Talk:Karan Bajaj

NO CITATIONS, NO REFERENCE TO VALIDATE EXTRAORDINARY CLAIMS
Don't see any reference or citation to suppport the claims. Only one link is there and that too is dead. Primary creator suggested to present citations.

TRANSASIA (talk) 05:13, 22 May 2012 (UTC)
 * 1. Please don't use all caps; no need to shout.
 * 2. There's this thing called Google. Had you used it, you would have found the following WP:RSs:
 * http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/karan-bajaj-writer-at-large/1/113909.html
 * http://www.deccanherald.com/content/15601/ipl-2012.html
 * http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-07-24/people/28150624_1_karan-bajaj-novel-book
 * http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/bookworm/comparing-me-to-rakhi-sawant-was-helpful-karan-bajaj_834.htm
 * http://adage.com/article/print-edition/40-40-11-20/119154/
 * http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/05/24/stories/2008052452061400.htm
 * I have now added these references and restored quite a bit of the material that was deleted. In the future, instead of butchering an article and slapping tags on it, it would be best to look for sources yourself and then add them. Much of the material that was deleted from the previous version was in fact easily verifiable from published reliable sources. The previous version was perhaps a overly promotional in tone, but that is easy enough to fix and is no longer and issue. I would welcome any additional input or suggestions from the editors who worked on this previously. Rhode Island Red (talk) 17:05, 23 June 2012 (UTC)

Cleaning up the page
The page looks like a terrible mess, here are the issues I found which reflect the current tags:


 * 1) Some of the sources are deadlinks
 * 2) The grammar is terrible.
 * 3) There is redundant information
 * 4) Parts of the text are essay style and therefore look promotional
 * 5) Sections and subsections are terribly messed up
 * 6) Many links are used more than once as separate sources. The links are also bad organized
 * 7) External links looks bad and redundant

I will do my best to clean up the page and anyone's help is more than welcome 2601:1C0:CB01:2660:158D:524:6AC7:BB16 (talk) 22:10, 3 November 2020 (UTC)

David Zaslav held the position of CEO at Discovery Inc since January 2007
Per https://www.crunchbase.com/person/karan-bajaj, this guy was never the CEO of Discovery Inc and was probably on some sort of high managerial post at the Indian division. Crunchbase mentions the subject was "Discovery Networks India CEO". Eatcha 14:00, 22 November 2020 (UTC)

Contested deletion
This page is not unambiguously promotional, because... (your reason here) -- Hi, I have read the article. I have not found any inaccuracies in the article. I have made donations to wikipedia and my assumption was that Wikipedia exists to provide free knowledge. There is no fake news or misleading news in the article. What has been stated are facts. It neither promotes nor denigrates the subject of the article. The subject of the article and his company and its holding company are all engaged in unethical practises and is being widely discussed in social media. So the article is presenting the Zeitgeist. Wikipedia also needs to explain to its readers as to who instigated it to delete the article.223.185.121.38 (talk) 17:25, 15 December 2020 (UTC)

Contested deletion
This page is not unambiguously promotional, because... (your reason here) --

Ads and Facts Does Not Add up....

lot of discrepancies. its a child abuse with respect to child's future since every child CANNOT be successful just by becoming "Software Programmer eeeee    app developer "

imagine!!! musicians, political leader, military, painter, carpenter, mechanic, doctor, lawyer etc. all gone just to become programmer182.70.16.9 (talk) 15:27, 16 December 2020 (UTC)

Analysis of the current articles — cross-comparison with details on each article and new sources found
https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/edtech-start-up-whitehat-jr-sold-to-byju-s-on-zoom-for-300-million-120080601851_1.html In-depth article on the sale of White Hat Jr., one of the biggest acquisitions of the edtech companies in India in the recent years (now requires subscription) — doesn’t look like press release or announcement.(remains in the article) https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/20101004-karan-bajaj-writer-at-large-744261-2010-09-25 Article about books. Looks promotional and should be replaced, if possible.(Removed as per WP:ADMASQ ) https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/features/autobiography-of-a-multimillionaire-yogi-the-incredible-journey-and-contrarian-ideas-of-karan-bajaj/articleshow/77565021.cms?fromsrc=etprime&fbclid=IwAR347ZIrl1XIzSDfsFsaRsAm1M1Tb2G70O_k0eJBlnsWpmE8zNWoq_tgvS0&from=mdr On selling the company and books. It is ok article but requires subscription to verify (paywall). (Remained in the article) https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/05/indias-byjus-acquires-whitehat-jr-for-300-million/
 * Reference #1
 * Reference #2
 * Reference #3
 * Reference #4

