The finals of the Business and Technology Quiz held at IIM Ahmedabad Chaos 2020 - presented by Quiz Cetera. Questions on a range of topics including business history, business terms, markets, technology, the digital world, and many others.

1. The Chaos 2020
BizTech Quiz

2. Presented by
Quiz Cetera
-
75+ quizzes across
25+ campuses, incl.
IITs, IIMs, and NITs
Aniruddha Mitra
p15aniruddham@iima.ac.in 9426310784
Dhanraj B.
p14dhanrajb@iima.ac.in 8123955150
Minakhi Misra
p13minakhipm@iima.ac.in 9998154540
Tauseef Warsi
p14tauseefw@iima.ac.in 8691045534

3. 6 rounds. 3 written. 3 on pounce.
40 questions in all.
Quizmaster is the Market.
Welcome to the Finals
“May the invisible hand be with you.”

4. Written I

5. ’Cross the Jargon
Each slide gives the clue to one of the
words that make up the crossword
The answers are terms that one
encounters in business and technology
+10 / 0 for each.
+20 for all.

6. 1. Which K-word? (7)
Following Karate, Kaizen, Kanban and
Konmari, the latest Japanese K-term to gain
popularity in the west is ______. It's a personal
finance system designed in 1904 by Hani
Motoko, who's popular for being the first
woman journalist of Japan. The three-syllable
word literally translates to "household
financial ledger."
1

7. 2. Phone name? (9)
Advertisements of smartphones with foldable
screens, like the Samsung Fold and the
Motorola Razr, are trying to tap into the
nostalgia of the foldable phones that were de
rigueur at the turn of the century. Thanks to
its nature-inspired design and the satisfying
sound it made when folded shut, by what
nine-lettered name was one of these older
generation phones known?
2

8. 3. Over-allotment option? (9)
This is an over-allotment option. In the
context of an initial public offering, it is a
provision in an underwriting agreement that
grants the underwriter the right to sell
investors more shares than initially planned
by the issuer if the demand for a security issue
proves higher than expected.
In late December 2019, the term showed a
spike in Google Trends after news broke out
that Saudi Aramco was going to exercise this
option after a successful IPO.
3

9. 4. Give X. (11)
Describing a style of investing, the term X was
popularised by writer Phil Fisher in his work Common
Stocks and Uncommon Profits in 1958. He said that
qualitative factors like the ability to maintain sales
growth, good management, and R&D characterised a
good investment. The term regained popularity when
Warren Buffet called Fisher's work a "very very good
book" in the 2018 Berkshire Hathaway annual
meeting and described how " X investing" was still
used in the firm.
X was a predecessor of the proverbial water cooler
and referred to the cask or barrel of drinking water
on ships around which sailors loafed and exchanged
gossip.
4

10. 5. What agreement? (9)
A ________ agreement is a commercial
arrangement between two airlines, whereby
one sells seats on a flight operated by the
other. It's so named since both airlines can list
the flight identifier on their individual
schedules.
5

11. 6. Which ratio? (7)
The ______ ratio measures the risk-adjusted
return of an investment asset, portfolio, or
strategy. It is a modification of the Sharpe
ratio but penalizes only those returns falling
below a user-specified target or required rate
of return, while the Sharpe ratio penalizes
both upside and downside volatility equally.
6

12. 7. Which function? (4)
______ functions, which convert one value
into another, are frequently used in
cryptography, compression, checksum
generation, and data indexing.
The ____ symbol has historically been used
for a wide range of purposes, including the
designation of an ordinal number and as a
ligatured abbreviation for pounds
avoirdupois – having been derived from the
now-rare ℔
7

13. 8. Name of the bond? (6,5)
The US merger boom of the 1980s was fueled
majorly by debt through a financial instrument
that some economists called "junk bond" but
others more politely called "____ ____," the
moniker of a biblical son of God.
These were bonds issued by companies who
had collapsed to bankruptcy and were trying
to crawl out of it with the cash raised from the
bonds. Thus, they offered high interest
returns, albeit at high credit default risk.
8

