Mukesh Ambai Eyes Education

Potential of the Indian education segment -

According to an IDFC-SSKI report, Indians spend $50 billion annually on private education. The four segments of the education market — plus two, higher, vocational and supplemental — present a $80-billion opportunity by 2012. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16%, says a CLSA Pacific study.

Now Mukesh Ambani is planning a private university in line with Ivy league institutions, says this ET headline article.

Good to see the larger groups getting interested in the education space.

No Such Thing Like Early Influencers?

Turns out then that The Tipping Point theory doesn't quite tip a lot of things.

Duncan Watts at Yahoo! Research has this to say -

A rare bunch of cool people just don't have that power. And when you test the way marketers say the world works, it falls apart. There's no there there.

Oh what then about a lot of poor souls who bet heavily on things to succeed hoping things will go viral, or that they are through by winning over the influencers? Interesting, because most things which became hugely popular, at least over the internet, owe their success to the viral power. More in this FastCompany article.

An Economy Builds Around Britney

And you thought Britney's days were over? Huh.

"Britney is the most bankable celebrity out there right now, and she has been for the past year," said Francois Navarre, founder of the paparazzi agency X17.

"An editor's dream is to have a real life soap opera unraveling in front of you, and Britney provides that every week," said Sarah Ivens, OK!'s US editor. The magazine has a 10-person team in Los Angeles devoted to Spears coverage. "We're on constant Britney alert." She wouldn't disclose the costs to the magazine, saying only that Spears has been "amazing" for OK!'s business.

More here.

Here's Britney driving the economy around her.



PS. A bonus. Britney's marriage licence here. Interesting that one of the fields is Number Of Marriage.