Your Tech Story

Sandhya Gupta

I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.

17.3-inch foldable OLED

Asus launches the world’s first 17.3-inch foldable OLED Computer

ASUS Middle East has unveiled the world’s first 17.3-inch foldable OLED laptop, the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED (UX9702).

17.3-inch foldable OLED
Image Source: gadgets360.com

Zenbook 17 offers a 17.3-inch foldable OLED touchscreen and the latest Intel Core processor. Asus claims that the device can be folded down to be “smaller than a sheet of photocopier paper” and can switch between full desktop, laptop, tablet, and reader modes without any noticeable lag.

With a full-size ErgoSense Bluetooth keyboard and touchpad, the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED significantly expands its usability and can be used in a variety of modes, including Desktop mode, Laptop mode (with Bluetooth keyboard), Laptop mode (with virtual keyboard), Tablet mode, Reader mode, and Extended mode. The user-friendly window management tools in each mode enable different split-display configurations and adaptable app layouts for increased productivity.

The device is equipped with an Intel Core i7 1250U processor and integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics. Additionally, the device has Intel Evo certifications. The laptop has 1TB PCIe SSD storage and 16GB RAM. The device comes with a 17.3-inch 2.5K display that can be folded in the middle to form two seamless 3:2 12.5-inch 1920×1280 displays.

When folded, the laptop has a 12.5-inch size, which is considerably smaller and more portable than conventional 13-inch devices. The display is 100% DCI-P3 gamut, Dolby Vision approved, PANTONE verified for color accuracy, and TÜV Rheinland certified for eliminating harmful blue light. It also has TÜV Rheinland certification for color accuracy.

The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED has a number of intelligent AI-powered features, such as an HD IR camera for user presence detection, an integrated color sensor for automatic screen brightness and color temperature adjustment, and a 5 MP AI web camera with ASUS 3D Noise Reduction (3DNR) for clearer video calls.

The extremely tough MIL-STD-810H US military benchmark for dependability and durability has been tested on the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED. The device has a 180-degree hinge that can survive up to 30,000 cycles of opening and closing. A tool called Asus ScreenXpert 3 has also been developed by Asus to assist customers in organizing their windows more effectively.

The device has a robust 75-watt-hour battery with USB-C Easy Charge, making it quick to charge with most USB-C chargers, power banks, or any other certified charger. Zenbook 17 Fold OLED comes along with the new ErgoSense Bluetooth keyboard and touchpad. The keyboard offers a ffull-size key pitch of 19.05 mm and a lengthy key travel of 1.4 mm.

The keyboard comes with a sizable ErgoSense touchpad with a new, silky-smooth surface for simple navigation that is coated with a long-lasting anti-fingerprint finish. It has four Harman Kardon speakers and Dolby Atmos audio support. Additionally, it has a 5MP AI-powered web camera that can alter brightness and color temperature as well as unlock and lock your device as you walk away from or toward it.

Zenbook 17 Fold OLED will cost Rs 3,29,990 and is available for pre-orders in India. The Zenbook 17 Fold OLED is available for pre-order in India from October 14 to November 9 on the company’s online store. The device will be launched on November 10 in India.

Roman Abramovich

Roman Abramovich Success Story: From Poor Orphan to Billionaire

Roman Abramovich is a Russian politician and oligarch. He is the main shareholder of the private investment firm Millhouse LLC and the previous owner of Chelsea, a Premier League football team in London, England.

Roman Abramovich
Image Source: bloomberg.com

He holds citizenship in Russia, Israel, and Portugal. Forbes estimates that Abramovich’s net worth was $14.5 billion in 2021, making him the richest person in Portugal, the second-richest person in Israel, and the eleventh-richest person in Russia.

In the years that followed the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, Abramovich amassed wealth by purchasing state-owned Russian assets at rates much below market value under Russia’s contentious loans-for-shares privatization program.

