Daybreak

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. And with the new budget cut, it will get worse.The system is clearly showing signs of strain.While UPI continues to post record volumes—18 billion transactions in March alone—many are asking an uncomfortable question:Can India keep up its digital payments miracle without letting the infrastructure collapse under its own weight?Tune in.Do you think people will stop using UPI if there is a small fee involved?*This episode was originally published on 21st April, 2025. 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.

On average, over 35 startups shut down every day in India. Employees move on to their next stint, but most founders find themselves unemployed, thanks to their high pay and a leadership attitude. Why? Think of it this way. What makes a good founder? Leadership, independence and a penchant for the unconventional. But what happens when these very strengths are seen as weaknesses when they're on the other side of the hiring table?Tune in.

It's been a tough couple years for E-commerce in India. And no one has quite borne the brunt of it like Amazon. Between tough competition from the likes of Meesho and Flipkart, not to mention the legion of quick commerce platforms that have completely changed the way we shop, and profitability pressures – Amazon is stuck between a rock and a hard place. But now it is trying to turn back the clock. Leading that endeavour is Samir Kumar, who took over and the new country manager in October 2024. Since then he’s been exploring new ways of working. Kumar has picked Prime as the chosen path to profitability. After all, Prime users spend nearly twice as much as their non Prime peers and contribute more than half of Amazon’ India’s business. The second emphasis is on speed: something the previous leadership thought wasn’t worth their time, per at least three managers. A couple of months ago, the company finally launched its quick-commerce service, Amazon Now, in select cities. But the timing could've been better. Tune in.

The new Income Tax Bill 2025 was passed by the Lok Sabha without debate yesterday. It is a huge step towards simplifying and modernising India's tax system after six decades. But what does this major reform mean for you, the average taxpayer? Tune in to find out.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.

The Indian government is losing patience with consumer-tech platforms using dark patterns or manipulative design tricks.In late May 2024, Consumer Affairs Minister, Pralhad Joshi, gathered the country’s biggest internet companies, Amazon, Google, Zomato, Ola Electric, etc to give them an ultimatum: clean up your user interfaces by September 5 or face the consequences.From hidden fees on Amazon to guilt-inducing pop-ups on Indigo, these tactics push users into spending more money, sharing more data, or giving up more control, often without realising it. And they’re deeply baked into how these companies grow, making them hard to remove without hurting the bottom line.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.

Just a year ago, U.S. officials publicly encouraged India to buy discounted Russian oil to help stabilise global markets during the Ukraine war. But fast forward to 2025, and the U.S, under President Trump, has slapped India with the highest tariffs in the world: 50% on its exports. Trump has accused India of funding Putin’s war machine.So what changed?In this episode, we break down how India went from energy partner to trade target for doing exactly what the U.S. once asked. We also look at the double standards: America’s own imports from Russia and its backing of Israel in Gaza.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.

Earlier this week, Andrew Tulloch, co-founder of Thinking Machines and one of the key engineers behind OpenAI's GPT-4, reportedly said no to a jaw-dropping $1 billion offer from Zuckerberg's Meta. Why would anyone say no to that kind of money? The answer lies in a high-stakes conflict for the soul of AI. From Microsoft crippling Inflection AI and Meta’s $200M poaching spree to a growing rebellion led by top AI minds like Mira Murati, Andrew Tulloch, and Dario Amodei, we look at big tech’s desperate bid to own AI by buying its creators.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.

In just over a year, EY India has seen at least 10 partners from its tech consulting division quit. Many of them were pioneers of significant practices like data analytics, cybersecurity and SAP. What’s interesting is how they left. There were no public announcements, or farewell parties. It was almost like these senior partners vanished from some of the consulting giant's most prized divisions. And with them, they’ve taken full teams, clients and decades of institutional memory. Now, its not that senior people stepping down is out of the ordinary. It’s the fact that these resignations came in such close succession. They hint at a pattern. Tune in.

