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The Life insurance Corporation of India or LIC is now stepping into a sector where more than 860 million Indians or nearly 60% of the population still has no coverage. The insurer signalled its big move into health insurance in March this year with a major acquisition—49% of Manipal Cigna, a private health insurer, in a deal valued at over ₹3,500 crore.And here's where things get really interesting.This is LIC we are talking about. It doesn't need to chase quarterly returns or exist to make shareholders rich. It exists to do things, to fix things and show up when the government needs a nudge—or a battering ram. And in a country where trust, access, and affordability in healthcare are still broken concepts for most, a battering ram could be exactly what's needed.In this episode, we are look at LIC's entry into health insurance and how the rest of the sector is bracing itself. Because if LIC gets this right, it won't just be another player in the market. It could be the market.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.

Ather Electric once pioneered the electric two wheeler segment. But now it has fallen behind its competition like Ola Electric and TVS Motor in terms of market share. To make matters worse, its recent IPO saw a lukewarm response from investors. One thing is clear -- up until now, Ather's focus has been on building superior products, loaded with features and a smooth user experience. But to take things to the next level, Ather will have to build a more compelling narrative. How did it get here? What's next for the EV maker? Tune in. Daybreak is looking for a talented audio journalist with at least two years of experience. Check out the role 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.

Mahindra's new EVs the XEV 9e and BE6 were marketed as software wrapped in metal. They promised the future. Things like augmented reality heads up display, auto park assist, a triple screen dashboard, an in car camera, and a digital key based on near field communication. But now, that long list of cutting edge features is proving to be a real bottleneck for the company. The Ken spoke to at least a dozen frustrated buyers of Mahindra's new electric twins, who haven't yet received their cars despite promised deliveries. Why? Well, the reason apparently is a software update. Buyers have found that the digital keys they were handed at the showrooms just wouldn't work. Touchscreens were freezing, Cameras were glitching. The list goes on. Tune in. Daybreak is looking for a talented audio journalist with at least two years of experience. Check out the role 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.

Earlier this month, India's largest third party logistics company, Delhivery, acquired its biggest rival Ecom Express in a $165 million distress sale. The acquisition could not have come at a better time for both parties. Things have been tough for Ecom for some time now. The company, in fact, called off its IPO plans just this February, about six months after filing the papers and ended up laying off hundreds of its employees. Meanwhile, Delhivery has been soldiering some tough times too.  By acquiring its floundering rival, Delhivery seems to be going all out to claw back some business. But is that enough? Tune in. Daybreak is looking for a talented audio journalist with at least two years of experience. Check out the role 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.

In January this year, Netradyne, the logistics AI startup, became India's first unicorn of 2025 after it raised $90 million in series D funding. You see, it did not take it long to realise that its sweet spot is the long-distance trucking segment. It serves over 3,000 customers across eight countries, including the likes of Amazon, Shell, Indian Oil and Greenline Mobility. And it all began with one rather primitive prototype. Of course, now it has morphed into a compact device with a built-in GPU, up to four cameras, and a disembodied voice alerting drivers not to crash the vehicle.The Ken reporter Abhirami G found herself in the backseat of one of Netradyne's test cars in Bengaluru's Whitefield neighbourhood. The driver of the car was a Netradyne employee. And as he weaved through the traffic, the company's signature always-on surveillance cameras didn't just watch his every move, but also apparently “understood” and “analysed”. As he drove, he was generating the precious training data that powers the company's bread and butter. Apart from making roads safer, this whole system also doubles up as a driver's best legal defence in times of trouble. The company's executive Vice president of Engineering Teja Gudena said that on multiple occasions, it has saved drivers from liability by proving their innocence in accidents. Apart from its new-found unicorn status, it reportedly managed to clock Rs 1,000 crore in revenue in 2023. It also currently has a stronghold in the US and other major global markets. Reaching all of these milestones within nine years is pretty remarkable. But despite all that success, Netradyne is now grappling with an existential crisis. Because now, driverless vehicles are no longer science fiction, they are a logistical inevitability. And that leaves Netradyne in a rather tricky spot. Tune in.This episode was first published on Feb 13, 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.

