What are good startup ideas for 2016?

Thanks for the A2A. Here are my three tips for 2016 and beyond:

1. Serverless Computing. Think of this as the natural progression of Amazon Web Services etc. Instead of renting compute resources per month, you rent per CPU cycle. The economics are stunning - 10x-100x reduction in costs. Practically speaking this makes bootstrapped freemium a practical model (not just for VC backed). I expect this to drive a mushrooming in new SaaS startups, especially where compute costs are  significant. Somewhat related to this, I expect 2016 to be the year we start to see BaaS - Backend-as-a-Service take off.

Tim Hampson's answer to What is the difference between "backend-as-a-service" and "software-as-a-service"?

2. Human Monitoring. Yes, there is an "ick!" factor, but I think it's inevitable. It will start in specific niches such as medical staff, pilots, soldiers etc, where the gains from centralized awareness of physiological state is more important than privacy concerns. Then it spreads to the elderly, the young (who already have tagged phones etc), and finally everybody. The monitoring devices are almost there (we still lack a reliable effective way to measure blood pressure unobtrusively), and the field is still wide open for monitoring and alerting apps. This also could tie into health insurance.

Never mind IoT, this is IoP - the Internet of People.

3. Tech Banks. High street banks in the UK are viewed with as much love as taxi's were in the US prior to Uber. As bad as their service is for consumers, it's 10x worse for SME's. Trying to connect your bank to your accounting system is a nightmare. I don't think US banks are much better either. I expect to see startups move from pure payment capabilities into full stream banking. Again, like Uber, there are regulatory issues to be overcome, but the current standard of both UK and US banks is so low, I think they are ripe for disruption. Surprisingly for banks, they are lamentable with security. A modern tech approach could run rings here. Note this is nothing to do with Bitcoin, which I expect to diminish in profile, as people realise the trust issues haven't gone away.

It seems that everyone in the answer trail tried to give you examples of trending business ideas. In my opinion they might work and they might not, so here me up to help you understand what would you need to start a successful business idea in 2016.

If you wanna become an entrepreneur, you ought to master the market research strategy and techniques. here are 2 guides for you to study.

1. The Absolute Guide to Leading Market Research Strategies
2. The Ultimate Startup Resource for Entrepreneurs (2016)

Here are some tips to find out what business ideas should you start this year:

Step 1: Go to the second link I mentioned above and find google trends. Use google trends and look for trends in 2016, (Narrow down your search and go to the industry you want to penetrate). You will be able to see how that market is doing and how's the prediction for future.

Step 2: You can use Think with google and understand more about your customer's behavior. To start a business you need to have clear insights about your potential customers.

Step 3: Craft your startup business model based on business model canvas. Make sure you have covered all 9 building blocks from customer segment to revenue stream.

Step 4:Test your business plan with your customer. Listen to their feedback and after collecting them all , come back to your business plan and iterate as much as possible to fit the market demand.

Follow the above 4 steps and you'd have real business idea to start in 2016. Don't start a business based on guess, find facts with market research.

Which English songs are the must to have in one's playlist?

I have listened to a variety of artists and genres over past few years which have added a diverse yet beautiful collection of songs in my playlist. I am listing here the songs that come to my mind now. I might miss a few songs but would definitely edit my answer time to time if i remember any songs worth adding here.

