Articles

Founder Profile

June 2026

Beyond Beauty: How Anisha Saraf founded Dot & Key by connecting the missing dots

Anisha Saraf didn't set out to disrupt the beauty industry, she simply noticed what was missing from it. In this issue's cover interview, the co-founder of Dot & Key talks about building a brand from scratch in an industry with no rulebook, why great products matter more than big budgets, and what sustainable entrepreneurship actually looks like in practice.

Anusha Nahata · 8 min read

Business Feature

June 2026

The Bumble Effect: How Whitney Wolfe Herd Turned a Women-First Vision into a Billion-Dollar Business

Whitney Wolfe Herd left Tinder after a harassment lawsuit and founded Bumble in 2014 with one rule: women message first. That single design choice solved a core platform economics problem — high female churn — and turned it into a competitive advantage through better retention, network effects, and brand differentiation. Bumble expanded into friendship and professional networking, went public in 2021 at a $13 billion valuation, and made Wolfe Herd the youngest woman to lead a U.S. IPO. The article uses this to expose a broader market failure: female founders receive less than 3% of VC funding despite outperforming male-led peers on returns. Post-IPO decline, a leadership transition, and Wolfe Herd's 2025 return round out the story. The core argument: diversity in entrepreneurship isn't about fairness, it's about who actually understands underserved markets.

Leticia Sathler Kelen · 14 min read

Opinion & Editorial

June 2026

Labour of Liberation: The Political Economy of Girlboss Feminism

Neither a celebration nor a condemnation of female ambition, this article is an inquiry into the economic and ideological conditions that shaped its contemporary expression. By examining the rise and decline of the girlboss archetype, it argues that the language of empowerment became most culturally dominant precisely when it became least threatening to existing structures of power.

Yani Tyagi · 15 min read

Feature Analysis

June 2026

The Billion-Dollar Cost of Ignoring Women: Why the most expensive mistake in business history keeps happening — and who is finally fixing it.

For most of modern business history, industries were built by men, for a market that was predominantly women. This article argues that the result was not just unfair, it was one of the most expensive miscalculations in the history of capitalism. From healthcare to finance to fashion, the pattern is the same: ignore women long enough, and someone who actually understands the problem will build a billion-dollar company fixing it.

Kushal Nahata · 12 min read

Case Study

June 2026

Beyond the Risk: How Women Are Redefining Risk in Business

Risk has always been a driving force in business, but modern leadership shows that success comes not only from bold decisions but also from strategic thinking, adaptability, and managing uncertainty effectively. This article explores how Gwynne Shotwell has redefined risk-taking in business by helping transform SpaceX into a successful commercial space company, demonstrating that impactful leadership is often built on patience, vision, and the ability to turn ambitious ideas into reality.

Kashvi Khemka · 9 min read

Analysis Article

July 2026

Luxury & the Institutionalisation of Status Signalling

Why do people buy luxury goods? This article argues their primary function is to signal wealth, status, and social identity rather than deliver practical value — drawing on economics, sociology, psychology, and neuroscience to show that luxury purchases are driven by social comparison, the desire for recognition, and emotional insecurity, and that the satisfaction they produce is structurally temporary.

Yani Tyagi · 14 min read

Analytical Feature

July 2026

The Price We Think We See: A Deeper Look into Price Perception & the Psychology behind it

Every price is a story your brain tells itself, not just a number on a tag. Our perception of value is shaped by psychological biases such as the left-digit effect, anchoring, the decoy effect, and the price-quality heuristic, causing us to judge prices emotionally rather than rationally. Today, algorithms have amplified these biases by personalizing prices around urgency, convenience, and perception, making pricing more psychological than ever before.

Kushal Nahata · 12 min read

Behavioural Economics

July 2026

Why We Buy Things We Don't Need

You did not need another pair of shoes. You knew that. You bought them anyway. This article explores the behavioural economics behind unnecessary purchases, from the neuroscience of anticipation to the emotional regulation, social signalling and digital design that turn browsing into buying.

Leticia Sathler Kelen · 10 min read

Behavioural Economics

July 2026

It’s Not How Much You Spend but How

You get the acceptance letter, the raise, the good news you’ve been waiting for. For a day, everything feels different. Then it doesn’t. What happened? This article explores why happiness plateaus even as income rises, from the way material goods invite comparison, to how time-poverty undermines well-being, and why generosity outperforms self-spending.

Cheng-Hsi Lu · 11 min read

Business Analytics

July 2026

Consumer Data Analytics: How do Businesses Use Consumer Data to Make Strategic Decisions and Improve Consumer Experience?

This article examines how businesses use consumer data analytics to improve decision-making and enhance customer experience. It explains the differences between transactional and behavioural data, showing how information from purchases, browsing habits, and online interactions helps companies profile customers and predict future behaviour. The article discusses analytical tools such as RFM analysis, customer churn, purchasing propensity, and customer lifetime value (CLV), before exploring their applications in resource allocation, demand forecasting, inventory management, and personalised recommendations. It concludes that effective use of consumer data enables businesses to increase customer retention, improve operational efficiency, and achieve long-term profitability.

Paing Soe Thar · 14 min read

Argumentative Essay

July 2026

Cashless, but at What Cost?

