Startup founders are expected to hustle in order to build their business, but this might be taking things a little too far. Bangalore-based MN Jabiuddin and G Arun Kumar, like many other hopeful entrepreneurs in their city, had an idea. They wanted to create an app that would list out the schools in the city, allowing parents to conveniently choose one for their kids. But they had a problem — they had no ready cash,…

There’s trouble beyond the (pay)wall. Hotstar had been aggressively promoting the Game of Thrones Season 7 premiere on its streaming service. The company had done its bit in attracting users — hotStar was to air the episode at 7:30 am, mere hours after its US broadcast. This would’ve been the soonest Indian audiences would be able to legally watch the show — on TV, Star World was to air will air it at 11 pm on Tuesday. And Hotstar had…

It turns out that Flipkart’s COO Nitin Seth might not have quit of his own volition. Seth has sent Flipkart a legal notice over his ouster, Economic Times reports. He was supposedly fired from the company, and is unhappy over how the process was carried out. In the legal notice, Seth has challenged his removal, and says that the move was illegal. Seth had left Flipkart on 31st May this year. He had joined the company in February 2016 as its…

Uber and Ola might not be making any money at the moment, but their competitors aren’t doing any better. Uber-Ola competitor UTOO Cabs has suspended its operations in Hyderabad and Bangalore. “Our services are currently suspended. UTOO will be back soon in a new avatar,” says a message on its app. The company appears to be still running its operations in Chennai.   Chennai-based UTOO had been launched in June last year to take on Uber and Ola, and…

UrbanClap has become the latest startup to have its tech compromised by a part-time hacker. An UrbanClap user has claimed he was able to book unlimited services — for free — on the home services startup. Udit Agarwal, a software engineer with Amazon, says he was able to exploit a vulnerability in UrbanClap’s payment gateway to bypass its checks. By simply modifying a API call, he was able to convince UrbanClap’s servers he’d paid when he had…

Hell hath no fury like internet denizens scorned. Hundreds of angry internet content creators have descended upon ScoopWhoop’s app and left it with unflattering reviews and one star ratings on the Play Store. ScoopWhoop’s App currently has nearly two thousand one-star reviews, and its rating has fallen to 1.2. The entire episode appears to have begun on 8th July, when a ScoopWhoop employee allegedly asked Andi Mandi Memes, a small Facebook page, to remove a meme they’d…

Years after first making an appearance in India, shuttle service providers are still having run-ins with the law. The Transport department in Gurgaon has impounded 52 buses run by Shuttl over the last week. It’s now considering prosecuting its founders over permit violations. Shuttl was founded in 2015, and has raised nearly Rs. 150 crore from prominent investors including Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners.  The transport department, however, claims that Shuttl’s services are illegal. “The company…

Snapdeal’s troubles aren’t just hurting its investors and its employees, but also founders of the companies it had acquired. FreeCharge founder Kunal Shah has said that it pains him to see the app that he built not being kept in good shape. Shah had posted an update on Facebook recounting how his Passport Officer recognized him as FreeCharge’s founder, and proudly showed him the app on his phone. Shah described the experience as “priceless”, and several people…

Snapdeal’s investors aren’t pleased with news reports that their company has rejected a “$700-$750 million” acquisition offer by Flipkart. “Rejected! Snapdeal dismisses Flipkart’s #ETBrandEquity. media and unethical false reporting. invest in startup that can filter fake facts,” Kalaari Capital’s Vani Kola tweeted.  Rejected! Snapdeal dismisses Flipkart's #ETBrandEquity. media and unethical false reporting. invest in startup that can filter fake facts — Vani Kola (@VaniKola) July 5, 2017 Kola’s tweet appears to be in response of an…