14. Exchange Sheets
Tatkal Prabhav Se

15. 1. Which K-word? (7)
Following Karate, Kaizen, Kanban and
Konmari, the latest Japanese K-term to gain
popularity in the west is ______. It's a personal
finance system designed in 1904 by Hani
Motoko, who's popular for being the first
woman journalist of Japan. The three-syllable
word literally translates to "household
financial ledger."
1

16. 1. Which K-word?
Following Karate, Kaizen, Kanban and
Konmari, the latest Japanese K-term to gain
popularity in the west is ______. It's a personal
finance system designed in 1904 by Hani
Motoko, who's popular for being the first
woman journalist of Japan. The three-syllable
word literally translates to "household
financial ledger."
K
A
K
E
I
B
O

17. 2. Phone name? (9)
Advertisements of smartphones with foldable
screens, like the Samsung Fold and the
Motorola Razr, are trying to tap into the
nostalgia of the foldable phones that were de
rigueur at the turn of the century. Thanks to
its nature-inspired design and the satisfying
sound it made when folded shut, by what
nine-lettered name was one of these older
generation phones known?
K
A
K
E
I
B
O
2

18. 2. Phone name? (9)
Advertisements of smartphones with foldable
screens, like the Samsung Fold and the
Motorola Razr, are trying to tap into the
nostalgia of the foldable phones that were de
rigueur at the turn of the century. Thanks to
its nature-inspired design and the satisfying
sound it made when folded shut, by what
nine-lettered name was one of these older
generation phones known?
K
A
K
E
I
B
O
L
M
S
H
E
A
C
L
L

19. 3. Over-allotment option? (9)
This is an over-allotment option. In the
context of an initial public offering, it is a
provision in an underwriting agreement that
grants the underwriter the right to sell
investors more shares than initially planned
by the issuer if the demand for a security issue
proves higher than expected.
In late December 2019, the term showed a
spike in Google Trends after news broke out
that Saudi Aramco was going to exercise this
option after a successful IPO.
K
A
K
E
I
B
O
L
M
S
H
E
A
C
L
3
L

20. 3. Over-allotment option (9)
This is an over-allotment option. In the
context of an initial public offering, it is a
provision in an underwriting agreement that
grants the underwriter the right to sell
investors more shares than initially planned
by the issuer if the demand for a security issue
proves higher than expected.
In late December 2019, the term showed a
spike in Google Trends after news broke out
that Saudi Aramco was going to exercise this
option after a successful IPO.
K
A
K
E
I
B
O
L
M
S
H
E
A E
C
L
G
R
E
N
S
H
O
EL

21. 4. Give X. (11)
Describing a style of investing, the term X was
popularised by writer Phil Fisher in his work Common
Stocks and Uncommon Profits in 1958. He said that
qualitative factors like the ability to maintain sales
growth, good management, and R&D characterised a
good investment. The term regained popularity when
Warren Buffet called Fisher's work a "very very good
book" in the 2018 Berkshire Hathaway annual
meeting and described how " X investing" was still
used in the firm.
X was a predecessor of the proverbial water cooler
and referred to the cask or barrel of drinking water
on ships around which sailors loafed and exchanged
gossip.
K
A
K
E
I
B
O
4
L
M
S
H
E
A E
C
L
G
R
E
N
S
H
O
EL

22. 4. Give X. (11)
Describing a style of investing, the term X was
popularised by writer Phil Fisher in his work Common
Stocks and Uncommon Profits in 1958. He said that
qualitative factors like the ability to maintain sales
growth, good management, and R&D characterised a
good investment. The term regained popularity when
Warren Buffet called Fisher's work a "very very good
book" in the 2018 Berkshire Hathaway annual
meeting and described how " X investing" was still
used in the firm.
X was a predecessor of the proverbial water cooler
and referred to the cask or barrel of drinking water
on ships around which sailors loafed and exchanged
gossip.
K
A
K
E
I
B
O
C
S
U
T
T
L
E
B
U
T
T
L
M
S
H
E
A E
C
L
G
R
E
N
S
H
O
EL

