A startup proves that an idea can work. A scale-up must prove that the whole company can keep working when demand, headcount and complexity rise at once. That shift catches many founders off guard.

Growth remains exciting, but it also exposes every weak process the business managed to ignore while it was smaller. The challenge is not simply to sell more. It is to build an organisation that can deliver more without losing control.

Leaders also need space to think clearly rather than react to every alert. Whether browsing just casino, walking or taking a quiet coffee break, the principle is the same: constant urgency rarely produces the best strategic decisions. Scale requires pace, but it also requires judgment.

Hiring before the gap becomes a crisis

Growing firms compete for people who can bring experience without burying the business in unnecessary process. Hiring too late leaves exhausted teams covering roles they were never meant to hold. Hiring too early burns cash and creates positions without enough work. The best approach starts with the capability the company needs, the result that role should own and the point at which demand justifies the cost.

Retention matters just as much. Rapid growth changes jobs quickly, so employees need clear expectations, fair progression and managers who can offer useful feedback. UK government research into scale-ups and access to talent highlights the practical challenge of recruiting and retaining key skills while larger employers compete for the same people.

Turning founder knowledge into systems

In a startup, the founder may hold product history, customer context and commercial priorities in their head. That feels efficient until ten teams need the same answer. Scale-ups must document how important decisions get made, who owns them and which information everyone can trust.

The goal is not a handbook for every breath. Start with high-risk or repeated work: customer onboarding, pricing approvals, quality checks, security, hiring and financial reporting. Good systems remove avoidable confusion while leaving teams room to solve new problems.

Protecting cash while revenue grows

Fast sales growth can hide weak cash flow. A company may sign larger contracts yet wait months for payment, while payroll, tax, suppliers and infrastructure costs arrive on schedule. Leaders need reliable forecasts that model best, expected and difficult cases. They also need to understand unit economics rather than celebrate revenue that costs too much to deliver.

Funding creates its own choices. Equity, debt and reinvested profit affect control and risk differently. The right option depends on the business model, timing and founders’ goals, not on which funding announcement looks most impressive online.

Keeping customers close

Early customers often receive direct attention from founders and product experts. As the company grows, layers appear between feedback and action. Support teams collect issues, sales teams make promises and product teams balance competing requests. Without a clear system, useful signals get lost.

Scale-ups should track why customers buy, stay, expand or leave. Numbers show the pattern; conversations explain it. Growth becomes dangerous when acquisition masks falling satisfaction among existing customers.

Building leadership that can let go

Founders do not need to disappear, but they must stop being the route for every decision. Strong leaders set direction, define boundaries and give capable people genuine authority. That can feel slower at first because delegation requires explanation and trust. Soon, however, the company gains more decision-making capacity than any founder could provide alone.

The move from startup to scale-up is less about becoming corporate and more about becoming dependable. Keep the curiosity and speed that made the business work. Add the people, cash discipline and operating structure that let it work repeatedly. That is the unglamorous machinery behind sustainable growth – and it beats chaos with a better logo.

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SEOUL — South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index fell 114.01 points, or 1.63%, to 6,863.93 as of 3:19 p.m. local time Tuesday, reversing a sharp early-session rally that had briefly pushed the index back above the 7,200 mark, as institutional selling and renewed concern over Middle East instability weighed on investor sentiment.

The index’s dramatic intraday swing unfolded over the course of the trading day. According to Trading Economics, the KOSPI opened Tuesday’s session with gains exceeding 3%, briefly reclaiming the 7,200 level for the first time in recent sessions, only to steadily give back those gains as the day progressed. By 1:50 p.m. local time, the index had fallen back to 6,925.65, down 0.75% from the previous session, before losses deepened further into the afternoon close.

According to reporting from the Asia Business Daily, the reversal was driven primarily by heavy selling from institutional investors, who were net sellers of 660.6 billion won during the session, even as both individual and foreign investors remained net buyers. Individual investors purchased a net 373.4 billion won worth of shares, while foreign investors added a net 346 billion won, underscoring a split between retail and foreign buying interest on one side and institutional caution on the other.