In-depth article on the company’s acquisition. Meets WP:RSP) and satisfies WP:SIGCOV https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/startup/whitehat-jr-founder-karan-bajaj-opens-up-about-300-million-byjus-deal-coding-edtech-startup-boom-and-more-5678461.html Interview article with  WP:SIGCOV, but possibly doesn’t meet  WP:RSP as the story told mostly by author himself. (Removed from the article) https://inc42.com/features/untangling-whitehat-jrs-150-mn-arr-is-coding-edtechs-new-holy-grail/?itm_source=inc42-featured-stories&itm_medium=website&itm_campaign=featured-stories&fbclid=IwAR2yF6VFhzog8ajG6p1BCks-6lAcaNw5HtqIuv5HVq1fiAZj–s6Mon0zA4 In-depth article on the company’s acquisition. Meets  WP:RSP) and satisfies WP:SIGCOV. No promotion noted. (Remained in the article) http://newsletter.iimbaa.org/karan-bajaj-a-yogi-to-a-millionaire-in-a-rendezvous-with-rahul-singh/ The article written with in-depth coverage. It may seem slightly promotional in the beginning of the article but the rest of the text is mostly written in more neutral style. However, I used it only to confirm the Karan Bajaj’’s most personal details such as family roots and his yoga practice. (Remained in the article to confirm some biography facts) https://bestmediainfo.com/2018/09/karan-bajaj-moves-on-from-discovery-networks/ Sounds like a promotional press-release announcement. Removed as redundant. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/spotlight/Karans-novel-captures-youth-angst-Ben-Rekhi/articleshow/4815036.cms
 * Reference #5
 * Reference #6
 * Reference #7
 * Reference #8
 * Reference #9

Important information on book adaptation. Regular entertainment article. (Remained in the article to confirm book adaptation plans and job at the Boston Consulting Group) https://www.thehindu.com/books/Drawing-from-life/article16372032.ece The article about books. The source has promotional content and published in form of interview. Verdict: Removed as promotional and interview — doesn’t meet WP:RSP https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/former-disney-ceo-karan-bajajs-edutech-startup-whitehat-jr-to-go-global-soon/articleshow/72111788.cms This article is not good because it mostly cites the entrepreneur and therefore cannot meet WP:RSP Verdict: Removed as close to interview and promotional. https://in.mashable.com/tech/10047/in-conversation-with-former-discovery-ceo-karan-bajaj-need-for-ai-ethics-machine-learning-as-a-skill The article is an interview about AI impact on education mostly written in neutral style. (Remained in the article as in-depth coverage publication) https://www.ciol.com/whitehat-jr-files-defamation-suits/ Deep coverage article on defamation lawsuit. Remained in the article https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/who-wolf-gupta-story-behind-whitehat-jr-s-fictional-prize-student-138382 Another deep coverage article on defamation lawsuit Remained in the article https://www.freepressjournal.in/viral/why-are-some-people-furious-with-byjus-whitehat-jr Mirror article from the blog — removed https://in.news.yahoo.com/wolf-gupta-byju-whitehat-jr-090945630.html Looks like another mirror source — removed https://www.ciol.com/whitehat-jr-vs-pradeep-poonia-twitter-suspends-account-latter-stating-violates-rules/ Removed as redundant and less relevant since there are enough articles on the same topic and the major subject of the Wikipedia page is not the company but Karan Bajaj. Removed https://web.archive.org/web/20080822061449/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/05/24/stories/2008052452061400.htm Helpful to convey the plot of the first published book: Keep Off The Grass (Remained in the article as in-depth coverage publication) https://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/bookworm/comparing-me-to-rakhi-sawant-was-helpful-karan-bajaj_834.htm
 * Reference #10
 * Reference #11
 * Reference #12
 * Reference #13
 * Reference #14
 * Reference #15
 * Reference #16
 * Reference #17
 * Reference #18
 * Reference #19

