Nearly a decade ago, Hotstar, Netflix, and Amazon Prime entered the scene and positioned themselves as the anti-TV. No fixed showtimes. No endless ad breaks. No re-runs you had to sit through just because nothing else was on. For the first time, we were in control. TV became personal. It became on-demand. And best of all—it was ad-free. It felt like there was no going back. But now something has shifted. Subscriber growth is stalling, and that’s making streaming platforms nervous. Really nervous...
May 22, 2025•39 min•Ep. 495
Back in 2016, the Internet and Mobile Association of India set up an all new club for what was then a very small cohort of digital leaders in corporate India. It was called the all-India Chief Digital Officer club. Back then, there were only about five-six CDOs that were members. The point of the initiative was to give legitimacy to this new, emerging role. But soon enough, the initiative fizzled out. Not because the role didn’t take off or anything. Actually, the opposite. The initiative became...
May 22, 2025•12 min•Ep. 494
For decades, the whole process of getting a loan approved was infamously painful and long winded. But now things have changed. Getting a loan is a whole lot faster than before. And that’s because of the disruptor to end all disruptors — artificial intelligence. A bunch of companies have entered the scene with specalised AI tools to speed up different aspects of the loan-approval process. In fact, Indian AI startups have managed to raise nearly 750 million USD in 2024 and the banking and financia...
May 20, 2025•15 min•Ep. 493
Family offices—the ultra-rich who used to hand over their money to VCs and wish them well—are now wondering why they ever bothered. Why did they pay someone to do what they could do themselves, on their terms? Their primary gripe? The funds are not returning money. Of course, the so-called middlemen in this scenario aren't too pleased. After all, they are losing a substantial amount of business in the process. But it all boils down to one thing – who’s running the money. Tune in. Daybreak is loo...
May 20, 2025•19 min•Ep. 492
At first glance, things seem to be really looking up for India’s very own budget-friendly hotel chain Oyo. It’s had some pretty big wins in the last few months. So why then is its eventual IPO still the subject of such widespread speculation? The Ken's Deputy Editor Seetharaman G put it quite well in the latest edition of his newsletter on the Indian stock market, ‘Long and Short’. He said – ‘few companies are as good as Oyo Hotels at not going public’. Its listing has been a few years in the ma...
May 18, 2025•8 min•Ep. 491
Just two days after the Pahalgam terror attack, alarm bells went off inside India’s financial system. A stern message from an HDFC Bank executive summed up the mood: “They may come for us now.” The national security tragedy triggered a sudden and sweeping crackdown on India’s digital payments ecosystem. Behind closed doors in Delhi, top officials from the Finance Ministry, Home Affairs, and the Reserve Bank of India launched a coordinated push to track suspicious merchant activity online like ga...
May 15, 2025•14 min•Ep. 490
Zara and Tata’s retail arm, Trent, have been partners for 15 years. But that relationship might be coming to an end because Zara’s not pulling its weight anymore. Its share of Trent’s overall sales has dropped from 28% to just 10% in six years. Its rivals like H&M and Uniqlo have moved faster, reached more cities in a much shorter time span. Meanwhile, Trent’s been busy. It used what it learned from Zara and built something better. Zudio, its budget fashion brand, just hit $1 billion in sale...
May 14, 2025•10 min•Ep. 489
One clear sign that Angel One—India’s third-largest discount broker—is serious about reversing its fortunes is that it bought itself a front-row seat at India’s most expensive distraction: the Indian Premier League. That’s ambitious. Especially for a company that just flunked its latest earnings test. Between fiscal year 2020 and 2024, Angel One proudly nuked its full-service past—no more phone calls, no more reports, no more advisers—and became a pure-play discount broker. Just an app, an order...
May 13, 2025•11 min•Ep. 488
In March this year, a software developer that goes by Pea Bee online published a blog rather ominously titled ‘Everyone knows all the apps on your phone’. He found that several Indian app-based startups are flouting rules of Google Play—Android’s app store—to access people’s data. In particular, some apps use a workaround to scrutinise the names and usage patterns of other apps on people’s phones. In real time. Now, the fact that apps have a lot of your data may not be a surprise to you. We’ve b...
May 13, 2025•13 min•Ep. 487
Physics Wallah’s brand new initiative, the PW Institute of Innovation, was pitched as an alternative to the tough IIT route that didn’t compromise on quality or career prospects. It even came with a scholarship, a residential campus in Bengaluru, and a shot at a good job after graduation. On paper, it looked like the perfect deal. However, students who signed up had to juggle a confusing mix of courses, keep up with a changing curriculum, and struggle through administrative chaos. Even basic thi...
