Abhishek Gupta

Companies fail, founders don’t. <excerpt> Wishberg, a wishlist site launched in 2012 by Pravin Jadhav and Kulin Shah, struggled and was acquired by Freecharge in 2014, which Snapdeal bought in 2015. Jadhav was then brought on board at Paytm to start Paytm Money for stock trading, and eventually started his own, called DhanHQ. Shah worked at Acko before founding Onsurity, an employee health benefits platform. India’s internet ecosystem is full of stories of founders starting up, shutting down, being acquired, of being forced out, before they build something that works. Many founders who exit their businesses reinvest in new ventures. Freecharge’s Kunal Shah has funded over 200 startups so far. Venture capitalists also often back founders who have tried something new and failed. India’s startup ecosystem is still innovating and is in the process of maturing. As they say: companies fail, founders don’t. </excerpt> Source link in the comment.

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Zerodha hits ₹8,320 crore in revenue for FY24, with a profit of ₹4,700 crore. Yes, you read that right! A billion dollars in revenue and a 55% profit margin. Zerodha’s numbers are a breath of fresh air in an ecosystem where startup losses are the norm. It shows that sticking to the basics, playing the game right, and making your own luck actually works. We need more leaders like Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath. Those who build sustainably and compete globally. (I am glad to share the namesake) Zerodha has set its own benchmark. What other companies do you think belong in this league? Zoho and Dream11 come to mind with their solid profits, but beyond that, it’s hard to say. Thoughts? #StartupSuccess #SustainableGrowth #BusinessLeadership #Profitability #IndianStartups

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Razorpay's Harshil Mathur on what shapes culture: Your first few hires become your feedback loops. What you do and don’t do with that feedback defines your culture. More on scaling Razorpay soon in a chat with Peak XV MD Ishaan Mittal! #peakxvinsights #insidesurge

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Why switching to Cash might just be the best move for the earning class? Have you ever stopped to look at how much of your income just…disappears? Not because of living expenses but because of all those “extra” charges: income tax, road tax, GST, bank fees, convenience fees. The irony is, despite all this money flowing out of our pockets, we still navigate potholes on the way to work, pay extra fees for groceries, and shell out for "convenience" when booking a simple train ticket. If you've felt the same way, you’re not alone. I remember a friend who was saving up, finally getting a little extra in the bank. But each month, he’d vent about how quickly that extra seemed to vanish. “I pay taxes, I follow the rules, and I’m charged on every transaction I make—and for what? The roads I drive on are crumbling, and basic services are still a hassle.” This sparked a conversation about cash—how going back to a simpler, cash-based approach could help reclaim some control over our earnings and avoid the constant fees and middleman cuts that eat into digital transactions. Here’s why that makes sense for a lot of us: 1. Control Over Your Own Money With cash, you cut out the middlemen. No more watching your hard-earned money trickle away to telecoms, banks, or payment processors just for the right to access it. 2. Privacy and Security Unlike digital transactions, cash offers a level of privacy that’s rare these days. Every online transaction generates data—data that’s used, bought, and sold, often without much benefit to us as individuals. Cash gives you back control over that. 3. Fewer Hidden Fees Ever notice how almost everything these days has a “convenience” or “service” charge attached? Cash eliminates these. What you pay is what you pay—no surprises or extra cuts for handling. 4. What About a Universal Currency? Imagine if we had a universal currency—something beyond the grasp of local tax structures and national agendas. It may sound idealistic, but it’s hard to deny the appeal of a system where hard-working people aren’t being overcharged by policies they didn’t create. Right now, the system can feel like a business model designed to profit off people trying to stay afloat. This isn’t about ducking responsibilities. It’s about recognizing that, for many of us, the current system isn’t working fairly. Switching to cash (and, maybe one day, a more universally fair currency) is about taking back a bit of control in a world where we seem to pay more and get less. In a world that profits off every move we make, maybe it's time we find a way to keep what we earn—to truly earn what we keep 😅 I’d love to hear your thoughts and stories in the comments. #FinancialFreedom #CashEconomy #UniversalCurrency #TakeControl #LessIsMore I know it's a little too old school and a long shot. but given the opportunity, I'd switch. My thoughts, ChatGPT’s words—teamwork at its finest!