1. The Beatles (includes post breakup songs)- hey Jude, yesterday, all you need is love, give peace a chance,   yellow submarine, how my guitar gently weeps, help, blackbird, imagine,my sweet lord,watching wheels,  .
2. Pink Floyd- hey you, coming back to life, comfortably numb, wot's uh the deal, learning to fly, wearing the inside out, mother, wish you were here, brain damage+ eclipse, us and them, Another brick in the wall, Astronomy domine, Sheep.
3. Led Zeppelin- Kashmir, that's the way, stairway to heaven, the rain song.
4. The Who- baba o' Riley, behind blue eyes.
5. Velvet Underground- pale blue eyes.
6. Jim Croce- time in a bottle, I got a name.
7. Buddy Holly - every day.
8. Billy Joel- piano man, we didn't set the fire.
9. Scorpions- holiday, winds of change.
10. Eagles- hotel California, love will keep us alive, desperado.
11. Porcupine Tree- Lazarus, Russia on ice, pure narcotic,the rest will flow, feel so low, arriving somewhere but not here, stranger by the minute, light bulb sun, anesthetize, piano lessons.
12. U2- where the streets have no name, in the name of love, with or without you, one, running to a stand still, ordinary love, Window in the skies, vertigo, Beautiful day, vertigo.
13. Blackfield- blackfield, once, Jupiter, miss you, christenings, where is my love,my gift of silence
14. Sigur Ros- hoppipolla, glosoli, svefn g englar, takk, milano, olsen olsen(icelandic)
15. No Man- returning Jesus, no defense.
16. Matchbox Twenty- if you're gone, unwell
17. Anathema- dreaming light, release, temporary peace, untouchables 1&2.
18. The Doors- An American Prayer, People are strange, this is the end, I can't see your face in my mind.
19. Steven Wilson- drive home,hand cannot erase, Thank you.
20. Simon and Garfunkel- sound of silence, boxer, Mrs. Robinson, bridge over troubled waters, April she will come,I am a rock,The only Living boy in New York, Dangling conversation.
21. Radiohead- high and dry, house of cards, creep, everything in it's right place, fake plastic tree,street spirit, no surprise, how to disappear completely, last flowers.
22. Owl City- fireflies, saltwater room, vanilla twilight.
23. Original Soundtracks - Garden state (let go, i don't think, blue eyes, one of these things first,winding road), Man of Steel (trailer music, one day), Almost Famous (easy to slip,feel flows, future games,it wouldn't have made any difference, simple man,something in the air,The oogum Boogum song), Sucker Punch(Where is my mind)
24. Elton John- tiny dancer, sacrifice.
25. Coldplay- shivers, fix you, O, Famous old painters, for you, things i don't understand, oceans, sky full of stars, x&y, message, god put a smile upon your face, charlie brown, paradise, viva la vida, everything's not lost, strawberry swing, 2000 miles, Fun, Hymn for the weekend, A head full of dreams, scientist, Talk, A rush of blood to the head, Don quixote, Swallowed in the sea, Till kingdom come.
26. Devin Townsend Project- winter, coast.
27. Oceanlab- Sirens of the sea, breaking ties, on the beach.
28. Bryan Adams- Summer of 69, everything I do, I do it for you,mysterious ways, Flying, please forgive me, run to you, cuts like a knife, heaven, inside out, here I am, All for love.
29. Simple Plan-Shut up, when I am gone,Astronaut, jetlag, holding on.
30. Oasis- Wonderwall, Don't look back in anger, champagne supernova, roll with it.
31. Pearl Jam-black, wishlist, guaranteed, sirens, alive.
32. Alexi Mudoch- all my days, orange sky.
33. Sky Rabbits- Anti coke ganapati.
34. Goldspot- Friday (listen to the hindi version too).
35. M83- wait, midnight city, intro.
36. Marble sounds- sky high,good occasions, time to sleep.
37. Hammock- Raising your voice trying to stop an echo, i can almost see you, dark circles, breathturn.
38. INXS- Afterglow, beautiful girl.
39. Linkin Park- numb, in the end, Castle of glass.
40. Maroon 5- moves like Jagger, she will be loved, payphone, this love.
41. James Blunt- 1973, you are beautiful, postcards.
42. John Denver- Annie's song, poems prayers and promises, country roads, Leaving on a jet plane.
43. The Paper Kites- bloom, featherstone, St. Clarity.
44. Lobo- dream lover, Me and You and a Dog Named Boo, I'd Love You to Want Me
45. Chicago- if you leave me now.
46. Lynyrd Skynyrd- free bird, simple man, sweet home Alabama.
47. Bob Dylan- Mr. Tambourine, positively fourth street, Knocking on heaven's door.
48. The Pineapple thief- remember us, vapour trails, snowdrops, resident alien.
49. Keane- Somewhere only we know, bad dream.
50. Dire Straits- Romeo and  Juliet, sultans of swing.
51. Westlife- evergreen, soledad, my love, if I let you go,I have a dream, bop bop baby.
52. The Backstreet Boys - larger than life, Show me the meaning of being lonely, Shape of my heart, Quit playing games with my heart.
53. Greenday- boulevard of broken dreams, 21 guns, american idiot, time of your life, wake me up when September ends.
54. Daft Punk- get lucky, instant crush, greyhound, lose yourself to dance, Giorgio my Mordor,one more time.
55. Richard Marx- Right here waiting, hazard, Angelia, Should've known better, endless summer nights.
56. Phil Collins- Another day in paradise, You can't hurry love, In the air tonight,Can't stop loving you.
57. Chemical Brothers-Hanna's theme,Where do I start where do I begin.
58. John Mayer- Neon, Clarity, Your body is a Wonderland, Who says, Stop this train, Edge of desire, Slow dancing in a burning room, Say, Heartbreak Warfare.
59. Guns n Roses- sweet child of mine, paradise city, GnR cover of knockin on heaven's doors, Anastasia
60. Nirvana- where did you sleep last night, heart shaped box, Polly
61. Passenger- let her go, heart's on fire.
62. Jeff Buckley- Hallelujah, Grace, Lover you should've come over.
63. Queen- Bohemian Rhapsody, We will rock you, UnderPressure
64. Joe Satriani- I believe, Always with me,always with you.

