For Byju Raveendran, with both parents being teachers, life came a full circle when he too forayed into the field of education. The Founder and CEO of BYJU’S tells how he did things differently
His is a story of passion meeting vision, in a field that not many had thought of modernising in India. While the education industry moved ahead at a snail’s pace with age-old practices in disseminating information, he brought about a huge digital transformation, making academic knowledge available at the user’s finger tips. Much before the current pandemic and the lockdown that followed, forced education institutions—schools, colleges, and coaching classes alike—to adopt and adapt to digital processes going forward, Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO, BYJU’S—The Learning App, had already brought in this practice to thousands of students. Today, the company boasts 57 million app downloads, 3.5 million annual paid subscribers, and an annual renewal of 85 per cent. Not only that, the journey of the app has become a case study at Harvard Business School. In this freewheeling chat, he shares his story, vision, motivation, and plans.
His is a story of passion meeting vision, in a field that not many had thought of modernising in India. While the education industry moved ahead at a snail’s pace with age-old practices in disseminating information, he brought about a huge digital transformation, making academic knowledge available at the user’s finger tips. Much before the current pandemic and the lockdown that followed, forced education institutions—schools, colleges, and coaching classes alike—to adopt and adapt to digital processes going forward, Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO, BYJU’S—The Learning App, had already brought in this practice to thousands of students. Today, the company boasts 57 million app downloads, 3.5 million annual paid subscribers, and an annual renewal of 85 per cent. Not only that, the journey of the app has become a case study at Harvard Business School. In this freewheeling chat, he shares his story, vision, motivation, and plans.
You fell into the profession of teaching by virtue of being great at scores. Did you enjoy it from day one?
I did my schooling in Azhikode, a village in Kerala. My parents were both teachers in the same school. After graduation, I started working as an engineer, but it wasn’t until my friends encouraged me to help them prepare for CAT did I consider teaching. I then scored a 100 percentile in a CAT exam I attempted, which further validated my teaching method, and that is how my journey began. BYJU’S took the shape of test-prep classes that grew to workshops for 100 students which further scaled up to stadium sessions for 20,000+ students. Eventually, I quit my job and took up teaching full-time, travelling across cities to reach as many students as possible. I realised that I had immense passion for teaching and creating an impact in the lives of my students.
What was that one moment that sparked the idea for setting up a learning app?
During the phase where my team and I were travelling across the country to take test prep classes, we realised that our education system was faced with three major challenges. Firstly, the lack of access to quality teachers and quality content, secondly, the lack of personalisation in an traditional learning environment, and finally, learning in students was driven by the fear of exams instead of love for learning. We understood that to make a real impact on the way students learn, we needed to start early—when students are grappling with fundamentals, as those crucial years lay the strong foundation for lifelong learning. Think & Learn Pvt Ltd (the parent company of BYJU’S) with a focus on the K-12 segment was launched in 2011. Consequently, we launched BYJU’S—The Learning App in August 2015.
Can you share with us a few glitches you faced?
Everything we learnt was first-hand—from business model tinkering, expansion, to raising funds. At BYJU’S we understood the challenges the ecosystem faces. The core challenges traditional education formats face are: 1. Good teachers are hard to find at scale; 2. Ability for personalisation is limited; and 3. Format of learning (rote memorisation vs wanting to learn). Our approach has always been to focus on engagement and effectiveness. We first identify concepts and curriculum that need to be covered, and then identifying the best mode to teach these concepts be it through video, gamification or interactive media.
What is the highest satisfaction your employees derive out of this profession?
It’s easy to start a mission-driven company, but it’s hard to stay mission focused. I started this venture with my students, who are still here leading key business verticals in the company. All of us have a unified mission of creating the best learning experience for students globally. What makes them stay focused is the realisation that they are creating an impact in someone’s life.
