Ritvvij Parrikh VOICES
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The structural paradox of Jekyll and Hyde
January 1, 2026, 10:52 PM IST
My Nieman Labs piece (“Google Will Look Beyond Volume Journalism”) sparked a vital debate. Much of the feedback focused on the perceived tension between editorial “soul” and engineering “efficiency.” In this post, I want to…
January 1, 2026, 10:52 PM IST
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Maximize OpenAI et al. licensing fees while growing O&O audience
December 22, 2025, 11:25 PM IST
Since the 2000s, Google Search—and later YouTube and Discover—served as the primary discovery and monetization engines for digital publishing. This relationship was symbiotic, if lopsided. Two decades later, the advent of Large Language Models (LLMs)…
December 22, 2025, 11:25 PM IST
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Google will look beyond volume journalism
December 18, 2025, 6:41 PM IST
The Google ecosystem’s supply-demand dynamics are shifting faster than newsrooms can adapt. What was For a decade, Google rewarded volume. Newsrooms chased a few trends, often drifting off-brand for traffic. The strategy: publish many “good…
December 18, 2025, 6:41 PM IST
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Content that wins off-platform won’t drive on-platform retention
November 30, 2025, 4:00 PM IST
In this blog, I argue that business ambition should explicitly drive both product innovation and editorial supply. One without the other makes the end-user experience incomplete—and makes achieving the desired business outcomes almost impossible. This…
November 30, 2025, 4:00 PM IST
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What if… Nassim Taleb built news product
November 20, 2025, 12:37 AM IST
In the previous post, I summarized Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s criticism of the news. In this blog, I imagine what it would take to address his legit concerns. If Taleb built a news product, he would…
November 20, 2025, 12:37 AM IST
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Why Nassim Taleb says you shouldn’t read the news
November 11, 2025, 4:14 PM IST
One of my favorite authors, the scholar and former trader Nassim Nicholas Taleb, argues that you should not read the news. In fact, he calls news a hazard. This summary outlines his reasoning as expressed…
November 11, 2025, 4:14 PM IST
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Dhandho Maxing Restaurants with Aakarshan Harlalka – Flywheels
October 31, 2025, 10:10 PM IST
Every spike in orders triggers a reaction somewhere else — in operations/Kitchens,finance, delivery logistics, or algorithmic ranking. In part 4, Aakarshan of AdvanceX and I whiteboard the business into a causal loop diagram. This piece…
October 31, 2025, 10:10 PM IST
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Dhandho maxing restaurants with Aakarshan Harlalka – Algorithms and UX
October 15, 2025, 9:35 PM IST
Originally published in The Times of India. In part 3, Aakarshan Harlalka of AdvanceX and I discuss the business from the vantage point of Zomato’s UX and algorithm. This part of the discussion was the…
October 15, 2025, 9:35 PM IST
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Dhandho maxing restaurants with Aakarshan Harlalka – Part 2
October 8, 2025, 6:49 PM IST
In part 2, we discuss how in a business with thin margins and endless competition, the winners aren’t louder — they’re sharper in positioning, product, and repeatability. Most New Restaurants Don’t Make It Past Year…
October 8, 2025, 6:49 PM IST
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Dhandho maxing restaurants with Aakarshan Harlalka – Part 1
October 7, 2025, 9:52 PM IST
I sat down with Aakarshan Harlalka, founder of AdvanceX. He partners with restaurant brands like Grandmama’s Cafe, and Good Flippin’ Burgers to grow their business on Zomato and Swiggy. Below are a few business insights…
October 7, 2025, 9:52 PM IST
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Can X become a ‘truth-maximizing’ news app?
September 19, 2025, 7:20 PM IST
X’s ambition is to become the go-to news app without becoming a newsroom itself. Hence, it is positioned as a “truth-maximizing news app” competing with legacy media. In practice, it functions more like a fragmented…
September 19, 2025, 7:20 PM IST
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Driving Collaboration in AI/ML: Why ‘Data Scientists’ and ‘Editors’ Collide
September 15, 2025, 9:04 PM IST
For the past four months, I’ve been busy at work completing a major release in our algorithmic distribution platform that blends the use of LLMs and traditional machine learning. I’ll publish more about the release…
September 15, 2025, 9:04 PM IST
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Steal My Prompt: Contributions Editor
September 14, 2025, 8:36 PM IST
Newsrooms love opinion pieces. You do too, right? They widen the conversation, give space to voices that otherwise wouldn’t be heard, and keep a publication from sounding like one echo chamber on repeat. But here’s…
September 14, 2025, 8:36 PM IST
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The Agentic CMS: The meditations workflow
March 12, 2025, 9:01 PM IST
In the previous issue, we introduced the idea of an Agentic CMS—a content management system that doesn’t just store content but actively assists in the creative process. Readers had one pressing question: “How does this…
March 12, 2025, 9:01 PM IST
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The agentic CMS
March 7, 2025, 12:27 PM IST
With the rise of Generative AI, WordPress—and content management systems (CMSes) in general—are poised for a transformation. This evolution isn’t just about adding AI-powered buttons like “Expand,” “Rewrite,” or “Convert to Bullets.” Instead, it’s about…
March 7, 2025, 12:27 PM IST
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Thinkin: ‘Local community media’ as a ‘trusted club’
January 21, 2025, 3:03 PM IST
In this ThinkIn, I spent a couple of hours with old-school traders. Yes, they ran conventional businesses. But their business, oddly, felt more like highly profitable community media or local media products. Who are they?…
January 21, 2025, 3:03 PM IST
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Audio Shorts from Longform using Generative AI
January 18, 2025, 9:26 PM IST
I write Media Flywheels, a newsletter exploring the intricacies of the media business. It’s dense, deeply researched, and tailored for a niche audience: media owners, operators, and CXOs. Using industry jargon is second nature, as…
January 18, 2025, 9:26 PM IST
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Corporate strategy to incentivize business-unit collaboration
December 30, 2024, 10:00 AM IST
In the previous issue, we discussed how AI-driven media companies can incentivize collaboration. However, the challenge is far from solved. As media companies transition from a “House of Brands” to unified algorithmic platforms, many business…
December 30, 2024, 10:00 AM IST
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Incentivizing people collaboration in an AI-driven media company
December 29, 2024, 8:42 AM IST
In earlier Media Flywheels issues, I discussed critical organizational challenges in media companies: Media Flywheels #6: How divisional structures and “House of Brands” strategies hinder algorithmic media platforms from achieving their potential. Media Flywheels…
December 29, 2024, 8:42 AM IST
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How does Reddit’s Personalization Model work
December 28, 2024, 12:17 PM IST
In the previous post, we discussed how X or Twitter’s Personalization Model works. This post will attempt to juxtapose Reddit’s personalization model against X’s so that we develop a coherent understanding of personalization models. How…
December 28, 2024, 12:17 PM IST
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