Get ready for a gripping episode all about the EdTech revolution.. We've got Gaurav and Ronnie, the masterminds behind EdTech, joining forces with Jay, who went to the best colleges, and Nikhil, who went against the college tide. Don't miss out on this discussion, where we'll uncover the magic of personalized learning, gamification, and supercharged teachers reshaping the education scene. P.S: This episode brings you four diverse contrarian perspectives on EdTech in India that'll leave you wanting more! Nikhil Kamath - Co-founder of Zerodha, True Beacon and Gruhas Follow Nikhil here:- Twitter https://twitter.com/nikhilkamathcio/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nikhilkamathcio/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio/ Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilkamathcio/ Koo https://www.kooapp.com/profile/Nikhilkamath Ronnie Screwvala Chairperson & Co-Founder - UpGrad - Building Careers of Tomorrow Follow Ronnie here:- Twitter https://twitter.com/RonnieScrewvala Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ronnie.screwvala Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RonnieScrewvala/ Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronnie-screwvala Gaurav Munjal- Co-Founder and CEO at Unacademy Youtube @unacademy Twitter https://twitter.com/gauravmunjal Instagram instagram.com/gauravmunjal Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/gauravmunjal8/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/gauravmunjal.blog/ Jay Kotak - Co-Head at Kotak811 Follow Jay here:- Twitter https://twitter.com/jay_kotakone Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jay_kotakone Linked in https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayukotak#edtech #unacademy #nikhilkamath #education #educational #technology #iit #iim #jee #neet #sslc #icse #ai #podcast #upgrad #ronniescrewvala

“Early on, we decided that we will play the high-risk high-reward game. We will not be a ‘good company’. Either it has to be a great company or it has to be a failure.” Unacademy, which is on a mission to democratize access to quality and affordable education in India, has helped over 10,000 educators reach more than 50 million learners since it was founded in 2015. Their subscriber base has grown by more than five times in the last year alone. On this episode of Moonshot, Gaurav Munjal, Co-Founder and CEO of Unacademy, talks with Shailendra Singh, Managing Director at Sequoia India, about building and scaling iconic products, creating a culture of experimentation, and the role that ‘Founder’s DNA’ plays in a startup’s trajectory. The conversation took place during an AMA at Surge – our rapid scale-up program for early-stage startups.Show notes:How crucial pivots define the trajectory of the company [6:08]Deciding early to be great, not good, and aligning the team to that goal [11:27]Have enough runway to create a culture of experimentation [13:40]Build or acquire autonomous teams to drive product innovation [18:19]Create iconic products by setting iconic goals [22:20]Build a strong brand as a long term moat [29:07]Improving your game through continuous learning and growth [31:48]Be relentless in the quest for mentors [41:09]Managing relationships with your board [47:16]How confrontation can build trust and transparency [54:14]

If this is your first episode of First Principles, it's a great episode to begin with.Gaurav Munjal is the co-founder and CEO of Unacademy, one of India's most aggressive and highest-valued ed-tech startups, last valued at close to $3.5 billion. But this story started a long time back. When Gaurav was just in class IX, he got into the content game. In a few years, he had started getting monthly payments from Google for the ads he ran on his content.In college, he had a blog devoted to the actress Priyanka Chopra. That fetched him hundreds of thousands of rupees each month. On a Facebook page that he ran—this one devoted to fashion—Chinese brands paid him hundreds of dollars each month to run their ads. So when he finally started Unacademy in 2015, it was, in many ways, a logical evolution of his life thus far. Nearly eight years, and $835 million in venture capital later, Unacademy is a company that reflects much of Gaurav's personality.It has no time for niceties. It would rather disrupt than defend itself. It is supremely confident in the face of even existential crises. And it attaches zero value to classical or theoretical notions of education. I mean, who else would say that education is really a tournament that can change lives and that teachers are coaches and that the best coaches are like mercenaries, and that they already earn more than second-rung movie stars?This is Episode 19 of First Principles, with Gaurav Munjal — The Ken's fortnightly leadership podcast.You can read the full transcript of the conversation here: https://the-ken.com/podcasts/first-principles/gaurav-munjal-unacademy/The Ken is India's first subscriber-only business journalism platform. Check out our deeply reported long-form stories, insightful newsletters, original podcasts and much more here: https://the-ken.com/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=podcasts&utm_campaign=podcast_ep