DeansMusings

  There are as many recent articles on the fall of Byju’s – the world’s most valued ed tech startup, as they were on the rise of Byju earlier. I have commented on the deluded thinking around unicorns in my earlier blog posts. https://rpdeans.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-coming-unicorn-meltdown.html While Byju’s had problems with corporate governance, ethical concerns around its selling, unrealistic (in retrospect) expectations around growth from investors – as do other startups, I want to talk about opportunities I believe Ed-tech startups are missing and how Ed-tech, if does what it was originally intended to do, can transform education in India and with it the quality of our workforce and ability to compete. What tech is supposed to do :   The internet and the tech startups around it, were supposed to transform business by doing the following: -Reduce costs by replicating data or infrastructure (e.g. textbooks or classrooms) digitally, thereby  improving quality (i.e....

  The problem with delivery apps in India When first studying economics and later business, I learnt that building a profitable business depends on: Supply and demand (if demand goes up relative to supply, price increases) & Solving a problem better than competition. The example of Uber and Ola in India illustrate what I mean by supply and demand. Ride hailing apps worked well in markets like the US where they got car owners (e.g. retired people or college students) to work part time as Uber drivers. This added to the number of cabs available. When supply went up, relative to demand, prices fell. The reduced prices attracted new customers, who wanted a better alternative to public transport or their own vehicle, but at a lower cost than conventional cabs. The lower price was acceptable to the supplier (Uber driver) as it was extra income for him, thru utilizing his idle asset (car) and time. In India, the average car owner would not want to drive a stranger for money an...