Avsnitt
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In 2021, Ashni and Avni Bayani, the scions of industrialist Kishore Biyani’s Future Group, launched their own venture – a startup studio called Think 9 Consumer Technologies.
The concept was simple – they would incubate new brands across categories like apparel, beauty, health and wellness and food; and then use common teams for marketing, technology and even product development.
Why? Well, according to an executive from the startup studio, the end goal is to be able to build them into sizable businesses in 5-7 years and then exit. It’s called the roll-up modelled and it was pioneered by a US-based consumer good company called Thrasio.
For the Bayani sisters, this isn’t just another venture. It’s a full blown comeback. You see around the time they launched Think9 Consumer Technologies, their father’s business empire – the Future Group – was falling apart. It eventually went bankrupt in 2022 and sold everything lock, stock and barrel to Reliance Industries.So the sisters have a point to prove. But unfortunately not everything is working in their favour.
For starters the roll up model they based their business on has been stuttering for some time now. Remember Thrasio? Well it filed for bankruptcy just last year.
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.
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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 maintain 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?
Send your answers to us as texts or voice notes on Daybreak’s WhatsApp at +918971108379.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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Saknas det avsnitt?
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In this episode, we dive into a topic that is as daunting as it is exciting — the future of careers.
First, we talk about a troubling trend in workplaces today — the rise of the unwilling retiree;
Next, we share some of the lessons learnt by students who graduated during economic downturns in the past.
Check out the stories and newsletters mentioned in this episode:
Why more 40-somethings are becoming unwilling retirees
Lessons from past students who graduated during economic downturns
The Ken is hosting a subscriber event! Join Two by Two hosts Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan and three distinguished guests as they discuss broken career ladders, shortening career spans, and collapsing organisational structures. Buy tickets here.
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What happens when India’s biggest streaming platform decides it’s no longer satisfied with just airing Koffee with Karan and cricket? And it now wants to take on YouTube and Instagram?You get Sparks–an ambitious experiment by Jiohotstar that’s is set on winning over Gen Z viewers, one short video at a time.
In February, right before the IPL kicked off, Jiohotstar launched Sparks. It is a free, creator-led platform of bite-sized episodes featuring the likes of Tanmay Bhat, Zakir Khan, Ranveer Brar, and Elvish Yadav. On paper, it might sound like just another experiment with content. But it is actually a marked product shift the platform is making after its merger with Disney’s India business. And at the heart of this strategic move is a 25-member team that includes former top executives from YouTube and Instagram.
But let’s be real. This is like David trying to beat not one, but two Goliaths, that too on their home turf. Add to that the fact that this is a space where the rules are always shifting, creators are supremely loyal, and content never sleeps
In today's episode, host Snigdha Sharma is joined by The Ken reporter Rounak Kumar Gunjan who dug deeper to find an answer to one big question: can a streaming giant reinvent itself as a scroll-worthy destination?Tune in.
If you have any thoughts or questions about this episode, send them us as texts or voice notes on Daybreak’s WhatsApp at +918971108379.
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 a little over a decade, Lenskart has gone from being just India’s biggest online eyewear retailer to becoming one of Asia’s biggest omnichannel eyewear giants. Needless to say, business has been booming. And the company is now inching towards its next big step – an IPO.
But in the midst of all its success, it appears Lenskart may have rubbed some people the wrong way. The catch is that these are the very people who helped it get to this point in the first place – the franchise owners that operate hundreds of its stores across the country.
You see, for the last few years, many of them have had observed a similar, pretty disturbing pattern. They’ll set up their stores with Lenskart’s blessings. And then things start getting weird.
Tune in.
Check out our new podcast Make India Competitive Again —
Spotify
AppleThe Ken is hosting a subscriber event! Join Two by Two hosts Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan and three distinguished guests as they discuss broken career ladders, shortening career spans, and collapsing organisational structures. Buy tickets here.
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Back in 2019, an ed-tech called Scaler Academy decided to do for tech education what Masters’ Union did for the traditional MBA.
The tech-upskilling platform launched in 2019 with a simple pitch: take AI, machine learning, and data science courses, get placed at top tech firms, and make a lot more money.But five years later, that formula is breaking down. The very thing Scaler trained people in—AI—is making it redundant.
Tune in.
Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
The Ken is hosting a subscriber event! Join Two by Two hosts Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan and three distinguished guests as they discuss broken career ladders, shortening career spans, and collapsing organisational structures. Buy tickets here. -
Welcome to the world of consulting in 2025. AI is everywhere—from writing reports and making decks to crunching numbers. But you’d think the likes of McKinsey, Bain, and BCG would be worried about AI, right? Because AI reduces the knowledge gap between them and their clients. Turns out, instead of resisting it, they’re going all in.
