Episódios
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Meet Shaik Salauddin, a 38-year-old cab driver from Hyderabad, who is fighting for the rights of eight million gig workers from across the country.
While India's gig economy is burgeoning, the workers on whose backs it is built barely enjoy any rights or legal protections. Salauddin realised this early on and in 2019, after five years of relentless pursuit, the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) was born. With over 25,000 members working for aggregators like Uber, Amazon, and Zomato, through IFAT, Salauddin is redefining the way we look at trade unions. To begin with, the union has no political affiliations. Instead, Salauddin encourages all of its members to understand power structures and approach the right people to drive change.
Thanks to his efforts, two states, Karnataka and Rajasthan, have introduced legislations to protect the rights of gig workers. Others like Kerala are working on their own.
In this episode, hosts Snigdha and Rahel speak to Salauddin himself and to Prof. Vinoj Abraham from Labour Economics at the Centre for Development Studies in Thiruvananthapuram to understand the significance of Salauddin's work and why it is important to protect gig workers.
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, and analytical business stories.
A special shout out to Hari Krishna, from the Two by Two team, who kindly agreed to dub parts of this episode. Thank you, Hari!
Fill in Akshaya's Happiness Survey here
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For nearly two decades, Abhishek Ganguly worked as the managing director of Puma, the German athleisure brand in India. In that period alone, the brand’s revenue shot up from Rs 20 crore to close to Rs 4,000 crore. Under Ganguly, Puma even managed to beat its longtime rival Adidas to become a market leader.
In 2023, Ganguly decided to quit and start his own venture called Agilitas Sports with two of his colleagues from Puma, Atul Bajaj and Amit Prabhu. Within a year, Ganguly’s company has managed to rack up more than Rs 700 crore in revenue.
The way Ganguly and his co-founders got to this point is interesting. Instead of doing the obvious thing and launching their own sneaker brand, Ganguly did something quite odd. Something, that even the biggest sportswear brands in the world – Nike, Reebok, Adidas – have never even attempted.
Last September, Agilitas bought India’s largest sportswear contract manufacturer, Mochiko shoes. This is the company that manufactures shoes for international brands like Adidas, Puma, New Balance, Skechers, Reebok, Asics, Crocs, Decathlon – the works. Ganguly’s logic behind owning the factory is simple – he wants whole pie and not just a slice of the margin.
He told The Ken's DVLS Pranathi that having the additional manufacturer’s margin in a price-sensitive market like India is worth its weight in gold. But there is a reason giants like Puma and Adidas don’t go down this road—taking care of manufacturing in-house is a logistical nightmare. That’s why most brands outsource to companies that are equipped to do it, like Mochiko.
But Agilitas is dead set on bringing the entire operation in-house. It’s convinced it can work and has also managed to convince VCs that there is merit in controlling both manufacturing and distributing.
Investors are betting on the Ganguly-Bajaj-Prabhu trio to pull off another Puma-sized victory.
But will the other shoe drop?
Tune in.**The host mistakenly said a decade instead of two decades when referring to Abhishek Ganguly's stint at Puma. The error is regretted.
Fill in Akshaya's Happiness Survey hereDAYBREAK UNWIND RECCOMENDATIONS FOR COMFORT FOOD SPOTS
Rahel: Kappa Chakka Kandhari, Bangalore,
Unnamed food truck at Utorda Beach, South Goa
Snigdha: Alu Dum from Bari's tuck shop near Loreto Convent, Darjeeling
Thukpa at Kunga's, near Planter's Club, Darjeeling
Ghee Podi Dosa from Umesh Refreshments, Indiranagar, BangaloreSatyam: Litti Chokha, Jai Mata Di Food Stall, HSR Layout, Bangalore
Shayanika: Dosa and Puliyogare Rice at 3 Trees Cafe, Upper Dharamkot, Dharamsala
Rahul: Egg fried rice at Tenzin Kitchen, Koramangala
Akshaya: Okonomoyaki and fried tofu sushi at Dahlia, Chennai
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Back when it was launched in 2020, Bajaj Finsev Health had a clear plan: it wanted to provide a complete healthcare package to its consumers.
And it did that by happily playing a supporting role in India’s booming healthcare industry.
Here's what Bajaj Finserv Health does. It is essentially a health management platform. So it facilitates things like doctor consultations and health checkups to its 400-odd corporate clients. Simple enough.