23. 5. What agreement? (9)
A ________ agreement is a commercial
arrangement between two airlines, whereby
one sells seats on a flight operated by the
other. It's so named since both airlines can list
the flight identifier on their individual
schedules.
K
A
K
E
I
B
O
C
S
U
T
T
L
E
B
U
T
T
L
M
S
H
E
A E
C
L
G
R
E
N
S
H
O
EL

24. 5. What agreement? (9)
A ________ agreement is a commercial
arrangement between two airlines, whereby
one sells seats on a flight operated by the
other. It's so named since both airlines can list
the flight identifier on their individual
schedules.
K
A
K
E
I
B
O
DOC
S
U
T
T
L
E
B
U
T
T
L
M
S
H
E
AHS R E
C
L
G
R
E
N
S
H
O
EL

25. 6. Which ratio? (7)
The ______ ratio measures the risk-adjusted
return of an investment asset, portfolio, or
strategy. It is a modification of the Sharpe
ratio but penalizes only those returns falling
below a user-specified target or required rate
of return, while the Sharpe ratio penalizes
both upside and downside volatility equally.
K
A
K
E
I
B
O
DOC
S
U
T
T6
L
E
B
U
T
T
L
M
S
H
E
AHS R E
C
L
G
R
E
N
S
H
O
EL

26. 6. Which ratio?
The ______ ratio measures the risk-adjusted
return of an investment asset, portfolio, or
strategy. It is a modification of the Sharpe
ratio but penalizes only those returns falling
below a user-specified target or required rate
of return, while the Sharpe ratio penalizes
both upside and downside volatility equally.
K
A
K
E
I
B
O
DOC
S
U
T
T NIROS
L
E
B
U
T
T
L
M
S
H
E
AHS R E
C
L
G
R
E
N
S
H
O
EL

27. 7. Which function? (4)
______ functions, which convert one value
into another, are frequently used in
cryptography, compression, checksum
generation, and data indexing.
The ____ symbol has historically been used
for a wide range of purposes, including the
designation of an ordinal number and as a
ligatured abbreviation for pounds
avoirdupois – having been derived from the
now-rare ℔
K
A
K
E
I
B
O
DOC
S
U
T
T NIROS
L
E
B
U
T
T
L
M
S
H
E
AHS R E
C
L
G
R
E
N
S
H
O
EL

28. 7. Which function? (4)
______ functions, which convert one value
into another, are frequently used in
cryptography, compression, checksum
generation, and data indexing.
The ____ symbol has historically been used
for a wide range of purposes, including the
designation of an ordinal number and as a
ligatured abbreviation for pounds
avoirdupois – having been derived from the
now-rare ℔
K
A
K
E
I
B
O
DOC
S
U
T
T NIROS
L
E
B
U
T
T
L
M
S
H
E
AHS R E
C
L
G
R
E
N
S
H
O
E
A H
L

29. 8. Name of the bond? (6,5)
The US merger boom of the 1980s was fueled
majorly by debt through a financial instrument
that some economists called "junk bond" but
others more politely called "____ ____," the
moniker of a biblical son of God.
These were bonds issued by companies who
had collapsed to bankruptcy and were trying
to crawl out of it with the cash raised from the
bonds. Thus, they offered high interest
returns, albeit at high credit default risk.
K
A
K
E
I
B
O
DOC
S
U
T
T NIROS
L
E8
B
U
T
T
L
M
S
H
E
AHS R E
C
L
G
R
E
N
S
H
O
E
A H
L

30. 8. Name of the bond? (6,5)
The US merger boom of the 1980s was fueled
majorly by debt through a financial instrument
that some economists called "junk bond" but
others more politely called "____ ____," the
moniker of a biblical son of God.
These were bonds issued by companies who
had collapsed to bankruptcy and were trying
to crawl out of it with the cash raised from the
bonds. Thus, they offered high interest
returns, albeit at high credit default risk.
K
A
K
E
I
B
O
DOC
S
U
T
T NIROS
L
ELLAF
B
U
T
T
GNAN E L
M
S
H
E
AHS R E
C
L
G
R
E
N
S
H
O
E
A H
L

31. Clockwise I
Infinite Pounce. 8 questions. +10/-10

32. 1. Which public institution?
In Italy, cultivation, distribution, and possession of marijuana has been a criminal
offense since the 1990s. However, in a December 2019 ruling, the Supreme Court
decriminalised "small-scale domestic cultivation for personal use."
This move invited criticism from the one public institution which had been exempted
from the law and had been enjoying a monopoly over distribution of marijuana to its
employees, and allegedly others, albeit strictly for medical use.

