This past week, when the company clearing the salary backlog for March 2024 was widely reported. The caveat is that only some employees within the company have been paid, and not others — we’ll get to that later. 

While a lot has been said about BYJU’S in the past year, it still does not answer the question of whether the company can survive the storm. Cofounder Byju Raveendran has turned over every stone to keep his company afloat, including the new BYJU’S 3.0 plan, but seems to have fallen short on most accounts.

So the question is: Can BYJU’S even be saved? We will look to answer that, but, as usual, after a look at the top stories from our newsroom this week: 

The payment aggregator rush:  The PA rush is particularly curious  because being a PA  will soon mean increased regulatory scrutiny on startups, and higher burden of compliance. 

30 startups to watch:  It is once again turning the spotlight on the most innovative early stage startups in the country today.

Swaayaatt's story:  Bhopal-Based Swaayatt Robots is looking to take on Automobile giants in autonomous vehicle space and claims to have a much lead on the competition. 

NO SALARY, NO FUTURE

First, there were reports about the company suspending monthly fixed salaries for its sales team. According to reports, the company would only pay the sales staff on the basis of their weekly sales. This change essentially puts the sales team on the chopping block, according to two current employees at BYJU’S.

Employees claimed the company will only pay a percentage of the weekly revenue generated by each member of the sales staff at the end of the seven days. The policy will continue till the end of May 2024, but that’s the current status, and no one knows whether this will be extended for longer.  

The Fall Of The Brand Byju's 

For BYJU’S, competing with these startups like PW, Vedantu and Unacademy on offline learning expansion is next to impossible. The company has no money to pay employees, let alone look at expanding its offline presence. Indeed, the cutbacks under BYJU’S 3.0 extend to the BYJU’S Tuition Centres as well as the online learning side.

 In other words, BYJU’S as a brand is on the death spiral and very little can be done to salvage any reputation in the short term. It might take years for BYJU’S to become a reputable platform again, and as things stand, the company does not have the luxury of time.