Ankit Nagori and Mukesh Bansal may have started the fitness unicorn Cult.Fit together, but their journeys since then are a study in contrasts.On one hand is Cult.Fit. It's been a little over a year since Mukesh Bansal stepped down as Cult’s CEO. When The Ken reached out to him asking why, he clarified that he still remains involved. But involvement, of course, is a spectrum – sometimes it means steering the company to an IPO. The catch is that while Cult.fit wants to go public next year, there is no DRHP yet. There is also no FY25 data on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website. Then you have Nagori’s big bet – Cure.Foods. Under Nagori’s leadership, Curefoods went from 2 crore in revenue in FY21 to 775 crore in FY25. That’s according to its draft IPO documents filed in June. Yup, Curefoods is also looking to go public. But unlike Cult, Nagori has a DRHP, a valuation, and a business that sells things people eat. While Eat.fit was all about quinoa and millets, Curefoods evetnually became about what sells. After all, the focus was to scale. 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.

India’s coffee scene looks like it is booming with new cafes, trendy menus, and big international names. But the truth behind is that almost no one is making money.And then came along Zepto Cafe, the 10-minute coffee delivery, that wanted to change everything. In early 2025, it was clocking 100,000 daily orders and a $100 million run rate. But just months later dozens of its locations shut down.Why did Zepto, with its speed, scale, and infrastructure, end up like every other coffee brand in India? It all boils down to brutal economics.But if Zepto couldn’t make coffee profitable in India, can anyone?Tune inDaybreak 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 25% tariff on Indian textiles maybe a blow to India’s exports but that’s only half the story.The latest trade move by Donald Trump could hit closer to home for American consumers. India is the third-largest supplier of apparel and home textiles to the U.S. after China and Vietnam. Both countries already face heavy tariffs from the US. Together, China, Vietnam, and India account for nearly 60% of American clothing imports.So what happens when all three get taxed?In this episode, we examine the possible ripple effects on American retailers, sustainable fashion, small brands along with the average Target shopper. Meanwhile, India isn’t sitting quietly. It’s already diversifying into Europe, Africa, and other regions.Is this really about bringing back American jobs? Or will U.S. consumers be made to foot the bill?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.

IVF chains in India aren’t deterred by paltry things like probabilities. They’ve made IVF the new C-section—essentially, a revenue-generating procedure pushed before natural alternatives are even considered. All at 4X the cost of a C-section, or around Rs 2 lakh for a single cycle.The result is a $1.4 billion IVF market in India—10 times the market for cataract surgery, the most common procedure worldwide.Unsurprisingly, venture-capital and private-equity firms have swooped in for the kill. That this growth is coming at the cost of quality care is the real problem. 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.

Lenskart has grown into one of Asia’s biggest eyewear companies and is now gearing up for a massive IPO. It is aiming to raise ₹2,150 crore through a fresh issue as part of an ₹8,000 crore public offering. But as the company prepares to go public, a storm is brewing behind the scenes.A group of former franchise store owners is accusing Lenskart of unfair practices and even fraud. They're alleging they were kept in the dark about store finances and undercut by company-owned outlets opening next door. Now, these franchisees are pushing the Karnataka High Court to reopen an investigation into the company even as Lenskart insists it’s a contractual dispute.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.

When Dreamfolks Services launched in India, it built the system that made airport lounge access work. It connected banks, card networks, and travellers to lounges across the country. For years, it stayed behind the scenes, powering the perks many took for granted.Now, it’s being pushed out.In this episode, we look at how Adani, India’s largest airport operator, is moving quickly to take control. Not just of the runways, but everything inside the terminals. Lounges, food courts, duty-free shops, and retail outlets are all being brought in-house. Some are being replaced. Others are being rebranded. And almost all are being absorbed by companies tied to Adani.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.

Globally, virtual currencies are back in the limelight. In India, UPI transactions hit record highs almost every month. Yet, the value of cash in circulation has gone up by Rs 2 lakh crore. Sure, the transaction value of the e-rupee, or the digital form of the fiat currency, has increased, but it’s driven more by banks doling out allowances to employees than any real market demand.But the reality is that the landscape of money’s partial substitutes in India, a digital-payments pioneer, shows little change to the status quo.Tune in. 🎓 Are you an Indian student in the US or recently graduated? Tell us what your journey’s been like: Take the surveyDaybreak 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.

