Byju's Founder On Layoff, Audit Delay, Acquisitions, Sponsoring FIFA and Cricket World Cup | FO 61

Figuring Out with Raj Shamani

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In this latest episode of Figuring Out Podcast we are in conversation with Byju Raveendran, Founder and CEO of Byju's, the biggest edtech startup and we have discussed:
-How did Byju’s become the biggest edtech startup?
-How BYJU's Became the Most Valued Startup of India?
-Why did Byju invest his own money in his startup?
-Why did they sponsor the FIFA World Cup and Cricket World Cup?
-What’s happening with Byju’s employees?
BYJU'S was founded in the year 2011 by Byju Raveendran. He is India's youngest billionaire with a net worth of $3.05 billion as per the Forbes list of India's 100 Richest People (2020). BYJU's The Learning App was launched in 2015 and is currently noted as the most valuable startup from India with a valuation of $22 bn.
Coming from Azhikode, a small village in Kerala, Byju Raveendran was an engineer with a shipping company based in the UK. While he was working, he started to help his friends prepare for the CAT exam, an entrance exam for getting into the best business schools in India. To test himself, Byju also gave the exam and secured 100 percentile! He did not join any of the IIMs but started teaching students for their mathematics exams.
Initially, he took mathematics workshops for free and then started charging a fee when he was confident about his prowess. At one point his workshops were so popular that more than 20000 students participated in one such workshop. In the year 2009, he started to record videos of the workshops he organized.
His former students who graduated from the IIMs encouraged him to start BYJU’s classes. ‘Think and Learn Pvt Ltd’ was then formed to create content for school students. He launched Byju’s – The Learning App in 2015, and the app was downloaded by more than 5.5 million people in the first year itself.
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00:00 - Introduction
03:23 - Early life of Byju
05:41 - His parents role in his journey
07:40 - Monitoring vs Mentoring
09:46 - How Maths should be taught?
11:03 - Byju Raveendran's childhood
17:24 - His mindset during his surgeries
20:00 - What he learnt from his parents?
27:11 - Tough time of his life
30:27 - Why Byju's endorse Bollywood and Cricket?
32:48 - Biggest challenge for entrepreneurs
34:09 - His take on work life balance
41:11 - How to create Founders?
43:07 - How was BYJU's Started
46:58 - Byju's growth hack
53:16 - Why people are bullish on India?
1:01:57 - Byju's next global brand from India?
1:04:41 - Hiring vs Firing
1:08:15 - How to keep your team together?
1:12:13 - When should you raise funds?
1:16:15 - Acquisitions of Byju's
1:19:38 - What people misunderstood about Byju's?
1:29:04 - Byju on dealing with hate on social media
1:37:32 - What should founders focus on?
1:39:02 - How to get customers?
1:43:09 - Why there is so much negative noise about Byju's in media?
1:45:55 - Why there was audit delay?
1:47:15 - Akash payment
1:48:01 - Self funding in Byju's
1:50:12 - Future of Education in India
1:52:24 - Next big industry in India?
1:54:34 - Entrepreneurship in India Vs US
1:57:27 - Byjus Raveendran's advice to all of us
About Raj Shamani
Raj Shamani is an Entrepreneur at heart that explains his expertise in Business Content Creation & Public Speaking. He has delivered 200+ speeches in 26+ countries. Besides that, Raj is also an Angel Investor interested in crazy minds who are creating a sensation in the Fintech, FMCG, & passion