In this episode we fill you in on three standout stories from the past week. First, what ITC's acquisition of 24 Mantra means for the larger organic food market; Next, Musk's latest attempt to save Tesla; And finally, why Blusmart's unravelling was an eventuality we all chose to ignore. Check out the newsletter and podcast mentioned in this episode: The latest edition of Trade Tricks The Nutgraf: Blusmart and the dogs that didn't bark

On 9 April, as the world reeling from the tariff standoff between America and China, one Indian company quietly made history.The stocks of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company Indigo, India's top budget airline, hit an all-time high. For a brief moment, Indigo wasn't just India's largest airline—it became the most valuable airline in the world. More than Delta even. Back home though, meanwhile, a different story has been playing out. Thousands of Indian flyers have been complaining online about broken luggage, rude crew, overbooked flights. When cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle tweeted his frustration about Indigo's service, more than a thousand people replied to his tweet with their own horror stories.Has Indigo stopped caring about its passengers?But why would it? It flies nearly 9 million people a month. The clues, as it turns out, lie inside a grey building in Gurgaon that my colleague Rounak Kumar Gunjan visited recently. This is Indigo's training centre called iFly where hundreds of young trainees, often barely in their twenties, are taught how to serve tea at 30,000 feet.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.

 Here's the thing about the Indian carbonated beverage market – for decades now it has been a two, sometimes three horse race dominated by everyone's favourite black coloured colas. Pepsi, Coca Cola and Thums Up. But in the last year or so, a 160-ml bottle of cumin-flavoured soda has managed to do what very few bottled beverages could. It has challenged the Indian beverage industry's holy trifecta – the Coca-Cola-Pepsi-Parle Agro trio. The crazy thing is, this isn't some massive global brand that has just entered the Indian market. It's a seven year old desi brand launched by three cousins in Punjab that was largely unknown until about a year ago. We are talking about Lahori Zeera. 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 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.

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.

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 retireesLessons from past students who graduated during economic downturnsThe 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. 

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 sleepsIn 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.

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 —SpotifyApple 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. 

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.

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 UnileverThe 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, 2025Daybreak 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.

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.

 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 

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. 

 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.

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 +918971108379Daybreak 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.

Remember that time in 2022 when India's top digital payments companies Phonepe, Paytm*, and Bharatpe were in a no-holds-barred turf war? Looking back, it seemed like there was news almost every other day about some tiff between the three market leaders. In fact, former managing director of Bharatpe, Ashneer Grover, has spoken on record about “street fights” between companies' employees over QR codes. A little more than two years later, there's only calm. QR code scuffles are over. No one is beating each other up. Both the peer-to-merchant and peer-to-peer payments space have settled down into a tripartite peace. Phonepe, Google Pay, and Paytm—in order of market share—are the clear leaders. This raises some interesting questions: How many UPI apps do you have on your phone? And do you have a favourite one? We may have multiple, but only one of them is ever really used. No amount of cashbacks or fancy user experiences make people want to switch to something else. Is it brand loyalty that is preventing users from churning out of old platforms and into new ones? A former Paytm executive told The Ken, “There is zero brand loyalty for UPI payments apps…” Well then, what is happening?*Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma is an investor in The Ken*This episode was first published on December 30, 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.

In this episode we fill you in on three standout stories from the past week. First, why the fight between every Indian's favourite namkeen brands Haldiram's and Bikaji just got spicier; second, the controversy around Urban company's newest pet project;and finally, the latest from Two by Two where our colleagues Rohin and Praveen discuss what the fourth wave of tech exports from India will look like.Check out the stories and podcasts mentioned in this episode: The latest edition of Long and ShortWhy India's biggest employer of women gig workers refuses to listen to its own workforceTwo by Two: Ultrahuman and Kuku FM have broken outThe Ken is hosting its first live subscriber event! Join two long-term and contrarian CEOs, Nithin Kamath of Zerodha and Deepak Shenoy of Capitalmind, as they discuss the mental models, decision making frameworks, and potential outcomes related to a very real possibility: an extended stock market winter that lasts 24 months or more. Click here to buy your tickets. 