But four years later, the company’s vision has evolved. They want to take things to the next level. It’s clearly sick of playing a supporting role. So it has decided to step into the spotlight. The first step was to acquire 22-year-old Vidal Healthcare, which is a third party administrator.
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, and analytical business stories.
PS. While you're here, here's the happiness survey for the season finale of The First Two Years.
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Subway, the globally popular sandwich-eatery chain, is now grappling with sweeping changes in India—and not for the better. For one, the world’s largest quick-service restaurant (QSR) brand is moving away from the franchise model it has operated under for the past 25 years. In doing so, it’s also shedding the very thing that made it popular in the first place: choice.
Tune in.
Don't forget to send us your recommendation for this Thursday’s Unwind segment. The theme is “comfort food at your fav spot in the city.” Send them to us on WhatsApp as a voice note or as a text message. The number is +9189711-08379.
Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
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Last month, a Twitter post a Bengaluru-based IT professional about getting a laptop delivered from Flipkart went viral on social. The reason? Flipkart’s quick delivery arm called Minutes that went live in select cities had delivered it to him at a Starbucks cafe in 13 minutes.
But Minutes is Flipkart’s third attempt at quick delivery. And the real test is actually around the corner when the Big Billion Days sale goes live at the end of this month. During the sale, daily order volumes usually go up by nearly 140%, which makes delivery delays unavoidable. Flipkart’s delivery partners who work with its logistics and supply-chain arm, Ekart Logistics, are stretched thin. And now its going to get even more challenging because Flipkart is going use the same delivery personnel for Minutes.
Not only is Ekart going to help Flipkart with quick delivery, it is also supposed to be helping it manage its dark stores. Can Flipkart finally strike the right balance between its e commerce and quick commerce business?
Tune in.
Don't forget to send us your recommendation for this Thursday’s Unwind segment. The theme is “comfort food at your fav spot in the city.” Send them to us on WhatsApp as a voice note or as a text message. The number is +9189711-08379.
Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
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Back in the late 2000s when Byju's was founded, it was best known for teaching students how to 'hack' competitive examinations like the CAT. They taught students how to work backwards from the answer and use a bunch of shortcuts to get the highest score possible. The art of 'hacking' examinations was something that the company's founder, Byju Raveendran, was the master of. Or at least that's how the Byju's origin story goes.
It all started back in the early 2000s when Byju, an engineer from a small town in Kerala, began helping his friends with the CAT exam. Every time he would sit for the exam, he’d score in the 100th percentile. This was when he sharpened his ability to teach-the-test. The lore spread and Byju's was created. By 2022, its valuation hit $22 billion. The company was on a dream run.
The real trouble began when Byju’s began applying this hack method to its growth with unrealistic sales targets and billions of dollars in loans.
Fast forward to now, on Sept 17 2024, the Supreme Court of India is going to hear a plea against the NCLAT's stay on insolvency proceedings against Byju’s.
In this episode, we dive into the Byjus saga. How did it get here? And who is to blame? Hosts Snigdha and Rahel speak to Olina Banerji, who covers education for The Ken. Subscribe to her newsletter, Ed Set Go.
If you've been wondering what The Ken is all about and why our subscribers love us, here is your chance to find out. Check out our special 30-day trial curated just for you
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The real-estate market of Delhi-NCR is an anomaly. The Ken spoke to a bunch of potential homebuyers who are looking for premium apartments with budgets of up to 2.5 crore rupees. Real-estate experts are telling them to give up on their dreams. Lately, the national capital has been facing an acute supply crunch of new housing projects, especially in the mid-premium segment (80 lakh to 2 crore rupees) depending on the city. Delhi NCR has witnessed the sharpest fall in inventory in this segment in the last few years.
Real-estate prices in turn have shot up far beyond the reach of most buyers. But it’s not like demand for housing has gone down because of these sky high prices. People are still buying tens of thousands of these mid-premium houses in and around Delhi.
So the obvious question then is: why aren’t more residential housing units being built?
From listeners:
Praveen: Partner (2007)
Sravan: The Intern
Anish: Lord of the Rings trilogyFrom hosts:
Snigdha: The Perfect CoupleRahel: Call Me Bae
Daybreak is now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. For next Thursday's Unwind, send us your recommendations to us as texts or voice notes. The theme is "comfort food from your favourite spot in town."