Early Life

Roman Abramovich lost both his parents by the age of three and was raised by his relatives in Russia. While attending a technical college in Ukhta, he made his first foray into business by reselling worn tires and vehicle components out of his flat to supplement his income.

He continued his education at the Gubkin Institute of Oil and Gas in Moscow before starting his service in the army in 1974. While he was serving in the army, he realized that the military wasn’t the field for him. He used his business savvy to sell fuel to troops as a side business.

He was able to start saving money as a result, and his first company was the Comfort Co-op, which sold imported plastic toys. Roman Abramovich owned this children’s toy manufacturing company during the Perestroika era in Russia when economic liberalization permitted small enterprises. He used the profits from the toy company to open his first oil company in the Omsk region.

Success Story

He grew close to businessman Boris Berezovsky, and this helped Abramovich get opportunities. Abramovich was welcomed to significant meetups and dinners because Berezovsky had close ties to the former president, Boris Yeltsin. He started various diverse businesses after branching out, including pig farms, bodyguard hiring, sugar, lumber, and culinary goods.

Even in a nation where it wasn’t simple to become wealthy, he was able to establish a successful career as an entrepreneur. Abramovich had some difficult moments before being one of the world’s richest people, so it wasn’t all smooth sailing for him.

In particular, his Swiss-based trading company, Runicom, failed in 2003, and he allegedly had to repay a debt to the bank. Roman Abramovich was well on his way to becoming the first billionaire when the Soviet Union’s industrial assets were divided. He had acquired Sibneft, a sizable oil corporation, as a result of Russia’s contentious loans-for-shares program.

Sibneft was privatized by President Yeltsin, and Abramovich and Berezovsky were able to acquire the company for just $100 million, which was far less than its $600 million market value. This served as the basis for his enormous wealth, which he later realized after selling his Sibneft stake for over £1.8 billion.

By acquiring Chelsea Football Club in 2003, he enlarged his economic empire. He then launched a massive program of commercial development intending to turn Chelsea into a global brand, similar to the football empires like Real Madrid and Manchester United. The club has captured 18 major titles since he came over.

To continue assisting the people of Chukotka, he established a nonprofit organization called the Pole of Hope. In 2019, he personally gave $5 million to the Jewish Agency for Israel to fight anti-Semitism around the world.

Masayoshi Son

Success Story of Softbank Founder Masayoshi Son

Masayoshi Son is a Korean-Japanese technology billionaire, financier, and investor. Masayoshi is the founder, chairman, and CEO of the Japanese holding corporation SoftBank, the Chairman of Arm Holdings, and the CEO of SoftBank Mobile.

Masayoshi Son
Image Source: japantimes.co.jp

Son has the recognition of having suffered the worst financial loss in history (about $70 billion during the dot-com crash of 2000), but as of September 2022, he is ranked 73rd on Forbes’ ranking of The World’s Billionaires 2022.

Early Life

Masayoshi Son was born into a second-generation Zainichi Korean family in Japan.

He was intelligent and inquisitive from an early age and was intrigued by America. He visited the US at the age of 16 years old for a short study abroad program. He subsequently decided to stop going to school in Japan and spend more time in the US. He made the decision to enroll at Holy Names University after high school.

He switched to the University of California after two years and studied computer science and economics there. During this time, he realized that microchips could help him become extremely wealthy and that computer technology will soon alter the business world. He decided to come up with a minimum of one business concept each day to maintain this spirit.

He had over 250 ideas toward the year-end, some of which would later result in enormous riches. In the year 1980, he earned a BA in economics.

Success Story

After earning his degree in 1980, he founded Unison in Oakland, California, which Kyocera eventually acquired. Despite his triumphs, Son left the USA. He established Softbank in Japan in 1981 with two part-time employees and a modest office. During that time, Softbank distributed software packages to Japanese customers.

Within one year, Softbank had already begun to diversify. In 1982, the company launched two monthly magazines concerning software and PCs. By the late 1980s, Softbank had developed an incredibly well-liked system that allowed customers all throughout Japan to select phone operators that offered the most affordable rates for local and long-distance calls.

