What went wrong with Byju’s? | Perspective Ep.11 | Faye D'Souza

India’s blue-eyed startup Byju’s that was once valued a whopping $22 billion has now slashed its own valuation by 99%! What happened to a once flourishing startup that was a darling of investors during the pandemic? From angry parents, to angry investors to angry creditors and angry employees. What went so catastrophically wrong?
Links:
What has Paytm done wrong? : • What has Paytm done wr...
WhiteHat Jr Founder Karan Bajaj Speaks to Faye D'Souza: kzbin.infoOQjoDVP7-Ho
00:07 - The success story
01:05 - Where did Byju Raveendran come from?
02:24 - The dream run between 2015 to 2021
02:56 - The Zuckerberg investment
03:24 - $10 billion valuation milestone
04:09 - Pandemic advantage
04:59 - A lavish marketing spend
06:12 - Byju’s buying spree
06:52 - A massive $1.2 billion loan
07:46 - The start of the downfall
07:52 - The angry parents
09:55 - The angry investors
10:54 - Dwindling revenues
11:55 - Bleeding assets
12:36 - An angry BCCI
13:03 - The angry creditors
14:09 - The angry employees
14:36 - Byju’s begins selling assets
14:56 - ED eyes Raveendran
15:41 - The founder takes a loan on his house
16:04 - Investors seek to remove the founder from board
Producer: Subhankar Singh Samanta
Researcher: Sara Varghese
Video Editor: Subhankar Singh Samanta
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#byjus #ed #sharktank #sharktankindia #edtech #byjus #shahrukh #messi

[@FayeDSouza]

Do you think the Indian start up story is over? Or even changing now?

[@shivaniisme]

Are there any common links between the falling giants who were once stars of INDIAN STARTUPS......

[@georgedheeraj]

If startups expect to run on VC funding then yes

[@kavyamisra8263]

Need more such content

[@rishabh.radhakrishnan]

I don't think the failure of one unicorn reflects the Indian startup scene. We are slowly beginning to see oreign investors considering India as a serious market. For every Byju's, there are many companies keeping their heads down and getting the fundamentals right which are exciting times for India!

[@rahulkaid]

Not really. But I think VCs will do a lot more due diligence

[@churabhok2869]

Byju's lacked something called - "Common Sense"

[@rammohan1991]

No they had something more called CoNman sense .

[@shovanabajracharya]

They lacked compassion, towards their employees towards the poor parents of the students who couldn't afford their courses.

[@seshdwarakanath955]

Ravindran took a loan of 12 million dollars against his 3 houses ? Where was he living , in Taj Mahals? He milked his customers and the investors and is now paying the price for his greed. Zero sympathy for him and his family.

[@nehacool28]

no bakwaas. no opinion. plain informative 15 minutes. Thank you Faye

[@blwndr22]

Would love to see more business and finance related stories more often😊

[@shirilmani432]

Also your ability to tell a story is incredible. This was very close to the experience of listening to a well narrated audiobook

[@shellysakhd8798]

Faye ma'am, your channel treads the fine line of not alienating people who are unaware while also not providing just basic information, very skillfully.

[@aminapadiyath]

True

[@truptidesaipai]

Very easy to understand for people like me who find it difficult to follow financial news. Thank you. i shared this link in my family whatsapp group and discussing goIng on over thus topic 😁

[@neelanjanadas5224]

Amazing case study! Reminds me of IIPM and Arindam Choudhury news breaking out a few years ago. Perhaps startups like we work, byjus etc all can be studied to understand the similarities (although operating in varied contexts) in their downfall. In the end, it hurts the common people and employees most who were promised so much.

[@illumenoty36]

Beautiful and concise. Just what I needed. Detailed enough and just about simplified enough.

[@FayeDSouza]

Glad it was helpful!

[@mayursanmugam4050]

Great piece Faye! News the way it’s meant to be! Fascinating how a similar personal story led Sal Khan to build Khan Academy - absolutely free, no superstar endorsements and compelling content!

[@jayaprakashsatyamurthy86]

Great overview. I have friends who worked for Byjus and were deeply disgusted at the things they had to do. The technologisation of education will only be exploitative and counterproductive as long as people see education as a business venture. PS: please consider not using AI generated art? Even crude stick figures by a friendly schoolchild would be preferable.

[@arindamdutta9371]

Well said...

