora-interview/" target="_blank">full Q&amp;A over on Fortune</a>. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Nikesh Arora explains why he quit his Softbank job

<ul class="summary-list"><li>SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has spent his life putting bold bets on the future of technology.</li><li>A new book charts the journey of the Japanese businessman from social outcast to the pinnacle of the tech sector.</li></ul>On an evening at the turn of the millennium, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/masayoshi-son-softbank-net-worth-lifestyle-silicon-valley-estate-photos-2019-6">Masayoshi Son</a> had a rousing message for the entrepreneurs who flocked to Tokyo's Roppongi district."Japan is going through its biggest social upheaval since the Meiji Restoration," he said with characteristic grandiosity. "Let's make it so that a millennium from now, people will look back on our time and remember that the kind of society they're living in was created by us today."<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-plans-openai-investment-boss-says-uses-chatgpt-every-day-2023-9">SoftBank</a>, the media-technology conglomerate Son founded two decades prior, was riding high on the glory it attained in the dot-com boom. Son himself had briefly seen his wealth surpass that of Bill Gates in the era's frenzy; he was the world's richest person for three days. Now, he was ready to see a new generation emulate his success.It's a story that Lionel Barber, the former editor of The Financial Times, recounts in his new book "Gambling Man: The Wild Ride of Japan's Masayoshi Son." Over 335 pages, he charts the journey of the 67-year-old — known to many as Masa — from a life in poverty to a dizzying career betting it all on technology.From his early years distributing software, he would go on to build a telecoms empire and mint a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-softbank-vision-funds-awful-year-former-employees-rival-vcs-2022-12">near-$100 billion investment fund</a> that would splash money on everything from Uber to WeWork.For Barber, who has stood face-to-face with leaders like Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin and Barack Obama in Washington, the allure of Son was simple. "This is a story of our times," he told Business Insider. "The cheap money, leverage, technology — he's ridden this wave right from when he started with software distribution, which has penetrated every aspect of society."As history shows, the hopes and dreams the SoftBank founder shared for the future that evening 24 years ago would crash back to reality days later. Having made a killing from <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-masayoshi-son-jack-ma-bet-ai-2024-2">an early $20 million bet on Jack Ma's Alibaba</a> and taking a share in Yahoo, Son was about to see an abrupt change in fortune as SoftBank's stock crashed.By March 2000, the dot-com bubble would burst altogether.<div type="image" title="Jack Ma, cofounder of tech giant Alibaba." height="2000" width="3000" msid="113763139" hostid="261" sizebytes="171736"></div>That said, Son's humiliation at that moment would not stop him from chasing visions of extraordinary scope again and again, even if it meant hard falls were to come once more. This is the career of a man whose ambition has taken him to the brink and back.And signs suggest he's not done just yet.<h2 id="acfaa085-1888-44a6-a2fd-d42c5ad1dbf6">Social pariah to technology visionary</h2><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-ceo-masayoshi-son-rewarded-ai-bet-arm-2024-5">Son's rise</a> to what Barber describes as a "place at the very pinnacle of the global plutocracy" was hardly guaranteed.Though he's now worth almost $17 billion, owns a mansion likened to Batman's Wayne Manor, and places himself among a peer group of Napoleon Bonaparte, Genghis Khan, and Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, Son was born in August 1957 to Koreans "on a dirt track with no name" on the Japanese island of Kyushu, according to the book. It recounts that "Masa's earliest memories were the smell of pigs and the sound of steam trains belching soot and smoke which filled his makeshift home."Discrimination was a part of his childhood, too, with postwar Koreans living in Japan labeled "Zainichi" — a term used as a pejorative to categorize the ethnic minority as second-class citizens. For Son, being born in poverty meant his early years involved a pariah-like experience.However, as Barber notes, the younger Son would go on to enjoy a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-trump-50-billion-investment-not-what-it-seems-2016-12">future audience with the 45th President of the United States</a> and court royals in Riyadh. He would, more importantly, play a pivotal role in transforming the technology sector from a niche interest of computer obsessives into a global force that turns the world economy.In Barber's telling, a few key factors drove Son down this path. His inaugural visit to the US, where he attended Berkeley, coincided with the microprocessor revolution. Like Microsoft's Gates, he claims to have had an epiphany after seeing the Intel 8080 microprocessor for the first time in a copy of the Popular Electronics magazine; he foresaw a future in which the world could one day be powered by silicon.<div type="image" title="Bill Gates arrives at the 10th Breakthrough Prize Ceremony." height="1432" width="2050" msid="113763131" hostid="261" sizebytes="91348"></div>However, self-conviction in his own "genius" appears to be first and foremost. Combined with his outsider status, Son was a young man with a chip on his shoulder. Visiting Son's father, Mitsunori Son — creator of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-pachinko-gambling-japan-2018-7">a gambling business built on arcade pachinko machines</a> — at their family home, Barber recalled how it felt like a shrine devoted to their son. "He was treated like a princeling from day one and behaved like a princeling. He was told he was special," Barber told BI.The early years are key to understanding how Son became preoccupied with unwieldy ambition that would take him too close to the sun time and again. He made his first major bet on his own genius when he founded SoftBank in 1981. It was the start of a two-decade chapter defined by high-profile encounters with the likes of Rupert Murdoch, Larry Ellison, and Jack Welch, acquisitions totaling billions of dollars, and an all-or-nothing attitude toward innovation.At that time, Son was akin to an "arm-waving internet prophet," Barber said, who devised the idea of distributing software. Years later, when Japan's economy began to collapse, he quickly maneuvered a return to the US, where he bought big assets such as the then-popular tech trade show Comdex, gaining access to the deep Silicon Valley networks that came with it.Though it ended with a spectacular crash, Son offset the damage that left SoftBank "virtually broke" by working 18-hour days, seven days a week, to bring the high-speed broadband revolution to Japan in the 2000s.A helping hand from <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs">Steve Jobs</a>, who he first met at the Comdex trade fair in Las Vegas in the 1980s, also came as SoftBank struck an exclusive carrier deal in Japan for the iPhone from 2008 to 2011. It gave him a front seat to the smartphone boom.