August 2020
Congratulations to you for the first 25 years of your company and for her committed service to society through education.
Career Launcher, in her very idea or seed, was an experiment of audacity way back in 1995. It was an attempt to eke out an eternity out of the ephemeral. I used to find the thought of transacting my life for a monthly salary an enervating one. It instantly robbed me of my energy and tagged me as purpose-less mercenary in a moment. I wanted to do something that will outlast me in multiple ways - name, existence, utility to society, livelihood as well as wealth creation for many, and so on. Career Launcher was a fortuitous offspring of that deep internal seed meeting the generous society that always welcomes creativity fired by purposefulness.
In a blink, CL is 25 years old. This is a very important moment to pause and celebrate this feat. Not all entrepreneurs, founding teams are fortunate enough to see their effort grow into an organization. CL has not only done that but gone on to achieve some remarkable milestones. Becoming a household brand that is respected and reckoned in large geographies is no mean feat. Going on to list your company on the stock exchanges is written in the fate of a miniscule percentage of entrepreneurs. Reinventing yourself each time there is a crisis and stay relevant is not a very often-seen phenomenon. CL has done all of these.
Most importantly, CL Educate has stayed young, foolish and hungry as she takes our guard for the next 25 years.
Your company has witnessed the dotcom bubble, the Y2K panic, the South East Asia crisis. These events that played out in the last twenty years washed away many a ‘hyperbole’ and poster companies across the globe including India. These events also made some less fancied entities, start-ups and organisations emerge winners for the next phase. CL Educate is counted among the men who got separated from the boys at each such crisis !
Covid19 is going to be no exception, in my view. The last quarter of the financial year 2020 began to see the impact of Covid in parts of geographies and businesses. It was a full blown crisis by the time we entered March 2020. The financial impact of the same is evidenced in the numbers for the year. But, that was just a start.
As I sit to write this, Covid19 has had the entire world in her grip for over 100 days. Dozens of billion-dollar as well as 100-year legacy companies have disappeared in the last 100 days. The businesses got categorized into two simple baskets - Touch Business and Non-touch business. While the former came to a grinding halt and is yet seeing no signs of forward movement, the latter could convert this situation into an unprecedented opportunity provided they were ready for it.
Our preparedness and agility proved to be a boon yet again. Our Digital business has become the engine of growth on both sides - consumer and enterprise. The offline teams too pivoted to minimize the damage that, otherwise, could have been a certain death.
The organization, the structure, the strategies, the KPIs, the roles, the GTM time lines, the product plan for the future have all been rapidly and painstakingly transformed to respond to the Covid19 realities. As you know, these are stuff of case studies at a business school and cool things to discuss. However, what it takes to conjure up those while meeting the day-to-day business activities is something to be experienced.
In short, it takes a yogic detachment, if you will. I would like to congratulate the entire CL Educate team including Kestone and Career Launcher groups for the spirit, doggedness and the agility shown in the current situation.
I believe that CL Educate will emerge stronger than ever before to be counted among the most formidable EdTech companies of the coming decade. There is a certain shrinkage in the topline that we will witness. However, we will emerge stronger on a bunch of KPIs that are critical in the new and altered digital era without giving a short shrift to the fundamental of business - Profitable and sustainable growth. CL holds this as an important part of her approach to building shareholder wealth.
I look forward to the future with as much trepidation and excitement as I felt when CL was incorporated in 1995. Our team is a start-up still that is imagining herself celebrating her 50th in 2045! The baton’s shall have passed on long before that exciting day. I also always believe that it is important to visualize the future and then work towards making it a reality. Today, we are recommitting ourselves to the next 25 years of commitment and service to the society through education. Shareholder wealth will have taken care of itself when we do justice to all the stake holders that are important to our purpose and journey. Most importantly, The Learner. Across the globe!
Satya Narayanan R