India’s celebrated education technology company Byju’s went from being one of the world’s most hyped start-ups to being sued for fraud in a Delaware court and accused of engaging in unethical, if not illegal, behavior.

The episode serves as a cautionary tale about the world of start-ups, venture capital, and the crushing social pressures Indian children and parents face to climb up the social ladder. 

The story of the rise—and sudden fall—of Byju’s and its founder Byju Raveendran is detailed by the journalist Yudhijit Bhattacharjee in a new piece for the online magazine Rest of World titled, “The math tutor and the missing $533 million.”

Bhattacharjee is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine whose writing has also appeared in The New Yorker, National Geographic, Wired, and other U.S. magazines.

He is also the author of the New York Times-bestselling nonfiction thriller, The Spy Who Couldn’t Spell, and host of the podcast “Scam Likely.”

To talk more about his recent reporting, Yudhijit joins Milan on the show this week. They discuss the rags-to-riches backstory of Byju Raveendran, the anxiety Indian families experience around education and career success, and Byju’s miraculous rise—and sudden downfall. Plus, the two discuss the larger lessons of this episode for start-ups, investors, and India’s future as a consumer market.

Episode notes:

1. Pradip K. Saha, The Learning Trap: How Byju’s Took Indian Edtech For A Ride (New Delhi: Juggernaut, 2024).

2. Chloe Cornish, Jyotsna Singh, and Mercedes Ruehl, “How a teaching app feted by Silicon Valley was left chasing the Indian dream,” Financial Times, October 3, 2022.

3. “When venture capitalism goes wrong,” Financial Times, October 23, 2024.

4. “Understanding the Delhi Education Experiment (with Yamini Aiyar),” Grand Tamasha, January 22, 2025.