The ones feeling the heat are junior most employees—the consultants. Timelines are shrinking and expectations are going up. Creativity? Who cares about that anymore. A former Bain manager told The Ken about an instance when a senior partner wanted a full client assessment by the next day. Normally, this would take weeks to pull off. The result? Rushed work and fancy words that sound good but don’t really say anything substantial. And worst of all—there is no time to fact-check. There seems to be a real disconnect between what senior leaders think AI can do, and what it actually does.
So what happens when the industry famous for having all the answers is now taking shortcuts using a chatbot? Also, what happens when clients find out?
Q for listeners: If 90% of your job could be done by AI, what would you focus on to stay valuable?Send us your answers as texts or voice notes on Daybreak’s WhatsApp at +918971108379.
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 this episode, we talk about the global trade war that stopped before it started.
First, we talk about US President Donald Trump's decision to reverse the "reciprocal tariffs" on almost every country in the world, except one.
Next, we talk about why India had little choice but to offer concession after concession to the US.
Finally, we unpack the long term and short term impact of the tariffs on the Indian economy.
Check out the newsletters and podcasts mentioned in this episode:
The latest edition of The Nutgraf by Praveen Gopal Krishnan — India is the mark
Two by Two feat Mohit Satyanand — Are Trump's tariffs a crisis or an opportunity for India? -
One of the largest deals to acquire a D2C brand took place in January this year. India’s largest manufacturer of consumer good, Hindustan Unilever acquired the skincare company Minimalist, a 90% shareholding for nearly Rs 3000 crores.
Homegrown startup beauty brands have been on a roll in India. Scores and scores of new age skincare brands have cropped up since the pandemic and all of them harp on the science of it. And their whole appeal is transparency. Transparency about the ingredients that go into each of their products.
Among all of them, Minimalist is the one that really stands out. It is an active ingredients based skincare company that sells things like niacinamide, retinol, Vit C, glycolic acid, and salicylic acid. It launched around the end of 2020, and within a span of eight months, it built a 1000 crore rupee business. What’s even more surprising that the brand has remained in the green, meaning profitable, from the very first month itself.
For years, legacy brands like, HUL, Ponds, and Loreal have been selling products with similar ingredient--the only difference being they either didn't launch them in India or the kept the names hidden away in tiny fonts at the back of the bottles.
It was Minimalist that came around and broke that mould.
And now, seeing the success of brands like Minimalist, legacy brands are rethinking their strategy.
Case in point: Hindustan Unilever
The company’s has been wanting to turn its beauty and well-being portfolio into a “high-growth" premium category for a while now and the acquisition of Minimalist is a big step in that direction.
But how did Minimalist manage something that a giant like HUL couldn't?
Tune in.
**This episode was first published on January 27, 2025
Daybreak is now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. Text us and tell us what you thought of the episode!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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Indian family businesses contribute more than two-thirds to India’s GDP. 70 per cent. That’s amongst the highest in the world. And that number is expected to go up to as much as 85 per cent in the next 20 years.
Yet, today a lot of these companies are at a crossroads. You see, many of them have realised that they can’t just carry on as they always have. Business as usual isn’t going to work anymore. Think of brands like Medimix, or Baidyanath syrups. Iconic names for sure, but they are increasingly being bracketed as “parent’s brands”.
The next gen leaders of these companies have recognised this. They’ve realised that to have a shot at winning they are going to have to break off on their own. That too in a world that looks very different from when their family businesses were first founded.
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.
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For a while now, the new kids on the block in India’s $750 billion mutual fund industry have been trying to really shake things up.
The likes of Navi, Zerodha and Groww have been dreaming of a big disruption. And a couple years ago, they thought they had found the answer to their prayers. A playbook that would catapult their growth.
They were convinced passive investing is the future. They had good reason to believe so. Last year, passive funds won the big game in the US, where—for the first time ever—they overtook active funds in assets under management (AUM). Blackrock and Vanguard built empires on this shift. So, naturally, the question is: why not in India?
Well, things haven't worked out quite how they had hoped.
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.
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Despite the recent upheaval in clean tech efforts, governments around the world are investing billions into green hydrogen. Analysts are calling it the missing piece in the clean energy puzzle, especially for industries that can’t run just on batteries or solar power.
But the future of green hydrogen may not be decided in Silicon Valley or Europe or even China. It might come from a factory just outside Bengaluru where a little-known American startup called Ohmium is building sleek, modular machines, the size of a fridge. These are designed to split water into hydrogen and oxygen using nothing but renewable electricity.
Ohmium’s unique technology called PEM (proton exchange membrane) electrolysers—are compact, scalable, and fast becoming the system of choice for green hydrogen production.But can India really lead the global green hydrogen race and will Ohmium be the company to take us there?
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. -
As fitness studios exploded across Indian cities after the Covid pandemic, Cult.fit rose to prominence on the back of its fun, accessible classes that appealed to sedentary urbanites.
