Entrepreneurship

Module

Business Models

1 lesson

01

Why Some Startups Quietly Build Billion-Rupee Businesses That Nobody Talks About

Ask any college student to name Indian startups. You'll get Zomato, Swiggy, Paytm, Flipkart, Nykaa. Familiar brands. Consumer apps. Things they use. Now ask…

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Module

Early Traction

1 lesson

01

How Zoho Built a ₹8000 Crore Business Without Any Marketing

Most Indian software founders believe the secret to building a startup is raising VC money, running aggressive marketing, and scaling fast. Then they hear…

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Module

Founder Mindset

1 lesson

01

Why Smart Founders Still Build the Wrong Businesses

IIT grad. ₹700 crore raised. Cover stories everywhere. Three years later, out of his own company. What went wrong? In 2012, a 24-year-old IIT Bombay graduate…

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Module

Funding & Control

1 lesson

01

How Zerodha Became India's Most Profitable Startup Without a Single Rupee of VC Money

In 2010, two brothers named Nithin and Nikhil Kamath started a stock broking company in a small Bangalore office. They had no famous investors. No fancy…

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Module

Going to Market

1 lesson

01

Why ITC Wins in India Even With Average Products

Walk into any kirana store in rural India. You will not find Airbnb. You will not find Swiggy. You probably won't even find Amazon. But on the top shelf, next…

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Module

Operations

1 lesson

01

Why BigBasket Almost Collapsed When India Needed It Most

March 25, 2020. India goes into its first nationwide lockdown. Streets empty overnight. Shops shut. People panic and start hoarding groceries. And suddenly, an…

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Module

People & Culture

2 lessons

01

When the Founder Becomes the Reason the Company Can't Grow

There's a strange moment in the life of every growing company. The same founder who built everything from scratch — the hero of the origin story — slowly…

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Why Hiring Your Best Friend as Your First Employee Can Kill Your Startup

It's a familiar story in Indian startups. Two college friends decide to start a company together. The business takes off. Investors come in. Revenue grows.…

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Module

Scaling

3 lessons

01

Why Jugaad Gets You Started and Systems Make You Unstoppable

The word "jugaad" is one of India's proudest exports. It's become a case study in Ivy League business schools. It represents the Indian ability to make things…

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The Moment Swiggy Knew It Had Won

In 2015, Swiggy was not yet a household name. It was a small Bangalore-only company competing in a crowded food delivery space. Zomato was bigger. FoodPanda…

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The Silent Killer Called "Let's Scale Now"

In 2012, two IIM alumni, Ambareesh Murty and Ashish Shah, launched an online furniture marketplace called Pepperfry. The idea was simple and ambitious. Most…

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Module

Starting Up

4 lessons

01

Why Dunzo Couldn't Survive Despite Everyone Loving It

Everyone loved Dunzo. Reliance bought 25%. Valuation: huge. Four years later — near collapse. Why? Ask a Bengaluru resident in 2019 about Dunzo and you would…

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Why Paytm Won the Night Demonetisation Happened

8 PM. Modi on TV. 86% of India's cash becomes paper. One app won the night. Why? November 8th, 2016. 8 PM. Prime Minister Narendra Modi walks onto live…

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Why Your Friends' Approval Means Nothing in Business

Your mother loves your business idea. Your roommate thinks it's brilliant. Fifteen people liked your Instagram post. None of that is validation. A 23-year-old…

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Why India Rewards Execution Over Original Ideas

Budget hotels existed forever. One 19-year-old turned them into $10 billion. Idea? Boring. Execution? Ruthless. In 2013, a 19-year-old college dropout named…

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Module

Startup Finance

5 lessons

01

The Simple Ratio That Decides If a Business Actually Works

Imagine you own a small pizza place. You decide to attract new customers by spending ₹200 on Instagram ads for each new person who walks through your door.…

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Why Ola's Cheap Rides Were Never Really Cheap

Remember 2015? An Ola ride from Saket to Connaught Place cost you ₹80. An auto would have cost ₹120. A taxi would have cost ₹300. It felt like Diwali every…

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What Every Founder Learns the Hard Way About Burning Money

In January 2023, news broke that a fast-growing car services startup called GoMechanic had laid off 70% of its workforce overnight. A few weeks later, worse…

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Why Byju's Had ₹10,000 Crore in Revenue and Still Ran Out of Money

₹10,000 crore revenue. $22 billion valuation. Could not pay salaries. How? In 2020, Byju Raveendran was on top of the world. His company, Byju's, was India's…

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Why a Company with ₹10,000 Crore Revenue Can Still Be Broke

Flipkart did hundreds of crores in 24 hours. They lost ₹15 on every ₹100 sold. Guess which number the press talked about. Back in 2014, Flipkart's Big Billion…

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