The Indian government is losing patience with consumer-tech platforms using dark patterns or manipulative design tricks.

In late May 2024, Consumer Affairs Minister, Pralhad Joshi, gathered the country’s biggest internet companies, Amazon, Google, Zomato, Ola Electric, etc to give them an ultimatum: clean up your user interfaces by September 5 or face the consequences.

From hidden fees on Amazon to guilt-inducing pop-ups on Indigo, these tactics push users into spending more money, sharing more data, or giving up more control, often without realising it.

And they’re deeply baked into how these companies grow, making them hard to remove without hurting the bottom line.

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

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Just a year ago, U.S. officials publicly encouraged India to buy discounted Russian oil to help stabilise global markets during the Ukraine war. But fast forward to 2025, and the U.S, under President Trump, has slapped India with the highest tariffs in the world: 50% on its exports. Trump has accused India of funding Putin’s war machine.

So what changed?

In this episode, we break down how India went from energy partner to trade target for doing exactly what the U.S. once asked. We also look at the double standards: America’s own imports from Russia and its backing of Israel in Gaza.

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

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Earlier this week, Andrew Tulloch, co-founder of Thinking Machines and one of the key engineers behind OpenAI's GPT-4, reportedly said no to a jaw-dropping $1 billion offer from Zuckerberg's Meta.

Why would anyone say no to that kind of money? The answer lies in a high-stakes conflict for the soul of AI.

From Microsoft crippling Inflection AI and Meta’s $200M poaching spree to a growing rebellion led by top AI minds like Mira Murati, Andrew Tulloch, and Dario Amodei, we look at big tech’s desperate bid to own AI by buying its creators.

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

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In just over a year, EY India has seen at least 10 partners from its tech consulting division quit. Many of them were pioneers of significant practices like data analytics, cybersecurity and SAP. 

What’s interesting is how they left. There were no public announcements, or farewell parties. It was almost like these senior partners vanished from some of the consulting giant's most prized divisions. And with them, they’ve taken full teams, clients and decades of institutional memory. 

Now, its not that senior people stepping down is out of the ordinary. It’s the fact that these resignations came in such close succession. They hint at a pattern. 

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Ankit Nagori and Mukesh Bansal may have started the fitness unicorn Cult.Fit together, but their journeys since then are a study in contrasts.

On one hand is Cult.Fit. It's been a little over a year since Mukesh Bansal stepped down as Cult’s CEO. When The Ken reached out to him asking why, he clarified that he still remains involved. But involvement, of course, is a spectrum – sometimes it means steering the company to an IPO. 

The catch is that while Cult.fit wants to go public next year, there is no DRHP yet. There is also no FY25 data on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website. 

Then you have Nagori’s big bet – Cure.Foods. Under Nagori’s leadership, Curefoods went from 2 crore in revenue in FY21 to 775 crore in FY25. That’s according to its draft IPO documents filed in June. 

Yup, Curefoods is also looking to go public. But unlike Cult, Nagori has a DRHP, a valuation, and a business that sells things people eat. While Eat.fit was all about quinoa and millets, Curefoods evetnually became about what sells. After all, the focus was to scale. 

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

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India’s coffee scene looks like it is booming with new cafes, trendy menus, and big international names. But the truth behind is that almost no one is making money.

And then came along Zepto Cafe, the 10-minute coffee delivery, that wanted to change everything. In early 2025, it was clocking 100,000 daily orders and a $100 million run rate. But just months later dozens of its locations shut down.

Why did Zepto, with its speed, scale, and infrastructure, end up like every other coffee brand in India? It all boils down to brutal economics.

But if Zepto couldn’t make coffee profitable in India, can anyone?

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

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A 25% tariff on Indian textiles maybe a blow to India’s exports but that’s only half the story.

The latest trade move by Donald Trump could hit closer to home for American consumers. India is the third-largest supplier of apparel and home textiles to the U.S. after China and Vietnam. Both countries already face heavy tariffs from the US. Together, China, Vietnam, and India account for nearly 60% of American clothing imports.

So what happens when all three get taxed?

In this episode, we examine the possible ripple effects on American retailers, sustainable fashion, small brands along with the average Target shopper. Meanwhile, India isn’t sitting quietly. It’s already diversifying into Europe, Africa, and other regions.

Is this really about bringing back American jobs? Or will U.S. consumers be made to foot the bill?

Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

One channel. Every show. No more switching feeds.

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IVF chains in India aren’t deterred by paltry things like probabilities. They’ve made IVF the new C-section—essentially, a revenue-generating procedure pushed before natural alternatives are even considered. All at 4X the cost of a C-section, or around Rs 2 lakh for a single cycle.

The result is a $1.4 billion IVF market in India—10 times the market for cataract surgery, the most common procedure worldwide.

Unsurprisingly, venture-capital and private-equity firms have swooped in for the kill. 

That this growth is coming at the cost of quality care is the real problem. 

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

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Lenskart has grown into one of Asia’s biggest eyewear companies and is now gearing up for a massive IPO. It is aiming to raise ₹2,150 crore through a fresh issue as part of an ₹8,000 crore public offering. 

But as the company prepares to go public, a storm is brewing behind the scenes.

A group of former franchise store owners is accusing Lenskart of unfair practices and even fraud. They're alleging they were kept in the dark about store finances and undercut by company-owned outlets opening next door.

Now, these franchisees are pushing the Karnataka High Court to reopen an investigation into the company even as Lenskart insists it’s a contractual dispute.

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

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When Dreamfolks Services launched in India, it built the system that made airport lounge access work. It connected banks, card networks, and travellers to lounges across the country. For years, it stayed behind the scenes, powering the perks many took for granted.

Now, it’s being pushed out.

In this episode, we look at how Adani, India’s largest airport operator, is moving quickly to take control. Not just of the runways, but everything inside the terminals. Lounges, food courts, duty-free shops, and retail outlets are all being brought in-house. Some are being replaced. Others are being rebranded. And almost all are being absorbed by companies tied to Adani.

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

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