What skills are extremely useful to becoming rich?

After studying/interviewing hundreds of millionaires and being mentored by a few, I've come to realize there are 3 skills they all have mastered way above and beyond your regular Joe Shmo:

1. Sales
2. Marketing
3. Networking

Most people will see those 3 things and say "Yeah yeah I already know those are important", but those are the people who are still asking what they need to do to get rich. 

I'm 100% convinced within each of those skills lies to key to unlocking true wealth and control over your professional (and personal) life. 

Why?

Most people will say you should learn hard skills that are needed in society, spend 10,000 hrs and dedicate your life to a craft that is proven to pay off and you will be financially rewarded. I can tell you this, however, the people giving that advice are the people who have already chosen that path and give the same advice to validate their decision of a predetermined and limited life.

Sales, marketing, and networking are the most versatile skills you can posses.

If you know how to sell, you can exchange goods, ideas, and services for money—that's how every business makes money. If you understand marketing, you can spread goods, ideas, and services to the world—that's how you truly get rich. And if you know how to network, you can surround yourself with the right people who will support you and be the catalyst to creating, selling, and marketing your ideas.

Even if you're not an entreprenuer, these skills are always in high demand, and they're irreplaceable. You can always go higher a guy to make something or to meet specs, you can't always higher a guy that will bring you business and increase your cash flow.

Here are seven skills to master:

1. Master your mind. The mind is split into two: the conscious and the subconscious. The subconscious is what really matters, what produces the results, but it cannot tell right from wrong. The conscious on the other hand can, thus the conflict. The conscious mind exists just to act as a gatekeeper for the subconscious. Obviously you don't want the wrong things to make it through. Duality (right-wrong, good-bad, big-small, easy- hard) exists only in the conscious mind. During your "formation years" you got by default a lot of beliefs from the people around you (family, friends, teachers, colleagues, media etc).
2. Dream big and have a vision. White down the why behind your goal. This should be meaningful to you. Try with more things until you hit a home run. You need to get inspired by your goal. Your goal should be a mission to serve, to make a difference. Otherwise you are not going to take action. It's just going to be wishful thinking. This is the process that will inspire you to take action. It will come naturally as an idea or an urge to do something towards your goal.
3. Think creatively. The industrial revolution created "robotic mindsets" focus mainly on fulfilling pointless and repetitive tasks. A direct effect of that was a generalized creative thought atrophy:
1. Some years ago, the late Nobel prize-winning Dr. Albert Schweitzer was asked by a reporter, “Doctor, what’s wrong with men today?” The great doctor was silent a moment, and then he said, “Men simply don’t think!”  - Earl Nightingale, The Strangest Secret (1956)
2. The findings showed: 2% of the people think, 3% of the people think they think and 95% of the people would rather die than think. If you don't believe those numbers I challenge you next weekend to just sit down and think creatively for 8 hours. After 1 hour you wish you would be working.
4. Value your time. Value your time and improve your efficiency: 80% of the value comes from 20% of the effort. Which means that 80% of your effort is inefficient. Value your time and put it to good use, by prioritising the high ROI (Return On Investment) activities. We all have 24 hours in a day, but we don't use it the same way. That's how high achievers make better use of their time. Poor people spend time to save money. Rich people spend money to save time.
5. Manage your money. Pay yourself first. Save and invest. Get experts to help you. Multiple passive income streams.
6. Business & Sales. There's no business without sales. I like Mark Cuban's business rule: "Sales cures all." That's true.
7. Leadership. Drive to action is created through motivation and inspiration. The best way to imagine the difference between the two is to imagine motivation as a "push" while inspiration is a "pull". You get pushed into action by motivation and pulled into a higher purpose action by inspiration. An inspired person is motivated to act, but a motivated person is not inspired to act.

Is India heading towards a startup bubble?