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India's tuition republic came into the picture to fill the gaps in the education system. First and foremost: they promise to get you into the college of your dreams. That simple but powerful promise has made this a Rs 58,000 crore industry.
But there is a flip side to this. It puts traditional schools in a rather precarious position. Students start trickling out of the system after class 10. Their parents transfer them to junior colleges or schools with integrated coaching models so they can focus on cracking competitive exams.One school has had enough of this. It's tackling attrition by taking on these coaching centres directly. The first step? Hiring 200 IITians.
Tune in.
If you've been wondering what The Ken is all about and why our subscribers love us, here is your chance to find out. Check out our special 30-day trial curated just for you.
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On Independence Day this year, just six days after it went public, Ola Electric launched three new electric motorbikes. This was a bold move, especially considering that electric vehicles haven’t really clicked with the Indian audience yet.
The exception to that rule has been electric two and three wheelers, which had some unexpected success in tier-2 India. But motorcycles are not scooters. People still prefer their 125cc ICE bikes. So, it’s a difficult space to break into. But if there is one thing we know about Ola Electric, it’s that the company does not shy away from making bold business decisions.
It has its sights set on becoming the next Hero Splendor. Has Ola Electric bitten off more than it can chew?
Tune in.If you've been wondering what The Ken is all about and why our subscribers love us, here is your chance to find out. Check out our special 30-day trial curated just for you.
To apply for the latest job openings in The Ken's podcast team, click here. -
Three days ago, Rapido, the bike taxi company, became India’s latest unicorn after it raised $200 million at a valuation of over $1 billion. The funding round which was led by WestBridge Capital also saw new investors put in their money into the company. In an interview to the ET, CEO Aravind Sanka said that the funds will be used to expand Rapido's newly launched four-wheeler taxi service, which competes with Ola and Uber.
But here’s the thing.
Ever since it started, Rapido has consciously stayed away from venturing into the cab business. Until last year was happy to stay in the bike taxi lane and beat Ola and Uber there even though that it managed to do it, often, at the expense of customer safety. Now it has forayed into cab-hailing but it is trying a different route.
Instead of commissions, its driver partners pay it a subscription fee.
Tune in.
If you've been wondering what The Ken is all about and why our subscribers love us, here is your chance to find out. Check out our special 30-day trial curated just for you.
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"Google is a monopolist and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly."
Last month, Judge Amit P Mehta of of US District Court for the District of Columbia delivered a historic ruling against one of the biggest technology companies in the world. Google was accused of abusing its dominance by paying the likes of Apple and Samsung billions of dollars to make its search engine the default option on their smartphones and browsers.
It is being called the biggest antitrust case of the century. And this is only the beginning. The Google ruling comes amid a growing anti-big tech sentiment. The general consensus is that this tiny group of companies — Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft — have grown too big and too powerful.
These companies are deciding what we see on the internet — the news we consume, the information we have access to, what we buy and who we buy from. At some point, everyone got a little wary of these companies. They started seeing some real threats to their power in the form of antitrust lawsuits and regulations. Suddenly, their every move was being scrutinised.
Have we gone too far? Manjushree RM, Senior Resident Fellow at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, weighs in on the pushback against big tech, and how India is keeping up with it all.
P.S The Ken's podcast team is hiring! Here's what we're looking for.
Daybreak is now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. Send us a hello with your name and since when you've been listening to us and be a part our community. Also, if you have any recommendations for this Thursday's Unwind segment, send them to us as texts or voice notes.
Want to be part of the Daybreak community? Introduce yourself here.
Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
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Dunzo, the Reliance Retail-backed quick delivery company, let go off 75% of its workforce in fresh round of layoffs earlier this week.
But for the longest time, Dunzo has been an anomaly. Its a small company that has managed to make its name a verb. Like Google but Google is a giant. Its revenue was just $7 million dollars in the year that ended in 2022. For perspective, Zomato made more than 70 times that amount in the same period, But it did not matter. Because it changed our lives and it became the kind of consumer brand that tech companies who do anything for.
To understand the unravelling of Dunzo, we need to go back to two years ago when Dunzo was on a high.
Tune in.
P.S Don't miss our brand new Thursday segment, DAYBREAK UNWIND, in this episode!