34. The Italian Army

35. 2. Why was USSR interested?
Ekranoplans (shown next slide) were large ships designed to travel across seas,
floating on a thin layer of air, using the "ground effect." Though originally designed to
improve the speed and fuel-efficiency of commercial ships, Ekranoplans soon caught
the attention of USSR's covert military vehicles division despite their large size and
noisiness. Why?

38. Couldn’t be detected by SONAR or RADAR
SONAR, because it was above the water, and RADAR because it was too close to the
surface to register a distinct blip. Literally "flying under the radar".

39. 3. Ticker? Abbreviation?
The Scottish American investment company, based out of London, managed to get
themselves into a bind by possessing a very unfortunate ticker symbol.
They tried to counter this by creating an abbreviation of their company name so that
people would know them as that rather than their ticker symbol.

41. SCAM, SAINT

42. 4. Which company and founder?
In 1912, this company was the first in the world to distribute dividends to its
employees based on the company's performance. Years later, it was the first to issue
employee stock options. Besides, it was one of the very few companies to give
generous benefits package that amounted to more than 20% of employees' annual
salaries, paid time offs for sick leave, and tuition subsidies for employees enrolled in
local colleges.
These stemmed from the founder's belief that suffering employees can't think about
customer well-being, which is critical to a business that helps people create and
cherish happiness. He also built a hospital, founded a music school, and donated to
institutions of higher learning such as Rochester Institute of Technology, to
"maximize the chances of community well-being."

44. Company: Kodak
Founder: George
Eastman

45. 5. What am I talking about?
This started in 1955, when a typo in a Sears ad sent callers to the operations hotline
of the commander-in-chief of the Continental Air Defense Command.
Col. Harry Shoup, the operations director at the time, instead of just saying, "wrong
number", promised to fulfill the caller's request. The promise continues to be kept by
the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a successor organisation,
showing how much it means to the people.
After partnering with them for a while, Google decided to independently offer the
same service on its Maps and Chrome applications.

47. Live tracking Santa’s route

48. 6. What kind of customers?
In 1960s Chicago, retail store managers started wearing a soft whistle, which they
blew every time they saw customers of a particular kind. The whistle would indicate
to other employees to flock over to the customer, sweet talk them, and attend them
at all times till they check-out. This simple method did wonders for the store
bottom-line, often posting 15-20% better results.
As one manager said, "what a person wears, how they walks, how they talks, tells
lots about what kind they is. And you'd be surprised, it ain't a color thing neither."

50. Potential shoplifters

51. 7. What is the most popular name of this blend?
Introduced as Jake's Blend in 1975, this dark roast, full body, arabica coffee blend soon came to be known as
the "crowd pleaser" or the "dinner party coffee."
Starbucks, inspired by its popularity and demand, started serving this at its Seattle outlets as the "80/20
coffee" named so because of the original recipe of 80% Yukon and 20% Italian Roast.
Over the years, Starbucks noticed that this is the preferred blend of couples and so rebranded it as ___ ___,
with the tagline "the coffee of one true love". The new brand name was a hat-tip to a popular (though tragic)
Shakespearean setting.
Today, this is the most recognizable name of that particular blend, much to the consternation of serious
cafficianados who keep insisting that the name is misleading as the beans are sourced from Latin America
and Asia Pacific.

53. Caffé Verona

54. 8. Give X and Y
Around the turn of the century, a VP at company X tried to reduce the sugar they
sold in the interest of consumer health. But customers wanted sugar. So instead he
just ended up reducing X's market share. Health outcomes didn’t improve. That CEO
lost his job. The new CEO returned the company to grace by doubling quadrupling
down on the sugar in one of the company's most popular products Y.

