The stabbing of Saif Ali Khan

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

The Clueless Founder: Are You A Founder?

Welcome to the second episode of The Clueless Founder. The show made for folks who are just starting out on the wild, wild journey of being a founder. Think of it as a no-BS, real life guide to the nitty gritty of the startup life! We’re here to break it down one episode at a time.

In the previous episode, Lakshmi Chaudhry (splainer Founder) and Chitra Raghavan (Partner, Rajaram Legal) discussed the startup equivalent of the shaadi prenup: the Founder’s Agreement. In this instalment, Lakshmi’s talking to Neha Bagaria. She founded her first startup as a senior at Wharton—and is now on her third venture HerKey—which recently raised $4 million for an exciting, innovative platform for working women. Neha helps us cut through all the startup hype to unpack the biggest question each of us has to face: Should I even be a founder?

The stabbing of Saif Ali Khan

Saif Ali Khan was stabbed six times during a burglary attempt at his Bandra flat. He was rushed to hospital and is now in stable condition.

The attack: The entire event took 30 minutes, starting around 2 am:

[T]he intruder was first seen in the room of the actor’s younger son by the nanny there. He allegedly attacked the nanny, demanded Rs 1 crore, before stabbing Khan and another member of the staff. The attacker was later confined to a room, but made his escape.

Khan was attacked when he rushed into the room—on hearing the nanny scuffle with the intruder. FYI: Saif didn’t realise he had been stabbed until after he and the nanny put the burglar in the room—and the man ran away.

About Khan’s injuries: He suffered wounds to his neck, shoulders, back, spine and wrist. And the knife remained embedded near his spine—and had to be removed at the hospital:

“He sustained a major injury to the thoracic spinal cord due to a lodged knife in the spine. Surgery was performed to remove the knife and repair the leaking spinal fluid,” Nitin Dange, one of the doctors who operated on Saif, said.

The good news: “He is completely stable now, in recovery mode, and out of danger.” He will be shifted out of the ICU soon—and discharged in a day or two.

About the suspect: You can see a CCTV image below of his escape:

The police claim at least two people were involved in this “attempted burglary.” Also this: “The police suspect that the attacker is known to one of the housekeepers. He did not break into the house nor make a forced entry.”

But, but, but: The police have dismissed rumours about a Lawrence Bishnoi connection. That’s the guy who has claimed credit for multiple assassinations—including that of Sidhu Moosewala. He had sworn vengeance against Salman Khan for killing two endangered blackbucks. Khan’s co-accused were Saif, Tabu, Neelam Kothari and Sonali Bendre—who were later acquitted. The Telegraph has lots more on the Pataudi history of killing endangered animals—yup, that includes Tiger.

Reading list: Indian Express has the nanny’s FIR—while The Telegraph has details of Saif’s injuries. The Hindu has the fallout—including the political shor sharaba.

Hindenburg calls it a day

About Hindenburg: Established in 2017 by New York-based Nate Anderson, Hindenburg Research is a short seller:

Short-sellers like Hindenburg bet against stocks of companies that they believe have been involved in fraud or other financial wrongdoings, based on their investigations. The process involves borrowing a stock, immediately selling it and then repurchasing it when its value goes down to pocket the difference.

The company’s best known target in India: the Adani Group (see: this Big Story)—allegations which also involved SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch. But Hindenburg has also targeted other companies—triggering investigations of Nikola, Icahn Enterprises and Super Micro Computer.

What happened now: On Wednesday, Anderson announced that he is disbanding Hindenburg—for vague reasons wrapped up in emotional language:

I write this from a place of joy. Building this has been a life’s dream… The intensity and focus has come at the cost of missing a lot of the rest of the world and the people I care about.

What the experts say: Shortselling is a tough business—that is getting even tougher:

Prominent short sellers have retreated in recent years. Online armies of individual traders targeted those who bet against the rapid rise in GameStop shares, including the now-defunct Melvin Capital, which lost $1 billion in a single day. The short seller Andrew Left was indicted last year on allegations that he manipulated stock prices. He has pleaded not guilty. The scrutiny and risk, as well as a decadelong bull market and the rise of multistrategy funds, has made short sellers something of an endangered species.

Also: The incoming US prez Donald Trump notoriously loathes short sellers.

What’s intriguing: Hindenburg had developed a trusted reputation for excellent research. Anderson says he plans “to work on a series of materials and videos to open-source every aspect of our model and how we conduct our investigations.” This is presumably to encourage investigative biz journalism.

Reading list: Wall Street Journal (splainer gift link) has a good piece on the shutdown. Economic Times offers a long take on the exit—claiming Anderson was chased out by the SEBI and Adanis.

Dunzo has fallen down!

The Dunzo story has finally come to an end—after months in hellish limbo. The CEO Kabeer Biswas has left to join Flipkart—and the app is now offline. And as is usual for broke desi startups, employees have not been paid. In fact, they have filed a police complaint against Biswas—who likely got a signing bonus for his stellar performance. The unpaid dues reportedly total Rs 400-500 crore.

What went wrong: As with Byju’s, Unacademy and other glittering Indian startups, Dunzo raised a lot of cash: a total of $450 million—with a $1 billion valuation in 2022. Then it made a fatal mistake. It sold a 26% stake to Reliance—to double down on quick e-commerce—acquiring and operating a network of 200 warehouses (called dark stores):

Despite such efforts, the unit economics wasn’t making sense. The startup burnt Rs 230 on each order it delivered during the first half of 2022, according to an Entrackr report, citing an internal company presentation. It also tried to expand beyond the eight large cities it operates in, with a pilot in Jaipur; but the lack of demand for quick delivery there, along with the high costs, led to that plan being shelved.