Pharma is slow, complicated and tangled in regulatory approvals and compliances. But, consumer healthcare is fast moving, has far fewer rules and enjoys better margins. Under the umbrella of consumer healthcare you will find a plethora of categories and products – all of which claim to improve some aspect of health or well being. Think supplements, or over the counter medications like Crocin or Sanofi's own Allegra, even things like protein bars. These are products that you can toss into your shopping cart and purchase without the hassle of a prescription. Last year, Sanofi India decided to demerge its consumer arm and list it as a separate entity – Sanofi Consumer Healthcare. Sanofi even gave it a shiny new label: FMCH, or fast-moving consumer healthcare. And this approach seems to be working out well for the French company. Sanofi Consumer Healthcare has been picking up some of the slack. By Q1 of 2024, it was already contributing 30 per cent of Sanofi SA's total sales and -40 per cent of its operating profit. But Sanofi didn't invent this move. Zydus Lifesciences figured it out back in 2008 when it created Zydus Wellness, the entity behind Sugarfree and Glucon-D. And after that, we saw giants like GSK and Johnson & Johnson follow suit. But here's the thing about Sanofi. Unlike Zydus, which clearly separates its pharma and consumer-health businesses, Sanofi blurs the line. A lot of its pharmaceutical products are being recategorized and sold as consumer care. 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.

About three years ago, the government decided that it wanted India to become a global powerhouse in cell manufacturing. So it went ahead and dangled a very juicy carrot for companies to produce batteries locally. It promised over Rs 18,000 crore in subsidies for anybody who would help it make its battery dreams come true by the end of this decade. Cut to now, three years later, and those dreams are very quickly losing charge. You see, by now the government should have technically already disbursed Rs 2,700 crore to beneficiaries. But in reality, not even 1 per cent of that has reached any of them. Merely Rs 24 crore has been spent by the government this far, and most of it has gone towards paperwork, site visits and tender process. That's it. What's going on? 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.

Private schools across the country are going through quite a crisis right now. Just last month, The Ken reporter Atul Krishna saw this play out first hand at a budget private school called Blossoms in Bangalore.  During a visit to its campus, he learnt that its once packed classrooms are now thinning down year after year. From 1,5000 students about five years ago, the count is less than half od that now. And unfortunately, the school's principal Shashi Kumar predicts that that number will only drop further. Blossom's is just a small piece of a much bigger puzzle. Between 2023 and 2024  alone, overall school enrolments across the country registered its steepest drop in five years. The enrolment numbers dropped by…wait for it…10 million. And funnily enough, private schools, which make up less than one third of all schools in the country, saw a drop of over 2.2 million student enrolments. That begs a rather obvious question – Where have all the children gone? 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 fill you in on some of the biggest business and tech stories from The Ken newsroom. We will talk about Reliance and Airtel's latest deal with Space X's Starlink Internet; how Dhan, the stock broking underdog, is defying all odds; and finally, we discuss the market for treating farmed animals humanely. Stay tuned Check out the stories and podcasts we mentioned in this episode: Dhan is the stock-broking underdog that Chryscapital and Hornbill are after. But why?How big is the market for treating farmed animals humanely? 