But it was Softbank’s investment in Yahoo that gave it public attention. Yahoo’s largest shareholder, Softbank, established Yahoo Japan as its Japanese affiliate.

Between 1995-1998, Son staked $374 million on Yahoo, and at its height, his investment had generated a 50-fold profit. Son had made investments in several tech firms by the late 1990s, like Kozmo.com, SportsBrain, and More.com.

The dot-com crash

Son was particularly hard-hit by the dot-com crash in 2000. 99% of the value of Softbank’s shares was lost, according to experts, making it the largest single-person wealth loss in history. Although it was a devastating blow, Son was unflappable. He made an effort to restore his empire by starting a new company that offered broadband services in Japan.

Before being able to acquire Vodafone Japan in 2006 for almost $15 billion, SoftBank tried for years to break into the burgeoning mobile industry. At the time of its takeover, Vodafone Japan was right on the edge of bankruptcy, but Son nevertheless managed to position himself as a strong player in the Japanese phone industry.

Today, his company SoftBank Mobile is the most successful telecom company in Japan. In 2013, he acquired Sprint Nextel, an American telecoms holding company, for $22 billion in 2013. Sprint is currently the fourth-largest provider of wireless networks in the USA.

He also took another action during the 2000 dot-com crash that shaped his career for the following ten years. He invested over $30 million in Alibaba, a relatively unknown Chinese company at that time.

Alibaba has since grown to be among the most valuable businesses worldwide, and Softbank’s ownership has now reached an astounding $130 billion, representing a 2240x profit on his initial investment.

With the profits from Alibaba in hand, Softbank is now stepping up its attempts to invest in companies all around the world. It has started a $100 billion Vision Fund to guide the direction of global technological advancement.

Masayoshi Son is one of the most active investors and, through his company SoftBank, has the largest investments in firms like Yahoo! and Alibaba.

Mark Cuban

Success Story of Mark Cuban: From Paper Boy to Billionaire Shark

Mark Cuban Is an American media mogul, television personality, and billionaire entrepreneur whose net worth is estimated to be $4.8 billion. He is the co-owner of 2929 Entertainment and the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, a professional basketball franchise in the NBA. Additionally, he is a significant “shark” investor on the reality program Shark Tank in the USA.

Mark Cuban
Image Source: entrepreneur.com

Early Life

When one comes across the name Mark Cuban, one immediately envisions success and large sums of money. But the Dallas Mavericks owner’s life wasn’t always simple. Mark was brought up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and hails from a working family that wasn’t always optimistic about this budding businessman.

His mother, worried about his future even at an early age, suggested he should learn to install carpets. Cuban has long since proven his mother incorrect. However, his hustler mentality has remained constant over the years.

Failure and Success

Each of Mark Cuban’s failures taught him several valuable lessons. Cuban got the chance to make an investment in Uber in its early stages. However, he failed as a result of his investment in Red Swoosh, an earlier venture by Uber founder Travis Kalanick. When he was 22, Cuban returned to his home city and accepted a position at Mellon Bank.

But he left even this, he said in a column for Forbes in 2013, since he didn’t like the CEO. Then Cuban relocated to Texas and made an unsuccessful attempt to launch a company selling powdered milk. After that, Cuban was hired as a salesperson by the tech firm Your Business Software, however, he was fired for concluding a contract without the CEO’s consent.

Nevertheless, losing his job inspired him to found MicroSolutions, a company that sells computer systems. He had numerous challenges and setbacks. He shared a three-bedroom apartment with six other men, all of whom slept on the floor. But these difficulties simply made him more resilient and determined.

He was incredibly devoted and reliable. His tenacity helped him achieve great success. In 1995, the concept of streaming was still somewhat undeveloped, and many questioned its viability. Critics and critics claimed that it was unnecessary because television and radio were already available. But Cuban believed that eventually, streaming platforms would supplant traditional media outlets.

