An App To Bell The Cat

Ask Byju Raveendran for a trick and he will readily whip out a pen and paper to dash off a diagram. It바카라�s a simple geometry problem from Class 8 or 10 that he has scribbled out. But it is also a typical CAT-level question. Byju demonstrates a quick method to get to the answer. 바카라�We have a habit of making everything complex,바카라� he says. Tricks, he says, are the result of knowing your subject in and out. A decade ago, Byju바카라�s bag of tricks were an instant draw among friends keen to crack competitive exams.

바카라�That바카라�s how it all got started,바카라� says the 38-year-old, now a household name in the education business. From a travelling tutor holding weekend classes for CAT aspirants in auditoriums in Bangalore and elsewhere, Byju now connects online to a few lakh students from primary school upwards. At the last count, the Byju바카라�s learning app had crossed one million paid subscriptions, cumulatively since 2015, and his firm is on its way to making a profit.

바카라�When things are going well for you, there is no scope for becoming complacent,바카라� he says. The high pace of growth started in August 2015 when the app was launched, replacing the earlier classroom model. The earlier phase helped to understand what the students want. 바카라�Our biggest problem is we all learn how to solve questions. We don바카라�t ask questions,바카라� says Byju. 바카라�We are inculcating better self-learning habits in students.바카라�

It is important, he insists, because job profiles are changing rapidly, which means people need to adapt quickly. 바카라�Almost all reports say that half the jobs today바카라�s school students will end up ­doing aren바카라�t even defined at the mom­ent,바카라� he says. 바카라�The 21st-century illiterates are not those who can바카라�t read and write; they are those who can바카라�t learn, unlearn and re-learn. Things change so fast바카라�by the time you master something, you have to relearn again.바카라� So, he believes in catching them young, with a format that blends in videos and games.

바카라�Our product does not replace teachers or school,바카라� says Byju, whose parents were teachers at a government school in his hometown Azhikode, near Kannur in Kerala, which he also attended before joining an engineering college in Kannur. His first job was as a mechanical engineer with a shipping company, handling vessel breakdowns. The job paid well and he got to travel the world. Back home on two-month vacations, he found many of his friends in the IT sector app­earing for competitive exams and began helping them with useful math tips. Soon, he realised a lot of people were int­erested in these sessions, so the venues shifted to auditoriums and he began to charge a fee. 바카라�It was purely by chance,바카라� Byju says. 바카라�I never decided I will start Byju바카라�s Classes for CAT. It got the name because I was taking the classes.바카라�

If there is anything the learning app is now replacing, it바카라�s probably private tui­tions. 바카라�We are not positioning this as a tuition-replacement tool. Our motto is very clear: learning at home.바카라� At the mom­ent, however, the subscription ren­ewals at lower levels바카라�like Class 6바카라�equal those at higher grades like Class 10 or 12 at an average of Rs 1,000 a month. 바카라�These children don바카라�t attend private tuitions, so this becomes their only after-­school tool. Parents are happy to see them engaged,바카라� says Byju. Last academic year, the average time a student spent on the app was 57 minutes daily, mostly bet­ween 7 pm to 10 pm and on weekends.

Byju says he was always a self-learner. Often, when people hear that he came from a small village, it suddenly impres­ses them. 바카라�What a lot of people miss out on is that it is a big advantage. It makes you aspirational and extremely positive. There is nothing to lose,바카라� he says. Many reckon the education sector isn바카라�t easy to crack. But a bulk of Byju바카라�s $240 million funding came in 2016 and 2017 when many Indian start-ups were spluttering. Currently, its investors include the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia Capital and China바카라�s Tencent.

In the financial year just gone by, Byju바카라�s neared the break-even point with a revenue of Rs 520 crore. In fiscal year 2019, at the current growth rate, it exp­ects to double its revenue to Rs 1,200-1,300 crore and turn profitable. Growth comes from subscription renewals and new users. India바카라�s schoolgoing population is roughly estimated at 270 million, nearly half of them in English-medium schools. So, there is huge potential ahead, he says. Currently, the bulk of the subscriptions are from Class 4 to 12. Later this year, the company plans to cater to Classes 1 to 4 as well.

바카라�A lot of them are starting early,바카라� he says. 바카라�In lower grades, learning from a screen is more of a habit unlike Class 10 students who weren바카라�t using smartphones from the time they were born.바카라� The company is figuring out new models to reach a larger section of students. 바카라�It바카라�s early days, but I would also want to reach students who study in schools like the one I went to,바카라� he says. 바카라�There will be a certain section who can afford the product, but there will be others who are hungry to learn and who can spend half an hour, let바카라�s say, in a school library.바카라�

Most of the company바카라�s investment over the past five years has been on creating a product development team of content and media specialists. Currently, Byju바카라�s has over 300 employees working on content in its Bangalore office. By the end of the year, Byju바카라�s is looking to create a product for international markets as well. 바카라�We are creating three strong IPs, one around content, another around using media and the third involving technology,바카라� says Byju, explaining that the push to overseas markets would be a natural corollary. 바카라�What we are doing is mainly for India and, with some additional investment, we can give a good shot elsewhere too. There are no similar models like ours in the US or China. There is no playbook.바카라�

Learning, of course, is serious business. But parents take note: Byju is a sports buff too. He played cricket, football and table tennis at the university level. 바카라�I was forced to be a self-learner because I was more interested in sports, so my attendance used to be very low in school,바카라� he says. Have fun, at play or work, is his credo.