56. X: Kraft
Y: Oreo

57. Written II

58. Each slide has the description and logo of a
fictional business.
You have to give the name of the
book/movie/series/cartoon/comics in which one
would have come across the business.
7 Slides.
+10/0 for each.
+30 for all.
Too Good to be True

59. 1. Choam
Combine Honnete Ober Advancer
Mercantiles (CHOAM) controls all
economic affairs in the cosmos and is
the largest form of wealth to the Old
Empire. CHOAM was created by the
Padishah empire’s political and military
forces due to the formation of the
Space Guild, which was founded by
Komn refugees who held exclusive
rights to “faster than light space travel”.
Due to this, CHOAM can only trade
with the cooperation of the Guild.

60. 2. Sirius Cybernetics
Known for catchy jingles and catchphrases, the
Sirius Corp. is a manufacturer and supplier of
androids, autonomic assistants and robots, across
the universe. Some of their creations include
depressed robots, annoying ringtones, evil Bill
Gates, Uggs and smart Happy Vertical People
Transporters.
The company also seems to only have two
divisions: marketing and complaints.
Unfortunately, their marketing department is
described in the novel as “a bunch of mindless
jerks who were the first against the wall when the
revolution came.”

61. The CEO, Mom, is known to be extremely
cold-hearted. However, she maintains a
sweet and kind profile in the public’s eye,
courtesy of her PR team.
Although it is unknown when MomCorp was
created, it was already up and running as
Friendly Robot Company in 2801, and was
most likely renamed Mom’s Friendly Robot
Company in 2972 after Mom was contracted
by DOOP to mine dark matter from planet
Vergon 6.
3. MomCorp

62. 4.
The Very Big
Corporation of America
The Very Big Corporation of America is… very big
and very evil. The company is intent on taking
over companies, with a fixation on the finance
sector. To this extent, a wide range of firms are
under their control, including D. Crepid Holdings,
A. Maze and Lee, V. Rich and Son and O. Verpaid
Associates Ltd.
No one seems to want to work there and
employees even try to keep their bosses locked
away in safes so they won’t come to harm. But
who wouldn’t? Working condition are
horrendous, with employee’s actually rowing oars
as slaves to a Big Corporation employee’s drums.

63. 5. Warbucks Industries
Originally foreman in a rolling mill, Oliver
Warbucks first saw his wealth increase
during World War I. This continued after
the war and well into World War II. Now as
a defense contractor, the company quickly
became the world’s largest producer of
depleted uranium artillery shells, cluster
bombs and…cat food.
And, although he has given much of his
fortune away on the behest of his adopted
daughter, he is still one of the richest
fictional characters, with his company
retaining a top rank as well.

64. 6. Tyrell Corporation
The Tyrell Corporation was founded in 2019
by the super-genius Dr Eldon Tyrell. The
company specialises in the production of
androids so life-like that they can be
mistaken for humans, further represented
by their motto: “More human than human”.
Furthermore, they happen to be replicants,
or rather, artificial slaves that allow humans
to move off-world in the hopes of colonising
other planets. Unfortunately, however, one
of their most notable models, the Nexus-6,
only has a four-year lifespan.

65. 7. Virtucon
Almost nothing is known about
Virtucon. What we do know, however,
is that Virtucon’s success is largely
attributable to Number 2, who is a
natural businessman. He gradually
grows the company little-by-little and
always makes sure to use legitimate
means so that the authorities have little
excuse for apprehending the CEO.
One such scheme even involved shifting
resources to invest in a Seattle-based
Starbucks.

66. Exchange Sheets
Tatkal Prabhav Se

67. 1. Choam
Combine Honnete Ober Advancer
Mercantiles (CHOAM) controls all
economic affairs in the cosmos and is
the largest form of wealth to the Old
Empire. CHOAM was created by the
Padishah empire’s political and military
forces due to the formation of the
Space Guild, which was founded by
Komn refugees who held exclusive
rights to “faster than light space travel”.
Due to this, CHOAM can only trade
with the cooperation of the Guild.