[@srishtidar]

Very comprehensive narrative.. loved it

[@FayeDSouza]

Glad you liked it!

[@rameshbv8129]

The parents curse of getting fooled by Byju was the main reason for their downfall

[@harshitaparlani6733]

Thankyou for this piece. Very well explained and I would love to watch more of such business stories.

[@FayeDSouza]

Thank you so much!

[@RohanN537]

Thanks Faye, very comprehensive and succinct report. Look forward to more of these.

[@raviochani]

This is great breakdown!

[@roslyndsouza5349]

Please have more such case studies/ stories. Throughly enjoyed the program!! ✌🏻

[@7_years_and_]

He tried to grab more than he can chew .then he is just another business minded person with greed and skyhigh ambition .COVID boom actually made him worst

[@seemanthinichannamallikarj8156]

I love the way news is shared like a story, which makes it easy for people like me, who aren't that good at understanding finance.

[@FayeDSouza]

Thank you so much!

[@sajanaedwin]

Your reporting is so clear and concise. Thank you!

[@rajisarath]

Like you said, this will definitely have a massive impact on the Indian Startups. Pretty sad how such a promising company has gotten here today.

[@vijayaravindhariomnarayanan]

“Greed” & “ignorance” to sum it up.

[@rohitgeorge8879]

Very well articulated and pleasant viewing experience

[@JuzMeDa]

It was doing its business fraudulently and blowing their revenue recklessly. Please keep the business news coming please. This is very well explained.

[@wellnesscentre4064]

Various reason of its fall 1) Jio 4g cheap rate 2)Bad practice loan on std w/o any knowledge 3) Not considering cx feedbck only fake sale force sale 3) Inhumae practie with employee force work calling etc 4) Too much spending on the marketing instead of quality

[@VikasChaudhary72]

Awesome work. Precise and full of information. Love from Canada ❤

[@harryherbert4091]

Byjus issue very well explained. A case on " Do not 's" for start ups .

[@rishabhkurade6844]

Brilliant. So extensively and systematically explained.

[@robinparmar120]

Yes ma'am... Would love to get more news on biz, investments and stock market

[@MMD_EB]

You are a breath of fresh air in today's polluted environments(include journalism as well)!

[@xpidxb]

Thanks Faye for your efforts in dumbing it down for us 👍😊 Ironical, that the company that grew on the foundation of teaching Maths to many didnt have a cfo and blamed their financials on bad accounting practices 😂

[@FayeDSouza]

I'm glad you liked the video!

[@NatashaSinghActor]

Yes to more business n finance stories

[@shirilmani432]

You should do more business stories . Especially those that have wide appeal . You add immense value.

[@adityakripalani]

Thanks for this.

[@Nzp6959]

Randomly came on this site..❤️ it..Great story telling..Bingewatching it now

[@tarungrover3541]

Faye Ma’am you have nailed it .. If start ups go beyond their core competency …. cut corners .. they should be ready for investors to get after them … its not that starts up are not doing well … they have to take their investors in confidence in each and every decision if theirs … then they will succeed .. otherwise there will more like Byjus who will fail

[@dakshsharma3654]

Really informative and simple video. Totally worth it👌🏻

[@aneeshbalasubramaniyan5736]

This is such a great explainer Fay and team! Thank you

[@FayeDSouza]

I'm glad you found this helpful!

[@FayeDSouza]

Our pleasure!

[@progyandas9650]

Brilliantly structured Faye .....yesterday a couple of guys were talking about BYJU's downfall .

[@FayeDSouza]

Thank you!

[@rahulagarwala1]

Very clearly explained. Keep it up

[@FayeDSouza]

Thank you!

[@satvic_India]

He is from my place next door.kannur azhikode in kerala . The first quality he poses is a passion to teach inspired from his own father a head master 2nd the love for maths 3rd sudden leap and bounds listening to top notch people who are close to him 4th single handlelily want to take care of investment 5th.. Taking up companies running in loss listening to all the brainy minds This was the collapse zone for him rest was all investments i personally had a chat in bangalore during covid time.. Aim for the stars and you can land in moon.. I said good but there are not designed for human habitat and elon will follow soon😮. Ill say byjus is a great human being straight forward from the heart very sincere and honest guy maybe he star s set somewhere else

[@dvixdvi7507]

Great video Faye. Keep up this great work.

[@ruhilal4507]

Thanks Faye; the story is well summarised and presented. Perhaps the presentation can be supported with timeline visuals or such, as well.