In this episode, hosts Snigdha Sharma and Rahel Philipose are joined by interdisciplinary artist and internet truth-teller Anurag Minus Verma to talk about what’s really happening to Substack and why it matters. The online publishing platform began as a utopian space for writers and artists that promised no algorithms, no ads and no hustle for likes. It allowed for writers and readers to forge direct connections for a simple 10% cut. But with a fresh $100 million in VC funding and a growing noise about discovery feeds and advertising, there seems to be a quiet shift toward platformisation. Anurag, the voice behind the Substack newsletter Culture Café, has been writing at the intersection of caste, cinema, digital absurdity, and internet culture long before Substack became a post-Twitter haven. As a digital artist who deeply understands the performance of knowledge in the age of monetised identity, he helps us unpack this growing tension between artistic freedom and growth strategies on online platforms. Is the enshittification of Substack now inevitable? How can artists adapt, resist, and survive in these constantly shifting digital ecosystems? 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.

On July 22, 2025, a court found former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar guilty of accepting a ₹64 crore bribe from Videocon Group promoter Venugopal Dhoot. The bribe was allegedly routed through her husband’s company, NuPower Renewables, just a day after ICICI sanctioned a ₹300 crore loan to Videocon in 2009.In today's episode, we trace the complete timeline, from the first whistleblower alert in 2016 to the 11,000-page CBI chargesheet and the 2022 arrests of the Kochhars. We also look at how internal governance failures and unchecked conflicts of interest allowed this to unfold inside one of India’s largest private banks.Tune in.🎓 Are you an Indian student in the US or recently graduated? Tell us what your journey’s been like: Take the surveyDaybreak 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.

India’s job market is broken.We’ve known that for a while. But the reason why is worth paying attention to. It’s not a lack of talent.Every year, India adds millions of graduates to its talent pool. Thousands enter the workforce—freshly certified and ready to be hired.The real problem is the growing disconnect between qualification and competence.Tune in. 🎓 Are you an Indian student in the US or recently graduated? Tell us what your journey’s been like: Take the survey

India’s packaged-food bigwigs ignored spices for a long time. Not anymore.Since 2020, everyone from ITC to Tata Consumer Products, from Dabur to Wipro, has been scrambling to cement their place in this essential corner of the Indian kitchen. They’ve pounced on spice brands, sometimes paying top dollar for them, all while their investors cheered them on. In fact, the stocks of Tata Consumer and ITC have both outperformed the S&P BSE FMCG index over the last five years.Turns out, this was all the vindication that Norwegian conglomerate Orkla needed to go publicBut this isn’t just another public listing. It’s the opening salvo in what industry insiders are calling the “great spice wars”. And here’s where it gets even spicier: though the category offers some of the highest margins in FMCG products—with pure spices commanding 30–35% gross margins and blended spices going up to 60%—they come with their own unique challenges.Tune in. Check out the latest episode of The Ken's brand new careers podcast, 90,000 Hours.

It takes 150 crocus flowers to make just one gram of saffron. For comparison, a spice like cumin, gets you hundreds of kilos per acre whereas saffron yields barely two.Despite getting a prestigious GI tag from the Indian government and even a National Mission dedicated to its revival, Kashmir’s saffron production has plummeted:from 8 tonnes in 2011 to just 2.7 tonnes in 2024. So what’s going wrong? And can India learn something from Iran, which currently dominates 90% of the global saffron market?Reporters Mehroob Mushtaq and Numan Bhat, traveled deep into saffron country, met the farmers, walked the fields, and came back with a story that’s rich in detail, visuals, and hard truths.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.

iPhone 17 components have started arriving at Foxconn’s plant in Tamil Nadu. It signals Apple’s quiet but serious shift toward next-gen production in India, potentially starting as early as August. But as India is stepping into a more central role in Apple’s global supply chain, Foxconn is being forced to pull hundreds of Chinese engineers out of India. These are people who helped set up and run these complex manufacturing lines. The move has raised eyebrows with many interpreting it as Beijing’s geopolitical pushback against Apple’s China-plus-one strategy.Here’s the twist: what if this squeeze isn’t a setback, but a necessary shock? Could China’s pressure may actually accelerate India’s path to manufacturing independence?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.

CIBIL or Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd is one of only four credit information providers in the country that is licensed by the RBI. It is considered the oldest and the most reliable. It essentially calculates your credit score, a three digit number between 300 and 900, and provides it to banks so they can judge your creditworthiness. Usually, anything over 700 is considered good. But this whole process is anything but straightforward. In fact, it is shrouded in mystery. Each of these bureaus typically have their own algorithm to compute your credit score. And they are all somewhat similar. But nobody–not the borrowers and not even the banks–fully understand how these credit information providers, like Cibil, actually rate finances. In this episode, we try to demystify these credit bureaus and their mystery calculations that decide our fate.Tune in. Attend The Ken's next event. Details here. *This episode was first published on February 6, 2025Daybreak 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.

