MC Insider: Bureaucrat caught in red tape, AMFI snub, chip star, frosty founders and more

He is parachuting into sector after sector. And his next destination may well be semiconductors. "Big companies are always on the look out for the next big opportunity. We shouldn't be surprised if he jumps into the fray," said a person who is in a position to know about any such plans. While we are talking about semiconductors, the math may not work out very neatly for another honcho who is making a lot of noise about chips. Why, you ask? For things to fall into place, a lion's share of the chip subsidy has to be cornered by him. Such a largesse may not be very easy to pocket, given his track record and the political season that prevails.

We have told you this earlier on MC Insider and we are telling you this again – block deals are clearly the flavour of the season. Buzz on D-street is that the latest one in the works may involve the holding company of a group which is evaluating options to shed some stake in another entity belonging to the same franchise. Any guesses?

When it comes to business, some rivals are friends while many don't even see eye to eye. That is the case with these two founder CEOs who are two of the largest players of their space. While one has the highest market share in their core offering, the other is two steps behind. The rivalry has often translated to instances of fights on ground among their employees as well. But one would think when they meet, they may share some cordial hellos. At a recent mega event for their sector, both these CEOs were set to speak in back-to-back sessions. While one got off the stage, the other was already waiting for his session. Despite being in the same space of over 10 minutes, neither of them approached the other to exchange pleasantries.

It’s no secret that cryptocurrency and related start-ups are in a mess in India; crippled by taxes, investigations and regulatory haze. One such large crypto exchange which was hit by crashing volumes and liquidity crunch has not been able to pay an ad agency it had on boarded some time ago. A senior executive of the agency said depending on the risk return of the company they would either charge an advance or usually charge project basis. Months have passed but the crypto exchange hasn’t worked on any project with the signed ad agency. A major PR firm too recently backed out from pitching for the contract of the same exchange, when the crypto start-up started looking for a new PR agency.

In a rare and unusual instance, a top government official seems to have been at the receiving end of the sarkari red tape! This top IAS officer was scheduled to visit one of the investment friendly countries in Europe and his juniors had burnt the midnight oil preparing background material and the talking points. Any top official’s foreign visit needs clearance from the PMO and usually it’s a routine process where approvals are given speedily. But in this case the PMO approval came rather close to the program date. Alas, the official couldn’t attend the meeting in person and had to attend the event virtually. The saga didn’t stop here as the livid IAS official held a long meeting with his/her juniors to find out why the file didn’t get approved on time. Ouch!

Mutual Fund CEOs have spent a busy few days wondering what's on the regulator's mind. Industry insiders tell us that SEBI representatives gave a miss to the AMFI AGM last week despite confirming their participation previously. No explanations have been given & no excuses made for the non-appearance we hear.

Recently, at an ad shoot, a senior creative director of an independent advertising network was taken aback when a producer openly asked him about his 'personal fee’. This senior creative director politely refused to indulge in any such activities. However, he was curious to know why the producer made him an offer right under the nose of the client. These days, it seems, kickbacks are locked in when the ad hits the production floor. In some cases, with the involvement of the client. It gives creative folks ample time to figure out the various hidden elements in the budget that can be diverted into their personal accounts. Our ad moles also hint that some creative directors come back to production houses after the campaign is on air just to see if there is leftover money that can be transferred into their savings accounts. After all, a penny saved is a penny earned.

These days a celebrated creative agency of a network is only pitching for accounts that can help them up their award game. The chief of this agency is micromanaging all the work that’s going out to the clients. There are brainstorming sessions scheduled to see if they can pitch potential award-winning ideas to their existing accounts too. This year the agency was low-key in the awards circuit but looks like they want to redeem their lost points in the coming few months.