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The people problems from boAt’s IPO DRHP only gets worse and worse 🚨🚨

Just 29 days before filing their DRHP, the company’s founders made a shocking exit from the C-suite.

- Co-founder Sameer Ashok Mehta "Resigned as Chief Executive Officer"

- Co-founder Aman Gupta "Resigned as Chief Marketing Officer"

But the leadership vacuum is only HALF the story. The other half is a human capital crisis. Details below.

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The DRHP reveals a full-time employee attrition rate that is almost unbelievable at 34.18%.

Let that sink in. More than 1 in 3 full-time employees fled the company last year.

This is not normal turnover. This is a mass exodus.

And this isn't a new problem. It’s a disturbing, accelerating pattern. The company is becoming a revolving door.

Look at the attrition data from the DRHP:

- FY23: 27.09%

- FY24: 28.14%

- FY25: 34.18%

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Worse, this is happening despite a massive ESOP program.

The company has a mountain of options outstanding. These are granted but not yet exercised. yet, if people are living in exodus, there are only two logical conclusions.

1 - The internal culture is completely broken. People are miserable, and no amount of paper money can convince them to stay

2 - The employees have ZERO faith in the future value of those options. The people on the inside don't believe in the upside

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But, let’s get back to where did the founders go?

Mehta is now an "Executive Director" and Gupta is a "Non-Executive Director" - with no salary or sitting fees.

ZERO. This is a complete reversal. In FY25, these same founders each received Rs 2.5cr each in salary alone.

From Rs 2.5cr to nil - Right before the IPO.

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What does this all mean?

The company will spin this as a "planned succession."

I don't buy that for a second. This looks like a calculated pre-IPO pivot. The founders are distancing themselves from operational responsibility.

They are stepping away from the day-to-day grind just as they ask you, the public, to buy into that grind.

The talent crisis is the REAL red flag.

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So why should an outside investor? This is the core of the issue.

It's a vote of no confidence from the employees. And it looks like the founders are cashing out and stepping back while the ship is in turmoil.

For any analyst, this is a parade of glaring red flags.

- The founders are out of ops

- The talent base is collapsing

- The ESOPs don't work

And yet, zero media focus on any of this stuff? What does that tell you?

Nov 8
at
5:57 AM
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