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.
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.”
Byju failed because he didn’t listen to anyone. He put himself on a pedestal and stopped listening. Don’t do that. Never do that. Don’t listen to everyone but have people who can give you blunt feedback.
— 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.
Five 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 secret to winning is to identify your leverage points and play the game accordingly. Not via heedless execution.
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.