On June 23, Ola Electric’s stock crashed to an all-time low of ₹43. This week, the stock staged a brief rebound, jumping nearly 20% in a single session. But at ₹47, it’s still trading far below its IPO price of ₹76 and more than 70% off its post-listing peak.On an earnings call, founder Bhavish Aggarwal insisted the company was on track. With rising margins and tighter cost control, he said, Ola would hit EBITDA break-even at 25,000 units a month.But a closer look at Ola’s financials tells a very different story.For FY25:— Revenue dropped nearly 10%— Losses ballooned over 40%, to ₹2,300 crore— And cash flow from operations? Deeply negative at ₹2,391 crore—nearly 4x worse than the year beforeIn today’s episode, we unpack the growing gap between narrative and numbers at Ola Electric and ask: can Bhavish really steer this ship to safety?Tune in. Check out The Ken's new careers podcast, 90,000 hours: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5HEi59iUPRMMFfUvxeio47Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/90-000-hours/id1826777519Attend The Ken's next event. Details here.

Welcome to the world of AI trainers.A growing army of freelancers is quietly shaping the way large language models think.Hired by companies like Turing, Mercor, and Deccan AI, these trainers are tasked with finding blind spots in models built by OpenAI, Meta, Anthropic, and Google—and fixing them.The goal? Fewer hallucinations. Smarter, more coherent responses. A model that feels just a little more… human.It’s a noble endeavour. But also a billable one.And as this new line of white-collar gig work takes off, India is fast becoming its beating heart.But behind the hype lies a murkier story.Tune in.

Until recently, the prospect of an IIM offering a standalone undergraduate degree seemed unlikely. Traditionally known for their elite postgraduate programs, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have long been synonymous with MBA excellence. That image is now undergoing a significant shift.IIM Sirmaur is among the many who have introduced a bachelor’s program. IIM Kozhikode and IIM Sambalpur have followed suit. IIM Bangalore and IIM Lucknow are also preparing to launch similar courses. After decades of focusing solely on postgraduate education, the IIMs are moving into new academic territory.What’s driving this transformation? And why now? Tune in. To apply to The Ken’s podcast team, click hereDaybreak 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.

Just last year, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang sat across from Mukesh Ambani at the company’s first-ever AI summit in India.Dressed in his trademark black leather jacket, Huang addressed a packed room of tech founders, policymakers, and academics. He made a bold prediction: India, long known for exporting software, will soon be exporting AI.But this wasn’t just another keynote. It was a power play.At the same event, Nvidia and Reliance announced a major partnership to build AI infrastructure in India -- everything from data centers to foundational models. And Reliance wasn’t alone. Nvidia also inked deals with Infosys, Tata, Tech Mahindra, and Flipkart.This episode dives into why Nvidia is betting big on India, how that fits into India’s own messy AI ambitions, and what’s really at stake when a $4 trillion company becomes a country’s AI backbone.Tune in. *Correction: In the episode, it was mentioned that TCS has 50,000 AI-trained engineers. We’d like to clarify that the accurate figure is that over 1,14,000 TCS associates have been trained in higher-order AI skills.

47 million Indians just lost their life insurance coverage. But not one of the country’s biggest insurers seem bothered.In this episode, we look at the silent collapse of credit-linked life insurance—policies that were once bundled with microloans and quietly protected millions of low-income borrowers. But now, that model is breaking down.Blame mounting defaults, shaky microfinance lending, and a post-pandemic spike in death claims. As lenders pull back and insurers retreat, entire communities are being pushed out of the safety net—with barely a ripple in the headlines.Why the regulator won’t step in and what persistent high mortality means for the future of group insurance?Tune in.To apply to The Ken’s podcast team, click hereDaybreak 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.

Private credit is having a moment in India. Hardly a week goes by without a blockbuster deal. Whether it’s Deutsche Bank’s $3.4 billion debt package, KKR’s $600 million loan to Manipal, or a fresh round of financing for Shapoorji Pallonji.But beneath the surface, pressure is building.As interest rates fall and competition heats up, yields are tightening. Banks, once sidelined, are eyeing a comeback. They are realising they should once again lend to companies they gave up to non-bank lenders first when their own bad loans shot up to over 11% in the year ended March 2017, and now increasingly to private-credit funds.Tune in.