<div type="image" title="Steve Jobs" height="2113" width="3000" msid="113763146" hostid="261" sizebytes="445370"></div>This cycle of rise and fall has made a curious reappearance throughout Son's career. As Barber puts it, Son is a gambler, which means his life has followed a familiar pattern that goes something like this: "A blizzard of ideas followed by intense enthusiasm and focus, leading to overreach, failure, and repentance — until the whole process started over again."He is also someone Barber deems ruthless, a fighter with a penchant for the "crazy" that sits at odds with the portrait of a more shy and self-conscious leader that the billionaire has often presented to the public.Nowhere have these elements shown themselves more than they have done in Son's leadership over SoftBank 2.0.<h2 id="451d95fb-964b-46cd-8cd5-8f606eec277c">A gambling man with $100 billion to play with</h2>In 2010, as the world was picking itself up from the financial crash, Son spent a lot of time thinking about 2040. He wanted to know how technology would shape society in 30 years' time.He concluded that the tech-enabled information revolution should mean "happiness for everyone." At that time, though, Son was getting bored of being an operator — it was time to be a "grand investor." In Barber's assessment, this is a period in Son's life that shows how he's "quite capable of serious hardball" to get what he wants while leaving himself entirely vulnerable to those who might dare to dream as big as he does.Enter the Vision Fund. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-vision-fund-ceo-rajeev-misra-steps-back-2022-4">Rajeev Misra, a former trader at Deutsche Bank</a> who profited from a huge short bet against the subprime mortgages at the center of 2008's financial meltdown, was brought in to help lead Son's investment charge. So, too, was Nikesh Arora, a "fast-talking" former Google executive pulled away from a $50 million-a-year package.<div type="image" title="Rajeev Misra SoftBank" height="882" width="1354" msid="113763142" hostid="261" sizebytes="40208"></div>In the context of traditional Japanese corporate life, these hires were total anomalies. But Son's decision to bring them on board signaled the bold push he was ready to make. Buoyed by the credibility attained from the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alibaba-one-year-since-ipo-2015-9">2014 IPO of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba</a>, Son tapped Misra's ties to wealth funds in the Middle East to raise a combined $60 billion from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala.In particular, for Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's ruler-in-waiting who led talks with SoftBank, Son's proposition gave him the opportunity he sought to present himself at home as a prince with a bold plan for the future. "He wants to be seen as the great modernizer transforming this petrostate into a truly modern economy where technology is at the forefront," Barber told BI.Eventually, almost $100 billion was raised for a startup investing vehicle known as the Vision Fund, which brought untold chaos to the technology sector. Silicon Valley's biggest funds before then were no bigger than a few billion dollars, and SoftBank was ready to outbid them all to lead blockbuster investment rounds. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-moritz-sequoia-partner-is-moving-to-vc-firms-wealth-division-2023-7">Michael Moritz</a>, lead partner at Sequoia Capital at the time, likened Son's arsenal of capital to Kim Jong Un's intercontinental ballistic missiles. Did Son care? Barber thinks not.But as previous cycles in Son's life dictate, the flurry of enthusiasm is typically followed by failure. Though he proved himself to be ruthless in the $32 billion acquisition of chip designer Arm in 2016 — its shares are up almost 200% since being re-listed last year — he would fall prey to the charms of WeWork cofounder Adam Neumann.The Israeli entrepreneur, who Son invited into the back of a taxi while en route to see Donald Trump, would eventually cause him trouble. Billions of dollars of investment were burned as the office space company masquerading as a tech one fell apart. A SoftBank <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-why-softbank-didnt-let-wework-go-bankrupt-2019-10">bailout of WeWork cost $9.5 billion</a> in 2019.It wasn't the only blunder. SoftBank-backed Wirecard imploded after the Financial Times exposed large-scale fraud at the German payments provider. Greensill Capital, a supply chain finance firm that fell apart, forced the Vision Fund to write down a $1.5 billion investment.Defending his track record in 2020, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-ceo-masayoshi-son-compares-himself-to-misunderstood-jesus-report-2020-5">Son said Jesus was misunderstood.</a><div type="image" title="SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son." height="3333" width="5000" msid="113763135" hostid="261" sizebytes="793234"></div>As the misfires have mounted, critics have put Son's successful bets over the years down to luck. In Barber's view, the picture is more complicated. He told BI that he sees an "intelligent brain thinking ahead, anticipating," but also a reckless impulse to "put a chip on every board." There is a visionary that co-exists with a "gambling addict."Barber's book comes at a critical juncture. Since <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chat-gpt-2023-1">the launch of ChatGPT</a>, the technology industry has made artificial intelligence its central focus, with an arms race underway among global companies wanting to make smarter versions of the technology. For Son, an AI obsessive long before the current era of generative AI chatbots, it's a moment that seems tailor-made to his desires. But he has been slow to match that with the bold bets he has become known for.While SoftBank oversaw Arm's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arm-ipo-stock-market-should-i-buy-invest-ai-semiconductors-2023-9">IPO</a><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arm-ipo-stock-market-should-i-buy-invest-ai-semiconductors-2023-9"> in September 2023</a> and acquired chip firm Graphcore in July, it has not yet invested in companies developing the large language models powering the current boom, such as OpenAI or Anthropic. In 2019, it dumped its nearly 5% stake in Nvidia, the chip giant now worth over $3 trillion.Still, it's hard not to see a splurge coming soon. In June, the SoftBank boss told shareholders past investments were "just a warm-up" for the AI era. It's no surprise to Barber, who sees Son as never satisfied."He's definitely got another act," Barber said. "There's no question."'Gambling Man: The Wild Ride of Masayoshi Son' by Lionel Barber is published by Allen Lane on October 3 in the UK, and Atria/One Signal Publishers in January 2025 in the US.