68. DUNE

69. 2. Sirius Cybernetics
Known for catchy jingles and catchphrases,
the Sirius Corp. is a manufacturer and supplier
of androids, autonomic assistants and robots,
across the universe. Some of their creations
include depressed robots, annoying ringtones,
evil Bill Gates, Uggs and smart Happy Vertical
People Transporters.
The company also seems to only have two
divisions: marketing and complaints.
Unfortunately, their marketing department is
described in the novel as “a bunch of mindless
jerks who were the first against the wall when
the revolution came.”

70. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

71. The CEO, Mom, is known to be extremely
cold-hearted. However, she maintains a
sweet and kind profile in the public’s eye,
courtesy of her PR team.
Although it is unknown when MomCorp
was created, it was already up and
running as Friendly Robot Company in
2801, and was most likely renamed
Mom’s Friendly Robot Company in 2972
after Mom was contracted by DOOP to
mine dark matter from planet Vergon 6.
3. MomCorp

72. Futurama

73. 4. The Very Big
Corporation of America
The Very Big Corporation of America is… very big
and very evil. The company is intent on taking
over companies, with a fixation on the finance
sector. To this extent, a wide range of firms are
under their control, including D. Crepid Holdings,
A. Maze and Lee, V. Rich and Son and O. Verpaid
Associates Ltd.
No one seems to want to work there and
employees even try to keep their bosses locked
away in safes so they won’t come to harm. But
who wouldn’t? Working condition are
horrendous, with employee’s actually rowing oars
as slaves to a Big Corporation employee’s drums.

74. Monty Python

75. 5. Warbucks Industries
Originally foreman in a rolling mill,
Oliver Warbucks first saw his wealth
increase during World War I. This
continued after the war and well into
World War II. Now as a defense
contractor, the company quickly
became the world’s largest producer of
depleted uranium artillery shells,
cluster bombs and…cat food.
And, although he has given much of his
fortune away on the behest of his
adopted daughter, he is still one of the
richest fictional characters, with his
company retaining a top rank as well.

76. ANNIE

77. 6. Tyrell Corporation
The Tyrell Corporation was founded in
2019 by the super-genius Dr Eldon
Tyrell. The company specialises in the
production of androids so life-like that
they can be mistaken for humans, further
represented by their motto: “More
human than human”.
Furthermore, they happen to be
replicants, or rather, artificial slaves that
allow humans to move off-world in the
hopes of colonising other planets.
Unfortunately, however, one of their
most notable models, the Nexus-6, only
has a four-year lifespan.

78. Blade Runner

79. 7. Virtucon
Almost nothing is known about
Virtucon. What we do know,
however, is that Virtucon’s success is
largely attributable to Number 2,
who is a natural businessman. He
gradually grows the company
little-by-little and always makes sure
to use legitimate means so that the
authorities have little excuse for
apprehending the CEO.
One such scheme even involved
shifting resources to invest in a
Seattle-based Starbucks.

80. Austin Powers

81. Anti-Clockwise I
Infinite Pounce. 8 questions. +10/-10

82. 1. What is Bosworth talking about?
Andrew Bosworth, in his open memo titled Thoughts for 2020, wrote the following:
"I find myself thinking of the Lord of the Rings at this moment. Specifically when
Frodo offers the ring to Galadrial and she imagines using the power righteously, at
first, but knows it will eventually corrupt her. As tempting as it is to use the tools
available to us to change the outcome, I am confident we must never do that or we
will become that which we fear."

84. Facebook not
changing its
policy for
political ads
ahead of 2020
US
Presidential
Elections

85. 2. Put funda
The McRib sandwich was introduced in 1981 in all McDonald's outlets across the
US. Since then, it has become a customer favorite, closely following the popularity of
Chicken McNuggets. Interestingly, McRibs was initially introduced to substitute out
the McNuggets, even though the latter was the fastest selling item on the menu
everywhere. Why?
Soon, thanks to growing demand for both items, McDonald's made a strategic move
that helped them keep both. What move?

87. Funda:
Why - the supply of raw chicken was not
keeping pace with the demand for McNuggets.
Basically, they didn't have enough chicken to
serve customers.
What move - McDonald's started growing its
own chicken, much like its own potatoes for the
fries.