If there's one thing urban Indians love to do, it is delegate. Today there's all manner of apps for anything even vaguely resembling a chore. Need someone to deep clean your house? Or a stand-in for the driver that called in sick? Well, there's an app for it. The Ken's deputy editor Seetharaman G recently pointed out how all of this is possible only because of an ever-growing army of gig workers constantly whizzing around cities and towns across India for wages that are abysmally low. In many ways it is a never ending loop. As stable jobs continue to vanish, millions of young Indians are turning to odd jobs instead. They are fuelling a booming gig economy, where startups – both big and small – are turning even the smallest chores into business opportunities. Naturally, venture capitalists can't get enough. They have been pouring tens or billions of dollars into gig driven startups. They are directly and indirectly betting big on this endless supply of underpaid workers to keep these business models afloat. The stats are pretty alarming. Today, 13 per cent of all tech funding is fueling this vast eco system of odd jobs on demand. It all paints a pretty dismal picture. Because it's starting to seem like the future work is taking care of everything you don't want to do. 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 the Bengaluru-based Cloud kitchen operator Curefoods went ahead and acquired the distribution rights for the American donut and coffee brand Krispy Kreme in December last year, a lot of people were naturally quite surprised. Given the company's roots in the fitness startup Cult fit, you would assume that it would be in Curefood's best interest to promote all things “healthy”. Even its flagship brand up until now, Eatfit, is popular on delivery platforms for its healthy, clean food options. But turns out, that's not the path this cloud kitchen operator wants to walk down anymore. It is now dead set on expanding its menu beyond just salads. And the only way to do that is by giving people what they really want — junk food. 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.

After years of being associated with powerful politicians and menacing goons thanks to Bollywood films, SUVs are now undergoing a makeover. At car dealerships across the country, they are now being positioned as the ultimate family car —  a fortress that can keep your loved ones safe on treacherous Indian roads. The word on the street, according to multiple sales executives and industry insiders, is that Indian carmakers are deliberately positioning these  vehicles as rolling citadels. And it's working. SUVs are now outshining hatchbacks in annual sales. But this love for SUVs among buyers is like the inexplicable craze around skinny jeans—no one likes them except the manufacturers and the ones in them. Simply put, more SUVs on the road mean more worry for everyone else.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 the much-awaited Swiggy IPO took place in November last year, many HNIs make put in their money into the company. Some made smaller investments of more than Rs 2 lakh and the others who bought stocks for over Rs 10 lakh. But they weren't buying stocks because they believed in the real value or long-term potential of these shares. They bought them because they assumed someone else will buy them at an even higher price. The Ken reporter Suprita spoke to a VP of a Bengaluru-based unicorn. They told him that they just though they were getting a good deal at a discounted price. They even sold off some of their SIPs and even their Zomato shares. When many HNIs buy unlisted stocks before a company's IPO, they drive up the stock price. But once the pool of these HNI buyers dries up, the bubble bursts.It is the theory of greater fools and it played out during Swiggy's IPO when  brokers pitched Swiggy shares as a piece of India's hottest food-delivery and oldest quick-commerce giant, that too at a discount.But a discount to what?Because Swiggy's market capitalisation is right now stands at under $9 billion as compared to its listing valuation of $13 billion. So what happens to HNIs like the unicorn VP who bought Swiggy shares before its IPO?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 fill you in on some of the biggest business and tech stories from The Ken newsroom. We'll talk about the latest development in the Byjus story; how Reliance's Campa is taking on the Coke-Pepsi duopoly; and finally, the battle between YouTube and streaming companies to be the next television.Stay tuned. Check out the stories and podcasts we mentioned in this episode: The latest edition of Ed Set GoPepsi's biggest bottler is pouring more cola to fight Reliance's CampaTwo by Two

This year the JSW MG Windsor became the highest selling electric car in India. It recently even managed to outperform Tata's most popular offerings like the Nexon and Punch EV. It recorded total sales of over 10,000 units in a single quarter, beating all the models from Tata, Mahindra, and Hyundai.The obvious question here is – what did MG do differently? And the answer is simple – by doing for EVs what Reliance did for cell phones in the early 2000s. 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.

Over the past few years, public universities here in India have been stuck in a rather difficult position. For decades, they were almost entirely dependent on state funding to keep the lights on.But now the state funding has steadily been drying up. So now, they have no choice but to fend for themselves. But legacy institutes like IIT Bombay, IIT Madras and IIT Delhi have found a workaround. They are all taking a page out of the Ivy league playbook and setting up their own endowment funds. In this episode we delve into what that means and why it isn't as easy as it may sound. Stay tuned. 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.