This article argues against a fully cashless society, claiming that while digital payments offer convenience and efficiency, they also threaten privacy, freedom, and economic inclusion. Drawing on John Locke, John Rawls, George Orwell and Michel Foucault, it argues that cashless systems enable financial surveillance and give governments and corporations unprecedented control over citizens' lives, while excluding the unbanked, the elderly and refugees and creating dependence on fragile digital infrastructure. It concludes that societies should preserve physical cash alongside digital payments to protect individual liberty and resilience.

Anusha Nahata · 13 min read

Behavioural Economics

July 2026

Mental Accounting: Why We Treat Money Differently

This article explores mental accounting, the tendency to treat money differently depending on where it comes from or what we have mentally assigned it to. Using examples such as bonuses, savings, debt, windfalls, and digital payments, it explains how these mental categories influence spending and financial decisions. The article shows that mental accounting can work both ways: it can encourage saving through labelled funds, but can also lead to unnecessary spending when people view unexpected money as "extra." Ultimately, the article argues that the value of money does not change—only the story we attach to it does.

Kashvi Khemka · 8 min read

Argumentative Essay

July 2026

When Money Is No Longer Truly Yours

The article argues that a completely cashless society could threaten financial freedom and personal privacy. It uses examples such as Canada's 2022 Freedom Convoy protests and India's 2016 demonetisation to show how access to money can be restricted when it exists entirely in digital systems. The article also discusses risks such as cybercrime, systemic failures, government surveillance and unequal access to technology. While acknowledging the benefits of cashless payments—such as efficiency, transparency and reduced crime—it argues that convenience should not come at the cost of individual freedom. It concludes that the safest approach is a "cash-optional" rather than completely cashless society.

Aanya Nahata · 11 min read

Analytical Article

August 2026

The Economics of Convenience: How Food-Delivery Platforms Turn Time into a Business

Food-delivery platforms initially used discounts and free delivery to attract customers and build a market around convenience. As costs and competition increased, platforms shifted their focus toward profitability. Customers now face higher fees, restaurants pay commissions, and delivery workers deal with uncertain earnings and expenses. The article argues that the industry's future depends on improving efficiency, using new revenue sources such as advertising and subscriptions, and balancing the interests of all three groups.

Kshirja Bansal · 12 min read

Research Article

October 2026

Financing the Flow: What Role Does Land Value Capture (LVC) Play in the Financing of Transportation Infrastructure?

This article examines how Land Value Capture (LVC) can help finance the growing costs of public transportation infrastructure. It explains the difference between funding and financing and explores mechanisms such as Tax Increment Financing, betterment levies, connection fees, and developer contributions. The article focuses on Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation and its Rail + Property (R+P) model as a key case study. It shows how increases in surrounding property values generated by transport infrastructure can be captured to support railway development and operations. Finally, it discusses why Hong Kong is particularly suited to this model and whether similar approaches could be applied in other cities.

Paing Soe Thar · 17 min read

Research Article

October 2026

The Mimesis of Desire: The Cultural Production of Demand

The article explores how film and television can create consumer demand through narrative rather than traditional advertising. It argues that products, clothing, locations, and lifestyles shown in fictional narratives can shape preferences before consumers consciously recognise those preferences. The article examines concepts such as mimetic desire, persuasion knowledge, parasocial aspiration, and implicit endorsement to explain why fictional choices can influence consumption. It also discusses how trends created by screen exposure can generate sudden but short-lived demand and how industries have adapted to this phenomenon. Ultimately, the article argues that entertainment media does not merely reflect existing consumer preferences but can actively participate in the creation of new markets and desires.

Yani Tyagi · 12 min read

Research Article

October 2026

Why Does Money Feel Different When It’s on a Card?: The Economics of Cashless Spending

This article examines why consumers often experience less psychological discomfort when spending money through cards, contactless payments, and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services compared with cash. Drawing on behavioral economics and the concept of the “pain of paying,” it explains how modern payment systems reduce the psychological friction associated with spending. The article explores how this benefits payment networks, BNPL providers, and retailers by potentially encouraging higher spending and transaction frequency. It concludes by arguing that cashless payments are not inherently harmful, but that consumers should recognise how payment design can influence their spending behaviour.

Leticia Sathler Kelen · 4 min read

Feature Article

October 2026

The Economics of Speed: How Motorsport Turned Global Attention into a Business

The Economics of Speed examines how Formula 1 transformed from a traditional motorsport into a global entertainment and business empire. The article argues that the sport's most valuable product is not the racing itself, but the global attention generated by the racing. It traces Formula 1's evolution from Bernie Ecclestone's traditional “toll-booth” model, based on broadcasting rights and circuit hosting fees, to Liberty Media's modern “attention engine,” which actively creates audiences through streaming, social media, Netflix, celebrity culture and expansion into new markets. The article explores how this model has increased Formula 1's revenues, team valuations and sponsorship opportunities, while simultaneously creating pressure on teams, race promoters and fans. It also examines the United States as Formula 1's key “density” market and uses India's unsuccessful Grand Prix as a case study of the gap between having a large audience and being able to monetise that audience. Ultimately, the article questions whether Formula 1 can continue growing at its current pace. Its central argument is that attention alone has little economic value unless it can be efficiently converted into revenue.

Kushal Nahata · 9 min read