88. 3. Which company?
In 2013, the company scored a coup when Google agreed to design its music service
to work easily with the company's home speakers. For the project, the company
handed over the effective blueprints to its speakers.
It felt like a harmless move, since Google was an internet company and didn’t make
speakers. In January 2020, though, the company sued Google in two federal court
systems, seeking financial damages and a ban on the sale of Google’s speakers,
smartphones and laptops in the United States. It accused Google of infringing on five
of its patents, including technology that lets wireless speakers connect and
synchronize with one another.

90. Sonos

91. 4. What belief led to them overpaying?
In the first weekend of the New Year, the first Pacific Bluefin catch of the year goes
on auction at the Toyushu fish market, Japan's biggest fresh food market. The
market previously used to open at Tsukiji but was displaced due to the Tokyo
Olympics.
While the auction has always been hard-fought amongst the "moguls of fish," a new
trend seems to have taken root since 2012. Businessmen are routinely overpaying
for the stock of fish they purchase, knowing full well that even matching the prices at
the most premium sushi restaurants in Japan will not recoup the cost.
This behaviour is said to be inspired by a deep-seated belief about the Tsukiji (now
Toyusu) fish market's first auction of the year.

93. Predictor of the Tokyo Stock Exchange
For several years, Tsukiji auction prices have been strong predictors of the Tokyo
Stock Market, with very high correlation.
So, the businessmen believed that if they can boost up the prices at the auction, the
retail investors will take it as a sign of good times and stock market will improve.

94. 5. Which company? What news?
On January 11, 2020, a Japanese company tweeted this:
“We won’t mention the reason, but there have been many tweets about climbing
inside large musical instrument cases. A warning after any unfortunate accident
would be too late, so we ask everyone not to try it.”
The reason, most likely, is the flurry of spoof activity in the aftermath of a news that
broke out on Christmas 2019. It was about a person performing something that the
New York Times called “houdini-like” and a local European paper called “apparition”,
referring to the spatial transmission technique from the Harry Potter universe.

96. Yamaha.
News about
Carlos Ghosn
escaping to
Lebanon from
his house Arrest
in Japan.

97. 6. Give X and Y
The Chinese invented X when someone noticed that roasting bamboo caused its
closed cells to open up fast. The early use of X was to ward off evil spirits, an
enduring idea.
They upped the game to invent Y when someone took a blend of charcoal, sulphur,
and a food preservative called saltpetre.
Both technologies spread fast throughout Europe, with X gaining most momentum
in Italy, while Y got it in Germany.

99. X: Firecrackers
Y: Gun Powder

100. 7. Give X, Y, and Z
Following a six-month post-IPO lock-up period, X sold over 90% of his shares in Y
since November 2019, to the tune of over $2.5Bn. While some see this as a Board
member expressing his no-confidence in the company management, others
speculate that X is generating liquidity to infuse in his latest venture Z, which is
scooping up real estate around the world in a bet that restaurants will rent capacity
to create food for delivery to customers.
X and Y - 5 points
Z - 5 points.

102. X: Travis Kalanick
Y: Uber
Z: CloudKitchens

103. 8. Which strategy? Which game?
This power politics and corporate strategy, often used during difficult times, most
probably originates from a card game practice that has continued from the
American Frontier era. The practice typically involves a counter: originally, this was
a knife with its handle made from the horn of a type of deer.

105. Term: Passing
the Buck
Game: Poker

106. Written III

107. Bat’s Eye View
6 slides. Long visual connect.
Each slide shows one product. All products are
connected by one theme. Simply guess the theme.
The set of things connected by this theme is finite.
The list shown here is not exhaustive.
You can guess the theme only once per slide.
Scores you can earn are written on each slide.
Quizmaster will give no hints at any point.

108. +30 / -20

109. +25 / -15

110. +20 / -10

111. +15 / -5

112. +10 / 0

113. +5 / 0

114. Audience?

115. April Fool’s Day
Prank Products

116. Clockwise II
Infinite Pounce. 8 questions. +10 / -10

117. 1. Why the irony?
In December 2019, Bytedance, whose $75Bn valuation makes it the world’s biggest
unlisted startup, teamed up with Shanghai Dongfang Newspaper Company, a
state-run Chinese publisher. The joint venture, in which Bytedance holds a 49%
stake, will, among other things, develop technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Why is this ironic in the context of a letter to US Senator Josh Hawley and other US
lawmakers in November 2019?

