Intermission

エピソード

• Intermission E03: Airtel 29.06.2026 4時間 20分

  Stream a video, send a message, call a loved one. For nearly 474 million Indians, that connection runs through Bharti Airtel.Over three decades, the company has made it through price wars, near-bankruptcy, a botched overseas acquisition, and two incursions from Reliance. Each time, it weathered the crisis and came back stronger. Investors who held on through every crisis have been rewarded with returns that match the best businesses in India. But the forces that shaped Airtel — regulation, technology, and competition — have never stopped moving. Jio is back, this time with a $110 billion bet on AI and data centres. The hyperscalers are customers today and competitors tomorrow. And the telecom industry is shifting from minutes to bytes to tokens. At the centre of it all is Sunil Bharti Mittal, a founder who operates with the intensity of someone still trying to prove himself, even after building a company worth more than $100 billion. He turns 70 in 2027. He wants to raise his family's stake in Airtel from 40% to 51% — a Rs 1 lakh crore buyback he believes can be funded through dividends and share repurchases over three to four years. The question that now hangs over Airtel is what happens to it when Mittal is no longer at its core.Airtel has survived every version of telecom so far. But it hasn't fully solved its three-body problem yet.Where does it go from here?We also have an interactive webpage to explore the history of Airtel Finance with reading lists, infographics and source notes: https://the-ken.com/intermission/the-unkillable-network-bharti-airtel/ You can also watch the episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_dONpkY7-U----------Chapters: 00:00 — Introduction4:09— Chapter 1: Ludhiana — India's industrial Manchester16:00 — Chapter 2: Delhi — School of power & hard knocks41:07 — Chapter 3: Policy pivot and partnership model1:09:27 — Chapter 4: The Reliance juggernaut's first attack1:31:05 — Chapter 5: Akhil Gupta, the 2000s, and the art of financial judo1:54:42 — Chapter 6: The Singaporean pillar2:03:31 — Chapter 7: Gopal Vittal, the flawless executor from HUL2:29:36 — Chapter 8: The Africa no-yes-no-yes story2:45:02 — Chapter 9: The Airtel culture2:59:47 — Chapter 10: The zero rating debacle3:11:27 — Chapter 11: The three-body problem and the 2G scam3:21:58 — Chapter 12: The Reliance juggernaut is now "Jio"3:52:04 — Chapter 13: Airtel after/without Sunil Mittal----------Credits: Hosts: Rohin Dharmakumar, Seetharaman GPodcast Producer: Vidhatri Rao Director: Vijay SubramaniamVideo Producer: Vishnu SSound Design and Technical Producer: Rajiv CNLead Researcher: Raghav BatraArt Direction: Kavipriya OGData Visualisation: Anuj DebnathProduction Agency: Nesara FilmsCreative Direction: Sunayana KashyapDoP: Subash KPAnimation:⁠⁠ Karthik NVideo Editing team: Sarthak Pujar, Jayesh SahuColourist: Akhil RajGraphic Design and Styleframes: Anusha SarahOn-Set Production: Veeresh and teamAudio: ⁠⁠Murthy and teamSpot Edit: GirishSet Design: Saanvi Joshi, ThejaswiniPromotions: Pranav Pate, Adhavan RKWriter & Editor (Microsite): Brady NgProduct Design (Microsite): Praveen Gopal Krishnan, Ritika Sanikere, Sushmita Vavilala, Karan Kumar'Intermission' Title Track by Sameer Rahat----------About Intermission: Intermission dives into the histories of iconic Indian companies. It was produced with vital support and assistance from Zerodha, our sponsor for season 1. Disclosure: Zerodha’s perennial fund, Rainmatter Capital, is an investor in The Ken.About The Ken: The Ken is India’s first subscriber-only business journalism platform reporting on business, technology, and startups in India. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://the-ken.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ and explore our stories, newsletters, podcasts and more. Follow The Ken on socials: Instagram:   / theken_web  LinkedIn:   / the-ken  Twitter: https://x.com/thekenweb/
• TRAILER — How Bharti Airtel Refused to Die | Intermission E03 | The Ken 27.06.2026 1分

  Dozens of companies entered the Indian telecom market in 1994. Almost all of them are gone. One is still standing — and it's how a billion people connect today. Episode 3 of Intermission on Bharti Airtel goes live on June 29. 
• Intermission E02: Bajaj Finance 11.05.2026 4時間 25分

