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PODCAST

Daybreak

Business news is complex and overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be. Every day of the week, from Monday to Friday, Daybreak tells one business story that’s significant, simple and powerful. Hosted from The Ken’s newsroom by Snigdha Sharma and Rachel Varghese, Daybreak relies on years of original reporting and analysis by some of India’s most experienced and talented business journalists.

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All Episodes

20:42

What Swiggy, Zepto & Cred know about your phone

Daybreak ·

2025/08/26

In March this year, a software developer that goes by Pea Bee online published a blog rather ominously titled ‘Everyone knows all the apps on your phone’. He found that several Indian app-based startups are flouting rules of Google Play—Android’s app store—to access people’s data. In particular, some apps use a workaround to scrutinise the names and usage patterns of other apps on people’s phones. In real time.Now, the fact that apps have a lot of your data may not be a surprise to you

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10:06

The price drop in weight-loss drugs Indian pharma...

Daybreak ·

2025/08/25

Even though GLP-1 drugs have helped nearly 20 million people shed weight across the world since 2021, Indians had to wait until 2025 to get in on the action legally.To be fair, the country wasn’t entirely in the dark. Semaglutide—the molecule behind pharma giant Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy—was already available for diabetes treatment. But this March, Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro (which uses a different molecule, tirzepatide) entered the market. In July, Wegovy arrived. And

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11:10

Lenskart is a case study in how an Indian retailer...

Daybreak ·

2025/08/24

Lenskart is gearing up for a nearly $1 billion IPO after closing FY25 on a strong note with ₹6,652 crore in revenue and ₹297 crore in profit. What’s even more impressive is that almost 40% of that revenue now comes from its more than 600 stores outside India, rare feat for an Indian consumer brand.Unlike peers such as Zomato and Ola that stumbled in global markets, Lenskart has taken a slow-and-steady approach, leaning on selective acquisitions, smart investments, and joint ventures to

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13:47

Skill or chance? The blurry line that threatens...

Daybreak ·

2025/08/21

The Online Gaming Bill, 2025 has sent shockwaves through India’s booming fantasy sports industry. Within hours of its passage in the Parliament on Wednesday, Dream11, the country’s first fantasy sports unicorn with over 200 million users, found itself on the chopping block. Smrita Singh Chandra, a former VP at Dream11, called the ban on real-money online games 'deeply unjust' and 'unethical,' warning of devastating economic fallout.At stake is the fantasy sports industry valued at nearly $2

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12:31

If AI is expensive everywhere then why is ChatGPT...

Daybreak ·

2025/08/20

OpenAI has just launched a special, India-only plan for ChatGPT. It makes access cheaper here than almost anywhere else in the world. At first, it looks like a win for millions of Indians who’ll get to try cutting-edge AI at a fraction of the cost.But for India’s AI startups, it may be a different story. Competing with global giants that have billions in capital, access to compute, and a head start on scale is already tough. Add aggressive pricing, and the playing field gets even steeper

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12:43

360 One wrote the wealth-management playbook. Now it...

Daybreak ·

2025/08/19

On paper, 360 One Wealth and Asset Management looks flawless: a ₹42,000 crore market cap, among India’s largest pools of assets under management, and a co-founder CEO with a near-mythical reputation.But beneath that shine, the cracks are widening. Within a year, three of its most influential leaders—including co-CEO Anirudh Taparia—walked out, with over 100 employees following. Promoters and insiders are offloading stock, and even early backers like Bain Capital are quietly easing

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11:13

The secret behind IIMs' 100% placements? Opting out

Daybreak ·

2025/08/18

IIMs are increasingly counting on students opting out of the placement process to maintain their 100 per cent placement facade.The playbook is simple, really. If too many students remain unplaced by the end of the cycle, send them an email suggesting they opt out. Or, like IIM Amritsar, just inform students that if they’re not placed, they will be considered as having “opted out”.Of course, it’s all just to keep up appearances. When 40 out of 45 students get placed, and 5 opt out, the 100%

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9:43

Why VCs love founders with baggage more than founders...

Daybreak ·

2025/08/17

India’s startup boom has lost its spark. Venture capital funding in the first half of 2025 dropped to just $3.6 billion—the lowest since 2016. Fresh ideas are scarce, and investors are stuck with fewer bets to make.So who’s still getting the money? Familiar founders. Even those with messy track records. Pharmeasy’s co-founders, whose healthtech giant crashed from $5.6 billion to $460 million, raised fresh funds for All Home. Whitehat Jr’s Karan Bajaj, criticized for misleading ads, secured

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14:00

UPI can be forever or free—not both

Daybreak ·

2025/08/14

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

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8:54

What happens when a failed founder goes job hunting?

Daybreak ·

2025/08/14

On average, over 35 startups shut down every day in India. Employees move on to their next stint, but most founders find themselves unemployed, thanks to their high pay and a leadership attitude. Why? Think of it this way. What makes a good founder? Leadership, independence and a penchant for the unconventional. But what happens when these very strengths are seen as weaknesses when they're on the other side of the hiring table?Tune in. One channel. Every show. No more switching

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11:56

Inside Samir Kumar’s plan to bring order to Amazon...