The startup industry in India typically consists of three parties:

The guy who wants to get into a startup -

At best, this person is motivated by a deep desire to implement his idea which he thinks has a lot of potential. At worst, he is doing it because he wants to just do something and start-ups are cool, and he wants to impress girls.

I am not judging the people who get into startups; all I'm saying is that they are people. And people have varied motivations. Depending on what drives him, he is likely to put a more (or less) concentrated effort on business.

---

The man who wants to invest his spare money -

When an ordinary rich person (the investor in our startup story) is faced by a startup asking for money, he is likely to respond in two ways:

• He could look at the startup idea and see whether it makes sense for him to invest into it. If he does, he believes in the idea itself; OR
• The rags to riches stories are in his mind, and he has a fear of missing out - and he just wants to invest in anything... he wants to be rich too! This is in part stressed by headlines such as these - Our investment in Flipkart is now worth a little less than 300 times: Subrata Mitra.

The success of a startup also depends on whether the guy financing it is cautious with his money or not.

---

Look at this chart I made which illustrates the start-up situation in India:

The first (green) quadrant is what we all see when we think about startups. But there exists a gray and a blue zone as well, which is quite common. For a startup bubble to burst, however, we need to be in the red zone.

---

So are we in the red zone?

I would not go so far to say that India is actually in the red zone. Our youngsters and entrepreneurs are really excited about their ideas, and many of them have the knack to stand up for it and go through shit to see the light of the day. This is helped in part by the following -

• The internet and e-commerce - this has actually made it possible for a crazy idea to be commercialised
• Awareness and support - the government's initiatives for startups have made it possible to take bigger risks

But then, again, we have not even talked about the black horse in the race...

---

The girl who introduces these two -

Meet this girl:

It is her job to connect an awesome idea with money bags.

Her job description includes - (1) Checking the background of the idea owner, to see if he has the knack to stand up for his idea at all costs; (2) To evaluate the idea on behalf of the investor and see if it makes sense to invest in this idea; (3) Help in formulating a viable business plan and then pitching it to the investor to convince him that its worth his money.

The conflict is that she earns only if the money is actually invested.

Will she stand up for what is right and ensure that only the best idea passes through? Or will she pitch for whatever is coming her way, to make a healthy commission and just forget the idea afterwards?

Ladies and gentlemen, we don't realise how much power lies in her hands... If I may say so, the success or the failure of the startup bubble's future in India depends, to a big extent, on her.

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For a wonderful startup success story we need -

• Awesome idea and execution
• Cautious investor
• Sensible angel network

Whatsapp: Now that they can no longer read your messages, how will they make money?

Conversations are now encrypted end to end. Since as they say Whatsapp has no access to the messages, and they earn only from data mining, how will they earn money?

The future of Whatsapp and Facebook messenger is Chatbots.

When it comes to programs that have conversations with you, you already know about Microsoft's racist chatbot Tay. [1]

Tay is a clumsy, early mis-step of the software companies taking over customer support, IT support and sales support. [2]

But also your calendar, your email and your banking.

And if Facebook have anything to do with it, you'll be doing all of this via their messenger apps.

I have never understood why people think Facebook wants to sell your privacy.

Privacy = Trust = Your Time = Adverts = Money

Ergo, Privacy = Profit.

Facebook has no interest in selling your privacy, its too valuable to them. [3]

Apple fighting the US Government over encryption is part of their marketing budget.

We have always known that Time is Money. The internet just made it into an equation.

Revenue = Posts scrolled past * advertising load per 1,000 posts * cost per 1,000 views

Facebook got into messaging because people got into messaging. They saw the time usage and they knew the money would follow.

And that follow is another simple equation:

Revenue = user support requests * chatbot usage rate * cost per chatbot interaction

Apple have Siri and Microsoft have Cortana. They have been huge successes. But many people prefer writing. And guess what, Siri and Cortana are advertising unfriendly!

Remember every messenger user is somebody who found text communication more appropriate or superior to a phone call.

Although currently there are often humans behind these chatbots [4] , humans are unlikely to be part of this particular future.

Chatbots are going to make interacting with companies, and your employer, much easier. If it works the call center and support desk are dead.

I visited my bank a little while ago to discuss mortgages. Sat down opposite the titularbank manager, I asked about interest rates. "Let me just bring that up", he said as he went to the relevant webpage.

Remember when bank managers were important and not simply sales guys who point at their website? Remember when they were pillars of the community like George out of Its a Wonderful Life?