Meanwhile, doctors noticed a sharp rise in workout-related injuries. Majority of those injured fell in the "most vulnerable" 35-45 age bracket.
What's going on? The Ken reporter DVLS Pranathi explains.
Tune in.
Question for listeners:
Whose responsibility is it to make sure you don’t suffer from any injuries when you start your fitness journey? Is it yours or Cult's? Or do you think it's both?You can send in your answers to our Whatsapp number 8971108379. Also if you have any questions for Pranathi, you can send them on the same number as a voice note or a text message.
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 biggest quick-commerce apps, Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy, have become prime real estate not just for regular FMCG brands but also for financial services, stock-trading apps, and even real-money gaming platforms.
The top three players are already making Rs 3 to 3,500 crore rupees in annual ad revenue. And that, dear listeners, is about half of what Amazon India made from ads in FY24, despite having way more users.
In today’s episode, host Snigdha Sharma speaks to The Ken reporter Gaurav Bagur about how quick commerce apps have become the new battleground for India’s ad money and our attention span.
Tune in.
Question for listeners:
Think of the times when you're on your phone everyday and tell us three instances where no one is trying to sell you anything.
You can send in your answers to our Whatsapp number 8971108379. Also, if you have any questions for Gaurav, you can send them on the same number as a voice note or a text message.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 January, when China’s Deepseek R1 model stunned the world with its performance and low training cost, India was thinking only one thing – how do we beat it? How do we become a global AI superpower?
But when it comes to the AI race, India has been stuck at the starting line for quite a while now. Its approach has largely been to throw things at the wall in the hope that something eventually sticks.Now, Deepseek has really amped up the pressure. India’s electronics and IT ministry, or Meity, has swung into action. It has been announcing housekeeping steps for the country’s year-old AI mission at a speed that can match the language model advances hitting the headlines.
But in the process, the actual goal of the mission has become more incoherent than ever.
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.
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On January 29 of this year, Denta Water and Infra Solutions – a company that specialises in groundwater recharging projects – listed on the bourses.
Three weeks later, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, or BWSSB, issued a set of guidelines to address what has become pretty much inevitable every summer in the city – a full blown water crisis.
Now, those may seem like two completely random developments to you. But actually, there is a connection there. Because today, both the BWSSB and Denta Water have a vested interest in solving Bangalore’s water crisis. But one has had more luck than the other.
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.
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In this episode we fill you in on three standout stories from the past week.
First, we talk about the unravelling of Blusmart, India's first EV ride hailing platform;
Next, the private banking and wealth management boom in India;
And finally how India’s ad agencies got raided over alleged price-fixing three days before country’s biggest marketing event, the IPL.
Check out the stories and podcasts mentioned in this episode:
Everyone’s looking for a private banker. Have you seen one?
An IPL Whodunit
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In January this year, nearly every single employee of the OG E-grocer Big Basket received an email from their CEO, Hari Menon. It was supposed to be a rallying cry. The Tata-owned e-grocery giant had finally—after much hemming and hawing—embraced quick commerce.
For a long time, Bigbasket didn’t care much for quick commerce. Menon himself dismissed it in April 2023 as unnecessary and “thrust upon” consumers.
But now the Tata board has had enough. Quick commerce isn’t just a fad anymore, it is the industry. Which is why, the pressure is on for Big Basket to make up for lost time and get back on the right track. And that’s going to take a whole lot more than just an email.
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.
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Phonepe is all set to debut in the public market in the second half of FY26. That perhaps seems like the natural next step for the fintech giant. After all, it commands nearly half of the market share in UPI transactions today.
Between 2020 and now, it has gone from catering to one in five Indians to one in three. And yet, the path to its IPO isn’t quite as simple as you would think. In fact, it’s a tough road ahead for the company.
And that’s precisely because of the one thing Phonepe is best known for – payments. You see, as much as 96% of Phonepe’s topline in the last financial year was thanks to Phonepe’s payment business.
You’re probably wondering what’s wrong with that. After all, payments were what put Phonepe on the map. Fair point. But the thing is, being over reliant on payments could hurt Phonepe.
Think about it. If anything about the payments business were to go south, it would be almost impossible for Phonepe to pivot in time. Which is why the key is to diversify. And it’s not like Phonepe hasn’t tried. Five years ago it launched its own financial services arm – Phonepe insurance.
But unfortunately, today, there still isn’t much to brag about.
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.
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Every two years, SBI Cards, India’s only listed credit card company, valued at $9 billion, appoints a new CEO. This time, it's going to be Salila Pande, a career banker who has been with SBI for over 30 years. On the 1st of April, she will take the reigns from her predecessor, Abhijit Chakravorty.
However, it is going to be a tough few years for her. And the reason is like an open secret amongst SBI Cards executives.They just don’t get along with any of their CEOs in general.
Tune in to find out why.
Tell us what you thought of this episode on WhatsApp at +918971108379
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. - Visa fler