This week's recommendations:
From listeners:
Ashish: The Bear
Joy: Panlong aka Coiling Dragon
Ishan Sarkar: The Peanut Butter Falcom
Apurva: Blue Eye SamuraiFrom hosts:
Snigdha: Invisible Planets: 13 Visions of The Future of China edited and translated by Ken Liu
The Worst Person in The WorldRahel: Sisters in Sweat
Daybreak is now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. Send us a hello with your name and be a part of the Daybreak community. For next Thursday's Unwind, send us your recommendations to us as texts or voice notes. The theme is "comfort food from your favourite spot in town." -
There was once a time, not very long ago, when every company wanted to be a fintech. Food delivery, ride hailing, e-commerce – companies that you would not otherwise associate with financial services.
And when you think about it, it does add up. A couple years ago, fintech was where the money was at. Indian fintechs received nearly 9 billion dollars in funding in calendar year 2021. It was one the hottest sectors in the country.
The inside joke among venture capitalists was how founders could raise a round of funding just by mentioning “financial services” in their pitch deck. What were earlier standalone businesses would now exist as mere features on their apps. People in the industry came up with a catch-all term – fintech-as-a-feature. Take Ola for instance.
Zomato seemed to be going down that path too. In 2022, it had applied for a non-bank financial company or NBFC licence with the Reserve Bank of India.
But since then, things have changed. From 2022 onwards, the amount of money being raised by fintechs has dipped considerable. In 2022, they raised about 5.4 billion dollars, then in 2023, this amount fell to 2 billion.
What's going on?Tune in to find out.
P.S The Ken's podcast team is hiring! Here's what we're looking for.
Daybreak is now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. Send us a hello with your name and since when you've been listening to us and be a part our community. Also, if you have any recommendations for this Thursday's Unwind segment, send them to us as texts or voice notes.
Want to be part of the Daybreak community? Introduce yourself here.
Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
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In the last decade, the number of people covered by health insurance has more than doubled.
Of course, big hospitals – both the state funded ones and the private ones that look a lot like five-star resorts – are making the most of it. They are really raking it in.
But there is a sizeable chunk of the healthcare system that is left out. The small, private hospitals that make up nearly 85 per cent of the industry. This is the ‘missing middle’. It’s disorganized and severely underfunded. It’s also stuck in a bureaucratic maze of claims and reimbursements.
The patients that rely on these facilities are very often stuck between subsidised schemes and private insurance. But here’s the thing – where there is chaos there is also huge opportunity.
Opportunity that a new crop of health fintechs have identified. Enter Gmoney, Digisparsh, Healthcred, and Carepay. All of them are waiting to disrupt the ‘cashless insurance’ space.
They’re coming to the rescue with plans to connect the dots between insurers, hospitals, and patients.
Tune in.P.S The Ken's podcast team is hiring! Here's what we're looking for.
Daybreak is now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. Send us a hello with your name and since when you've been listening to us and be a part our community. Also, if you have any recommendations for this Thursday's Unwind segment, send them to us as texts or voice notes.
Want to be part of the Daybreak community? Introduce yourself here.
Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
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For a while now, some of the biggest players in India’s third-party logistics industry have been riding on the success of e-commerce unicorn Meesho. As of 2023, it accounted for over half of the 2.5 billion shipments that were being handled by third-party logistics players. Companies like Delhivery and Ecom Express happily rose to the occasion and partnered with Meesho to handle all its order deliveries.
For logistics companies this was a dream come true because most of the other major e-commerce players in India – like Flipkart and Amazon – take care of all their logistics in-house.
Now, Meesho has announced the launch of Valmo, its own in-house logistics arm. Naturally, third party logistics partners are nervous. But no one is more shaken up than Ecom Express.
Tune in.
P.S The Ken's podcast team is hiring! Here's what we're looking for.
Daybreak is now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. Send us a hello with your name and since when you've been listening to us and be a part our community. Also, if you have any recommendations for this Thursday's Unwind segment, send them to us as texts or voice notes.
Want to be part of the Daybreak community? Introduce yourself here.
Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
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When it comes to electric vehicles, China is the crownless king. Nothing new there.
But what was news to us was when Bhavish Aggarwal recently announced at an event that his company, Ola Electric, is the world’s largest electric two-wheeler manufacturer and the fourth-largest EV company in the world.
