Sumit Mendiratta

🚨 PhysicsWallah has filed an updated DRHP for an Rs 3,820 crore IPO. And its filing gives clear numbers on why ed-tech companies have been pushing for an offline presence. PhysicsWallah's offline business accounts for nearly half of the revenues now. Its online transacting users increased from 1.68 million in FY23 to 4.13 million in FY25, a 2.5-fold rise. But the average collection per online user remained modest, from Rs 3,107 to Rs 3,683. Offline enrolments rose faster, from 80,000 in FY23 to 330,000 in FY25, up more than 4 times. But more importantly, the average revenue per offline user is 10x as compared to online. It increased from Rs 34,467 in FY23 to Rs 40,405 in FY25. PhysicsWallah’s offline average revenue per user far outpaces online, even as online scale drives rapid volume expansion.

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This perfume startup made ₹1.5 crore in 60 days by doing the one thing every D2C founder FEARS And that one thing is refunds. (Sounds crazy, right?) But that’s exactly how BLABLIBLU cracked trust. Their playbook is simple: → Sell a discovery pack of 4–6 perfumes. → If you don’t like it, get a full refund. → If you love it, upgrade to 100ml and your trial amount gets credited back. Refunds in India usually = P&L nightmare. For them, refunds = conversion. And the results are wild: ✅ Revenue: ₹1.5 crore in 60 days ✅ Refund rate: ~3% ✅ Upgrade rate: ~20% That’s a moat. Because today’s consumer doesn’t trust your ad copy. They trust experience. Pricing. Packaging. Refund logic. Delivery. Every detail is part of the product. Blabliblu solved one of the biggest anxieties in D2C: “What if I don’t like it?” But none of that matters if the delivery itself fails. If the discovery pack arrives late, crushed, or smelling like damp cardboard… You lose the customer before they even try the product. The “trust loop” dies at the doorstep. That’s the part most D2C brands miss. The funnel doesn’t stop at “buy now.” It stops when the box lands on time, intact, and exactly as promised. And that’s exactly what we’re building at Zippee. Because bold refund models, daring marketing, and consumer-first playbooks all collapse if your ops aren’t airtight. Blabliblu removed the fear of “what if I don’t like it.” Zippee removes the fear of “will it even arrive right.” One kills anxiety at trial. The other kills anxiety at delivery. That’s how trust compounds.

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Zomato / Swiggy are building what Paytm tried to build 5 yrs ago - but better. For anyone who thinks Zomato and Swiggy are still food delivery apps has been living under a rock. Food delivery (yes at high burn rates) was simply CAC. Now comes the monetization. Like everyone had / used paytm almost everyday, multiple times a day a few yrs ago and “Paytm karo” became synonymous with UPI payments. But with payment monetization getting regulated and Paytm unable to effectively become a “superapp” when venturing into ticketing, entertainment, mutual fund investments etc., the CAC never translated into monetization. Hard luck + not as sharp execution. Then came other innovations like the sound box, BFSI like longer-time taking monetization strategies. Might work but take time. Zomato / Swiggy on the other hand - move fast. Zomato bought Paytm’s ticketing business and “District” was born. Blinkit. Instamart. Now Scenes by Swiggy. In the future, flying buses by Zomato (if one can dream). Private labeled groceries (Noice by Swiggy) - the customer is here, now sell the high margin products. The monetization is kicking in thick and fast. You’re a captive customer and will remain so with the food delivery, and everything else will bring in the margins and the monetization. A Superapp without being labeled a superapp. That was always the plan. It is just playing out now, and how!

