The Rise and Fall of BYJU: A Brief Case Study Analysis

In 2011, Mr. #BYJU Raveendran with one partner started the well-known education technology company BYJU.

The company became known as one of India's most valuable ed-tech startups thanks to their bold marketing.

The value of BYJU hit $22 billion in 2022.

• But along with its meteoric rise came criticism, including claims of pushy sales tactics, false ads, and inadequate money management.
• In 2023, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs started looking into how the company handled its money and how it ran its business.

A decline in customer loyalty and an increase in customer complaints negatively impacted Byju's value and reputation. By reading reviews on mouthshut.com, Google, Glassdoor, and national consumer complaint sites, we found that cheating and unhappy customers were the main reasons for BYJU EduTech's failure.

Here are ten cases to show what we found:

• Mouthshut: "Aggressive sales tactics pushed expensive courses, not what my child needed."
• Google Reviews: "Beware of hidden fees and difficulty canceling subscriptions after signing up."
• Glassdoor (Employee Reviews): "High pressure to meet sales quotas led to misleading customers."
• National Consumer Complaints Portal: "Complaint: BYJU's promised personalized learning, but it felt generic and unhelpful."
• Mouthshut: "Software glitches made it frustrating for my child to complete online lessons."
• Google Reviews: "Some teachers felt inexperienced or struggled to explain concepts."
• National Consumer Complaints Portal: "Complaint: BYJU's failed to deliver promised study materials after payment."
• Glassdoor reports high employee turnover due to burnout from an aggressive sales culture.
• Mouthshut: "I felt misled about the free trial and ended up with a hefty subscription fee."
• The National Consumer Complaints Portal received a complaint about "difficulty reaching customer service for help with BYJU's product."

Conclusion

In conclusion, a company cannot thrive if it fails to draw in genuine customers or sell sea water (not fi to drink) to residents in coastal areas, as this would not be a sustainable business in the long run. Furthermore, aggressive marketing without providing value and a quality product is ineffective at a time when people's attention spans are shorter than 7–8 seconds. The company committed two significant errors: firstly, it sold expensive products to impoverished individuals, believing it would enable them to fulfill their aspirations, and secondly, it failed to create a product that resonated with the middle class. This inadequacy was evident even with the assistance of renowned marketing experts and brand ambassadors such as Sharukh Khan.