Was 2023 the Best Year for Indian Startups?

00:00 - Intro
01:27 - Some Background
03:35 - Reality Check
06:28 - Road to Profitability
09:37 - Learnings for Entrepreneurs
The year 2023 proved to be a tumultuous journey for Indian startups, marked by initial struggles during a funding winter to eventual success stories of profitability. Notable companies like OYO, Unacademy, Zomato, and Ola transitioned from financial challenges to turning profitable, showcasing resilience and adaptability.
Background - VC Investment Thesis and Funding Boom:
This section delves into the background that led to the boom in venture capital (VC) investments in Indian startups. With a growing middle class and transformative events like the Jio revolution and UPI launch, India became an attractive investment destination. US-based VCs, armed with cheap money, saw India as the next big opportunity after China, fueling a funding surge that began around 2016.
Crux - Factors Driving VCs and Startups towards Profitability:
The narrative explores the blitzscaling model adopted by startups during the funding boom, emphasizing rapid user acquisition without immediate concern for profitability. However, the model faced challenges as VCs, seeking returns within a specific timeframe, encountered a changing financial landscape with increasing interest rates. The startups, in turn, realized that a significant portion of internet users wasn't willing to pay for services, leading to a reevaluation of business models.
Path to Profitability - Case Studies of Oyo, Zomato, and Unacademy:
This section outlines the strategic steps taken by major startups to achieve profitability. Oyo, after facing substantial losses, restructured its approach by reducing the number of hotels, shifting to a revenue-sharing model, and targeting premium customers. Zomato adopted the 80/20 principle, focusing on the most profitable users and discontinuing operations in smaller cities. Unacademy, anticipating the funding winter, underwent a cost-cutting spree, prioritizing its core test preparation business, and leveraging its offline business for growth.
Learnings:
The central lesson is the importance of building businesses that are sustainable and independent of constant VC funding. While acknowledging the role of VC money for scaling, the emphasis lies on understanding the market's capacity to pay for products and services, ensuring long-term viability.
In summary, 2023 marked a pivotal year for Indian startups, transforming challenges into opportunities and prompting a shift towards sustainable business practices, ultimately leading to widespread profitability across various sectors.

[@user-dv8kx2jl7v]

BWM has the most informative videos. All my ecosystem knowledge comes from BWM.

[@nomadd27828]

Amazing video! well edited and nice bgm used :) really informative as well!

[@LightningBoys]

Good video .This is what a inspiration should look like!!!

[@Bikermanic]

Key takeaway: look for slow and steady growth than a fast n furious scaling..👍🏻👍🏻

[@AdityaMishra-hg4ku]

Shark Tank ne bhi bht promote kiya h startups ko ajj ke time pe school college ke har bache ke maann m h kahi na kahi startup karne ka josh

[@rushil_arora]

Great Insights!

[@barryobrien1890]

Are they profitable (paid back all the losses), or just profitable over one quarter. In the case of Zomato 3.8million gold customers out of a market of 900 million shows just how bad the industry has overestimated India's potential. It will be interesting to see how these companies survive in the coming years and if they can return sufficient profitability to beat interest rates. 8 to 10 year old companies are hardly startups. It is also interesting how little investment the world's 5th largest economy invests in its startup ecosystem. Will this improve as we go into 2024, or is investment just going into the stock market

[@barryobrien1890]

@@Aryan-Pahwani well India tells the world it's 1.4 billion population is the reason it will become the world's largest economy by 2070. In the usa 4 million customers is not a lot for a food delivery service. Newyork or Chicago have that number of subscribers to ubereats.

[@ritshpatidar]

Zomato has a lot of cash and low debt. So they will survive for at least 10 years.

[@barryobrien1890]

@@ritshpatidar let's hope so. They made a profit of rs 2crore ($250k) on revenue of 2700 crore ($330 million) which is barely measurable. The government sent them a bill for 402 crore ($49 million) for GST evasion, so they may yet be in a lot of trouble. With such terrible profit margin and a tiny market share, their investors can't be too happy. I think the investors believed the 900 million number of potential customers. They still owe the investors a return on their 15 year old investment.

[@ritshpatidar]

@@barryobrien1890 Those who believed on them are already in multifold profits. And for retail investors, those who bought the IPO are already at more than 50% profit. Those who bought at low are already at 100% profit. It's all about valuation(which is derived from future value).

[@quickSilverXMen]

Awesome analysis📉📈. Covered every aspect briefly.

[@archit_singh15]

pretty well explained!

[@Adhavmani]

The greatest lesson from 2023 is, always build a business model to get the money from your customers by sustainable product/service rather than borrow money from VCs by valuation.

[@indian9632]

In reality, one got funded outpaces the bootstrapped one. It's a race to the bottom.

[@arsilvyfish11]

Really liked the analysis!

[@suyashpriyadarshi4297]

Very insightful

[@peak-naik]

I was hoping for a longer video. Should have been a deep dive on subject.

[@kiranthankachan9808]

Great analysis

[@bawiliankhum]

Thanks for sharing

[@MichealScott24]

❤

[@shresthjakhwal8575]

Niccee

[@bobbysani2126]

do u do full time youtube or parttime

[@SubhojitDey]

when will the education channels of youtube bubble burst?

[@yosup125]

for the algo

[@prajyotdeshmukh1473]

Bro how to become fluent in English like you

[@vitsboy46]

Now you'll say Zomato is profitable but we need consistent profitability along with free cash flows 🙇‍♂️

[@eric91raymond]

Low jobs. Low spending capability