[@rohilmenon9583]

Real shambles after running a company with no ethics and integrity. No accounting practices followed. Bound to fail!

[@mohammedmurtaza3257]

Brilliantly articulated...

[@FayeDSouza]

Thanks!

[@tojyjv748]

Super presentation. I have watched a dozen videos about Byjus, but this one is the best! By the way, I wont blame byju for this situation. I will put the blame on the investors.

[@FayeDSouza]

I'm glad you liked the video!

[@pran10000]

Excellent work

[@123lenu]

Faye!! Your analysis of a topic is commendable. very detailed, timeline, touching crux of it.

[@FayeDSouza]

Thank you so much!

[@WhatsInAName222]

Excellent video Faye. Somehow I feel like that growing up in the 80s, I managed to escape the pressure cooker that is education today. Sure there was competition, and there was stress, but nothing at the levels today. A gentle suggestion: the background music is distracting. I don’t think it added to the content in any way and in fact some what diluted the import of the topic. Thanks.

[@shanthipaddy]

Find it appalling that investors continued to pump in money without any due diligence. Money doesn’t talk. One needs to have the wisdom and capability to assess, guide, execute and course correct. The investors are as much to blame as the founders in this sham

[@pratikxv]

Such a shame , all bcoz he wanted to earn money fast.

[@roneysunil]

Thank you Faye. Very well written and narrated content.

[@FayeDSouza]

Glad you liked it!

[@FayeDSouza]

Glad you liked it!

[@shwetajadhav9676]

Great piece, Faye 👌🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@FayeDSouza]

Thanks!

[@neel6398]

wish to see you on TV as lead news anchor as we like your aggressive assertive and balanced style of presenting 😊

[@gladwyndcosta5407]

Brilliant analysis and explanation

[@FayeDSouza]

Thank you!

[@rajkumarlakhikant2727]

If the Byjus has anything to do with the principal of Delhi Public School RK Puram Mrs. Chona (sounding like China) and her husband (both from Haryana) who was in the Indian Armed Forces then its an terror link because a lot of Meitei students were in the school.

[@deeptigopalakrishnan5480]

Definitely would be more interested in the politicoeconomic news of yours😊 Excellently portrayed, snapshot of an entrepreneurial downfall. I can feel the growth process and the fall quite emotionally, with your choice of words, expression and tone.

[@dharmeshgupta4902]

Thanka for creating this detailed Video Faye. This needs a lotnof efforts. In my personal opinion the biggest 3 problems I saw in this company were. 1) It appeared to me a ponzi scheme. As it had all the ingredients of it, aggressive marketing, aggressive sales, and people forcing their friends and family for referrals. What else is a ponzi scheme? 2) Its aquisition of Aakash which was an established and most successful brand in its area. This was alike a biggest moral mistake just like Ravan kidnapping Sita. Eveeything starting falling thru the cracks after it and similarly for Byju as well. 3) I have never come across any video or article or a post by its founder whereinnhe discussed about education and how he is making a difference.

[@ibrahimabdullah6886]

Thank you Faye, for the befitting report.

[@FayeDSouza]

Glad you liked it!

[@jaskaransinghsira4469]

Excellent reportage ❤

[@muzaffaralisheikhji]

The byjus content is still good. Hope someday our NCERT books learn a thing or two from Byju’s content

[@kaneezchagani4808]

I think I'd love more of such business news to understand the strategies that have worked or failed for businesses to takeaway some learnings and case study to introspect on.

[@malamukherjeesuess8065]

Great video!

[@FayeDSouza]

Thanks!

[@gautambasu1295]

Tjanks for an incisive analysis.One issue comes.out in the forefront in cases of PayTM and Byjus is that apparently the founders weren't planning for a sustainable business model that would last for decades. Both these companies took the windfall that came with Covid (PayTM also took advantage of DeMo) and there meteoric growth were due to circumstances not made by them and they never had a plan B.

[@Basukinathkr]

When these ed-techs are discussed, one should not forget Punit Punia who actually worked hards to bring them all to justice.

[@user-xd1nu4ru4e]

Thanks for the info

[@philoxoper]

finally 2023 telled us all nothing is too big to fall

[@rajeshmadan37]

There many startup’s in India which have gone up very quickly and come down the same way.

[@neel6398]

good coverage faye ji

[@FayeDSouza]

Thanks!