After the business expanded and was bought by Yahoo for over $5.7 billion in 1999, Cuban experienced his first significant business success. At the age of 41, Mark Cuban became a self-made billionaire, which was a turning point in his life. He became among the wealthiest persons in America as a result of it.

Cuban was able to begin investing in other companies and broaden his portfolio by using the leverage provided by the significant deal with Yahoo. He began acquiring businesses, including HDNet, the Landmark chain of movie theatres, and various online newspapers.

NBA Investment and Shark Tank Fame

The Dallas Mavericks, however, proved to be his most lucrative business venture to date. He paid $285 million for the franchise in 2000, just as it was about to declare bankruptcy.

This was the highest sum ever paid for a sports franchise considering it was a team with a dubious image. Cuban, though, was able to immediately change that. The squad hasn’t had a losing record since joining (until this season), and in 2011 they even won the NBA Championship.

Since then, he has changed the team’s fortunes and elevated it to NBA elite status. Mark Cuban’s net worth has increased as a result and is now thought to be $4.5 billion. Mark claims that he never considered the Mavericks to be an investment and that his financial success came as a natural result of pursuing his hobbies and ambitions.

In 2011, he then appeared on the TV program Shark Tank, which catapulted him to fame. He emerged as one of the most prosperous investors in the program and has used Shark Tank to fund more than 85 businesses. Additionally, he has consistently been a fan favorite and still appears on the series every season.

Shashank ND

Shashank ND: The person who digitalized Indian Healthcare Industry

Shashank ND is in charge of setting the overall direction and vision for Practo while actively participating in the creation of the company’s ground-breaking products.  He co-founded Practo in 2008 with Abhinav Lal after realizing the urgent need to improve the healthcare sector and link patients with healthcare providers.

Shashank ND
Image Source: openthemagazine.com

Early Life

Shashank ND made a unique decision by pursuing business, coming from a background where the majority of individuals worked in government jobs. At the age of 27, while completing his final year of biotechnology, he founded his first company, Practo Technologies, to offer both patients and physicians straightforward healthcare solutions.

Shashank ND was inspired to start Practo in 2008 after his father was advised to have knee surgery and sought expert advice from a US physician. He didn’t give the doctor access to the medical records, though, because they weren’t computerized at the time. This incident inspired Shashank to take action that could aid in the digitization of medical records.

Success Story

In 2008, Shashank ND, and Abhinav Lal founded Practo. In the beginning, it was providing doctor’s software where medical professionals can simply schedule appointments and access patient health details. A B2B model was being used by Practo where Practo Ray, its initial product, was being used by the doctors to receive push notifications concerning their important tasks.

Through this application, doctors could easily schedule appointment times. The fact that Shashank ND has a background in computer science was advantageous when developing the software. However, since many doctors were rejecting the software, the reception was not as positive.

For the Practo creators, persuasion and product comprehension were difficult tasks. Finally, the software was put to use by physicians. Doctors began to appreciate the Practo founders after they had a better understanding of the software’s benefits.

About Practo

Through its cutting-edge solutions, Practo.com collaborates with medical professionals, practices, and hospitals. To communicate with patients, doctors set up profiles on Practo.com. The business’s online management tool, “Practo Ray,” aids doctors in the transfer and upkeep of their patient’s medical records as well as the management of their invoicing and appointments.

Over two lakh doctors, 10,000 hospitals, and 5,000 diagnostic centers located in 35 cities and four nations make up Practo’s outstanding roster of clients today. The online service has advanced quickly, raising the most money ($124 million) of any healthcare start-up to date.

Practo is so committed to advancing the healthcare industry that prominent entrepreneurs like Russian tycoon Yuri Milner have also made investments in the company. Practo’s revenues in FY 2015, when Shashank made his debut on Fortune India’s 40 Under 40 list, were 29.7 crore rupees.

Practo had over 1,000 doctors on board only for online consultation at the height of Covid. Practo also collaborates closely with about 300 surgeons, and the business plans to quickly increase that number to 1,000. By the end of 2022, the company’s goal is to expand to 75 cities in India. 