May 12, 2025•14 min•Ep. 486
Eyestem, a 14-member biotech startup from Bengaluru is turning heads in global pharma circles. With just $10 million and a modest 1,200 sq ft office, it has developed a promising cell therapy for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD)—a condition that leads to blindness and has no cure. Early trial results are not only encouraging, they’re outperforming billion-dollar competitors in the West. But this isn’t just about scientific innovation. It’s about doing more with less. Eyestem’s founders...
May 09, 2025•10 min•Ep. 485
Nagpur-based Counter Cyclical Investments doesn’t waste time with handholding. The six-year-old firm has a reputation for being quite cut and dry with its clients. Consider some gems from the ‘who should invest with us’ long-list. “Those who won’t disturb us by calling us for reassurance everytime the market falls.” “We don’t have any provision for a relationship manager. Once you have taken an informed decision to invest in our PMS, please avoid calling us. Those who are looking for regular cor...
May 08, 2025•12 min•Ep. 484
Four months ago, food delivery giant Zomato decided to run an experiment. If you are a regular patron of the app, you may have noticed a tab called ‘Quick’ appear, that promised 15-minute deliveries in a bunch of metropolitan cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi NCR. Now, the company’s founder and CEO made an interesting statement last year that explains why it would choose to try out this experiment. He was asked a question about how quick commerce has changed customer expectations around fo...
May 06, 2025•45 min•Ep. 483
Thanks to AI, economic disruptions, mass layoffs, and a bunch of other fun things, the 40-year career is no longer something you can take for granted. And that fundamentally changes the nature of our careers. No one embodies that change more than the Gen Z workforce. Young employees are now seeking a job, not a career. They don't join organisations to retire from them. Instead they see them merely as a step along the way. Which is why, the most rigid companies, known for being forts of loyalists...
May 06, 2025•16 min•Ep. 482
The world’s “most respected” test of school education—the Programme for International Student Assessment or PISA—began this March. 90 countries are on the list including China, Vietnam and some of the poorest nations in the world. But India? We’re sitting this one out. In fact, India hasn’t touched PISA in 16 years! The last time it did, in 2009, India ranked 72nd out of 73 countries. Only Kyrgyzstan did worse. Ever since, the country has been quietly working behind the scenes to fix its educati...
May 04, 2025•12 min•Ep. 481
The Life insurance Corporation of India or LIC is now stepping into a sector where more than 860 million Indians or nearly 60% of the population still has no coverage. The insurer signalled its big move into health insurance in March this year with a major acquisition—49% of Manipal Cigna, a private health insurer, in a deal valued at over ₹3,500 crore. And here’s where things get really interesting. This is LIC we are talking about. It doesn’t need to chase quarterly returns or exist to make sh...
May 01, 2025•12 min•Ep. 480
Ather Electric once pioneered the electric two wheeler segment. But now it has fallen behind its competition like Ola Electric and TVS Motor in terms of market share. To make matters worse, its recent IPO saw a lukewarm response from investors. One thing is clear -- up until now, Ather’s focus has been on building superior products, loaded with features and a smooth user experience. But to take things to the next level, Ather will have to build a more compelling narrative. How did it get here? W...
May 01, 2025•16 min•Ep. 479
Earlier this month, India’s largest third party logistics company, Delhivery, acquired its biggest rival Ecom Express in a $165 million distress sale. The acquisition could not have come at a better time for both parties. Things have been tough for Ecom for some time now. The company, in fact, called off its IPO plans just this February, about six months after filing the papers and ended up laying off hundreds of its employees. Meanwhile, Delhivery has been soldiering some tough times too. By ac...
Apr 28, 2025•12 min•Ep. 477
Mahindra’s new EVs the XEV 9e and BE6 were marketed as software wrapped in metal. They promised the future. Things like augmented reality heads up display, auto park assist, a triple screen dashboard, an in car camera, and a digital key based on near field communication. But now, that long list of cutting edge features is proving to be a real bottleneck for the company. The Ken spoke to at least a dozen frustrated buyers of Mahindra’s new electric twins, who haven’t yet received their cars despi...
Apr 28, 2025•13 min•Ep. 478
In January this year, Netradyne, the logistics AI startup, became India’s first unicorn of 2025 after it raised $90 million in series D funding. You see, it did not take it long to realise that its sweet spot is the long-distance trucking segment. It serves over 3,000 customers across eight countries, including the likes of Amazon, Shell, Indian Oil and Greenline Mobility. And it all began with one rather primitive prototype. Of course, now it has morphed into a compact device with a built-in GP...