Up until recently, for most enterprises the default choice ended up being ChatGPT maker Open AI's models. That was mainly since for a long time there were no serious alternatives. Then, in came Deepseek R1. It proved that other models could compete and even win against OpenAi, that too at a fraction of its price. So now its the one that's nudging enterprises to think twice before paying OpenAi for its services. And as a byproduct of that, over the last few months, the entire AI ecosystem has been moving from the one size fits all approach to picking the best tools for the job. Basically that means getting multiple models to work together. There is a huge opportunity here. Not for consumer-AI startups that were once dominating funding charts, but instead for LLMops businesses. These are companies that glue together large language models or LLMs and optimise hardware and software to speed up computation processes. In the near future, these companies could potentially grow faster than ever before. 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.

Young independent doctors in India are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Take F M, a 32-year-old psychiatrist who has a clinic in South Mumbai. She's spent a third of her life slogging through medical schools and internships to finally earn her super-specialised degree. But two years into her private practice in a posh South Mumbai area, she wonders if being a doctor is really worth it.Nearly 50% of the total medical seats in India are in private and deemed medical colleges, which don't come cheap. Sheetal Shrigiri, gynecologist and counselor at a coaching center for medical-entrance exams told The Ken an MBBS degree at a private college costs anything between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore.Apart from the financial burden of the degree itself, once they become doctors, there is increasing competition from hospital chains and also the pressure of having a social media presence and to deal with.Tune in.*This episode was first published on September 30, 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.

In this episode we fill you in on some of the biggest business and tech stories from around the world. We'll talk about US President Donald Trump's trade war threat and what it means for India and why Meta is suddenly doubling down on its Indian market. Finally we will take you through some of our favourite offerings from The Ken's newsroom this week. Check out the stories and podcasts we mentioned in this episode: Netradyne made a $1.3B business out of surveilling drivers. Now, it must focus on driverless carsNutgraf: Here's how the Swiggy, Zomato monopoly could crack Two by Two: Airtel fights spammers. And Truecaller's business model.

Ten years in the business and the custom furniture maker Wooden Street has left its older peers far behind. If you ask the company's founder and chief executive Lokendra Singh Ranawat, he will tell you that the Covid pandemic was when the company's fortunes changed. Within two years of the pandemic, the company's top line nearly quadrupled to Rs 130 crore. It also claims to have closed the 2024 financial year with a revenue of Rs 340 crore. The company has also managed to attract global investors, including the likes of Premji Invest. In December 2024, Wooden Street raised a little over Rs 350 crore in a series C round – which happens to be one of the largest investments into India's home and furniture segment in a long time. The founder says, around this time, everyone became a Pinterest-inspired interior designer.  Ranawat noticed people were  constantly thinking of new ways to spruce up and upgrade different parts of their homes. And it's that newfound obsession with home improvement that proved to be the wind beneath Wooden Street's wings. And what set Wooden Street apart from its peers was its customisation strategy that it calls the ‘Goldilocks zone'. Tune in.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.

By now, we are all aware of the WeWork story. We know how the company grew to become synonymous with coworking spaces thanks to its lavish network of offices around the world. How these offices were once packed with young techies playing pool and sipping beer. And how, eventually, it all came crashing down. The company, once valued at 47 billion dollars, was brought to its knees.But here in India, the WeWork story has been playing out drastically differently. The workspace provider's India business is thriving. In fact, it is currently prepping for an IPO. It has managed to get to this point only because it is everything that its global sibling is not. More importantly, it realised somewhere down the line that it's better to ditch the frills and be a boring office space provider for all sorts of clients, not just the startup crowd. The pivot is now towards managed office spaces. Tune in. 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.

How do you sell diamonds to the ultra rich? Well, Zoya, the luxury jewellery brand from Tata-owned Titan Company can give you a masterclass. The Zoya playbook isn't focussed solely on designing and selling premium jewellery. Turns out, it's all about the experience. From champagne brunches, to luxury cruises — the brand stops at nothing when it comes to nurturing its client relationship. For 15 years, Zoya, the ultra-luxury jewellery brand from Tata-owned Titan Company, wasn't so much a business as an expensive exercise in patience. A handful of boutiques, a tiny customer base, and no profits. Now, suddenly, things are different.As of FY25 Zoya is finally profitable. But here's the problem: luxury is having a moment in India. Tiffany, Cartier, and Bvlgari—all want a bigger slice of the pie.Tune in. 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.