Masayoshi Son is the $100 billion gambler who went from dirt track to tech titan — and he isn't done betting yet     

Nikesh Arora, the vice president and COO of <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Softbank">Softbank</keyword> is the backbone of many Indian starups. An IIT alumnus and an ex <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> employee, Arora is known for his economic wit. His company, dealing in broadband and telecommunications has been investing in Indian startups since quite sometime and have already become bliss to the daring entrepreneurs of the country. In his recent blog in The Economic Times, Arora has pointed out how the startups are gradually building a resource ecosystem in India. Differentiating between India and China, Arora says there’s no dearth of talent in this country, yet China leads in growing <keyword id="34412" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="economy">economy</keyword> because it has infrastructure. 
 

	Arora says, “I see the new entrepreneurs creating the new infrastructure required to make businesses more efficient, provide goods and services to Indians that rival the West — and, perhaps, in some cases, provide an opportunity to leapfrog a few steps. So maybe this infrastructure is of some use?” “The confluences of success in China, low <keyword id="6371181" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="interest-rates">interest rates</keyword> in the world and a new political leadership in India have reduced risk in the minds of investors. Leaving money in the bank provides the same interest rate as hiding it under your mattress. So investors are out in droves, looking for interesting opportunities.” Also, Arora with an excellent metaphor demonstrated the fact how middle class Indians are the most resource and cost effective mass in India. He has seen in his childhood that the <keyword id="2883273" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Raddiwalas">Raddiwalas</keyword> (people who buy old stuff) would buy old newspapers and in return give a utensil. Everything has a use and this aspires many Indians. 
	 

	“Leaving money in the bank provides the same interest rate as hiding it under your mattress. So investors are out in droves, looking for interesting opportunities.” “Currently, the top 20 venture-backed companies in India are collectively burning through more than $100 million in <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> every month! Young Indians who are busy raising money need to ensure that they go back to our values, spend what they need to spend, try not to extend too far and make sure they are creating something for the longer term.” “Such is the nature of <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword>, of startup, of innovation: not every idea succeeds, but rest assured, if you don’t try, you won’t succeed.” How can media play a big role in charging up the economy? Well, Arora opines, “This is where the media have a big role to play. They need to celebrate the entrepreneurs who tried and lost, so that they get up and try again. Most of the successful companies in the world did not start with the idea that made them what they are today. But the support of the ecosystem gave them the courage to keep pivoting their products and businesses.” In the ET blog, Arora signs off saying, “The leadership needs to be constantly vigilant to ensure that we do not stifle <keyword id="107737" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Entrepreneurship">entrepreneurship</keyword>, and impose costs on fledgling startups.” 

