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Startup Inc's 'soft endorsement' of Modi govt
Bollywood stars and sports personalities have long been a familiar sight during election campaigns, lending credibility to the candidates and parties.
Driving the news
Last night, founders and honchos of companies like Zomato, EaseMyTrip, MapMyIndia, Dixon, Urban Company, Mamaearth and others gathered in a Lutyens’ bungalow.
- In the presence of two ministers of the Modi government, they heaped praises on the country’s achievements in the technology sector in the last 10 years
While some shied away from a direct endorsement, almost everyone agreed that they would like "continuity", a term favoured by the corporate world to refer to status quo.
Filmy atmospherics
The gathering could have been easily mistaken as one with movie stars delivering popular dialogues.
If Dixon boss Sunil Vachani talked about a newfound ‘josh’ in electronics manufacturing, a top tech lobbyist drew parallels between Veer Zaara and the government.
Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal regaled the crowd with an anecdote of his father taunting him as ‘Tu janta hain tera baap kaun hain?’ (Do you know who your father is?) when he was starting up.
Will Modi return?
“Boss, it is a 99 percent certainty. If people were not confident of it, do you think we would all have come here today?” said a 30-something-year-old founder who has never voted in a national election where the BJP lost.
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Picture credit: Kalaido.ai
The human cost of the Byju's crisis
The dramatic collapse of a decacorn like Byju's has had wide-ranging consequences.
- Beyond crashing valuations, investor disputes, and liquidity issues, one particularly striking impact has been the drastic reduction in its workforce
Once boasting 50,000 employees, Byju's staff has dwindled to around 30,000 in less than two years. Excluding Aakash and international entities, Byju's India now has fewer than 10,000 employees, down from 14,000 in 2023.
What the numbers don’t tell
The statistics don't tell the whole story. Behind these numbers are employees whose lives were upended by the downfall of what was once India’s most valued startup and the world’s most valuable edtech company.
Here are some individual accounts:
- Rishav, 26, let go from Byju’s in April, has faced 16 failed interviews. Even when he landed callbacks, the offers came with at least a 20% pay cut. "Byju’s is a sunken ship, at least here you'll be paid your salary," one hiring manager told him.
- Vijay, 35, a former academic centre head, is job hunting while his 60-year-old mother works for the first time to support the family. "I feel utterly helpless," he told us.
- And Raj, 27, who was forced to sell his parents' home due to financial pressure.
Mounting debts and legal battles
The situation is further complicated by unpaid dues owed to employees. An internal survey by a group of employees reveals Rs 5.17 crore in unpaid dues owed to just 400 people.
- This figure is only a fraction of the overall debts owed by Byju’s to its workforce, with the company having fired upwards of 10,000 employees in the last two years
Now, employees have taken matters into their own hands, appointing a lawyer and they plan to appeal to the NCLT to recover their dues.
Byju’s troubles
This comes even as Byju's is already battling legal showdowns with seven of its stakeholders in NCLT.
- This also follows a period of turmoil for Byju's, during which its investor board members, recently appointed CEO Arjun Mohan, and CFO Ajay Goel, have all stepped down from the company.
In the latest development, both Mohandas Pai and Rajnish Kumar plan to step down from Byju’s advisory board after the completion of their one-year contracts in June this year.
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Picture credit: Microsoft Copilot
Why VC partners are striking out on their own
The venture capital world is witnessing a season of departures.
What's happening?
Seasoned fund managers are leaving their established firms to venture out on their own.
- This year has seen several high-profile exits, including Sameer Brij Verma (Nexus Venture Partners) and Piyush Gupta (Peak XV Partners)
While this isn't a new trend, the reasons behind these exits have shifted in recent years.
Why are they leaving?
One key factor driving these exits is dissatisfaction with "carry," or carried interest.
- Carry is a portion of the partner's compensation tied to the fund's performance (usually around 20%)
Internal power struggles and lack of transparency are also contributing to these departures.
“Partners will not leave just because they just want to strike out on their own. People wanting to do something on their own because their VC firm is not allowing them to do so is a very rare set. They usually leave because there is a lack of transparency from the top,” Chirantan Patnaik, Director, Venture Capital, British International Investment (BII) said.
Funding should be a piece of cake, right?
Actually, not. The reputation of the partner can be a double-edged sword.
- While the partner's reputation carries the weight of their previous firm's pedigree, success is not always guaranteed
Building a strong personal brand and network is crucial for attracting investors to a new fund.
“No matter what one says about data points, venture capital is ultimately driven by relationships. So, the best networker may not be the best fund manager but there’s a good chance they’ll be able to raise successive funds and stay in the industry for longer,” said Siddarth Pai, Founding Partner, 3one4 Capital.
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MC Special: Malayalam movies hit Box Office gold
Malayalam movies are raking in money like never before, with three blockbusters in as many months and the highest-ever box office collections recorded in 2024.
- In a first for Indian cinema, a Malayalam movie even emerged as the highest-grossing language film in a month
The industry is giving other language films a run for their money, with "Premalu," "Manjummel Boys," and "Aavesham" playing to packed houses while Bollywood and other language films struggled to attract audiences.
- What's clicking? The Malayalam film industry has cleverly expanded its business beyond its home turf.
More movie magic here
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