  Sell a Bajaj scooter, finance their EMIs. For years, that was the entire purpose of Bajaj Auto Finance. But consumers in India wanted much more. They outfitted their homes with new television sets, refrigerators, and washing machines. They wanted iPhones, hair transplants, fitness equipment and more.Lending for those hinted at a much larger opportunity. And the Bajaj group seized it. Bajaj Auto Finance became Bajaj Finance. A legacy auto-financing arm went on to create India’s consumer credit infrastructure, shaping how millions buy things. Today, Bajaj Finance manages a loan book of over Rs 5 lakh crore, serves more than 119 million customers, and is valued roughly Rs 6 lakh crore. It is twice as large as Bajaj Auto, the parent company it was spun out of.This is the story of how that happened. Tune in!Our team has built an interactive webpage for Bajaj Finance. It’s a research guide to this episode. Check it out here: https://the-ken.com/story/why-you-cant-ignore-bajaj-finances-call/Additional material: Saurabh Mukerjea’s analysis of Bajaj Finance: https://open.spotify.com/episode/70JSD3LIE16jcsGSjhjtr9?go=1&sp_cid=e2ae99a929ea25663dee6c3cf825b11d&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&si=qTrmTQ0cS-GUeNDEct3COw&nd=1&dlsi=0aa636ff1f8d44f0The Harvard Business case study on Bajaj Finance: https://store.hbr.org/product/bajaj-finance-building-an-omnipresent-financial-services-firm/523040?sku=523040-PDF-ENGInside Bajaj Finance’s aggressive call-to-sell-loan strategy: https://the-ken.com/story/why-you-cant-ignore-bajaj-finances-call/Credits for chapter images: Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Group, Business Today/Bajaj Group, Fortune/Bajaj Group and Wikipedia.Credits: Hosts: Rohin Dharmakumar, Seetharaman GPodcast Producer: Vidhatri Rao Director: Vijay Subramaniam, Video Producer: Vishnu SSound Design and Technical Producer: Rajiv CNLead Researcher: Raghav BatraArt Direction: Kavipriya OGData Visualisation: Anuj DebnathProduction Agency: Nesara FilmsCreative Direction: Sunayana KashyapDoP: Subash KPMotion Graphics:⁠⁠ Karthik NVideo Editing team: Sarthak Pujar, Tejas Kulkarni, Jayesh SahuColourist: Akhil RajGraphic Design and Illustrations: Anusha SarahOn-Set Production: Chaitanya, Veeresh and teamAudio: ⁠⁠Murthy and teamSpot Edit: GirishSet Design: Saanvi, ThejaswiniPromotions: Pranav Pate, Aakash Raju, Adhavan RKWriter & Editor (Microsite): Brady NgProduct Design (Microsite): Praveen Gopal Krishnan, Ritika Sanikere, Sushmita Vavilala, Karan Kumar'Intermission' Title Track by Sameer RahatAbout Intermission: Intermission dives into the histories of iconic Indian companies. It was produced with vital support and assistance from Zerodha, our sponsor for season 1. Disclosure: Zerodha’s perennial fund, Rainmatter Capital, is an investor in The Ken.About The Ken: The Ken is India’s first subscriber-only business journalism platform reporting on business, technology, and startups in India. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠the-ken.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ and explore our stories, newsletters, podcasts and more. Follow The Ken on socials: Instagram: instagram.com/theken_web  LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/company/the-kenTwitter: https://x.com/thekenweb/
• Intermission E01 - Asian Paints (PART 1) 23.03.2026 2時間 55分