The broader shift in sentiment coincided with escalating concerns over instability in the Middle East. According to Trading Economics, global risk appetite was limited Tuesday after the expiration of a 60-day window for the United States and Iran to reach a peace agreement passed without an extension, heightening fears of renewed conflict and potential disruptions to oil supplies moving through the Strait of Hormuz. That uncertainty pushed oil prices higher and lifted U.S. Treasury yields, dynamics that have historically weighed on risk appetite for export-driven, semiconductor-heavy markets such as South Korea’s.

Adding a further headwind for South Korean exporters, the United States imposed a 15% tariff on South Korean drones and related components, while separately flagging the country for risks tied to China-linked transshipment activity, according to Trading Economics. Investors have also continued closely monitoring ongoing trade negotiations between Seoul and Washington, as South Korea works to resolve outstanding issues connected to its previously announced $200 billion investment commitment to the United States.

Tuesday’s reversal followed a period of strong gains for the KOSPI heading into the new trading week. The index climbed 2.42% to close at 6,978 points last Friday, extending a rally to its highest level in more than three weeks, driven by strength in U.S. stocks and semiconductor shares. That advance came after the S&P 500 reached a fresh record high following a U.S. producer price report that showed prices unchanged in July, below expectations, easing broader inflation concerns and reducing expectations for further Federal Reserve tightening.

The improved risk sentiment heading into Friday’s session had lifted Asian technology stocks broadly, with SK Hynix jumping 3.26% and Samsung Electronics advancing 2.43% that day. Other notable gainers included SK Square, up 3.31%, Hyundai Motor, up 8.24%, LG Energy Solution, up 1.09%, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, up 2.82%, Kia Corporation, up 3.13%, and Hyundai Mobis, up 7.05%, according to Trading Economics data. The KOSPI had been closed Monday for a substitute public holiday marking Liberation Day, meaning Tuesday’s session represented the market’s first opportunity to react to developments over the extended weekend, including the expiration of the U.S.-Iran negotiating window.

The KOSPI’s swings over the past several weeks illustrate a market that has continued to experience extraordinary volatility throughout 2026. According to Investing.com data, the index has traded within a 52-week range spanning from 3,079.27 to 9,385.59, and remains up 116.33% over the trailing 12 months despite the sharp reversals that have periodically interrupted its overall upward trajectory this year. Earlier in the year, the index suffered a series of historic single-day collapses, including a 10.84% overnight plunge that dragged Samsung Electronics down 13.39% and SK Hynix down 14.65% in a single session, alongside a separate episode in which the index fell below the 8,000 level and triggered a sell-side sidecar, part of a stretch of market volatility that at one point surpassed the sidecar and circuit-breaker activation record previously set during the 2008 global financial crisis.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together account for roughly half of the KOSPI’s total market capitalization, meaning swings in the two chipmakers’ share prices have continued to serve as the primary driver of the broader index’s dramatic movements throughout the year, a pattern that held true again during Tuesday’s sharp intraday reversal.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has continued to emphasize efforts to strengthen the country’s capital markets and address the long-standing valuation gap between Korean equities and their global peers, often referred to as the “Korea discount.” Following an earlier milestone in which the index first surpassed the 6,000 level, Lee reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to structural reforms aimed at driving a broader re-rating of Korean equities, a policy priority that has continued to underpin investor interest in the market even amid its persistent volatility.

With the U.S.-Iran negotiating deadline now expired and South Korea’s own trade discussions with Washington still ongoing, investors are likely to remain focused in the coming days on how developments in the Middle East evolve, alongside any further updates on South Korea’s $200 billion investment commitment and the broader tariff landscape facing Korean exporters. Given the KOSPI’s demonstrated pattern of sharp single-session reversals throughout 2026, market participants are likely to brace for continued volatility as the index navigates this latest combination of geopolitical uncertainty and shifting institutional positioning.

TUCSON, Ariz. — Human remains were discovered in a desert area roughly 15 miles from the home of Nancy Guthrie, the missing mother of NBC “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, but authorities said Monday there is no indication the remains are connected to her disappearance, which has now stretched more than six months without an arrest.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement posted to social media Monday afternoon that Search and Rescue deputies were responding to reports of human remains found in a desert area near West Ajo Way and South La Cholla Boulevard in southwest Tucson. “The remains appear to have been at the location for an extended period of time,” the department said. “At this time, there is no indication they are connected to the Nancy Guthrie investigation.” The department added that additional information would be released as it becomes available.

