Blog

Hello,

BYJU’S is back in the news.

Its CEO Arjun Mohan has stepped down just seven months after officially taking on the role, marking yet another top exit from the troubled edtech firm.

BYJU’S Founder and Group CEO Byju Raveendran will take “a more hands-on approach in spearheading the daily operations” of the edtech company while Mohan will transition to an external advisory role, the firm said.

Meanwhile, the edtech firm said that it has received a majority of the total votes polled in favour of increasing the authorised share capital for the rights issue.

In other news, Zerodha Co-founder Nikhil Kamath launched a separate fund targeted at entrepreneurs aged 25 and under, called WTFund. It will be a non-dilutive fund, enabling eligible entrepreneurs to receive a grant of Rs 20 lakh without the need to dilute their stake. This fund will be sector-agnostic.

Oh, and here’s the recipe for the world’s oldest beer. The ancient recipe discovered etched into a clay tablet is written as a poem to Ninkasi, the goddess of beer. 

ICYMI: Inside a techie-turned-brewmaster’s journey to elevate Bengaluru’s beer experience.

Lastly, YourStory’s first-ever developer conference DevSparks 2024 is only a few days away. 

Register to hear and mingle with tech enthusiasts, app developers, startup founders, and industry leaders as they talk about coding and innovating in the age of AI.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Sharechat’s shifting strategies
• Masoom Minawala’s new book

Here’s your trivia for today: Which African country was formerly known as Abyssinia?

Social media

Decoding Sharechat’s shifting strategies

Homegrown social media platform ShareChat aims to become a cash flow-positive company in about a year even as the organisation formally announced the closure of raising $49 million in debt from its existing investors.

In an interaction with YourStory, ShareChat Founder and CEO Ankush Sachdeva said the company has over the last two years changed its mindset from a growth at any cost framework to building a sustainable business model.

Business model:

• According to Sachdeva, ShareChat has seen its burn decline by 90% and revenue double over the last two years. The app business is already an operationally profitable entity.
• The company primarily gets its revenue from two channels—advertising and micropayments. The advertising market has slowed down a bit while the micropayments segment driven by live streaming continues to gain traction.
• ShareChat also announced an organisation-wide ESOP bonus programme that will double this stock ownership for all its current employees.

Funding Alert

Startup: JJG Aero

Amount: $12M

Round: Equity

Startup: Varthana Finance

Amount: $10M

Round: Growth

Startup: Clientell

Amount: $2.5M

Round: Seed

Celebrity

Masoom Minawala looks back on her journey

Twelve years after unleashing the “Masoom Magic”, influencer Masoom Minawala (with Aditi Shah Bhimjyani) has released a book, She’ll Never Make It: My Journey from Doubt to Dominance, penning her experiences starting from being a style blogger to walking the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival.

From doubt to dominance:

• In the book, Minawala is frank and forthright, and acknowledges the privilege she was born with, and this honesty along with stories of mistakes, self-doubt and handling curve balls.
• “All our lives, we have seen role models that don’t look like us, or have lives like us, or do things that make them relatable. I have always shown a very honest portrayal of my life,” she says.
• Minawala has run different campaigns to help small businesses. Currently, her #SupportIndianDesigners campaign curates Indian designs priced between Rs 5,000 and Rs 25,000.

News & updates

• Job cuts: Tesla shares were down over 1% in premarket trade Monday on media reports that the automaker will lay off more than 10% of its global workforce. The company’s stock was down 1.32% in premarket deals at roughly 8:20 am ET.
• New leader: Apple’s smartphone shipments dropped about 10% in the first quarter of 2024, hurt by intensifying competition by Android smartphone makers aiming for the top spot, data from research firm IDC showed. Global smartphone shipments increased 7.8% to 289.4 million units during January-March, with Samsung, at 20.8% market share, clinching the top phonemaker spot from Apple.
• Record earnings: Goldman Sachs beat Wall Street estimates, fuelled by a recovery in underwriting, deals and bond trading in the first quarter that lifted its earnings per share to the highest since late 2021. The results reflected a strong comeback for investment banking—Goldman’s traditional mainstay—after a slowdown over the last two years.

Which African country was formerly known as Abyssinia?

Answer: Ethiopia 

We would love to hear from you! To let us know what you liked and disliked about our newsletter, please mail nslfeedback@yourstory.com. 

If you don’t already get this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here. For past editions of the YourStory Buzz, you can check our Daily Capsule page here.