What upGrad’s Ronnie Screwvala learned from BYJU'S crisis: Accept failure, focus on frugal innovation

Serial entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala, known for his candor, has—for sometime now—been an outspoken critic of BYJU'S and its founder Byju Raveendran. He didn't hold back at TechSparks Mumbai either.

At YourStory's flagship event in Mumbai, he did not hesitate to openly address the company and its issues. During a fireside chat with YourStory Founder Shradha Sharma, Screwvala reflected on his learnings from the BYJU'S crisis—a current hot topic in the startup community. 

“The first lesson everyone should hear is that no amount of funding can build a solid business, if you don’t set out to build a business. If somebody has raised $4-5 billion and not been able to build a business, it obviously means that money is not the answer and it is not the first step,” said Screwvala.

“The second learning here would be if you don’t have the ability to accept that you failed, and this is the other challenge with this particular story; it is the delusional approach to not accepting where you have gone wrong. Once you accept, solutions come about, if you don’t, you are running down to the ground."

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Screwvala, Co-founder of upGrad, one of India's most valuable edtech unicorns, further emphasised the necessity for frugal innovation rather than excessive funding in the edtech sector.

“This sector actually does not need money. It needs frugal innovation and the moat and the benchmark for entrepreneurs in India, is going to be to build frugal innovation. Frugal doesn’t mean no money. When you are with low resources, that’s when innovation comes in,” Screwvala said at TechSparks.

One of the most vibrant sectors during the pandemic, edtech has lately witnessed a substantial decrease in investor interest due to a fall in demand for online learning solutions as schools, colleges, and physical tuition centres have reopened, post the pandemic. 

Screwvala, along with a few fellow founders, has been trying to revitalise the sector. Recently, during an edtech summit in Gurugram, where a number edtech founders had convened, Screwvala organised an informal meeting for everyone to collectively address and discuss the challenges faced by the industry.

“The minute you raise more money than you thought, because the investors say tank up for the winter, then my brain starts thinking of excess and then innovation comes down, frugality vanishes and mistakes happen and I think this sector has gone through the cycle,” he added.

Screwvala, a serial entrepreneur donning the roles of a film producer, venture capital investor, and startup founder, also discussed his entrepreneurial journey and the setbacks he encountered over the years. Screwvala said that his "lower middle-class" background, helped him overcome failures.

“I think I have been to able to handle tonnes and tonnes of failures, because of my background, because I came from a lower-middle class background and because I started with no sense of entitlement,” said Screwvala. "The best way I've handled my failures continuously is to double down on them."