	(Image: Indiatimes)

Here is how startups can create an entrepreneur-friendly ecosystem

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Denis Balibouse Marissa Mayer, Chief Executive Officer of Yahoo, Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2014, attends a session at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos January 24, 2014. </div></div></div>Good morning! Here's the technology news you need to know this Friday.1. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/square-ipo-and-share-price-2015-11">Payments company Square had its IPO yesterday, and shares closed up 45% higher than the IPO price.</a> The company now has a market cap of $4.2 billion (£2.74 billion).2. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/r-eu-clamps-down-on-bitcoin-anonymous-payments-to-curb-terrorism-funding-2015-11">The EU is planning to crack down on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin in order to try to stop terrorism funding.</a> A crisis meeting is being held in Brussels today.3. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/google-hires-diane-greene-to-run-cloud-2015-11">Google has hired VMware cofounder Diane Greene to run its cloud-computing business.</a> It acquired her startup Bebop Technologies.4. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/yahoo-insiders-criticize-marissa-mayer-management-2015-11">There's speculation from inside Yahoo that CEO Marissa Mayer could leave as early as December.</a> People inside the company are growing frustrated with her micromanagement.5. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/people-are-stealing-stolen-apple-pencil-2015-11">Apple has a problem with people coming into its stores and stealing the Apple Pencil.</a> People keep complaining online about the stylus thefts.6.<a href="http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/11/19/lg-cancels-the-watch-urbane-2nd-edition-lte-indefinitely-because-of-unspecified-complex-hardware-issue/"> LG has cancelled the launch of its new smartwatch, the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE.</a> It says there's a hardware issue and it's not sure if the device will ever go on sale.7. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/adele-25-album-wont-be-on-spotify-or-apple-music-2015-11">Adele will not bring her new album to music streaming services like Apple Music or Spotify.</a> The album is released today, but Adele reportedly declined to make it available for streaming.8. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-donates-20-million-for-faster-school-internet-2015-11">Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has donated $20 million (£13 million) to a nonprofit that helps schools get faster internet.</a> He wants students to get access to personalised online learning.9.<a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/nuzzel-20-launches-with-new-investors-matt-cutts-akash-garg-nikesh-arora-and-marc-benioff-2015-11"> Content recommendation app Nuzzel has raised funding from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and SoftBank vice chairman Nikesh Arora amongst others.</a> It raised $1.7 million (£1.11 million).10.<a href="http://venturebeat.com/2015/11/19/flipboard-to-shutter-zite-on-127-asks-users-to-migrate-data-before-then/"> Magazine app Zite will shut down on December 7.</a> It was acquired by competitor Flipboard in 2014. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/model-who-quit-instagram-explains-photo-lies-2015-11">The 19-year-old model who quit Instagram explains the lies behind her most popular photo</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="ZzbGJxeDoYjnk8eop3oqA3Lvj7DMefCC" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