What happened next: Losses skyrocketed to Rs 1,802 crore in FY23, a jaw-dropping jump from Rs 464 crore the year before. Dunzo tried to pivot back to using hyperlocal grocery stores. Also: Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart ate Dunzo’s lunch by diversifying their offering: think premium goods, electronics, and imported snacks. Swiggy had the added advantage of robust supply chains, thanks to its food delivery empires. Dunzo, with its all-eggs-in-the-grocery-basket strategy, couldn’t keep up. And let’s not forget all that paisa spent on IPL sponsorship.

Reading list: Morning Context has the best coverage on the latest developments as well as reasons why the company’s core business failed, but is paywalled. The Core (login required) provides insights into why the Reliance investment did not work out. For free versions, you can read Business Today and Inc42.

The latest endangered site: The Moon!

The World Monuments Fund (WMF) has added the moon to its 2025 list of endangered heritage sites. The reason:

With a growing number of wealthy people going to space and more governments pursuing human spaceflight, the group warns that more than 90 important sites on the moon could be harmed. In particular, some researchers are worried about Tranquillity Base, the Apollo 11 landing site where the astronaut Neil Armstrong first stepped onto the moon’s surface.

Point to note: 52 countries have signed the Artemis Accords—promising to preserve “space heritage”—but the agreement is non-binding.

Also notable: The other new location listed as endangered: Gaza—where 63% of heritage sites have been damaged and 31% destroyed due to Israel’s invasion. (New York Times)

what caught our eye

business & tech

Meta’s new AI model enables speech-to-speech translation in 101 languages— including some key Indian ones: Bengali, Hindi, Kannada and Telugu, among others.
A developer is building Flashes—an Instagram-like app built on Bluesky’s open protocol that promises a simpler, less cluttered alternative.
A popular YouTuber—Mr Beast—says he is ready to buy TikTok ready—and his offer is backed by unnamed billionaires.
Duolingo has seen a 216% rise in US Mandarin learners, capitalizing on the TikTok ban frenzy as users flock to Chinese app RedNote.

sports & entertainment

Investors are raising $5 billion to form a new international basketball league to rival the NBA. It will have 12 teams (6 men and 6 women) spread across eight markets.
RIP David Lynch—the visionary filmmaker behind ‘Mulholland Drive’ and ‘Twin Peaks’ has passed away at the age of 78.
M Night Shyamalan is on trial over allegations that he plagiarised from an indie film when making the Apple TV+ series ‘Servant’.
The BAFTA nominations are out! Congrats once again to Payal Kapadia and ‘All We Imagine as Light’ for snagging a best foreign film nom. Also, there are two big desi picks in the best debutant category: Dev Patel for ‘Monkey Man’ and Sandhya Suri for ‘Santosh’.

as for the rest

Sudan’s military has used chemical weapons twice against paramilitary groups it is battling for control of the country. The big worry: the weapons could be used in the capital, Khartoum.
A US consulate office finally opens in Bengaluru today, but it will initially serve only American citizens and businesses. Visa services “would take a while.”
In yet another move to the right, Jeff Bezos owned Washington Post has changed its slogan from “Democracy Dies in Darkness” to “Riveting Storytelling for All of America.”
The Economist (login required) has a good read on declining career outcomes for top B-school graduates.
20,000 Indian students who landed in Canada in 2024—were ‘no-shows’ at the colleges or universities they were supposed to attend.
The Indian government has a new tourism game: Battlefield locations on our borders. Let’s go to Kargil, people!
A letter by Steve Jobs—handwritten when he was 19 years old and expressing his desire to attend the Kumbh Mela—sold for Rs 4.32 crore at auction.
According to new research, India’s internet userbase will surpass 900 million this year, with regional content driving growth.
The world’s ‘worst rated foods’ includes missi roti, according to a new list by TasteAtlas—much outrage has ensued.
Check out this YouTube channel, run by Doordarshan presenters from yesteryear, aimed at senior citizen safety in the digital age. (h/t subscriber Marsha Lewis).

Five things to see

One: Pakistan International Airline posted this ad on X to promote the launch of its twice-weekly flights between Islamabad and Paris. The tagline: “Paris, we’re coming today.” The problem? Hint: It includes the numbers ‘9’ and ‘11’. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an inquiry, apologies were made. The world remained as it was. (CNN)

Two: One of the world’s largest private schools operators GEMS Education is opening a $100 million campus in Dubai—to attract the ultra-wealthy families. The facilities include “a 600-seat auditorium, an Olympic-sized pool and a football field that doubles as a helipad.” The fees: a paltry $56,000 per year! (Bloomberg News via Yahoo News)

Three: After two unsuccessful attempts, ISRO successfully docked two satellites in space—making India the fourth country to do so. This is a big technological achievement because: “Various missions, like building a space station, need assembly in space, which is not possible without space docking.” (Reuters)

Four: Since last year, the Australian Open has been streaming some matches for free around the world on YouTube. These are almost live but there’s a catch: The entire video footage is animated—including the players and the court. Reason for this weird move: Since broadcasters own the exclusive rights to the games, the Open officials opted for animated content. FYI: viewership is up 4x from last year. See Daniil Medvedev smashing his racquet below. (The Guardian)

Five: Marvel fans, rejoice! Matt Murdock aka Daredevil is back for an all new series ‘Daredevil: Born Again’—where he will fight against his nemesis Wilson Fisk. New episodes drop on March 4 on Disney+ Hotstar. (Ars Technica)

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