On Friday, Gaurav Munjal, the CEO of Unacademy, offered his thoughts on the demise of the educational technology company Byju’s and its creator, Byju Raveendran, emphasizing the value of “blunt feedback” in managing a company. Munjal said that the founder of the struggling ed-tech business had stopped listening and didn’t have the necessary people to provide him with constructive criticism in a post on X, the old Twitter.
Lessons from Byju’s Fall
Munjal wrote, “He put himself on a pedestal and stopped listening.” He wrote, “Have people who can give you honest feedback; don’t listen to everyone else.”
Some Investors are assets, some are liabilities. Trick is to figure out the ones who are assets and listen to them.
— Gaurav Munjal (@gauravmunjal) June 27, 2024
Byju Raveendran’s leadership and his capacity to receive and act upon criticism were questioned by Munjal. In his article, Munjal added, “You might not always like the feedback, but take the feedback and act on it.”
With his fans on X, Munjal also discussed his opinions and lessons learned over the previous two years.
Four key points can be drawn from his post.
- You need to have offline play if you are developing for the Indian market.
- In hard times, be ten times more transparent with your investors and team members.
- Don’t use sophisticated stuff like stealth layoffs as a cover when making difficult decisions. Above everything, be open and honest.
- Innovation in business models is more significant than in products.
The case study of Byju’s as a company’s rise and fall is highlighted in Munjal’s analysis of Byju Raveendran. On June 26, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs refuted claims that it had given Bjyu the benefit of the doubt in the face of financial malfeasance. The ministry had clarified that inquiries into claims of financial impropriety involving Byju’s are still ongoing.
Byju’s was formerly valued at $22 billion, but as BlackRock lowered its stakes in the company, the valuation of Byju’s fell to $1 billion, as reported by the media.
READ: CELEBRATING STATISTICS DAY: HONORING THE LEGACY OF PROFESSOR PRASANTA CHANDRA MAHALANOBIS