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Blinkit is asking ₹25K per product listing. Yes… you heard that right :) ₹25,000 per product just to get it listed and gain some visibility. This money is credited to your ad wallet. For early-stage founders, this is a big deal. Here’s why👇🏻 → High upfront cost: Listing 4 products? That’s ₹1 lakh just to get started. For bootstrapped startups, this is a serious capital decision. → Marketing exposure, not guaranteed sales: The fee goes toward driving traffic via ads, not giving you direct access to buyers. Without proven demand, ROI is uncertain. → Risk vs. reward: Unlike commission-based models, you pay before seeing sales.If your product-market fit isn’t strong, you may burn cash without returns. → Platform fit matters: Quick commerce platforms like Blinkit work best for impulse buys or daily essentials. Niche or high-consideration products may struggle to see meaningful ROI. → Hidden costs: Remember, Blinkit also charges commissions (10–25%) on sales. Factor this into your pricing strategy to avoid surprises. Think before you list. Upfront fees matter, but product-market fit matters even more. What do you think about this fee? Is it too much or normal? ****** P.S. At @AY Ventures, we have helped founders raise over 85.2 Cr. Fill this form to get a free consultation call with our funding experts👇🏻 https://lnkd.in/gjqKsyb8

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75 rejections couldn't stop him. Today, Pavan Guntupalli runs Rapido, a 79,350 crore company. An IIT Kharagpur graduate, Pavan worked at Reliance and Samsung before chasing his dream. His first logistics startup failed, followed by seven more failed ideas. Investors rejected him 75 times. But he never gave up. In 2015, he launched Rapido, India's first bike taxi service — a faster, cheaper option for city travel. At first, few believed it would work. The turning point came in 2016 when Hero MotoCorp's Chairman Pawan Munjal invested, opening doors for growth. Rapido started with just 400 bikes in 3 cities. By the end of 2016, it had 1.5 lakh users. Instead of only targeting big metros like Ola and Uber, Rapido focused on Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities with simple pricing — 715 base fare + 23 per km. Today, Rapido operates in 100+ cities, has 5 crore+ app downloads, and completes lakhs of rides daily. Pavan's story proves failure is never the end — it's the path to success.

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Swiggy and Zomato have both raised their platform fees again - Zomato: Increased from ₹10 to ₹12 Swiggy: Increased from ₹12 to ₹15 A Rs 2 or Rs 3 change might look laughable at first glance, but let's dive deeper - With millions of daily orders, each company is generating an additional Rs 2.5-3 crore per day. Assuming 60-70 days of festivals every year, this amounts to almost Rs 180-210 Cr every year without acquiring a single new customer! Why the timing? Rains: Consumers are more likely to stay at home and consume at home comfortably. Festive season demand: Customers less likely to resist more charges during peak demand periods. To improve Unit Economics and profitability: Both companies want to become more profitable, especially as their quick-commerce divisions, such as Blinkit and Instamart, demand higher investments Duopoly advantage: When one company raises prices, the other can follow suit without fear of losing significant market share. (Bharti and Jio also doing same, one raises charges, the other does too!) Impact: Consumers are now paying multiple layers of fees (delivery, surge, and platform). Dining out or takeaway might become a more affordable option for some. Subscriptions like Zomato Gold and Swiggy One may seem more essential. What Zomato and Swiggy are doing is typical platform behavior, Start with free or dirt cheap prices, once consumers are hooked - Start charging them all sorts of fees :) (Jio Did it in India with free data, Uber also did it in India with free 3-5 rides for new customers in initial phases) Stock names taken are not recommendations, Hope this post helps :)

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Free UPI is over — the fine print just dropped. Starting August 1, ICICI Bank will charge up to ₹10 per UPI transaction made via Payment Aggregators like Razorpay, PhonePe, Google Pay And this is just the beginning. 👀 Users won’t feel it yet — But merchants might. And platforms? They’ll need to pick a side: → Eat the cost to stay competitive → Pass it on as “convenience fee” → Or push users to other rails Let’s be honest: Free UPI was a customer acquisition strategy. Not a forever promise. Now that UPI owns Indian payments, it’s entering Phase 2: Monetization. And ICICI just lit the match. Others will follow

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