Daybreak

Not long ago, being a fintech company in India meant having a promising future. Because people would always needed to make payments which is why it was assumed that building better products around these needs would ensure good business.

But it was not how things panned out. And the story of Instamojo, a promising fintech company is testament to that.

After 11 years of being in the business, it has decided it does not want to be a payments company anymore. 

In 2016, Jio invested more than $50 billion to roll out a 4G network across India. The move disrupted the telco sector leaving Airtel down at the second place. The other rivals didn't make it

The telecom sector was left in the hands of a duopoly. Now, there is a new war between these two giants and it is over home broadband.

In fact, the crown they’re fighting for is to be the go-to service provider for not just broadband but the whole works—a complete suite of entertainment, gaming, and home-surveillance services. 

What are they up against and how are they prepping to win?

Tune in.

Recommended reading: Jio, Airtel brace for another epic price war. And it’s not for mobile users

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

From amazing salary hikes and other perks being served on a silver platter just a year or two ago to now, when companies are using salary benchmarks to figure out whether they have overvalued employees—the startup ecosystem in India is going through a churn.

In fact, as many as a quarter of startup professionals might be what HR and hiring professionals are terming as 'unhireables' at this point.

Former overvalued startups that had gone on hiring sprees are now doing all they can to correct their mistakes while employees are resisting, waiting for things to settle with fingers crossed.

Tune in.

Recommended reading: India’s startup workplaces confront the rise of the ‘unhireables’

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

What makes Dunzo unique is that one could never imagine a company its size to have the kind of influence it does.

In 2022,  a $200 million funding  from Reliance Retail sent the quick-commerce startup flying high. It began expanding its dark stores and even ran advertisements in IPL.

But the IPL led boom did not last long. The same year, the number and volume of orders began to decline.

Dunzo was forced to recalibrate its focus and rethink its strategy. 

Tune in!

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

India's youngest detect unicorn is on a relentless expansion spree. So much so that its investors want it to slow down.

From establishing itself as the leader of NEET-JEE test preparation, Physics Wallah (PW) wants to dip its toes in a bunch of other areas—from banking and defence to civil services now. Not to forget short-term skilling courses and even tie-ups with schools.

Despite this hyper growth phase coming after PW became the only profitable edtech unicorn in the last financial year, cracks are appearing on its armour now.

Tune in.

Recommended reads:
India’s youngest edtech unicorn Physics Wallah is making an audacious gamble
Physicswallah vs the popstar

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

Last year in October, the Karnataka government banned Ola and Uber autorickshaws after they were caught overcharging.

A month later a new app was launched and it was almost antithesis of Ola and Uber. It charged zero commission from drivers and no cancellation or surge charges from riders. Plus, the government supported it by saying it would be listed on its e-commerce behemoth, ONDC.

Yet, eight months later, Namma Yatri is not growing as much as expected in terms of registered drivers and users.

Tune in to find out more.

Recommended reading: Your Namma Yatri auto driver may still be on Uber, Ola

Also, listen to: Gaurav Munjal of Unacademy on being confrontational, paranoid and transparent

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

Freshworks, one of the most successful SaaS companies that was listed on Nasdaq in 2021, wanted to hit $1 billion in annualised revenue by 2023. What made it stand out was also its employee-first approach.

That it took the company just 5 years to climb from $1 million in ARR in 2010 hit $100 million indicated that the target could've been achieved. but it's 2023, and Freshworks is only halfway towards the goal.

How is the company planning to pursue its profit goals?

Tune in to fine out.

Recommended reading: How Freshworks is going from being a ‘people-first’ to a ‘profits-first’ company
Subscribe to The Ken for more exclusive, deeply-reported, analytical business stories.

The pandemic worsened the nursing crisis in India. If 35 nurses were required for every 10,000 people, India only has 25. 

Exploitative work conditions and poor pay are making nurses migrate in huge numbers to other countries for better jobs. It is an exodus.

The government on its part its trying to solve the crisis by building more nursing colleges. But this is akin to a doctor treating the symptom instead of the disease.

Tune in to find out why.

India’s nutraceutical market is estimated  to be worth $4-5 billion and the government expects it to be worth almost five times more in the next two years. 

As important as it is to monitor the rapidly growing market, regulations have not really kept up.

And in a post-Covid world where preventive healthcare has become all the rage, a dangerous situation is being created. Health supplement makers are flouting RDA guidelines and consumers have been paying little attention.

Tune in to find out why you need to read the fine print before you buy your next dose of multivitamin gummies.

Recommended reading: How healthy are health supplements? India’s food regulator wants to find out

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

Last week, a full search and seizure operation was carried out by the Enforcement Directorate on three offices of edtech giant Byju's. The $22 billion startup is being investigated under the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

The move comes at a terrible time for Byju's since it is already struggling with a long list of troubles including a potential debt crisis. The company still hasn't filed its financials for FY 2022.

In this episode, not only do we look back at Byju’s missteps, we also go over what it did right, and how it still did not matter.

Tune in.

Recommended reading: The seven things you need to know about Byju’s FY21 financials
Subscribe to The Ken for more exclusive, deeply-reported, analytical business stories.