From Cred's Kunal Shah unpacking harsh truth about entrepreneurship to India's corporate hiring pivot, our top stories of the week
In this week's newsletter, also read about whether Indian startups can go global, Meta and Amazon Prime Video's new revenue streams, speculation about who will be India's next premium cricket band—Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, or an unexpected contender; and how Labubu dolls feature in China's soft power play
Kunal Shah, the founder and CEO of fintech unicorn Cred Illustration: Kapil Kashyap; Image: Madhu Kapparath
"Entrepreneurship is not about glory. It’s about judgment," declares Kunal Shah, the founder and CEO of Cred. A philosophy major, Shah is the only non-STEM founder in the fintech sector. And this education guides his entrepreneurial success: building for trust, embracing discomfort, and making consistently good decisions. In an unstructured, deeply revealing conversation, Shah announces that he isn’t here for vanity metrics or valuation games. Instead, he makes a sharp case for why Indian founders need to play the long game, laser-focused on the 30–40 million high-intent users who actually move the economic needle. His lessons range from the hidden costs of time-wasting in India to the imperative of brand familiarity in building super-apps and super-conglomerates. Read on.
2) Learning the hard way
Image: Kapil Kashyap/AI
The wave of loss-making “new-age technology companies” going public has collided harshly with market realities. There are a few exceptions. Zomato and PB Fintech have managed to regain investor faith. Zaggle and Go Digit have rewarded patient shareholders by proving profitability and scaling responsibly. But the larger pattern points to a valuation bubble correcting itself in real time as experts point to a widening 'Say vs Do' gap. The IPO dream isn’t dead yet. There are more than 60 companies that have already received the market regulator’s approval to go public to raise around ₹1,05,875 crore cumulatively. But the bar has never been higher.
3) Global ambitions
Image: Kapil Kashyap/AI With 140,000 startups and over 115 unicorns, India’s ecosystem has blossomed. India's consumer-internet darlings, such as InMobi, Ola, Razorpay, Zepto, have built for complexity, chaos, and scale of the domestic market. But conquering new markets will demand more than just ambition; it takes R&D muscle, category depth, and relentless execution to become a tech giant. It’s not about becoming the next Amazon or Google—it’s about building the first great Indian product for the world. The hard-earned playbooks of Indian founders are forged in one of the world’s toughest markets, but are they ready to graduate into global platforms?
Discover
1) Hiring 2.0
Illustration: Chaitanya Dinesh Surpur India Inc. is rethinking what makes a candidate valuable, and employee resumes need to change accordingly. Companies are rapidly embracing a future where tangible skills matter more than academic credentials. In a market where more than 80 percent of employers now value hands-on skills over academic pedigree, hiring is entering a whole new era. A growing talent crunch across tech, semiconductors, and manufacturing has prompted companies to adopt outcome-driven hiring—modular certifications, project-based assessments, and AI-driven skill matching are quickly becoming the new recruiting norm. Degrees are no longer gatekeepers; real-world readiness is. Here's how this shift is unfolding.
2) For your eyes only
Two of the world’s most ubiquitous platforms are tweaking their playbooks. WhatsApp is testing ads in its Status feed—a space that commands 2.7 billion users globally. Meanwhile, Prime Video has introduced ads even for paying subscribers, following the global pivot toward ad-supported streaming. These moves reflect a broader industry trend: platform loyalty is no longer sacrosanct, and monetising attention is the new business imperative. The question now is—how much interruption will users tolerate?
3) The million-dollar pitch
(Clockwise from top) Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, RSunil Gavskar and Rishabh Pant and Arshdeep Singh Image: Dibyanshu Sarkar / AFP; Arshdeep Singh: Alex Davidson-ICC via Getty Images With legends like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma preparing to pass the baton, India’s cricketing future—and its commercial one—is being reshaped by rising stars. Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, and Yashasvi Jaiswal are emerging as potential brand juggernauts, armed with strong backstories, youth appeal, and social media savvy. But in a soon-to-be $130 billion Indian sports industry, talent alone isn’t enough. Endorsements now depend on narrative—resilience in high-pressure tours, captaincy potential, and authenticity off the field. Cricket’s next big commercial face is no longer just a batter—it’s a brand.
4) Labubu and China's soft power play
This picture taken on June 18, 2025 shows a woman posing with Labubu (L) and Mokoko characters in an exhibition hall as they visit Pop Martís theme park Pop Land in Beijing. Image: Pedro Pardo / AFP Forget pandas and kung fu. China’s latest cultural export is a mischievous doll named Labubu, sparking collectable frenzies. Pop Mart’s impish, wide-eyed figurine that sells in surprise boxes isn’t just a viral toy; it is quickly becoming China’s answer to Japan’s Hello Kitty and Korea’s K-pop aesthetic. Labubu’s global breakout, from Paris boutiques to TikTok trends, is part of a larger cultural strategy: use character IP, scarcity-driven drops, and fandom communities to shape international perception. While governments debate trade and policy, toys like Labubu are winning hearts and wallets worldwide. Is cute now a geopolitical tool?