10 things in tech you need to know today

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>If it seems like a new, billion-dollar tech unicorn is born every week, you're not imagining things. The number of private tech companies valued at $1 billion or more worldwide has surged so much this year that on average 1.3 unicorns have been created every week in 2015, <a href="https://www.cbinsights.com/research-unicorn-companies">according to data from CB Insights</a>.&#xa0;The past week alone saw announcements that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kik-messaging-raises-50-million-to-become-unicorn-2015-8">online messaging startup Kik </a>and digital health company <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/zocdoc-raises-130-million-at-a-18-billion-valuation-2015-8">ZocDoc both raised new funding</a> that valued the companies well over $1 billion. It's almost gotten to the point where you might think a tech company that isn't a unicorn must have something wrong with it.The number of new unicorns created in Q2 alone was equal to the entire class of 2014 unicorns. And CB Insights research analyst Nikhil Krishna notes that if the current rate were to hold steady, we could see another 40&#xa0; to 50 more new unicorns before the year is up.Of course that assumes that the current era of cheap money and the seemingly insatiable investor appetite for tech startups continues. But after <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/market-update-august-21-2015-8">two brutal days of trading in the public markets</a> and a growing sense that the Fed could soon raise interest rates,&#xa0;a lot of&#xa0;voices are warning that the age of the unicorn could soon come to an end.<h2 class="p1">Winter is coming</h2>Softbank president Nikesh Arora warned in a tweet on Friday that it's time for entrepreneurs to "strap down" and preserve cash, which will no longer be abundantly available.<div></div>Venture Capital investor Bill Gurley, who has long warned of a bubble in valuations of privately held tech companies, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gurley-believes-tumbling-tech-stocks-could-kill-off-some-unicorns-2015-8">fired off his own ominous tweet storm on Thursday night</a>, noting that the market could be at an "inflection point" in which investors value profitability above growth. "Which unicorn entrepreneurs are prepared for such a shift? Who can adjust quickly?"Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/mutual-funds-show-markdowns-on-private-stocks?unlock=81080e5c3c92202878&amp;token=72fdeddd3888892d2faf26bf5dc8f3a5bcbfc646">a report in The Information this week </a>noted that some of the big institutional investors that have been plowing money into tech startups and feeding the rich valuations are quietly marking down some of their investments.Funds managed by Fidelity Investments and BlackRock both marked down the value of their investments in MongoDB, a database firm, according to the report which cites recent filings. GSV Capital did the same for its investment in online retailer Gilt Group, The Information noted.The argument for keeping calm, <a href="http://fortune.com/2015/06/15/andreessen-horowitz-why-were-not-in-the-next-tech-bubble/">which was advanced by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz</a> earlier this year, is that the amount of money&#xa0;going to tech unicorns is still nowhere near the amount of money that was pumped into public dotcom companies during the 1999/2000 bubble. And the current crop of companies are addressing a market of Internet users that is vastly larger than the market that existed 15 years ago.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>But even if this isn't bubble 2.0, not&#xa0;every unicorn company&#xa0;will succeed. Some businesses will naturally struggle. And a rough market will exacerbate their problems.Gurley has previously said he expects to see <a href="http://fortune.com/2015/03/15/bill-gurley-predicts-dead-unicorns-in-startup-land-this-year/">some dead unicorns</a>&#xa0;this year.That hasn't happened yet. In fact, the total number of unicorns has increased significantly since Gurley's prediction in March. But with the sudden change in market conditions, we could see something happen with the unicorns soon.&#xa0;<h2 class="p1">Where will all the unicorns go?</h2>The trouble with the current glut of unicorns is that sooner or later the investors that funded the companies need to cash out."At a certain point there has to be some sort of liquidity in the market so that investors can see returns on the capital they've invested. Some of these unicorns have to exit at some point so that we can see that these valuations are not just paper valuations," said CB Insight's Krishna.Usually that happens in one of two ways: When a company sells shares to the public in an IPO, or when a company is acquired.The IPO market has been dormant for tech companies for quite some time already. There have only been 11 tech IPOs in the US this year compared to 30 unicorn fundings among US tech companies.And with the public stock market going through a turbulent phase, the prospect of IPOs may be even more unlikely - save perhaps for the biggest companies like Uber, which plans to go public in 18 to 24 months <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/21/us-uber-tech-fundraising-idUSKCN0QQ0G320150821">according to a recent Reuters report</a>.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>That leaves acquisitions.As it happens, many of the established tech giants, such as Apple, Google and Facebook have massive amounts of cash on their balance sheets. Google, for instance, has roughly $70 billion in cash. Even Yahoo, a struggling Internet company, has $7 billion in cash and short term investments.Right now, unicorns are expensive beasts to wrangle.But if business conditions continue to deteriorate, and private market valuations contract, we might see a unicorn trophy hunt. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sharks-spotted-coast-england-2015-7">People were baffled by 50 sharks circling in shallow waters off the English coast</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="R1c2tjdjrwFAGrHUqd0W71KfHPLzHONw" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

A billion-dollar tech 'unicorn' was born every week this year, but winter is coming

<keyword id="1868750" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Hike-Messenger">Hike Messenger</keyword>, India’s only homegrown messaging platform has raised a Series D financing of over USD 175 million. The funding round was led by <keyword id="212412" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tencent">Tencent</keyword> Holding Limited and <keyword id="6354671" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Foxconn">Foxconn</keyword> Technology Group. The round valued the company, which is India’s biggest internet company in terms of users, close to USD 1.4 Billion. 
 The funding round also saw participation from <keyword id="44033" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="hike">Hike</keyword>’s existing investors, viz. <keyword id="526777" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tiger-Global">Tiger Global</keyword>, Bharti Airtel, and the <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Softbank">Softbank</keyword> Group. With this round, fourth for Hike, its total investment has gone up to USD 250 million. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Hike-just-unveiled-its-new-headquarters-and-trust-us-its-gorgeous-HikeHQ/articleshow/50925928.cms">In pictures: I spent two hours at Hike's new office and I wish I could go back again!</a> 
 
“Hike deeply understands India; a highly diverse market with many nuances. It is on a mission synergistic to ours, which is to enhance the quality of human life through internet services. With our investments, Hike will be able to leverage our deep domain expertise in the messaging platform space to provide more value to its users in India,” said Tencent President Martin Lau. 
 