After swearing off startups post a $300 million exit, Karan Bajaj is back with Complement 1, a healthtech venture offering personalised coaching for cancer patients. But this isn’t just a pivot, it’s a whole new playbook.This time, it’s personal: Bajaj’s mother had cancer, and he says this is the product he wishes she had.Built for the American market, Complement 1 is taking a B2B route, targeting insurers, employers, and cancer centres. But early traction has been tough. Unlike edtech, healthcare demands more than just hustle. We look at whether Bajaj’s old playbook still works in a world where good intentions must meet rigorous standards and sustainable business models.Tune in.

Ajio was supposed to be Reliance Retail’s e-commerce success story. While other digital bets like Jiomart, Dunzo, and Urban Ladder struggled to find their footing, Ajio surged ahead powered by aggressive discounts, brand partnerships, and the deep pockets of India’s largest retailer.But behind the scenes, the momentum was already beginning to crack.Today, we go inside the fashion platform’s sharp pivot. Over the past year, Ajio has gone through major leadership reshuffles, mass layoffs, and shifting strategies—from launching ultra-fast delivery to pushing premium fashion, only to walk parts of it back. And as profitability pressure mounts from the top, teams are left scrambling to do more with less.Tune in.

Karnataka’s bike taxi ban has thrown Bangalore’s commute into chaos.Since June 16, services like Rapido, Ola, and Uber Moto have been off the roads, thanks to a High Court-backed state ban. But for thousands of gig workers and commuters, bike taxis were more than a convenience, they were a lifeline. As protests intensify and surge pricing spikes, this episode unpacks the policy deadlock, the Centre’s new guidelines, and why even women commuters are asking for the ban to be lifted.Tune in. To apply to The Ken's podcast team, click here

Rare-earth magnets, made from elements like neodymium and praseodymium, are essential to EV motors. But nearly all of them come from China. And since April, not a single shipment has arrived. Maruti Suzuki has already slashed production. TVS and Bajaj are counting down to a July deadline. Others, like Mahindra and Omega Seiki, saw this coming and started building workarounds.This isn’t just a supply chain issue. It’s a geopolitical move. China controls over 90% of rare-earth processing and has tightened export rules, stalling approvals to countries like India. Now, even importing magnets requires a bureaucratic maze of guarantees, embassy sign-offs, and unanswered emails.How are Indian EV makers are coping? Tune in to find out.

Post-pandemic, retail giants like Reliance and Aditya Birla Fashion were ready to bounce back and they weren’t being very subtle about it. Reliance Retail for instance opened nearly 6000 stores across fashion, groceries, electronics just in FY22 and FY23. But the retail dream of a booming post-Covid shopping spree that companies had sold themselves never really happened. Soon these companies had to hit rewind. Thousands of jobs were gone and hundreds of stores had to be closed down. Turns out, India’s fashion retail scene is scrambling for a reset.But what exactly went wrong? Why did giants like Reliance, Aditya Birla, and Shoppers Stop stumble? And what’s the new playbook they’re following to survive?Tune in.To apply to The Ken's podcast team, click here

Everybody wants to invest, but not everyone knows how. There just aren’t many who can point investors in the right direction.Registered investment advisors, or RIAs—either individuals or corporates licensed by the stock-market regulator—are an endangered species in India. While the country had about 192 million demat accounts as of March 2025, there were only about 941 advisors. That’s one advisor for over 200,000 investors. Pressure much?You’d think the problem goes away if there were more Sebi-registered advisors. If only. In fact, the number of registered advisors in India has been declining over the past few years. Just in 2020, there were over 1,500 of them. The drop was largely attributable to the regulator.Meanwhile, fintechs like ET Money and Value Research are attempting to plug this gap by offering investors automated advice for direct investment. But it's far from a done deal. Tune in. Listen to the latest episode of First Principles feat. Manish Sabharwal of Teamlease here.P.S The Ken’s podcast team is hiring! Here’s what we’re looking for.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.Listen to the latest episode of Two by Two here