Now imagine you sat down with your HR manager, asking for a pay rise or maternity leave, and that manager saying "Let me just ask my Chatbot".

If you are a programmer, you might want to start working on your chatbot. If you're not you might want to join the basic income bandwagon.

Which Indian startups failed?

Everyone is posting about successful startups, their work culture and all but the failed ones are totally ignored here.
I want to know which ones failed and what was the reason behind their failure?
I am asking this question so that I can learn from it and beware of all that which can fail my startup.

In the e-commerce market dominated by the Bansals in India, not many would recognize the man in the picture, who is widely considered as the - 'Father of E-Commerce in India'. And he was the first person to do what the Bansals are doing today. Sell products... online !! 

And this man is K Vaitheeswaran, an engineering graduate from Tamil Nadu.

In many ways, Vaitheeswaran had a dream which offered hopeful glimpses of turning into a reality but eventually left unfulfilled. 

And he started in 1999. In comparison, Flipkart started only 8 years later.

This is the story of - IndiaPlaza.com

Pic: It has had different domain names, including - .in, .com, fabmall etc.

IndiaPlaza had a few things in favor, which in hindsight doesn't seem so, however. 

1. The Dot Com Boom: 

They started in 1999. And had a breeze for the first six month. They were in the front pages of business magazines in India. But then the bubble burst. Not only in India, but worldwide. But to their credit, IndiaPlaza survived till 2013.

2. First Mover Advantage: 

I often wonder if it really is an advantage. Many people would know that Niel Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon. Not many would be able to recall the second person. But does that apply in the business world as well? In some cases, yes. But not always. Sadly for IndiaPlaza, it definitely didn't work for them.

What didn't work for them?

1. They were too early

Even though, it is just a personal opinion, but I strongly feel they came into the picture when the market was not mature enough and wasn't ready for them. 

When I first heard about them, it was probably in 2002-03 and I said to myself - "Who buys online?" Close to a decade later (that is a long time), I made my first online purchase. A portable hard disk. And since then, have always preferred buying things online.

Starting off in 1999, however, was early. Way too early. 

But they survived long enough to see the market mature. It wasn't like they went out of business within a few years. 

They survived for 14 years. 

The company closed only in 2013. So, they definitely did other things incorrectly as well. And it is not hard to see why, at least from a visual aesthetics point of view.

2. Not a great looking website. 

And this is how their website looked in 2012. Not impressive if you ask me.

I wonder what cooking utensils and lunch boxes are doing in a section which reads, "Appliances, TVs & Home Entertainment". 

In case if you are wondering, whether this image is really from 2012. Yes, it is. Notice, the JK Rowling book? It is the cover of "The Casual Vacancy", which was published only in late 2012.

3. And it piled on...

IndiaPlaza never really had the need to raise a lot of money. They were profitable for a long time in their own niche. But competition came around starting from 2007 and started bleeding into their profits. They could no longer stay niche as the customers were going away. And when they realized that they needed money, they were getting desperate for it. They got a $5 million funding in 2011, which steadied the ship for a while. 

But by then, the engine was already old & rusty, the ship was sinking and the storm outside only made it worse.

What are some realistic ways to get rich in 5 years?

Most of the people give the same advice " Save and invest for years " i agree this is the best way to achieve this goal but i want to be able to enjoy a few things while i'm still young. I'm 25 now and want to hit around 200k USD  by the age of 30. What are the options

If your goal is to simply make money, you need to get good at selling things. Sales is the easiest way to control your financial destiny. However, I don't mean you need to become a salesman for your day job.

What I mean is you need to practice the act of selling things to people. Use Craigslist, eBay, Facebook, Amazon, Google Ads, whatever it doesn't matter. There are 100 different ways to get practice selling things.

But, you have to get practice in selling things because at some point, all money making comes down to selling something to someone else at some profit. Even stock trading.

You must get familiar with the idea of arbitrage or what I think of as "playing the spread". There exist millions of opportunities where you can simply purchase something in one market, and sell it in another market for a profit.

Here is a simple example. You can go to Goodwill or thrift stores and find used clothes that might still have the tags on it. Or, you can find cheap items on clearance at many, many stores.

Then you take those items and sell them on a different market. Some flip items on eBay or Amazon or Craigslist and can make as six figures simply doing that.

I've heard of people buying cheap firesale deals on gadgets, then turning around and selling them on Craigslist. They make money on the information imbalance between a global and local marketplace.