[@saviodsouza3458]

This is why you hire Experts for their respective jobs. The amount spend on marketing is horrendous.

[@rajkumarlakhikant2727]

Mark trucker (berg) or trucker-bug (as it could be in China). In the late 1980s I was at the Free Press Journal and Indian Express at Bombay and because of the Metei Manipuri underworld connection was in an motor accident at Madam Cama road. Of late the TOI building at ITO in Delhi is gone for good and the TOI is now at the IE building next door. Because of the Delhi police system I was pushed out of Delhi and worked for someone in Manipur who was with the Delhi TOI named Pradip Phanjoubam (I think he had something to do with the WTO plane crash in America). They tried to kill me three times in the past two years I am in New Delhi and because of that now I know. I thought I'll tell your news channel.

[@InconspicuousYou]

Nobody explains as you do. A story told like it should be.

[@karthikk2896]

One of the legend from Kerala in this generation we have seen in India

[@yashagar4443]

Loved your take

[@FayeDSouza]

Thank you!

[@PASSIONArun]

I have not received any materials after payment in may

[@user-bt5yb3mx7y]

The video is great and the content is to the point… It would have been better presenting all the numbers in either USD or INR…

[@prashantdevadiga6696]

Namaskara Faye 🙏 Fantastic Narration 👏👏👏 really appreciate your high quality journalism, keep up your great work. Jai Hind 🇮🇳

[@FayeDSouza]

Thank you so much!

[@anilkumarmo]

A correction please -His parents were from Kannur in Kerala not Conoor".

[@bhashachatterjee598]

I love how this is being explained

[@FayeDSouza]

I'm glad you liked it!

[@blackwhite5879]

Byju's had been sending me a gift(dairy & card) on my birthday for the past 5 years - this year they didn't, I wondered why.

[@maryanneekka5792]

Faye , that was a superb presentation on BYJU's.. now we understand. And I must say my son almost signed up for a Course for his little girl.. an Agent did visit his home and was forcing them to part with 50,000/- Thank God, common sense prevailed.

[@Atsa_thonger]

Greediness leads to down fall of Byju’s

[@CrazyWatcher670]

I think they fell into bad company and got bewildered from there. That SRK sponsorship was inignorable red signal.

[@TheTwara]

The harm like these guys do to education is even more than they do to business.

[@williamfernandes305]

😮 I'm smitten by your charming intellectual.

[@razm3610]

Jarurat se jyada hero banne se esa hota hein.....

[@martingolla7802]

Hi Faye......the same was met by mt edutech i.e. Mahesh tutorials. Please try doing a comparative study of this case too.....see if there are parallels. BTW where is NIIT today....also apple edutech.

[@TheVg4]

Okay, Faye. Nice of you to make this video. But please do get a fact check. Think and Learn started with CAT prep, the selling point being Byju had cleared the CAT exam in the top percentile. It diversified to k-12 much later. I know this because I worked there during the transition.

[@tubing40s]

I was always suspicious and sceptical of Byju's business model and its vision of education. As a learning professional, there are several flaws in its pedagogic approach which commodifies education for schools. No matter your starting point in life, beware of where your talent will take you

[@gladwyndcosta5407]

Can you please highlight the number of public reality listed companies that have collapsed in last 10 years It will help investors and home buyers to protect their hard earned earnings and be protected from builders who spend high on advertising and sell aggressively

[@booksdumbbells]

It is simple. They offered parents free return and instead they made them sign emi letter. My cousin was falsely made into sign and they has to pay a monthly emi regardless of using it. Pathetic service and backlash from middle class parents

[@kayesplay4249]

Corrections in your video- after aarin funding, Byjus got ad funding from ToI which allowed it full pafge ads in ToI without paying for them.

[@agsitaraman3270]

Sheer greed.if education is his focus what is the need to squander money in IPL.

[@mohit13reddy]

"edtech", glorified coaching centres

[@rajanarora94]

Zomato/Swiggy are also on the same low-profit/high-borrowing path, with shady and shoddy business practices. They're yet to explode, just wait and watch.

[@Starscream_313]

More videos like this, less videos on politics.

[@shankarbalakrishnan2360]

Too much money infused for slowing growing❤❤🎉🎉

[@vipinjoseph5159]

Not Ravindra, it's Raveendran. Not Kunnur, it's Kannur.

[@jaythakker7678]

Obsession of valuation over value ?