Over the last four years, Croma has found itself in a curious spot. On paper, it’s Tata Digital’s crown jewel—contributing over half of its revenue and crossing ₹18,000 crore in sales last year. But behind the scenes, it’s also become Tata Digital’s favourite testing ground.From sudden team transfers — like its entire marketing team being moved to Tata Digital overnight — to shifting strategies, Croma has borne the brunt of Tata’s endless experimentation. The result? Cracks in its business model, ballooning losses, but also one big silver lining: a 20 million-strong customer base that could be its ticket to a turnaround.The real opportunity lies in tapping that customer base. But the catch? No one seems to know how to make that happen. Tune in. P.S The Ken’s podcast team is hiring! Here’s what we’re looking for.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.Listen to the latest episode of Two by Two here

While Prada walks the ramp in Kolhapuris, here in India, Bata, the brand that once defined middle-class respectability, can barely find its footing. Bata which was once a household name, a back-to-school essential, a symbol of quality without fuss, is now finding itself squeezed. Too expensive for the value-hunting Zudio crowd and not fancy enough for the Birkenstock and Crocs-wearing folks.Which is why Sandeep Kataria’s recent resignation as global CEO feels like a full circle moment. After all, it was under his leadership that Bata tried to pivot from utility to aspiration. But was it ever really able to shake off its image as the brand of the “everyman”? And more importantly, should it have even tried?Here’s the deeper question: What do we, the Indian middle class, aspire to anymore? Is luxury about heritage and craftsmanship? Or just a European label and a five-digit price tag?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.

Category managers have shifted from routine e-commerce roles to powerful decision-makers in quick commerce. They now manage the limited shelf space in dark stores and decide which products get visibility on platforms like Instamart, Zepto, and Blinkit. Naturally, brands are aggressively courting them, with over 30,000 requests every month for just 150 slots. From hosting parties to taking them out for drinks, brands are pulling out all the stops. Meanwhile, category managers are urging brands to invest more in ads and marketing to stay competitive.Tune in.*This episode was first published on Dec 19, 2024Daybreak 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.Listen to the latest episode of Two by Two here

Turns out, in India’s healthcare industry, prevention isn’t just better than cure—it’s also far more investable.The new buzzword making the rounds? Health assurance. Not insurance—assurance.It means what it sounds like. Unlike traditional insurance, which kicks in after you fall sick, health assurance is about keeping you healthy to begin with.A Pune-based startup called Loop Health was the first to introduce India to a variant of the same concept. It positions itself as a corporate broker, not an insurer. So it doesn’t underwrite risk, but instead sells third-party insurance products to HR heads and bundles its own health perks alongside. The assurance model has helped this seven-year-old startup grow rapidly. Loop is dreaming big. It’s done being the middleman. Now, it wants to go full stack. But between regulatory hurdles and skepticism from the insurance and broking circles, its success isn’t assured. 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.

The rise and fall of Pharmeasy is well documented. Once the poster child of the e-pharmacy boom, it reached a dizzying valuation of 5.6 bn USD at its very peak. But unfortunately, as we all know now, it didn’t last. Today the company is worth just 450 million USD – which, is a 90 per cent drop. From aggressive acquisitions to regulatory hurdles, and a failed IPO, Pharmeasy’s journey has been a cautionary tale of overreach.But the brains behind the operation – Siddharth Shah – isn’t done yet. He’s back at it again with a new venture. Except this time, Shah has taken on the role of investor – while the founder spotlight is on his wife, Arpi Mehta. Their latest bet? MakeO – a startup that wants to bring invisible aligners, at-home cosmetic dentistry and dermatology treatments to your doorstep. But despite its irresistible promise – convenience repackaged as medical-grade innovation – MakeO seems to be struggling to take off. Turns out, MakeO is drawing quite heavily from the Pharmeasy playbook. Will it end the same way? 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.

Tata Electronics is assembling iPhones in Karnataka, aiming to become a key player in Apple’s global supply chain. In this episode, we look at how the company is scaling by adding factories, hiring thousands of workers, and investing heavily in automation. But it’s also facing high attrition, rising debt, and pressure to meet Apple’s strict standards. Can Tata turn its manufacturing push into a long-term win?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.

