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Happy 13th (BLR) Birthday, @livemint ! Some lockdown + Diwali cleaning in my basement threw up a soggy, mouldy but readable copy of the first day, first issue! A thread celebrating an unlikely hero – a business newspaper. Read on for fragments of a reader’s reflections…
1/16
1/16
Back in early 2007, when I was regularly traveling to BOM and DEL, I came across a fascinating business daily that was slightly larger than a tabloid size but smaller than a regular broadsheet – I learnt that’s what they call a Berliner.
2/16
2/16
The first issue I picked up was a weekend read, curiously colored a distinctive orange & called @Mint_Lounge – I was hooked. I loved the newspaper so much that I’d book my hotel stays based on the availability of Mint. The content was tight, contemporary & thoughtful.
3/16
3/16
On Nov 12th, 2007 @livemint finally arrived in BLR! I didn’t have to check into the Taj or Oberoi to read it ;) @raju, the founding editor (great to see him now @McKinsey, my alma mater), & @CafeEconomics wrote excellent perspectives on the philosophy of Mint. I was sold.
4/16
4/16
Niranjan’s piece in particular, was prescient in discussing free people, free economies and free societies. It is definitely worth reading today. It is also consistent with his edit https://l.floh.in/fire 10 years later when relaunching Mint.
5/16
5/16
As a side note, there seemed to be a slight contradiction in their messages – see images. But truly, I think one of Mint’s secrets is that they don’t try to be everything to everyone. The longest serving editor, @HT_Ed made sure of that.
6/16
6/16
@Mint_Lounge has always been my favorite section.The regulars in the early years included @Aakar__Patel, @samar11, @Sidin, @ShobaNarayan, @natashabadhwar Gouri Dange, @aninditaghose @rohitdbrijnath. Many more followed in the years to come.
7/16
7/16
All this, of course, was under the watchful eye of the founding editor of Lounge, the inimitable and inspiring Priya Ramani. A memorable moment was when the Lounge team kept the space for Priya’s column blank, at the time #MeToo 
had reached fever pitch. True class. 
8/16
had reached fever pitch. True class. 8/16
The stories had such a great impact on me that I personally met the folks who wrote them. For world-class business storytelling, there's no one better than @akm1410. His breaking story on The Real Ritesh Agarwal is etched in readers’ minds. https://l.floh.in/Oyo
9/16
9/16
His tremendous interview with @mash57 of Printo is one-of-a-kind at many levels. It was a 30 minute read. In a newspaper! https://l.floh.in/Printo
The deep dive into the net neutrality debate was equally riveting https://l.floh.in/Net
10/16
The deep dive into the net neutrality debate was equally riveting https://l.floh.in/Net
10/16
At the turn of the decade, as I became an entrepreneur myself, and I found the articles very relatable. Being a founder is a lonely journey, and meeting with the BLR folks like @Shrabonti @pankajontech @ASenjourno @somakghoshal at Koshy’s, discussing everything from...
11/16
11/16
...India’s version of the PayPal Mafia, to how we were on track to becoming a unicorn, kept my dream alive. Thank you, guys. Thankfully Mint's startup stories were not anchored in fundraising or valuation. @MihirDTweets's deep dives were (and are) extremely thoughtful.
12/16
12/16
Across sectors, the quality was consistently high: @suneeratweets coverage of retail, @dugalira on BFSI, @SapnaAgarwal1 on consumer, @monikahalan (the perplexing defense of DeMo notwithstanding) & @kayezad on personal finance, @sallu_sh on internet…the list goes on...
13/16
13/16
13 years later, Mint remains a favorite. They’ve kept true to their promise by getting experts like @matthan @RahulJJacob, Hema Ravichandar, Narayan Ramchandran @LloydMathias Girish Shahane @pai_sid to discuss topics at the intersection of tech, law, society and economics.
14/16
14/16
@Mint_Lounge continues to enthrall – the old guard @sanjoynarayan @samar11 @rohitdbrijnath continue to weave magic with words. @chasingiamb keeps the paper young & vibrant. A great balance. Shoutout to Shail Desai for pieces on my twin passions – mountaineering & marathons
15/16
15/16
Love your writing, all of you! In these unreal times, @livemint is the voice of reason, backed with a strong Code of Journalistic Conduct. Here's to keeping this flag flying for years to come.
16/16
16/16
In my desire to push this thread before midnight, I've been remiss is acknowledging some of my fav folks - so sorry! But here they are @aninditaghose wrote the first of many cover stories of @FlohNetwork . She was instrumental in getting me to leverage the power of data...
& insights, to weave a credible narrative for readers. She gave @FlohNetwork the best possible farewell this June in her Editorial - https://l.floh.in/aurevoir Thank you.
Special thanks to Anirudh for the amazing photography over the years -you've given us memories for a lifetime.
Special thanks to Anirudh for the amazing photography over the years -you've given us memories for a lifetime.