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😱 Scary. Har kisi ko jaldi Hai!!💰 Dream11, a sports betting app focused on short-term money gains through sheer gambling, boasts nearly 200 million users. In stark contrast, the number of mutual fund investors in India stands at only 40 million. This disparity sheds light on a concerning trend: many people are swayed by the allure of quick money, often overlooking the importance of long-term wealth creation. While the thrill of instant gratification can be tempting, it's crucial to recognize the value of steady, disciplined investment strategies that mutual funds offer. Let's encourage more conversations about financial literacy and the benefits of informed, long-term investing. Wealth creation isn't about quick wins; it's about building a secure and prosperous future. #FinancialLiteracy #WealthCreation #Investing #MutualFunds #money #investment #FinancialAwareness #InvestmentStrategies #LongTermGrowth

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Swiggy’s IPO has officially arrived, and it’s making waves! 🚀 On Day 1, the stock opened with an 8% premium at ₹420 per share. But it’s not just about the investors—500 employees are receiving nearly ₹1 crore each through ESOPs, and 5,000 long-term employees are getting a share of ₹9,000 crore. 💸 The celebration went viral when Zomato joined in with a quirky congratulatory post, sparking a wave of fun responses from brands and netizens! #swiggyipo #zomato #ipodetails #stockmarkets #indianstartup

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A must listen for Founders and Entrepreneurs!! Stop running after VCs focus on building your business first!

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VC industry doesn't work this way. - VCs are ok with 19 of their 20 investments going to 0. - VCs are ok with a startup not making any revenue for 5 years. What they look for is 1 investment, which if it works out, becomes a multi-billion dollar company. Venture investing is all about "really high-risk high-reward" investing. It is tough for a common person to comprehend this because we all are used to Salary, Real Estate, FD interest, Mutual Funds, Profitable businesses, etc. Barely does any of us understand how "really high-risk high-reward" investing works. Imagine if you have a $100M fund that you have to deploy in 20 companies. This corresponds to $5M per company. Now imagine 19 companies shutting down completely where $95M becomes 0. However, if just 1 company grows to a $10B valuation, it would be a mega exit for the fund, assuming they hold even 5% of it (post-dilution). $100M goes to $500M with a 95% failure rate. But this happens only when one of their bets gives disproportionately high returns. A Business generating Rs. 1 cr/annum cannot be that bet for a $100M fund. We all can debate whether this approach is right or wrong. But then the debate would be the same as FD vs Mutual Funds vs Real estate. Or Jobs vs Business. Basically, it would be a pointless debate. #startups #business #entrepreneurship

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CRED Kunal Shah charging 1500Rs as service charge and providing 1rs cashback against the same txn, is it acceptable? 🙄 Also no bifurcation of the charges on the checkout page. However for the same premium payment other players are charging 0 Rs as service charge. What is this Rs 1500 for? What special special service u r providing? The amount u have charged me for this txn is more than the total cashback I have received from cashback till date. Please explain the services against which u have taken this service charge. #cred #hdfc #insurance #premium

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In Q1 FY25, Zomato and Swiggy highlighted their contrasting growth paths. Here's a breakdown: 1. Zomato   - Revenue: ₹4,206 Cr (up by 18%)   - Profit: ₹253 Cr (up by 44%)   - Blinkit Revenue: ₹942 Cr (up by 22.5%) 2. Swiggy   - Revenue: ₹3,222 Cr (up by 34.8%)   - Loss: ₹611 Cr (up by 8.3%)   - Instamart Revenue: ₹374 Cr (up by 108%) While Zomato is showing significant gains in both revenue and profitability, Swiggy’s high revenue growth in Instamart stands out, even as losses rise. The competitive landscape continues to evolve, with each player focusing on different avenues for growth. #ZomatoVsSwiggy #Q1FY25 #FoodTech #QuickCommerce #IndianStartups

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How important is the 'trust factor' while hiring for tech roles at INDmoney? Sunny Shah, Head of Engineering at INDmoney talks to Sukant Kumar about how he built a team of 120 from scratch. Watch the video for key insights 👇 #hiring #techroles #teambuilding #startup #startupstories