The link leads to blank space. Removed https://www.deccanherald.com/content/80546/fast-paced-gripping.html In-depth coverage of the second book plot (Remained in the article as in-depth coverage publication) https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/ronnie-screwala-ashi-dua-to-make-a-film-on-karan-bajajs-book-johnny-gone-down/articleshow/61760925.cms In-depth coverage on the book adaptation. Useful for «Adaptations» section. https://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/books-to-watch-out-for-in-2015/875612 Very short mention. Removed https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/im-a-yogi-first-karan-bajaj/article7234796.ece Removed as it is in form of interview http://indiannerve.com/the-seeker-by-karan-bajaj-book-review-2-20371/ The review is removed as highly promotional (also selling the book) https://web.archive.org/web/20151125035511/http://www.thestatesman.com/news/supplements/write-well-before-your-pompous-promotions/82183.html Good in-depth critical review for the last book. Remains in the article. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/karan-bajaj/the-yoga-of-maxs-discontent/ Kirkus review — remains in the article http://www.karanbajaj.com/yoga-meditation/how-to-become-a-master-of-time-forever/ Official website of the author. Removed as promotional and unnecessary
 * Reference #20
 * Reference #21
 * Reference #22
 * Reference #23
 * Reference #24
 * Reference #25
 * Reference #26
 * Reference #27

New sources


 * https://www.forbesindia.com/article/take-one-big-story-of-the-day/whitehat-jr-and-the-curious-case-of-disappearing-dissent/63627/1

Forbes Staff on WhiteHat Junior + The Ken

Used for Summary Section, litigation and ads controversy. New article on Bajaj’s personal biography for limited use in «Personal life» section.
 * https://the-ken.com/story/byjus-silencing-of-online-dissent/
 * Three Google Books references added for Books section
 * https://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/travel/article/Indian-origin-novelist-and-his-wife-s-soul-trip-around-the-world-16506195
 * Adding one more article on the company’s main divisions:

https://www.deccanherald.com/business/whitehat-jr-adds-music-learning-to-platform-to-expand-offering-to-brazil-mexico-soon-1011912.html https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/whitehat-jr-founder-karan-bajaj-quits-a-year-after-acquisition-by-byjus/articleshow/85033048.cms https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/whitehat-jr-founder-karan-bajaj-moves-on-trupti-mukker-new-ceo-121080400468_1.html https://scroll.in/article/986614/whitehat-jr-the-founder-of-indias-most-controversial-ed-tech-startup-on-what-went-wrong added it to the advertising controversy paragraph. Also, there are plenty of publications on Bajaj but I believe adding too many articles for one Wikipedia page will be counter-productive. However, let me know if something is missing here! Karan Bajaj News: https://www.google.com/search?q=Karan+Bajaj&client=opera&hs=1DW&sxsrf=ALeKk01BVanqx2tnEYq4oUILPMpRzvpkAw:1629002005668&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwingouvmbLyAhVDHzQIHbaDAT8Q_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1320&bih=613
 * Information about Karan Bajaj leaving the company:
 * A good interview article, which made Bajaj admit he did some mistakes during controversial advertising campaign in 2020,

--Habibiroyal (talk) 18:57, 20 August 2021 (UTC)

The Economic Times
This is a text copy from The Economic Times:

WhiteHat Jr, a platform that trains children to code. By selling his startup within 18 months of launch, for $300 million (Rs 2,220 crore) in cash (earning for himself a neat 40% of it), its founder Karan Bajaj has done the same for other founders in the hyper competitive startup world — set an unrealistic baseline expectation.Autobiography of a multimillionaire yogi: The

