Podcast Episodes

Can cheap seats come with extra legroom? We ask the man behind India’s first budget airline

Episode 330

Every time you take a domestic flight and don't have to break a fixed deposit to buy a ticket, you have Captain GR Gopinath to thank. In 2003, he  launched Air Deccan, India's first budget airline.  …

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

India's largest non-bank is a prisoner of its own growth

Episode 329

Phone calls from Bajaj Finance offering loans are almost inescapable and the non-bank has been facing quite a backlash for it.

But telecalling has been an enduring sales channel for the company which …

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

How Birkenstocks went from being a clunky, orthopaedic sandal to the new it-shoe

Episode 328

Not so long ago, Birkenstocks were considered the antithesis of high fashion. For the longest time, the 250-year-old German brand’s characteristic chunky sandal was seen as nothing more than an ortho…

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

Meet the unlikely winners of India's quick commerce boom. Local brokers.

Episode 327

India's biggest quick commerce players — Blinkit, Instamart, and Zepto — are on a mission. They are frantically hunting for properties they can convert into dark stores. 

Dark stores are an integral p…

Published on 1 year, 3 months ago

Why half of India's young doctors are drowning in debt

Episode 326

Young independent doctors in India are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Take F M, a 32-year-old psychiatrist who has a clinic in South Mumbai. She’s spent a third of her life slogging through m…

Published on 1 year, 3 months ago

Daybreak News Wrap: Musk vs Brazil; why we can't trust online news; and Meta's cool new sunglasses

Episode 325

In this episode of Daybreak, hosts Snigdha and Rahel try something new — instead of the usual monologue or interview, they cover three of the biggest social media stories from around the world. 

The f…

Published on 1 year, 3 months ago

Why replicating China's iPhone city model in India is a short-term fix for a long-term problem

Episode 324

What put iPhone city on the map is that it produces more than half of the world’s iPhone’s every single year. The global demand for the Apple iPhone has only increased over the years. To keep up with…

Published on 1 year, 3 months ago

Is Flipkart bringing a knife to the fintech gun fight with Super.money?

Episode 323

Back in 2022, e-commerce giant Flipkart’s 35 billion dollar universe was left with a gaping fintech hole after the payments app Phonepe was spun off. There a brief period, after that, when it wasn’t …

Published on 1 year, 3 months ago

You can buy an EV in China. But can you afford to insure it?

Episode 322

Half of the world’s electric cars are on China’s roads, thanks to a wave of smart incentives for both consumers and manufacturers, such as tax breaks and purchase subsidies. The payoff is tangible: t…

Published on 1 year, 3 months ago

Inside Flipkart: a high-pressure workplace thanks to its IPO dreams. And Walmart

Episode 321

A few years ago, Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy had set a target of 40% growth across all categories for Flipkart. But in 2023, it was still stuck at 20%. So the company is now on a mission. It wa…

Published on 1 year, 3 months ago