  Asian Paints was founded in 1942 by four young Gujaratis in a Bombay garage. Today, it controls more than half of India's paint market. This is the story of how that happened. The company was among the first to tap into the rural market, become a technology company before most people understood what that meant, crack the supply chain, and bring about a new era of Indian advertising.Now, Asian Paints is being met with renewed competition and aggression from Birla Opus, JSW Dulux and Berger Paints. Understanding why this market is so hard to take requires understanding of how it was built.—We also have an interactive webpage exploring Asian Paints' history with reading lists, infographics, and source notes: the-ken.com/intermission.—The full episode runs 6 hours and is split into two parts on podcast platforms.—About Intermission: Intermission, produced by The Ken, dives deep into the histories of iconic Indian companies. Intermission was produced with vital support and assistance from Zerodha, our season sponsor. Disclosure: Rainmatter Foundation is an investor in The Ken's parent company.—About The Ken:The Ken is India's first subscriber-only business journalism platform reporting on business, technology, startups and healthcare across India and Southeast Asia. Since our inception, we’ve published thousands of stories that have been widely discussed, debated and referenced.  Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠the-ken.com⁠⁠⁠⁠, and explore our stories, newsletters, podcasts and more.—Follow us on our socials:Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/theken_web/⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-ken/⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/thekenweb⁠⁠⁠⁠—We would also like to thank Anupam Gupta, the writer of "The Rise of Asian Paints: Champaklal Choksey, a Doyen of the Indian Paints Industry" (Penguin India, 2024). You can buy the book here: https://www.penguin.co.in/book/the-rise-of-asian-paints/—CreditsHosts: Rohin Dharmakumar, Seetharaman GPodcast Producer: Vidhatri Rao Video Producers: Vijay Subramaniam, Vishnu S, Rajiv CNAudio Engineer: Rajiv CNLead Researcher: Raghav BatraArt Direction: Kavipriya OGData Visualisation: Anuj DebnathProduction Agency: Nesara FilmsCreative Direction: Sunayana KashyapDoP: Subash KPEditing and Motion Graphics:⁠⁠ Karthik NGraphic Design and Illustrations: Anusha SarahColorist: Pranav BhatVideo Editing team: Sarthak Pujar, Himanshi, Jayesh SahuOn-Set Production: Veeresh, Chaitanya and teamAudio: ⁠⁠Murthy and teamSet Design: Hritika, Saanvi, ThejaswiniPromotions: Pranav Pate, Aakash Raju, Adhavan RKWriter & Editor (Microsite): Brady NgProduct Design (Microsite): Praveen Gopal Krishnan, Ritika Sanikere, Sushmita Vavilala, Karan Kumar
• Intermission E01 - Asian Paints (PART 2) 23.03.2026 3時間 25分

  This is Part 2 of Intermission's episode on Asian Paints. We'd urge you to listen to Part 1 first to get a full picture of the company's early history and main bets. —Asian Paints was founded in 1942 by four young Gujaratis in a Bombay garage. Today, it controls more than half of India's paint market. This is the story of how that happened. The company was among the first to tap into the rural market, become a technology company before most people understood what that meant, crack the supply chain, and bring about a new era of Indian advertising.Now, Asian Paints is being met with renewed competition and aggression from Birla Opus, JSW Dulux and Berger Paints. Understanding why this market is so hard to take requires understanding of how it was built.—We also have an interactive webpage exploring Asian Paints' history with reading lists, infographics, and source notes: the-ken.com/intermission.—The full episode runs 6 hours and is split into two parts on podcast platforms.—About Intermission: Intermission, produced by The Ken, dives deep into the histories of iconic Indian companies. Intermission was produced with vital support and assistance from Zerodha, our season sponsor. Disclosure: Rainmatter Foundation is an investor in The Ken's parent company.—About The Ken:The Ken is India's first subscriber-only business journalism platform reporting on business, technology, startups and healthcare across India and Southeast Asia. Since our inception, we’ve published thousands of stories that have been widely discussed, debated and referenced.  Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠the-ken.com⁠⁠⁠⁠, and explore our stories, newsletters, podcasts and more.—Follow us on our socials:Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/theken_web/⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-ken/⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/thekenweb⁠⁠⁠⁠—We would also like to thank Anupam Gupta, the writer of "The Rise of Asian Paints: Champaklal Choksey, a Doyen of the Indian Paints Industry" (Penguin India, 2024). You can buy the book here: https://www.penguin.co.in/book/the-rise-of-asian-paints/—CreditsHosts: Rohin Dharmakumar, Seetharaman GPodcast Producer: Vidhatri Rao Video Producers: Vijay Subramaniam, Vishnu S, Rajiv CNAudio Engineer: Rajiv CNLead Researcher: Raghav BatraArt Direction: Kavipriya OGData Visualisation: Anuj DebnathProduction Agency: Nesara FilmsCreative Direction: Sunayana KashyapDoP: Subash KPEditing and Motion Graphics:⁠⁠ Karthik NGraphic Design and Illustrations: Anusha SarahColorist: Pranav BhatVideo Editing team: Sarthak Pujar, Himanshi, Jayesh SahuOn-Set Production: Veeresh, Chaitanya and teamAudio: ⁠⁠Murthy and teamSet Design: Hritika, Saanvi, ThejaswiniPromotions: Pranav Pate, Aakash Raju, Adhavan RKWriter & Editor (Microsite): Brady NgProduct Design (Microsite): Praveen Gopal Krishnan, Ritika Sanikere, Sushmita Vavilala, Karan Kumar