In this episode, we turn the spotlight on one of the most powerful yet elusive figures in Indian e-commerce: Kalyan Krishnamurthy, the everywhere-all-the-time CEO of Flipkart. Flipkart, backed by Walmart, was once India’s great e-commerce hope. But lately, the tides have been turning.Walmart is flying high, outperforming Amazon globally, dominating grocery delivery, and raking in ad dollars with a valuation that’s outshining even Apple. But six years after buying Flipkart, Walmart’s patience is wearing thin. Profits still remain elusive. And Krishnamurthy who has been recognised as a wartime CEO is starting to look more like a general losing his command. Flipkart’s getting squeezed from every side. Meesho, the social commerce platform, has captured the small cities. Amazon still owns the metros. And in the quick-commerce madness, it's all about Zepto, Blinkit, Instamart. Flipkart’s barely in the game. Now some of this chaos is kind of self-inflicted. For example, Flipkart’s foray into travel with the Cleartrip acquisition.Senior leaders are leaving, morale is shaken, and few inside the company believe the endgame is anywhere in sight. The Ken reporter Nuha Bubere went behind the scenes and the pressure was palpable. 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 attend The Ken's next event on health, fitness and wellness? Buy tickets here. Here's your chance to help us shape the conversation: https://theken.typeform.com/to/bZhqWl2g

For the longest time, getting accepted to Y Combinator, the Silicon Valley startup accelerator was like getting a golden ticket for your startup. It was suddenly on the map not just in India but in Silicon Valley, too. For Indian founders who made it, the story of success began with a journey west. Set up in Delaware, impress YC, and get some of that Silicon Valley shine. But what happens when that dream starts looking more like a detour than a destination?Earlier this week, the online market place Meesho, once a poster child from the YC pipeline, announced it will pay nearly 300 million $ million in taxes just to bring its business back to India. Why? Because that’s where the real opportunity is now. With an IPO in the works, Meesho is doing what many Indian startups are now considering: the reverse flip. And Meesho isnt the only one. Fintech unicorn Razorpay, another Y combinator baby, wants an Indian IPO in the next two years. Its expected to pay as much as $150 million to redomicile its business to India. But if the endgame is an Indian IPO, why take the expensive U.S. route in the first place? Is the YC badge still worth it? Tune in. Want to attend The Ken's next event on health, fitness and wellness? Buy tickets here. Here's your chance to help us shape the conversation: https://theken.typeform.com/to/bZhqWl2g

In a recent, 10-page note recapping its investing journey, Info Edge (India) founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani proudly, and justifiably, called Zomato and Policybazaar “breakout successes”, “winners”, and “outliers”.A few days earlier, Zomato, now renamed Eternal, had released its sobering financials for the three months ended March. So what’s Infoedge doing about it? Apart from its own businesses – spanning recruitment, real estate, matrimony and education – it owns roughly 12.5% each of Eternal and PB Fintech, the parent of insurance marketplace Policybazaar, and has not sold a single share in either since they started trading.The reason is simple and it was stated in its shareholders letter. It wants to be strategic and not opportunistic about existing businesses because it sees itself as a long term investor and not some trader. The thing is, not everyone is on the same page. Tune in. Want to attend The Ken's next event on health, fitness and wellness? Buy tickets here. Here's your chance to help us shape the conversation: https://theken.typeform.com/to/bZhqWl2g

Indians are hungry for luxury watches. Just in 2024, even as exports of Swiss watches declined globally, they surged 25 per cent in India. Interestingly, the player winning in this fast-growing market is not a legacy business house like Tata or Reliance, rather it is little-know Chandigarh-based retailer, Ethos. What sets it apart is the strong relationships it has built with ultra-luxury watch makers over the decades. How does it do it? Tune in. Want to attend The Ken's next event on health, fitness and wellness? Buy tickets here. Here's your chance to help us shape the conversation: https://theken.typeform.com/to/bZhqWl2g

Dream Sports, the company behind Dream11, just bought a piece of Cricbuzz from Times Internet for $50 million. It also bought a stake in Willow TV, a cricket broadcaster in the U.S.As you probably know, Dream11’s core business is fantasy sports. But no thanks to new taxes and regulatory friction, their business isn’t looking so good lately. Revenue projections are down, growth is slowing, and they haven’t raised fresh money since 2021.Cricbuzz, meanwhile, has hundreds of millions of monthly visits. That too mostly young users which is exactly the kind of crowd Dream11 wants to tap in to. And Willow TV brings in the U.S. diaspora just when cricket is having its moment in the US, driven largely by South Asian immigrants. The country even hosted the T20 World Cup last year. Together, the two open the doors for Dream Sports to expand, engage, and maybe also survive.But here’s the real kicker. Dream Sports only bought a minority stake. Why play small in a high-stakes game? And who’s actually the real winner in all of this?Tune in to find out.