Some people buy broken down cars, fix them up, and sell them for a tidy little profit. Some find used books and sell them on Amazon. Some find affiliate offers and buy cheap traffic on Facebook to promote them. Some buy undervalued stocks and sell them days/weeks/months later and sell them at a profit.

The point is, you have to get in on the transactions. You have to hustle.

Once you gain skill in buying and selling things at a profit, you'll over time notice more and better opportunities. You'll even realize that some very successful retail operations like Gamestop are operating on this principle at scale.

All retail works on a notion of arbitrage. Buy wholesale in bulk, break the bulk and sell at a profit in your store.

If you do this long enough, eventually you'll gravitate to a market that suits you best. A group of suppliers and customers you like buying from and selling to.

Selling things at a profit is a valuable skill, one of the most valuable skills in the world actually. If you develop the skill, it doesn't matter if it is one year, five years, or ten years. You'll get to where you want to be.

ganesh

Who is the smartest human being that's ever lived?

It is very difficult to suggest  the most intelligent person to ever live because there have been so many people with remarkable intelligence skills in different fields like shakespeare, leonardo da vinci, tesla, einstein, newton, turing, mozart, von neumann and many more. So to announce one person as the best would be injustice to the others. 

But a person who i truly admire for his genius would be this man.

Nikola tesla

First off, Nikola Tesla was brilliant.  And not just like Ken Jennings brilliant, either - I mean like, "holy crap my head just exploded (from all the awesome)" brilliant.  The Croatian-born engineer spoke eight languages, almost single-handedly developed technology that harnessed the power of electricity for household use, and invented things like electrical generators, FM radio, remote control, robots, spark plugs, fluorescent lights, and giant-ass machines that shoot enormous, brain-frying lightning bolts all over the place like crazy.  He had an unyielding, steel-trap photographic memory and an insane ability to visualize even the most complex pieces of machinery – the guy did advanced calculus and physics equations in his damn head, memorized entire books at a time, and successfully pulled off scientific experiments that modern-day technology STILL can't replicate.  For instance, in 2007 a group of lesser geniuses at MIT got all pumped up out of their minds because they wirelessly transmitted energy a distance seven feet through the air. Nikola Tesla once lit 200 lightbulbs from a power source 26 miles away, and he did it in 1899 with a machine he built from spare parts in the middle of the god-forsaken desert.  To this day, nobody can really figure out how the hell he pulled that shit off, because two-thirds of the schematics only existed in the darkest recesses of Tesla's all-powerful brain.

He conducted the sort of crazy experiments that generally result in hordes of angry villagers breaking down the door to your lab with torches and pitchforks.  One time, while he was working on magnetic resonance, he discovered the resonant frequency of the Earth and caused an earthquake so powerful that it almost obliterated the 5th Avenue New York building that housed his Frankenstein Castle of a laboratory.  Stuff was flying off the walls, the drywall was breaking apart, the cops were coming after him, and Tesla had to smash his device with a sledge hammer to keep it from demolishing an entire city block.  Later, he boasted that he could have built a device powerful enough to split the Earth in two.  Nobody dared him to prove it. Cool!!


Despite being incredibly popular during his day, now Tesla remains largely overlooked among lists of the greatest inventors and scientists of the modern era.  Thomas Edison gets all the glory for discovering the lightbulb, but it was his one-time assistant and life-long arch-nemesis, Nikola Tesla, who made the breakthroughs in alternating-current technology that allowed for people to cheaply use electricity to power appliances and lighting in their homes.  They constantly fought about whether to use alternating or direct-currents (their bitter blood feud resulted in both men being snubbed by the Nobel Prize committee), but ultimately Tesla was the one who delivered the fatal kick-to-the-crotch that ended the battle – at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, his AC generators illuminated the entire experience, marking the first time that an event of that magnitude had ever taken place under the glow of artificial light.  Today, all homes and applicances run on Tesla's AC current.


Nikola Tesla was one of those super-genius badasses whose intellect placed him dangerously on the precipice between "great scientific mind" and "utter madness".  He held 700 patents at the time of his death, made groundbreaking discoveries in the fields of physics, robotics, steam turbine engineering, and magnetism, and once melted one of his assistants' hands by overloading it with X-rays - which isn't really scientific, but is still pretty cool.  And honestly, if there were one man on this planet who was ever capable of single-handedly destroying the entire planet through his insane scientific discoveries, it was Tesla.



“When asked how it felt to be the smartest man alive, Einstein’s reply was ‘I don’t know, you’ll have to ask Nikola Tesla’.”