In October 2024, the government of India launched the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, a health insurance coverage for all senior citizens aged 70 and over, regardless of income. This is big news for healthcare in India because for the longest time, this is exactly the age group that has pvt insurance companies have been ignoring.To give you a clearer picture, a person aged over 60 years pays anything between Rs 30,000–50,000  as annual premium for coverage as low as 5 lakh rupees. Even policies for Rs 6–10 lakh are harder to find and cost Rs 40,000–70,000 annually. That's about 5X the premium someone younger would pay for the same coverage. And it's not just the high premiums; these policies are of little help to seniors when they need it the most. In fact,  more than four out of every five people aged above 60 aren't covered by any insurance at all. Only 20% of those over 45 years have a health cover. And the rest are just out there vulnerable to emergencies. The reason being: high premiums and meagre coverage.Tune in.**This episode was first published in November 2024Daybreak 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.

In November 2024,  one of India's biggest FMCG companies, Hindustan Unilever, started getting a barrage of complaints from its consumers, who said they were seeing the same Dove and Surf Excel ads repeatedly on OTT platforms during a single watch session. Some of them were shown the same ads as many as 150 times within a week. Now, with the IPL around the corner, HUL—which spends nearly Rs 4,000 crore on ads annually—couldn't afford to ignore these complaints. So what followed was a series of investigations. And what they discovered has opened a real can of worms for not just JioHotstar, the platform that will be streaming the IPL, but OTT platforms in general. The big issue is a serious mismatch between what was promised and what's actually being delivered for ad campaigns, according to seven insiders from HUL, Disney, and other industry rivals who spoke to The Ken. So what happens when a big spender starts feeling like it's not getting what it signed up for during the biggest streaming event of the year? The Ken reporter Rounak Kumar Gunjan speaks to Daybreak hosts Snigdha and Rahel. Tune in. Listen to 'One Billion in 10 Minutes', our new mini series based on The Ken's inaugural case competition. The Ken app Apple Podcasts Spotify

Back in 2009, Tata launched an egg-shaped four seater hatchback that it was convinced would redefine mobility for the masses, Tata Nano. Initially priced at just Rs. 1 lakh, it was designed as the dream ride for the lower middle class. It was a bold and ambitious that unfortunately didn't quite take off. Auto experts say it was because of a combination of factors. But perhaps the biggest learning from the Nano fiasco was that car ownership in India isn't just about wheels. It's about status. Now, almost two decades later, Tata Motors has managed to dethrone India's largest passenger carmaker, Maruti, to officially become the public's favourite. And it's all because of how it has positioned itself since the Nano. Take one of its most successful models, Tata Punch, for example. Last year, this compact SUV became the country's best selling car. It managed to beat the iconic Maruti Wagonr and Swift which previously took the top spot for several years now.  So how did Tata Motors get here? In this episode we dive into its journey from the Nano to the Punch. 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 global fashion industry is shifting dramatically. Brands like Zara that once ordered a minimum of 6,000 pieces per style, have dramatically reduced their orders to about 600 pieces. And it isn't just a quantity thing, production timelines have shrunk from 150 days to less than half of that. The result? Well, fresh designs every two weeks. This shift in the industry was made possible because of middlemen like Groyyo, who get small factories to manufacture clothes in small batches in record time.The company's strength lies in what other larger factories find challenging. When a brand places an order for 500 pieces to be readied in 60 days, large factories—those capable of producing batches of at least 2,000 garments—typically struggle to justify the operational adjustments required.  This isn't the first time the textile industry has seen such moves. Other B2b Fasionplatforms like Geniemode and Fashinza also went down the same path but ended up burning over 100 million dollars trying to digitise this unorganised space. But Groyyo managed to recognise exactly what they were missing – a focus on international markets. Tune in. Listen to 'One Billion in 10 Minutes', our new mini series based on The Ken's inaugural case competition. The Ken app Apple Podcasts Spotify