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Hello there,
Narratives are incredibly important: They can make or break perceptions of things, places, and people.
The first time this really became evident to me was when I watched Catch Me If You Can, the Steven Spielberg-directed film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks that was adapted from Frank Abagnale’s semi-autobiographical novel.
In the film, a young Abagnale poses as a pilot, a doctor, and an attorney, among other occupations, while cashing bad checks. He ends up working for the FBI – the same agency that was trying to track him down for years.
Although the film took some creative liberties, it was very close to the story Abagnale had originally detailed in his book. So imagine my surprise when I found out that the veracity of the factual details in the book was called into question after multiple journalists conducted their due diligence.
Anyway, this proved to me that if you have a good story, you can gain people’s trust and be perceived as credible.
In this week’s Big Story, my colleague Scott zeroes in on Sram & Mram, a UK-based business group that announced plans last year to invest billions of dollars in various sectors, according to reputable media outlets.
However, a December 2022 investigation conducted by Tech in Asia raised questions about Sram & Mram’s ability to fund these investments. More recently, Scott talked to the company’s chairman, Sailesh Lachu Hiranandani, who has seemingly backtracked on earlier reports on its financing activities.
Sram & Mram, which claims to have US$800 million in “turnover,” was also found to be involved in at least two fraud lawsuits in the US. More on this in the article.
Our second Big Story is Lokesh’s profile of Hepmil Media Group, a Singapore-based social media firm. The once profitable firm is primarily engaged in creating social media content and operates a vast content creator network. Riding on the popularity of TikTok and Instagram Reels, Hempil saw its revenue double in 2022 and is targeting 40% growth this year.
Speaking of popularity, Twitter’s favorite billionaire techie has just launched his OpenAI rival firm. In this week’s AI Odyssey, I look into Elon Musk’s xAI, which aims to create “artificial general intelligence.” And in Token Issue, Deepti talks about the legal battle between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
By the way, the team behind On the Rise will be taking a short break next week. But fret not, we’ll be back in your inbox on August 1.
— Shadine
THE BIG STORY
1️⃣The convicted fraudster backing 5ire, ‘India’s 105th unicorn’
AI ODYSSEY
TOKEN ISSUE
FYI
NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
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