For nearly a decade, Swiggy and Zomato have fed our hunger and dominated prime real estate on our phone screens, leaving very little room for any serious challengers.Most who tried to break in got their fingers burnt before they even got started. But now, a new player has decided to throw its hat into the ring. This is a player that has some experience taking on titans, though the last time around it was in a completely different space. Rapido – the Bangalore-based startup that quietly muscled its way into India’s ride-hailing market – is all set to launch its own a food delivery platform called 'Ownly'. Sure, Rapido’s mission of zero commission, equal pricing in offline and online, and meals as low as ₹150 looks compelling,but the real question is: how will Rapido make money? Tune in. Want to attend The Ken's next event on health, fitness and wellness? Buy tickets here. Here's your chance to help us shape the conversation: https://theken.typeform.com/to/bZhqWl2g

The luggage industry seems to have undergone quite a makeover in the last few years. Back in the day, VIP and Safari were synonymous with the plain black and grey suitcases. But now, luggage is as important as the clothes you wear–it’s part of the whole airport look.Startups like Mokobara, Nasher Miles, Assembly, and Uppercase have turned luggage into an aspirational lifestyle product with smart social-media marketing and a vibrant aesthetic.Also, important to note is that travel changed after Covid pandemic. The duration of trips has shortened, but the frequency of general travel has increased from once every three months to once every 45 days.The suitcase now has to fit in with the instagram aesthetic so it has gone from being functional to a style statement. As of now, VC-backed, new-age luggage brands only have a tiny slice of the market.But that slice has been growing quickly, and that’s enough to get the old guard nervous.Tune in.**This episode was first published on Feb 3, 2025Daybreak 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.We are on WhatsApp at +918971108379. Text us and tell us what you thought of the episode!

Last month, The Ken set out on a quest to understand how deep AI’s roots have grown in Indian companies. We asked India’s employees across industries and experience levels the extent to which they were using AI tools on a day to day and how it had changed workplace dynamics for them. Nearly 500 people took our survey. Nine out of 10 of them said they had begun using AI tools, even if it meant paying for them out of their own pocket. Once we got a sense of how employees were feeling about AI, we turned the lens on some of India’s biggest companies. What were they doing to help their employees keep up? Turns out that’s something the likes of Razorpay, Phonepe, Cars24, Homelane and Zerodha are actively working towards. Tune in. Want to attend The Ken's next event on health, fitness and wellness? Buy tickets here. Here's your chance to help us shape the conversation: https://theken.typeform.com/to/bZhqWl2g

The Indian wealth-management industry is booming and everyone wants a piece of the action. But here’s the twist: as the industry explodes, the people managing all that wealth have become the real prize.In a business that caters not just to the top 1%, but the top 0.01% of India’s elite, having the best wealth managers on your roster isn’t just important—it’s everything.And one four-year-old upstart got that memo early. Neo Group has been on an aggressive hiring spree, planning to add at least 70 new wealth managers this financial year.But why are we talking about a relatively small, young firm and its recruitment plans?Because the strategy is working. Big time.Tune in. Want to attend The Ken's next event on health, fitness and wellness? Buy tickets here. Here's your chance to help us shape the conversation: https://theken.typeform.com/to/bZhqWl2g

Elon Musk’s Starlink is just months away from launching in India. Amazon’s Kuiper will follow in 2026. The satcom green light is finally here — the regulator’s long-awaited guidelines are out, and the Department of Telecom has drawn up its strict new rulebook. Surprisingly, the satellite players aren’t blinking. Even more surprising? After years of resistance, Jio and Airtel have suddenly struck deals with Starlink.But here’s the twist: behind the scenes, neither telco seems eager to actually sell Starlink terminals. So why the sudden handshake? And what’s really going on under all this satellite sparkle?Tune in to find out how India’s broadband future is being reshaped.Tell us what you thought of this episode. You can text us your feedback on WhatsApp at +918971108379Apply here to join The Ken as a product designerDaybreak 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.