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Razorpay What kind of Unicorn are you? On July 6th, I initiated a transaction of Rs 10.15 Lakhs to my Virtual A/c on Razorpay. Immediately, I received an email from Razorpay stating that the source account is not whitelisted with them, and they have rejected the transaction. It also mentioned that the amount would be credited back to the source account within 24 hours. Now, even after 7 days, the amount has not been received. We have been sending emails to their ID ([email protected]) since July 6th and have sent several reminders, but they have failed to respond. On July 10th, after failing to receive any response, we warned them that we would escalate the matter to the RBI Forum. Immediately, we received a call from their team member assuring us that the amount would be credited back by the end of the day. It's been 48 hours now, and we still haven't received the amount. Today, they wrote that they have refunded the amount but failed to share the UTR and transaction details. They are just playing around with us. When my team member tried calling the same person who assured the refund several times around 4 PM, her calls were not answered. At 6:05 PM, he messaged her saying their working hours are 9 to 6, Monday to Friday. So does this mean we will not receive a response about our substantial amount until Monday? How much time should a failed transaction take for a refund? Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is there any law for this? Can a company keep someone's money for so long like this? We request you to kindly take serious steps for this. We have already raised a complaint for this to your CRPC forum and the complaint no. is RBI/CMS/N202425005002501/2024-25.

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One Android phone, one whiteboard, and one marker = $2.8 billion. Alakh Pandey's PhysicsWallah just raised $210mn at a $2.8bn valuation - 2.5X higher than their last round, with revenues notching the $250mn mark. The crazier part: founders and management STILL own 85% of the company. From being unable to pay for school and selling his family home, to founding India's 101st unicorn, Alakh Pandey's story has been something else. Since he was a child, Alakh had always wanted to study engineering at IIT. His parents couldn't afford to send him - and they sold their house so that he could find his way at a local engineering college. To make ends meet and buy back his family home, Alakh started teaching on the side. He began tutoring children whenever he was off from school, and almost every single rupee earned went into savings. But there was one problem. The tutoring business wasn't growing fast enough. So in 2016, Alakh decided to quit his teaching kids and focus on YouTube full-time. He started teaching under the name PhysicsWallah, and things took off. He quickly amassed a following that loved his style of teaching - so Alakh decided to monetize. PhysicsWallah turned into a moonshot when he introduced a 3500Rs. (US$43) IIT Prep Package. The cheapest option out there, taught by an amazing tutor, for India's most competitive exam. What's not to love? Subscribers came trickling in, PhysicsWallah's bank account started filling up, and Alakh Pandey's name became a staple for every young Indian aiming to go to IIT. Ed-tech platform Unacademy saw this, and offered him an annual salary of $5m+ every year to teach on their platform. Alakh said no. PhysicsWallah set off on a hunt for investors, and the rest is history. It's staggering how a whiteboard, a marker, and a camera took a humble man from the verge of bankruptcy to one of India's biggest household names.

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Aditya Patwardhan talks about how many iterations are required before you reach the product market fit? Follow us on https://lnkd.in/djQriYDq for the full episode.

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Swiggy can hit 600-700 inr demand is huge got 4 lots in #IPO and bought some in open market. Zomato ipo was around 50-60 now it’s 250. Both Zomato India and Swiggy are bellwether stocks for #india’s affluent and middle class economy as current 100M affluent with spending power expands to 300-400M and middle class around 300-400M expands to 600-800M their valuation can be 10-20x. As pyramids invert game and playbook will flip. This is a duopoly markets and we love duopoly firms

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In times of crisis, the true culture of an organization comes to the forefront. It’s a period when leadership is tested, and the values we stand for are put into action. As leaders, we must own our role in guiding our teams with empathy, resilience, and clarity. When we prioritize our people and their well-being, we build a stronger, more united organization that can weather any storm. Let’s lead with integrity and compassion, ensuring our culture shines brightest when it’s needed the most. #Leadership #OrganizationalCulture #CrisisManagement #EmployeeEngagement #EmpathyInLeadership

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