Hike currently engages 100 million users that send 40 billion messages per month, with 95% of users based in India and 90% of them being below the age of 30. The average time that a Hike user spends on its platform every week comes out to 120 minutes. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Want-to-work-at-Hike-Messenger-Kavin-Mittal-tell-you-4-qualities-hes-looking-for/articleshow/51010049.cms">Exclusive: Here are the 4 qualities Hike’s Kavin Mittal looks for while hiring</a> 
 
Following are the three key pillars on which the messenger has been built: 
 
1. Local expressive content: Hike is popular for giving over 10000 stickers to its users in over<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Hike-goes-multilingual-to-suit-Indian-users/articleshow/50282215.cms"> 40 languages</a>, themes and UIs. This relevant local content, including news in Hindi and English, games, Live Cricket, Coupons etc. is what attracts young users to Hike. 
2. Emphasis on privacy: Hike boasts of an innovative feature, called Hidden mode, which can quickly hide chats. Other than that, it also allows users to control who can see their pictures, statuses and ‘last seen’ timings. 
3. Data constraints: In case there is no internet connectivity, Hike users can use Hike2SMS for sending SMSs, and Hike Direct for sharing files. 
 
Also speaking on the occasion was Masayoshi Son, founder, chairman and CEO of the SoftBank group, who said, “Hike is one of SoftBank’s best performing portfolio companies in India and we are happy to have stayed invested in it from the beginning. The team has reached an outstanding scale in a short span of 3.5 years. As an investor, we share their vision and we are happy that they are moving ahead in their journey so quickly in a competitive environment.” 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Softbank-President-Nikesh-Arora-quits/articleshow/52851915.cms">As Nikesh Arora quits, SoftBank will continue its focus on Indian startups</a> 
 “I’m thrilled to announce this new milestone in our journey. Tencent and Foxconn both have pedigrees that speak for themselves and such an investment especially in today’s market just goes to show the strong foundation on which Hike is being built. The new fund raise is going to allow us to push Hike to greater heights and invest in areas that will be key to our long term vision and success,” said Hike founder and CEO <keyword id="6567188" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kavin-Bharti-Mittal">Kavin Bharti Mittal</keyword>.

Hike raises $175mn from Foxconn and Tencent

In a research note sent out Tuesday, JPMorgan's Doug Anmuth lowered estimates for Google's revenues, citing concerns with "the transition from desktop to mobile search, continued margin compression, and increasing competition from Facebook."
Shortly after the note went out, Google stock hit a 52-week low.
That was not a huge surprise.
This has been a year of major change for Google, and it hasn't always been pretty.
CEO Larry Page, frustrated with the pace of innovation at the company, took a big step back from day-to-day operations, turning over control to Sundar Pichai.
Google's core business, search advertising, is looking shakier than it has in years. The problem is the rise of mobile. Search advertising is the best way to make money on the web. But people aren't using the web as much on their mobile phones as they did on their desktops. Last quarter, Google search advertising business grew at its slowest rate in six years.
People are searching for products on Amazon, rather than using Google. The only reason search makes money for Google is that people use it to search for products they would like to buy on the internet, and Google shows ads for those products. Increasingly, however, people are going straight to Amazon to search for products. Desktop search queries on Amazon increased 47% between September 2013 and September 2014, according to ComScore.
The executive in charge of running the moneymaking side of Google, Nikesh Arora, quit for a new job at Softbank. Internally, Arora's departure has been the source of some tension and disappointment. Before he left, Arora was planning to throw a huge conference for Google sales employees in Las Vegas. Now that Arora is gone, the event has been canceled in favor of more regional meetings, and we've heard some Googlers are bummed. These same Googlers are under the impression that the whole company is in the middle of a hiring freeze. After speaking to several more sources, we're pretty sure there is not actually a hiring freeze at Google. But it is interesting that some people inside the company think there is. Clearly, there are pockets of pessimism.
Google is getting knocked around overseas. Google just pulled out of Russia. It shut down its news aggregators in Italy and Spain. The EU wants to break up the company. The situation isn't looking great in Brazil, either.
Facebook has decided to compete with YouTube for video-advertising dollars, and Facebook may win. Facebook is working on bringing YouTube-like video to its News Feed. It's also rolling out video ads. Many in the industry believe that Facebook is in a better position than YouTube to eat into the advertising dollars that are leaving TV. Anmuth writes, "Facebook appears better positioned to capture new dollars coming online given its 21% share of mobile time spent, strong leverage to news feed ads, and nascent opportunities in video and Instagram."
Add it all together, and there are some serious worries about Google in the industry.
Says a former Googler: "I think 2015 is going to be disastrous."
"Mobile has been eating away [at them] for years, but they've been able to pull rabbits out of the hat to increase revenue."
"[That] has to end somewhere."
<h3> NOW WATCH:&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bethany-mota-youtube-fans-video-reviews-2014-12">Why Bethany Mota Has A Legion Of 10 Million Fans Waiting For Her Next YouTube Video</a></h3>
<div><biembeddedobject id="eebe5131-6254-4217-b286-f1f17347aa38"></biembeddedobject></div>