Apr 27, 2025•13 min•Ep. 476
In this episode we fill you in on three standout stories from the past week. First, what ITC’s acquisition of 24 Mantra means for the larger organic food market; Next, Musk’s latest attempt to save Tesla; And finally, why Blusmart’s unravelling was an eventuality we all chose to ignore. Check out the newsletter and podcast mentioned in this episode: The latest edition of Trade Tricks The Nutgraf: Blusmart and the dogs that didn’t bark...
Apr 25, 2025•15 min•Ep. 475
On 9 April, as the world reeling from the tariff standoff between America and China, one Indian company quietly made history. The stocks of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company Indigo, India’s top budget airline, hit an all-time high. For a brief moment, Indigo wasn’t just India’s largest airline—it became the most valuable airline in the world. More than Delta even. Back home though, meanwhile, a different story has been playing out. Thousands of Indian flyers have been complaining online ab...
Apr 24, 2025•12 min•Ep. 474
Here’s the thing about the Indian carbonated beverage market – for decades now it has been a two, sometimes three horse race dominated by everyone’s favourite black coloured colas. Pepsi, Coca Cola and Thums Up. But in the last year or so, a 160-ml bottle of cumin-flavoured soda has managed to do what very few bottled beverages could. It has challenged the Indian beverage industry’s holy trifecta – the Coca-Cola-Pepsi-Parle Agro trio. The crazy thing is, this isn’t some massive global brand that...
Apr 23, 2025•13 min•Ep. 473
In 2021, Ashni and Avni Bayani, the scions of industrialist Kishore Biyani’s Future Group, launched their own venture – a startup studio called Think 9 Consumer Technologies. The concept was simple – they would incubate new brands across categories like apparel, beauty, health and wellness and food; and then use common teams for marketing, technology and even product development. Why? Well, according to an executive from the startup studio, the end goal is to be able to build them into sizable b...
Apr 22, 2025•9 min•Ep. 472
On 19 March, the Indian government slashed incentives for UPI transactions by more than half to Rs 1,500 crore for FY25. After it launched in 2016, UPI very quickly became the backbone of India’s digital economy–thanks to demonetisation, and well, the pandemic. Most importantly, it was the radical decision to keep it free that fuelled its growth. No merchant fees. No transaction costs. But the zero-MDR policy came at a price because payment processors lost more than 2500 crore last year alone. A...
Apr 21, 2025•14 min•Ep. 471
In this episode, we dive into a topic that is as daunting as it is exciting — the future of careers. First, we talk about a troubling trend in workplaces today — the rise of the unwilling retiree; Next, we share some of the lessons learnt by students who graduated during economic downturns in the past. Check out the stories and newsletters mentioned in this episode: Why more 40-somethings are becoming unwilling retirees Lessons from past students who graduated during economic downturns The Ken i...
Apr 17, 2025•17 min•Ep. 470
What happens when India’s biggest streaming platform decides it’s no longer satisfied with just airing Koffee with Karan and cricket? And it now wants to take on YouTube and Instagram? You get Sparks–an ambitious experiment by Jiohotstar that’s is set on winning over Gen Z viewers, one short video at a time. In February, right before the IPL kicked off, Jiohotstar launched Sparks. It is a free, creator-led platform of bite-sized episodes featuring the likes of Tanmay Bhat, Zakir Khan, Ranveer Br...
Apr 17, 2025•21 min•Ep. 469
In a little over a decade, Lenskart has gone from being just India’s biggest online eyewear retailer to becoming one of Asia’s biggest omnichannel eyewear giants. Needless to say, business has been booming. And the company is now inching towards its next big step – an IPO. But in the midst of all its success, it appears Lenskart may have rubbed some people the wrong way. The catch is that these are the very people who helped it get to this point in the first place – the franchise owners that ope...
Apr 16, 2025•15 min•Ep. 468
Back in 2019, an ed-tech called Scaler Academy decided to do for tech education what Masters’ Union did for the traditional MBA. The tech-upskilling platform launched in 2019 with a simple pitch: take AI, machine learning, and data science courses, get placed at top tech firms, and make a lot more money. But five years later, that formula is breaking down. The very thing Scaler trained people in—AI—is making it redundant. Tune in. Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first ...
Apr 15, 2025•15 min•Ep. 467
Welcome to the world of consulting in 2025. AI is everywhere—from writing reports and making decks to crunching numbers. But you’d think the likes of McKinsey, Bain, and BCG would be worried about AI, right? Because AI reduces the knowledge gap between them and their clients. Turns out, instead of resisting it, they’re going all in. The ones feeling the heat are junior most employees—the consultants. Timelines are shrinking and expectations are going up. Creativity? Who cares about that anymore....
Apr 14, 2025•13 min•Ep. 466