It left everyone scratching their heads for a few seconds until they noticed the fine print at the bottom of the powerpoint slide — marked with an asterisk, in tiny lettering, it said excluding China.
But you can't exclude China from the EV conversation because for the last decade it has been leagues ahead of the rest of the world. The Chinese government has been pushing for EV adoption — and all of its efforts have paid off. Multiple studies and surveys have found that China’s EV market is now the biggest in the world.But it's not all sunshine and rainbows. While India is still in its teething phase as far as electric mobility is concerned, China is well into its teens, and we all know puberty comes with a whole set of its own problems. In China’s case it’s price wars, record breaking insurance premiums, and a threat to data privacy.
Are there lessons here for India? In this episode, we speak to two people from The Ken newsroom, who have been covering the EV space extensively — Nathan Narde and Lu Zhao.
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, and analytical business stories.
Want to be part of the Daybreak community? Introduce yourself here.
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A big reason when we choose to buy online instead of going to a store depends on how easy the e-commerce company makes it to return stuff. So far, with most companies, all you have to do is ask for a return on the app or website and someone comes to your doorstep and picks it up.
While e-commerce companies have been wooing you with the option, in reality they hate returns because reverse logistics are a costly affair for them.
Which is why e-commerce platforms like Ajio and Myntra are changing their return policies. Some are even blocking some customer accounts.
But are customers ready to give it up yet?
Tune in.
* This story was previously featured on Daybreak in April, 2024
P.S Don't miss our brand new Thursday segment, DAYBREAK UNWIND, in this episode!
This week's recommendations:
Snigdha:
To read: The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
To watch: Kalki 2898 ADRahel:
To watch and listen: Hanumankind – Big Dawgs | Ft. Kalmi
Daybreak is now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. Send us a hello with your name and be a part of the Daybreak community. Also, if you have any recommendations for next Thursday's Unwind, send them to us as texts or voice notes. -
There was once a time, not too long ago, when you could walk into a young working professional’s rented home in a tier-1 city, and all the furniture would look pretty familiar.
About a decade ago, everyone and their uncle was renting furniture from the two OG rental platforms Rentomojo and Furlenco. It just made sense.
When Rentomojo and Furlenco were launched about a decade ago, they were like an answer to a lot of people’s prayers. It was a great deal – your fridge, washing machine, king sized bed and more would be delivered right at your doorstep. Use them for as long as you need, and return them when you are done.
Cut to 2024, and things have changed. They are struggling to stay relevant.
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, and analytical business stories.
Want to be part of the Daybreak community? Introduce yourself here.
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Lenders are flouting every rule in their books to cater to the rising gold-loan demand.
Thanks to the collusion between lenders and borrowers at some of the branches, one in ten gold loans every month is sanctioned through malpractices—like tweaking weight and misreporting purity of gold, said two industry executives.
In this episode, we delve into the murky world of gold loans and what often goes wrong when borrowers seek them out.
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, and analytical business stories.
Want to be part of the Daybreak community? Introduce yourself here.
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If you’ve ever taken a loan from a non bank or an NBFC, the EMI is usually auto-debited from your account every month. But if you missed a payment, you know what usually goes down. You are inundated with phone calls from your lender and maybe agents even start visiting your home. Not an ideal situation for you or your lender.
But now, your lender can just monitor your account and deduct the money as soon as it comes into your account…all thanks to that auto-debit permission you granted. Earlier, only a bank could do this when it lent money to its account holder. But now non-banks can do it, too. A fintech executive told The Ken that this tool will soon become business as usual in every lender’s tool box. But things are still not there yet since the banks are not predictably sharing the statement data or their servers are down.
And here’s where account aggregators come into the picture. These aggregators are a newly-created class of licensed companies by the Reserve Bank of India. They basically help businesses exchange financial information about a user after taking the user’s consent.
Meanwhile, Navi Finserv, a four-year-old non-bank, is quite particular about how fast it can help its users take out a loan. Navi’s co-founder and CEO Sachin Bansal—who previously co-founded the Flipkart —believes “banking should be as easy as going on Swiggy and ordering food”. So to amp up both disbursals and collections, Navi and others like it are counting on account aggregators. But being able to access a borrower’s bank statement at any given time is a powerful collection tool.
And the problem is how Navi is using this power.
Tune in.If you're interested in working for The Ken's podcast team, apply here
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