The hard effort and vision of Shashank ND are largely responsible for Practo’s success.

The Practo success story is the clearest illustration of how entrepreneurs should study their target market before developing a product. Thanks to Practo, one can now easily find doctors with just a few clicks. The founders of Practo invested a lot of work into developing the technology.

Francoise Bettencourt Meyers

Francoise Bettencourt Meyers: Richest Woman in the World

Francoise Bettencourt Meyers is a French entrepreneur, philanthropist, author, pianist, and wealthy heiress. According to Forbes, she is the richest woman in the world. She is Liliane Bettencourt’s sole child and the granddaughter of L’Oréal founder Eugène Schueller. L’Oréal has expanded into different cosmetics over the years.

Francoise Bettencourt Meyers
Image Source: robinage.com

Early Life

Liliane was the wealthiest woman in the world when she passed away at 94 years old. Upon her mother’s passing, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers received the immense L’Oréal fortune. Since Francoise was Liliane’s sole successor, according to French law, she was entitled to at least 50% of her mother’s wealth when she passed away.

In addition to her duties as L’Oréal’s CEO, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers has a distinguished academic career. She is a renowned writer and also a gifted musician. She conducted numerous studies on religions due to her erudition.

She released The Trumpets of Jericho in 2008, a remarkable work on Bible interpretation that attempted to combine Jewish and Catholic viewpoints. Critics took notice of this study, and it even won the Lauriers Verts prize in 2009. She is renowned for her charity work, particularly in the area of deafness research.

Success Story

It all began in 1904 when young chemist Eugène Schueller created his first hair colors under the brand name “Oréal.” Being a maestro of advertising, he swiftly achieved success and created new products aimed at improving the appearance of women.

In 1957, after his death, his daughter Liliane decided to surround herself with executives from outside the family, including Lindsay Owen Jones, Jean-Paul Agon, and François Dalle who were able to significantly grow the company. To avoid being the target of a takeover attempt or potential nationalization, L’Oréal decided to work with a foreign organization in 1974.

The group enters into an arrangement with Swiss Nestlé, transferring 30% of its capital in return for an interest in Nestlé. The two organizations profited together for many years through coordinating acquisitions. Liliane Bettencourt passed away in 2017 at the age of 94.

After 44 years of collaboration, the Bettencourt family left Nestlé, and the Swiss company sold the Bettencourt family a portion of its shares, reducing Nestlé’s ownership to 23% of L’Oréal’s capital. A third of the top cosmetics brand in the world is now under the authority of Françoise, the founder’s granddaughter, and the company’s largest shareholder.

Loreal is the biggest cosmetics company in the world and has expanded its operations in the industry, focusing on hair care, skin care products, sun protection, make-up, and perfume.

Controversy

Due to a lawsuit that her daughter Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers had brought against Francois-Marie Banier, an acquaintance of her mother’s, whom Francoise claimed had taken advantage of her mother, Liliane found herself at the center of a case and media frenzy in 2008. Banier adamantly refuted the accusations leveled against him.

The lawsuit claimed that throughout their acquaintance, Banier persuaded the heiress to give him gifts totaling $1.5 billion and to designate him as the only inheritor of her estate, except her ownership interest in L’Oréal.

Due to their disagreement over the case, Liliane and her daughter ceased communicating. After a legal battle for three years, Liliane’s fortune was transferred to her daughter’s care in 2011.

About Loreal

L’Oréal began as a hair-color company, but it quickly expanded into other maintenance and cosmetic goods. Currently, L’Oréal sells hundreds of different products under thousands of different brands in every area of the beauty industry, including hair color, permanents, hair style, skin and body care, cleansers, cosmetics, and fragrance.

Products from the company can be purchased through a wide range of distribution channels, including supermarkets, health/beauty shops, pharmacies, etc. Thousands of products, comprising dyes, makeup, skincare, cleansers, and perfumes, are currently produced by the corporation under more than 500 different brand names. L’Oréal has six R&D facilities across the world.