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Hello,

It was a power-packed third edition of Tamil Nadu Story in Chennai.

Underscoring the conversations was the uniqueness of Chennai as a business hub. “We do dhanda and not PR,” said Madhusudanan R, CEO and Co-founder of M2P Fintech, highlighting how local culture and the humble upbringing of fellow co-founders in Chennai have influenced their working style. 

Catch all the action from the event here. 

In other news, Paytm’s parent One97 Communications reported that its consolidated loss had widened to Rs 840 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, compared with the Rs 358.4 crore loss it reported in the same period last year. The fintech company is currently navigating regulatory sanctions on Paytm Payments Bank. 

Meanwhile, investors lost nearly Rs 8 lakh crore as benchmark indices fell from their record highs on a wide sell-off on Friday. Analysts attributed Friday’s market crash to profit booking amid a correction in the global markets.

Elsewhere, an outage like Y2K finally happened… in 2024!

On Friday, Windows machines across the world saw the dreaded Blue Screen of Death as a faulty update from cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike knocked PCs and servers offline. The “largest internet outage in history” impacted banks, TV broadcasters and airlines. 

In India, carriers such as Akasa Air, SpiceJet, and Indigo saw flight delays even as they resorted to giving handwritten boarding passes to fliers. 

Although the issue has been identified and a fix deployed, CrowdStrike Founder and CEO George Kurtz said it would “take time” for systems to get back to normal. 

By the looks of it, IT admins have a few long days ahead.  

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Thyrocare’s Velumani’s mantra for success
• Wipro’s optimistic revenue forecast
• Refex MD on raising capital 

Here’s your trivia for today: Who directed the iconic Apple commercial titled “1984”?\

Events

Thyrocare’s Velumani’s mantra for success

Dr A Velumani, Founder of Thyrocare, believes his brand’s success lies in being hyper-focused on a single problem statement. 

According to him, building in efficiency and frugality from the word get-go has been a game-changer for Thyrocare, and was responsible for bringing down the overall costs of diagnostic tests in India, as determined by a Chennaiyin.

Narrow focus:

• Picking a disorder and not a disease as the area of focus has ensured repeatability among customers who have been using Thyrocare services for over 20 years now, said Dr Velumani during the opening fireside chat of the maiden edition of Tamil Nadu Story 2024. 
• He likened the offering made by Thyrocare to a buffet of tests, with the cost of collection and transportation of samples remaining the same at one-third of the existing rates.
• Dr Velumani compared building a business to a marathon rather than a sprint, advising entrepreneurs to not be swayed by money and build out the business without diluting much stake in the initial days. 

Top Funding Deals of the Week

Startup: Tekion

Amount: $200M

Round: Equity

Startup: Urban Company

Amount: $50M

Round: Secondary transaction

Startup: Auxilo Finserve

Amount: $30M

Round: Undisclosed

Corporate

Wipro’s optimistic revenue forecast

Leading Indian IT services exporter Wipro reported a 4.6% YoY rise in net profit for the first quarter of FY25, beating market expectations and marginally improving the revenue guidance for the fiscal year.

Wipro CEO Srini Pallia remained confident about the growth ahead with a robust deal pipeline, “We believe Wipro is in a better position than the first quarter.”

Marginal improvement:

• Wipro’s net profit for the first quarter stood at Rs 3,003 crore. However, the revenues declined by 3.8% YoY to touch Rs 21,964 crore.
• On the performance of the company, Wipro CEO Srini Pallia said, “We did not see a significant shift in demand as clients remained cautious while discretionary spending continues to remain muted.”
• On a comparative note, Wipro continues to underperform when compared to its peers—TCS and Infosys. TCS registered an 8.7% rise in net profit and 5.4% in revenues, while Infosys saw its net profit grow by 7.1% and revenue by 3.6%.

Events

Refex MD on raising capital 

Refex Group Chairman and Managing Director Anil Jain sees a sea of capital raising opportunities for startup founders, even in the present funding winter. 

“If the thought process is clear, then getting money is never a constraint as there are various forms of getting it,” he said during a fireside chat at Tamil Nadu Story 2024.

Tapping resources:

• Jain recounted his over two decades worth of experience, where he would be open whenever there was a requirement for capital—from banks, friends or investors, and advised startup founders to shed their inhibitions of asking for money.
• According to him, money is available to the startups, but they should deliver on the performance benchmark. He also added that scaling a business is very important.
• He believes the success of any business organisation lies in sharing the vision with the employees and how they can put their thoughts into action.

News & updates

• App purge: Google is raising its minimum quality requirements for Android apps, and will soon remove those that don’t meet expectations from the Play Store. According to the company’s latest spam policy update, apps that demonstrate “limited functionality and content” will no longer be permitted on the Play Store effective August 31.
• Proof of life: Hot enough to melt metal and blanketed by a toxic, crushing atmosphere, Venus ranks among the most hostile locations in the solar system. However, astronomers have reported the detection of two gases that could point to the presence of life forms lurking in the Venusian clouds.
• Oil deal: Exxon Mobil Corp has agreed to sell its Malaysian oil and gas assets to state energy firm Petronas, exiting the country’s upstream sector where it used to be a dominant producer, Reuters reports, citing people sources. 

Who directed the iconic Apple commercial titled “1984”?

Answer: Ridley Scott

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