119. Bytedance is the parent company of TikTok.
Earlier in the year, TikTok got a lot of flak with people saying that it's China's subtle
way of collecting private data of Americans. The company had replied in a letter to a
committee led by Senator Hawley that TikTok is independent of China and doesn't
plan to have any ties in the future either

120. 2. Target audience? Main brand?
Shmaltz Brewing Company is an American Craft Beers company founded by Jeremy
Cowan and has recently tasted a lot of success.
Who are their main target customers (5)?
What is the name of their main brand line: a pun on the business, founder and their
main set of customers (5)?

122. Jews. He’Brew

123. 3. Which epidemic? What device?
In its March 2019 round up of population studies for the current decade, a UN
committee named a certain "epidemic" plaguing the US as the single largest cause
for rise of death rate in the country. It estimated that the chance of a 15-year-old
boy dying by the age of 50 is now higher in America than in Bangladesh.
Ironically, the epidemic was accelerated by the commercial introduction of a device
that was originally marketed as a solution to a similar epidemic ravaging the US since
the Vietnam War.

125. Opioid epidemic; The Vape

126. 4. Fill in the blank. What is Steganography?
In late 2019, Dr. Yaniv Erlich and Dr. Robert Grass encoded a short video in ____ and
fused it in plexiglass. They used the plexiglass to make a lens for a pair of spectacles
and demonstrated how even a tiny sliver clipped from the glasses could recover the
whole video.
This has had the militaries of the researchers' home nations, Israel and USA,
courting them for applications in steganography. Stuff from spy-fi thrillers may soon
be a reality.

128. Blank: DNA
Steganography - the art of concealing information
within something apparently innocuous

129. 5. Give X and Y
The X emissions scandal, also known Emissionsgate began in September 2015, when
the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that automaker X had
intentionally programmed turbocharged direct injection (TDI) diesel engines to
activate their emissions controls only during laboratory emissions testing which
caused the vehicles' NOx output to meet US standards during regulatory testing, but
emit up to 40 times more NOx in real-world driving.
In January 2018, it was revealed that X had experimented in May 2015 to prove that
their exhaust was not harmful to primates. The disclosure of the tests was named Y.
However, the test car was fitted with the defeat device that produced far less
emissions in the experiment than it would on the highway.

131. X: Volkswagen
Y: Monkeygate

132. 6. What is a beard bib?
Rockwell Razors, a Canadian company, says that the beard bib is its most popular
beard-grooming product, out-selling folding beard combs and even boar-hair beard
brushes.
The Economist's 1843 magazine quips that "at $15, it’s cheaper than a marriage
counsellor," presumably, for lumbersexual Canadians holding on to their marriages
with suction cups.

134. It catches your beard trimmings

135. 7. Give X and Y.
In Italy, bars and cafés are reducing plastic use by replacing X with uncooked
versions of the country’s most famous export composited with water.
Inspired by the design, a British company Y started manufacturing and selling the
product worldwide, fast becoming the global leader in the product. Y is a
portmanteau of X and the cooked version of the thing that replaced X.

137. X: Straws
Y: Stroodles

138. 8. Give X, who said this, and what is s/he talking about?
"No company comes close to X in being financially prepared for a $400 billion
mega-cat. Our share of such a loss might be $12 billion or so, an amount far below
the annual earnings we expect from our non-insurance activities. Concurrently,
much – indeed, perhaps most – of the p/c world would be out of business. Our
unparalleled financial strength explains why other p/c insurers come to X – and only
X – when they, themselves, need to purchase huge reinsurance coverages for large
payments they may have to make in the far future."

140. X: Berkshire Hathaway
Speaker: Warren Buffett
Mega-cats are
Megacatastrophes like
hurricanes

141. Arigato.

142. Gen Quiz @ 3 PM