Like social media phenomenon Facebook, microblogging site Twitter, too, had a rock star listing but its trajectory post that is a totally different story. FB debuted with a market cap of a little over $100 billion in May 2012 before slip-sliding to $38 billion in early September 2012. Since then, it has only headed north, currently trading at a market cap of $333 billion. Twitter listed in November 2013 with a market cap of $23 billion and rocketed to $40 billion in January 2014. Now, it trades at $10 billion. While FB continues to be liked, investors and analysts continue to rant over Twitter’s lack of flight. 

Co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey is having a hard time figuring out how to grow Twitter’s user base and get existing users to access the platform more frequently. User growth and tweet frequency have both stalled at its San Francisco-headquartered nesting place. That is why extracting growth out of a ‘high-potential’ emerging market such as India is crucial. How Twitter is going about growing in India is this issue’s cover story. 

Creating a product or solution that addresses a pain point is the proposition on which the digital economy is based, but few have figured out how to make a profit doing that. Twitter has a commendable, differentiated social media platform but thus far, the money it makes in India is peanuts and there is a question mark over how it will make money in the future, even as its parent continues to struggle on this count. 

Among other stories, we have a feature on quick service restaurants (QSR). In a country with rising income levels and eat-out culture, the QSR business seems like a no-brainer. Yet, apart from international brands such as Domino’s, Pizza Hut, KFC and McDonald’s, which have successfully customised their offerings, we are yet to see a single local brand achieve significant scale. Indian QSRs have found both standardisation and execution tough. Yet, chains such as Faasos and Goli Vada Pav are confident of figuring out the success formula. To know more, click here.