I did my schooling in Azhikode, a village in Kerala. My parents were both teachers in the same school. After graduation, I started working as an engineer, but it wasn’t until my friends encouraged me to help them prepare for CAT did I consider teaching. I then scored a 100 percentile in a CAT exam I attempted, which further validated my teaching method, and that is how my journey began. BYJU’S took the shape of test-prep classes that grew to workshops for 100 students which further scaled up to stadium sessions for 20,000+ students. Eventually, I quit my job and took up teaching full-time, travelling across cities to reach as many students as possible. I realised that I had immense passion for teaching and creating an impact in the lives of my students.
What was that one moment that sparked the idea for setting up a learning app?
During the phase where my team and I were travelling across the country to take test prep classes, we realised that our education system was faced with three major challenges. Firstly, the lack of access to quality teachers and quality content, secondly, the lack of personalisation in an traditional learning environment, and finally, learning in students was driven by the fear of exams instead of love for learning. We understood that to make a real impact on the way students learn, we needed to start early—when students are grappling with fundamentals, as those crucial years lay the strong foundation for lifelong learning. Think & Learn Pvt Ltd (the parent company of BYJU’S) with a focus on the K-12 segment was launched in 2011. Consequently, we launched BYJU’S—The Learning App in August 2015.
Can you share with us a few glitches you faced?
Everything we learnt was first-hand—from business model tinkering, expansion, to raising funds. At BYJU’S we understood the challenges the ecosystem faces. The core challenges traditional education formats face are: 1. Good teachers are hard to find at scale; 2. Ability for personalisation is limited; and 3. Format of learning (rote memorisation vs wanting to learn). Our approach has always been to focus on engagement and effectiveness. We first identify concepts and curriculum that need to be covered, and then identifying the best mode to teach these concepts be it through video, gamification or interactive media.
What is the highest satisfaction your employees derive out of this profession?
It’s easy to start a mission-driven company, but it’s hard to stay mission focused. I started this venture with my students, who are still here leading key business verticals in the company. All of us have a unified mission of creating the best learning experience for students globally. What makes them stay focused is the realisation that they are creating an impact in someone’s life.
It is a time when all digital platforms are at the fore. What do you think will be the way forward on these platforms for teaching and learning?
Today, screens have become the primary mode of content consumption for the young generation. They uses technology, smartphones, tablets, and computers naturally. There are many problems that entrepreneurs look at solving in this digital space. One can work on how to make tech-enabled teaching easier for teachers. Most of them are not digitally empowered and struggle to integrate technology, hesitate to use it, but don’t want to seem inefficient. More institutions are opening up to the idea of implementing a blended form of learning that uses the best of both offline and online aids. Reskilling and upskilling are now vital.
What’s in the pipeline for BYJU’S?
From introducing courses in vernacular languages to launching more subjects, we will continue to strengthen our offerings. Recently, we have introduced History, Civics and Geography learning programmes. We have also launched ‘BYJU’S Classes’—an online tutoring programme for school students.
What are your other interests?
Sports have been an integral part of my life. I play football, badminton, and table tennis with my colleagues. I am a firm believer that games teach you teamwork. I also enjoy travelling with my family.
Also read: Cricketer Virat Kohli Is Not Just Captain Of The Team, But An Ideal To Many
Today, screens have become the primary mode of content consumption for the young generation. They uses technology, smartphones, tablets, and computers naturally. There are many problems that entrepreneurs look at solving in this digital space. One can work on how to make tech-enabled teaching easier for teachers. Most of them are not digitally empowered and struggle to integrate technology, hesitate to use it, but don’t want to seem inefficient. More institutions are opening up to the idea of implementing a blended form of learning that uses the best of both offline and online aids. Reskilling and upskilling are now vital.
What’s in the pipeline for BYJU’S?
From introducing courses in vernacular languages to launching more subjects, we will continue to strengthen our offerings. Recently, we have introduced History, Civics and Geography learning programmes. We have also launched ‘BYJU’S Classes’—an online tutoring programme for school students.
What are your other interests?
Sports have been an integral part of my life. I play football, badminton, and table tennis with my colleagues. I am a firm believer that games teach you teamwork. I also enjoy travelling with my family.
Also read: Cricketer Virat Kohli Is Not Just Captain Of The Team, But An Ideal To Many
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