&#xa0;

Google Is Going Through A Rough Transition - And There's Some Pessimism Inside The Company

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Ex-Googler and Beeswax CEO Ari Paparo <a href="https://twitter.com/aripap/status/555927358147133440">tweeted</a> last night that "tons of engineers [are] looking to leave the goog after bonuses."
"The goog" that Paparo is referring to is, of course, Google. 
Paparo was responding to <a href="https://twitter.com/hunterwalk/status/555925686141992960">a tweet from venture capitalist Hunter Walk</a>, also an ex-Googler. 
Walk wrote that for his firm, Homebrew, and the startups in its portfolio, there has "definitely [been a] seasonal January increase in big company people looking to leave their jobs."
Walk said that he expects exits from Google won't really pick up for "another month" - after bonuses are paid out there.
Then, presumably, Googler poaching season will be on. 
(For startups, it's the hap-happiest season of all…)
It's important to remember that, in the tech industry, the migration of talent from big companies to startups is an ancient cycle, as regular and as expected as San Francisco's frigid temperatures in August.
That said…
During a trip to Palo Alto earlier this week, we spoke with another high-profile venture capitalist who said that he also expects talent to flee Google in increased numbers during 2015 - but only if the company is unable to get its stock growing again.
<a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=GOOG+Basic+Chart&amp;t=1y">Google's share price is down to $501 from $577 per share on this date a year ago</a>. In Silicon Valley, where employees are often compensated as much or more in stock as they are in cash, a down stock price like that means Google is literally paying its people less money in 2015 than it did in 2014. That makes retention harder.
It's always hard to say exactly why a stock is going down, but it's clear that Google had a relatively rough 2014. In December, an ex-Googler told us: "I think 2015 is going to be disastrous."
Some data points to back that claim up:
In 2014, CEO Larry Page, frustrated with the pace of innovation at the company, took a big step back from day-to-day operations, turning over control to Sundar Pichai.
Google's core business, search advertising, is looking shakier than it has in years.The problem is the rise of mobile. Search advertising is the best way to make money on the web. But people aren't using the web as much on their mobile phones as they did on their desktops. Last quarter, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-growth-is-at-its-lowest-point-in-6-years-and-analysts-cant-figure-out-why-2014-10">Google's advertising business grew at its slowest rate in six years.</a>
People are searching for products on Amazon, rather than using Google. The only reason search makes money for Google is that people use it to search for products they would like to buy on the internet, and Google shows ads for those products. Increasingly, however, people are going straight to Amazon to search for products. Desktop search queries on Amazon increased 47% between September 2013 and September 2014, according to ComScore.
The executive in charge of running the moneymaking side of Google, Nikesh Arora, quit for a new job at Softbank. Internally, Arora's departure has been the source of some tension and disappointment. Before he left, Arora was planning to throw a huge conference for Google sales employees in Las Vegas. Now that Arora is gone, the event has been canceled in favor of more regional meetings, and we've heard some Googlers are bummed. These same Googlers are under the impression that the whole company is in the middle of a hiring freeze. After speaking to several more sources, we're pretty sure there is not actually a hiring freeze at Google. But it is interesting that some people inside the company think there is. Clearly, there are pockets of pessimism.
Google is getting knocked around overseas. Google just pulled its engineers out of Russia. It shut down its news aggregator in Spain. The EU wants to break up the company. The situation isn't looking great in Brazil, either.
Facebook has decided to compete with YouTube for video-advertising dollars, and Facebook may win. Facebook is working on bringing YouTube-like video to its News Feed. It's also rolling out video ads. Many in the industry believe that Facebook is in a better position than YouTube to eat into the advertising dollars that are leaving TV. Anmuth writes, "Facebook appears better positioned to capture new dollars coming online given its 21% share of mobile time spent, strong leverage to news feed ads, and nascent opportunities in video and Instagram."
The prominent venture capitalist we spoke last week to says that he doesn't expect Google CEO Larry Page to sit back and allow Google's stock price to flounder much longer.
This VC said that Page knows that the health of the stock is directly correlated with retention and that it has become far to easy for people like him to poach Googlers.
This source said that he expects Google to get revenues accelerating again by taking more advantage of its massive footprint in mobile, where it owns the world's largest computing operating system, Android.
Specifically, this VC predicted that Google would soon begin charging manufacturers more for using Android and developers more (or, as much as Apple) for selling apps through the Google app store.
Nicholas Carlson is the author of a new book called <a href="http://t.co/jaCUOVqzeX">"Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo!"</a>