It could be argued that the business premise of WhiteHat Jr, a platform that trains children to code, beckoning parents with ads featuring tech billionaires and garages where trillion dollar companies were started, sets unrealistic expectations. Perhaps fitting then that by selling his startup within 18 months of launch, for $300 million (Rs 2,220 crore) in cash (earning for himself a neat 40% of it), its founder Karan Bajaj has done the same for other founders in the hyper competitive startup world — set an unrealistic baseline expectation. Perhaps startup founders now will be fielding calls from their own parents, asking how come Bajaj’s son has done better than them. Eighteen months is what it takes most founders to move from an angel round to Series A funding, trying to convince a battery of VCs that their model has legs. In that time, setting a scorching pace for himself and his company, Bajaj scaled an idea into Rs 95 crore in monthly revenue in July, 4,000 employees and a large number of paying customers in India and in the US and convinced someone to put down a very substantial amount of money in cash, creating wealth for himself and his early employees, and handsome returns for investors. In the week that marks 25 years of the internet in India, it also perhaps sets the pace for innovation and entrepreneurship in the next quarter century. WhiteHat Jr, which teaches coding skills to kids between ages 6 and 18 (Class I to XII), has seen tremendous traction among parents who want their children to be equipped to exploit the opportunities in a rapidly digitising world. The user base doubled every month to swell to 20,000 classes per day delivered by 6,000 teachers in India to kids in India and the US — its two markets. Edtech giant Byju’s, itself valued at more than $10 billion, announced on August 5 that it was acquiring WhiteHat Jr in an all-cash deal. The equity owned by the investors were bought outright, while Bajaj and employees who own equity get partial payment for their equity now and the rest is structured as performancelinked earn-outs over three years. Bajaj says the acquisition process was straightforward. It started with a Whatsapp message from Byju Raveendran, founder of Byju’s. Negotiations must have taken may be six hours cumulatively, he says. The six weeks it took to close the deal saw annual revenue run rate of WhiteHat Jr jump from $85 million to $150 million. The company sold at 2X of its annualised revenue run rate in July — perhaps low for a rapidly growing, cash flow positive venture. “I could have argued that 5X or 10X is better value, but then the company has not lived through ups and downs. Scaling up has been in less than a year. We haven’t lived through even one whole business cycle. Anything higher would have been a high risk for the acquirer,” Bajaj says. Bajaj believes the startup can scale up ever more under the Byju’s umbrella. “I will continue to run it and will try to tap maximum synergies. Byju’s has plans to go public and I would like to support that and learn how to take a company public.” But an all-cash deal means his success is not predicated on Byju’s. If White Hat Jr’s journey has been unusual, so has been the unfinished journey of its maverick founder, whose life has seen a long corporate career at marquee companies, punctuated by travel breaks and writing sabbaticals, three books, one of which might become a movie, and a stint at an ashram in the Himalayas, teaching and practicing yoga. When Bajaj’s acquaintances first heard he was throwing up his lucrative job as CEO of Discovery India to plunge into a startup, there was consternation. He was 39 years old by then, not a carefree 21, and the father of two young children. Bajaj, though, has shown time and again that he has little use for conventional wisdom. It is a trait he credits to his solitary days in Manila as a 22-year-old brand manager with Procter & Gamble, his first job after an MBA from IIM-Bangalore. “I didn’t know the local language, there was no Indian crowd there or anybody from my past, no need to think ‘log kya kahenge’. I was not caught up in the echo chamber of opinions and that got me to be authentic to myself,” he says. From Manila, he moved to Singapore and then the US with P&G. But when he began to feel that what he was doing was not “authentic”, he quit. He spent the next six months backpacking overseas, travelling in Mangolia, Central Asia and South America, returning to the US in October 2008, smack in the middle of a recession. The life of an itinerant is one he has evidently embraced. His nearly two-decade corporate career is punctuated with such breaks in between jobs where he typically spent 2–3 years. His longest consecutive stint was his six years with P&G. Yet, his argument about his life choice is forceful. As someone consumed by whatever he does, he says he gives himself \ to his job 24/7. “What I work on, I make it my life. I don’t have concepts like work-life balance,” he says. “I don’t know that a CEO who makes his job his life for 2–3 years is somehow lower than a CEO who is speaking at conferences and building his own brand. I don’t build my brand, I just do my work well and deeply.” In his time at work, he says, he is like a yogi. Bajaj does not use the word yogi lightly. While he was always drawn to eastern spirituality, the loss of his mother to cancer in 2012 nudged him to spend close to a year in India, leading an austere life at the Sivananda Ashram, first in Madurai and then in Uttara Kashi, doing yoga and meditation, in a quest for answers to existential questions. He says his time there helped him realise he was good at running organisations so he thought he could keep doing that, with “purity and selflessness.” The yoga and meditation, which he practises daily, are also what sustains his energy over long working days, typically stretching from 10 am to midnight. (He jokes that this might be unfortunate for those working with him.) When he returned to the US and a job at his old organisation, Kraft, the contrast felt too jarring. He quit in less than two years to focus on his writing and publishing his third novel. Then, when he was offered the position as CEO of Discovery India, he felt it was a job with purpose, and packed his bags. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea but Bajaj says his purpose in life is “to go the peak of excellence in a field and then never look at that field again, and go do something else.” Thus, he does not intend to write another novel or don the hats of a startup founder again. Nor does he intend to invest in startups, though his multimillionaire status has meant pitches for angel funding are landing in his inbox. His reasoning is simple: while he is risk-heavy when it comes to life, he is conservative in his investments. And startups are impossibly hard, and risky, he says. “Startups are very hard to pull together. Everything has to work — the economics, hiring, management, culture, tech. Founder has to see both tech and business together, besides coping with competition nipping on the heels. Startup is one investment that will not suit me,” he says. A “radical minimalist” who does not own a house, car or any major fixed asset and tries to cut down on material possessions every year, he says he has little use for the millions of dollars he has recently come into. Instead, he says he intends to devise a proper “wealth dispensing plan” at some point to give back to society. Expanding the Mind Bajaj saw an opportunity in offering coding lessons to kids after reading Coding as a Playground by Marina Umaschi Bers, a professor at Tufts University. “Kids who code early have a profound psychological shift — they see very early that you can combine two things and make something out of that. It is a mental explosion that happens That really spoke to me ” that happens. That really spoke to me. Once he had done his research, he took no time to decide to quit Discovery in October 2018 and start WhiteHat Jr even while serving his long notice period. He also raised funding in this period, working on weekends on his startup before plunging full time into it in February 2019. Between October 2018 and May 2019, White-Hat had less than 10 employees but kids were coming to learn coding — numbers were doubling every month. The company was closely watching the Net Promoter Score (NPS). NPS measures the willingness of customers to recommend a company’s product or service to others. .......

