Byju failed because he didn't listen to anyone: Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal

Byju Raveendran, the founder of the beleaguered ed-tech firm Byju's, put himself on a pedestal and stopped listening to anyone, said Gaurav Munjal, the chief executive officer of edtech firm Unacademy.

Munjal highlighted the importance of ‘blunt feedback’. In a post on X, he alleged that Byju’s founder stopped listening and failed to have people who could give him the right feedback.

“Byju failed because he didn’t listen to anyone. He put himself on a pedestal and stopped listening. Don’t do that. Never do that. Don’t listen to everyone but have people who can give you blunt feedback,” Munjal wrote on X.

Munjal questioned Raveendran's leadership and his ability to take feedback. “You might not always like the feedback, but take the feedback and act on it,” said Munjal.

Munjal, who is also the co-founder of the SoftBank-backed Unacademy, was sharing the learnings over the past two years.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs on Wednesday said proceedings initiated against edtech player Byju’s under the Companies Law are "still ongoing" and a conclusion cannot be drawn in the matter at this stage.

Last year, the ministry ordered the inspection of the books of Byju’s. These were related to various developments at the edtech company, including its inability to finalise the statements and the resignation of an auditor.

Investment firm Prosus has written off the value of its 9.6 per cent stake in Byju’s. This is perhaps one of the biggest writeoffs in tech startups by a marquee investor.

Prosus recorded a fair value loss of $493 million on account of its investment in the company, the Dutch tech investor said in its FY24 annual report on June 24.

Byju’s and its investors are fighting at the National Company Law Tribunal over the company’s rights issue of $200 million in a petition alleging mismanagement.