Ex-Googler: 'Tons Of Engineers' Want To Leave Google

<div class="image-container float_right click-to-enlarge" style="width:362px"><div class="image"><a title_source="" title_caption="Google's Larry Page" class="zoomin" href="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/51004ab66bb3f7530100000e-960/larry-page-20.jpg"></a></div><keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword>'s Larry Page</div>Google CEO Larry Page thinks the imbalance between mobile <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword> and desktop advertising — mobile is currently a lot cheaper — won't last very long, and than ultimately mobile may overtake desktop as a revenue generator for Google.
He also suggested that Google may have made an error by encouraging businesses to build mobile optimized sites, because phones now are so sophisticated they may not need them.
For the last three quarters, investors have worried about <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-q3-earnings-ad-revenue-2013-1">the effect of mobile ads on Google's revenue</a>. Generally, ads on mobile platforms are cheaper than ads on desktop platforms, but the core of Google's business is still on desktop. That may not last much longer — more and more users are experiencing Google foremost on their phones.
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-admits-mobile-ads-are-causing-deceleration-in-revenue-growth-2012-11">Google admitted in December</a> that mobile phones are causing a "deceleration" in its desktop business. Only <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/googles-biggest-problem-explained-in-114-words-2013-1">73 percent of Google's clicks come from desktops</a>.
Page was asked about that issue again yesterday on his <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/1126031-google-s-ceo-discusses-q4-2012-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single">Q4 2012 earnings call</a>. He told Wall Street that he expected the imbalance to tip one way over the other, ultimately in mobile's favor, but that revenues would nonetheless go up:
Richard Kramer - Arete Research: Thanks very much. Larry, a couple of quick questions. First of all, just to polish up this Mobile and CPC [cost-per-click prices] question, how many years do you think it's going to take before CPCs on Mobile and Desktop are roughly equal trading off location and display size?
Larry Page - Chief Executive Officer, Director: … I am not going to make predictions about when they will be equal; I don't think they will be equal, I think probably one will always be bigger than the other, though, not clear which way but I don't think this is a long-term problem. I don't think this is a long time in coming, and I think as I have said before, there's a lot of advantages to mobile.
You already know location quite clearly, you can call somebody easily, you have a camera, you can hangout with the business, you can be notified instantly. There's just a lot of things about mobile that are amazing opportunities for advertisers and for businesses. So I expect that to revolutionize how people do marketing and we are working hard on that. I expect that that will work a lot better for users and for advertisers and businesses, and therefore more money. We will be able to generate a lot more money than we do now.
At another point, he said:
I think that CPCs will improve as these devices are improving as well.
On the call, chief business officer Nikesh Arora also said that the device platform on which Google appears is less relevant than it was because advertisers don't really care which medium their ads appear in as long as they reach users at the right time.
That wasn't the only time Page focused on mobile on the call. Earlier, he was asked about Google's progress in persuading web publishers to create mobile-optimized versions of their web sites that are easier for phones to read. <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/01/googles-gomo-launches-to-help-businesses-go-mobile/">Google has spent more than a year on that effort</a>, but Page indicated it may ultimately be a waste because phones are now as good as laptops at handling web sites:
Page: I think that in some sense, some of you may consider mobile an extension over the desktop usage too. I mean, we have built a lot of great products that people use for the desktops like Maps which was transferred very well. And I think that one thing I was amazed by Chrome on my Android phone, Chrome is just an amazing experience. So, using my Nexus phone or other more smartphones from the latest generation, those phones are almost like using a desktop of last year or something like that.
... I'll just add on the mobile question. We don’t necessarily want them to have mobile sites some are too simple and I find I get kind of frustrated on my phone sometimes when I have these mobile specific sites because I am using a modern Nexus 4 that can actually view up the full site and I just find it confusing.
If he's right, it suggests that ultimately the mobile v. desktop CPC issue will disappear in favor of the aggregate issue of supply and demand. If Google serves more impressions across all devices, the increase in inventory supply will continue to drive down CPC prices but drive up paid clicks.
Judging by Google's own numbers — <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-q3-earnings-ad-revenue-2013-1">that's exactly what's happening now</a>.

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