--Habibiroyal (talk) 19:40, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

Articles that meet in-depth coverage
Regarding Draft:Karan Bajaj, I believe these references meet all Wikipedia criteria for in-depth coverage:
 * https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/features/autobiography-of-a-multimillionaire-yogi-the-incredible-journey-and-contrarian-ideas-of-karan-bajaj/articleshow/77565021.cms?fromsrc=etprime&fbclid=IwAR347ZIrl1XIzSDfsFsaRsAm1M1Tb2G70O_k0eJBlnsWpmE8zNWoq_tgvS0&from=mdr

(Paywall) - Please, check the text on Karan Bajaj's Talk - my previous message above - I copied it there. It has a substantial coverage - the entire article is about Karan Bajaj's biography — Preceding unsigned comment added by Habibiroyal (talk • contribs) 20:20, 21 September 2021 (UTC)
 * http://newsletter.iimbaa.org/karan-bajaj-a-yogi-to-a-millionaire-in-a-rendezvous-with-rahul-singh/
 * https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/edtech-start-up-whitehat-jr-sold-to-byju-s-on-zoom-for-300-million-120080601851_1.html
 * https://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/travel/article/Travel-Calendar--September-2015–16506197
 * https://web.archive.org/web/20080822061449/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/05/24/stories/2008052452061400.htm
 * Also, I think that the style of writing and format in many India’s publications is different from the Western publications, especially the UK, US, Canada and Australia, but that shouldn't make them less valuable.


 * To save me some time, could you please pick (from the above) the THREE best sources. These need to be from reliable publications that cover this subject significantly. --Salimfadhley (talk) 17:39, 22 September 2021 (UTC)