Daybreak ·

2025/08/13

It's been a tough couple years for E-commerce in India. And no one has quite borne the brunt of it like Amazon. Between tough competition from the likes of Meesho and Flipkart, not to mention the legion of quick commerce platforms that have completely changed the way we shop, and profitability pressures – Amazon is stuck between a rock and a hard place. But now it is trying to turn back the clock. Leading that endeavour is Samir Kumar, who took over and the new country manager in October

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9:35

A quick guide to the new Income Tax Bill

Daybreak ·

2025/08/12

The new Income Tax Bill 2025 was passed by the Lok Sabha without debate yesterday. It is a huge step towards simplifying and modernising India's tax system after six decades. But what does this major reform mean for you, the average taxpayer? Tune in to find out.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.One channel. Every show. No more switching

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11:19

When dark patterns become default

Daybreak ·

2025/08/11

The Indian government is losing patience with consumer-tech platforms using dark patterns or manipulative design tricks.In late May 2024, Consumer Affairs Minister, Pralhad Joshi, gathered the country’s biggest internet companies, Amazon, Google, Zomato, Ola Electric, etc to give them an ultimatum: clean up your user interfaces by September 5 or face the consequences.From hidden fees on Amazon to guilt-inducing pop-ups on Indigo, these tactics push users into spending more money, sharing

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11:09

Biden said 'please' till 2024. Trump's saying...

Daybreak ·

2025/08/07

Just a year ago, U.S. officials publicly encouraged India to buy discounted Russian oil to help stabilise global markets during the Ukraine war. But fast forward to 2025, and the U.S, under President Trump, has slapped India with the highest tariffs in the world: 50% on its exports. Trump has accused India of funding Putin’s war machine.So what changed?In this episode, we break down how India went from energy partner to trade target for doing exactly what the U.S. once asked. We also look

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10:59

Why some of AI's brightest minds are rejecting...

Daybreak ·

2025/08/06

Earlier this week, Andrew Tulloch, co-founder of Thinking Machines and one of the key engineers behind OpenAI's GPT-4, reportedly said no to a jaw-dropping $1 billion offer from Zuckerberg's Meta. Why would anyone say no to that kind of money? The answer lies in a high-stakes conflict for the soul of AI. From Microsoft crippling Inflection AI and Meta’s $200M poaching spree to a growing rebellion led by top AI minds like Mira Murati, Andrew Tulloch, and Dario Amodei, we look at big tech’s

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12:44

Why EY India's old guard is walking away

Daybreak ·

2025/08/05

In just over a year, EY India has seen at least 10 partners from its tech consulting division quit. Many of them were pioneers of significant practices like data analytics, cybersecurity and SAP. What’s interesting is how they left. There were no public announcements, or farewell parties. It was almost like these senior partners vanished from some of the consulting giant's most prized divisions. And with them, they’ve taken full teams, clients and decades of institutional memory. Now, its

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11:37

Bansal chased vision. Nagori chased output. Public...

Daybreak ·

2025/08/04

Ankit Nagori and Mukesh Bansal may have started the fitness unicorn Cult.Fit together, but their journeys since then are a study in contrasts.On one hand is Cult.Fit. It's been a little over a year since Mukesh Bansal stepped down as Cult’s CEO. When The Ken reached out to him asking why, he clarified that he still remains involved. But involvement, of course, is a spectrum – sometimes it means steering the company to an IPO. The catch is that while Cult.fit wants to go public next year,

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8:53

Can Zepto’s 10-minute coffee dodge the fate of...

Daybreak ·

2025/08/03

India’s coffee scene looks like it is booming with new cafes, trendy menus, and big international names. But the truth behind is that almost no one is making money.And then came along Zepto Cafe, the 10-minute coffee delivery, that wanted to change everything. In early 2025, it was clocking 100,000 daily orders and a $100 million run rate. But just months later dozens of its locations shut down.Why did Zepto, with its speed, scale, and infrastructure, end up like every other coffee brand in

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10:24

US consumers may not notice the ‘Made in India’ tag,...

Daybreak ·

2025/07/31

A 25% tariff on Indian textiles maybe a blow to India’s exports but that’s only half the story.The latest trade move by Donald Trump could hit closer to home for American consumers. India is the third-largest supplier of apparel and home textiles to the U.S. after China and Vietnam. Both countries already face heavy tariffs from the US. Together, China, Vietnam, and India account for nearly 60% of American clothing imports.So what happens when all three get taxed?In this episode, we examine

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10:31

Clinics have made IVF the new C-section. VCs can't...

Daybreak ·

2025/07/30

IVF chains in India aren’t deterred by paltry things like probabilities. They’ve made IVF the new C-section—essentially, a revenue-generating procedure pushed before natural alternatives are even considered. All at 4X the cost of a C-section, or around Rs 2 lakh for a single cycle.The result is a $1.4 billion IVF market in India—10 times the market for cataract surgery, the most common procedure worldwide.Unsurprisingly, venture-capital and private-equity firms have swooped in for the

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619 results

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