According to CNN, deputies were seen at the reported location Monday, on a hillside covered in saguaro cacti overlooking a busy four-lane highway in southwest Tucson. The residential area sits just outside the city limits, one turn off Ajo Way, leading to a handful of homes with long driveways. The sheriff’s department declined to answer CNN’s questions regarding who discovered the remains, when they were located, or the basis for officials’ early determination that the find appeared unconnected to the Guthrie case.

Nancy Guthrie, 84, vanished from her home in Tucson’s Catalina Foothills neighborhood sometime between the night of Jan. 31 and the early morning hours of Feb. 1. According to investigators, she was apparently kidnapped from her residence without her phone or critical medications. A source has told CNN that investigators do not currently have a leading theory regarding a motive for her disappearance.

Monday’s discovery is not the first time remains have surfaced in the vicinity of the Guthrie investigation without ultimately being connected to the case. On Feb. 7, less than a week into the search for Guthrie, deputies responded to a separate discovery of human remains near Irvington and San Joaquin roads. At the time, the sheriff’s department said there was “nothing criminal” about that earlier find, and the department’s cold case unit had responded to that scene.

The search for Guthrie has continued for more than six months without a named suspect, person of interest, or identified vehicle connected to her disappearance. In July, nearly six months after she went missing, officials released the full contents of a ransom note and a separate follow-up letter addressed to the Guthrie family, which claimed Nancy Guthrie had died. Authorities released the documents publicly in hopes of generating new leads in the case.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has continued to describe the investigation as active despite the lack of a break in the case. “We have so much DNA to sort through. We have so much, in terms of video evidence, to look at,” Nanos said in comments shared as part of a “Today” show news segment. “So I’m still positive that we’re going to resolve this case.”

The investigation has drawn extensive national attention given Guthrie’s family connection to one of American television’s most recognizable morning news programs. The Guthrie family has publicly appealed to those responsible for Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, offering full cooperation in exchange for information. Savannah Guthrie has personally offered a $1 million reward for information leading to her mother’s safe recovery, while the FBI has separately offered an additional $100,000 reward, and the nonprofit organization 88-CRIME has offered a further $102,500, bringing the total reward pool available to more than $1.2 million for information leading to a resolution of the case.

Investigators have pursued numerous leads throughout the monthslong search, including reviewing extensive doorbell camera footage, DNA evidence and hundreds of individual tips submitted by the public. In February, investigators recovered a pair of black gloves along a road roughly a mile and a half from Guthrie’s home, matching the description of gloves worn by an individual seen tampering with a camera at Guthrie’s front door on the morning of her disappearance, according to prior reporting citing the New York Post. Separately, authorities have had to publicly dispute unverified claims circulating on social media, including a viral video purporting to show a 911 call reporting a ski mask discovered roughly 135 miles from Tucson that matched the description of clothing worn by a person of interest in the case. A Pima County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told Fox News Digital the department had “not been advised of anything like that” regarding the alleged ski mask discovery, adding, “so this cannot be confirmed.”

The department has continued providing periodic updates on the investigation’s status even in the absence of major breakthroughs. Earlier in the case, the sheriff’s department noted in a public statement that “the Nancy Guthrie investigation is ongoing,” while emphasizing that “no suspects, persons of interest, or vehicles have been identified” and that press briefings would be scheduled only if significant developments occurred.

Anyone with information related to Guthrie’s disappearance is urged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or the Pima County Sheriff’s Department directly at 520-351-4900.

As of Monday evening, authorities had not provided further details regarding the identity of the remains found near West Ajo Way and South La Cholla Boulevard, nor had they indicated when a formal identification process, which would typically involve the county medical examiner’s office, might be completed. The sheriff’s department’s characterization that the remains had been at the location for an extended period suggests any eventual identification could take additional time, particularly if forensic testing is required to determine both the identity of the individual and the circumstances surrounding their death.

This remains an active and ongoing investigation, and authorities have said further updates will be released as new information becomes available, both regarding the discovery of the remains near Tucson and the broader search for Nancy Guthrie, which continues more than six months after her disappearance first drew national attention.

Shares of PTC Industries slipped 4% to the day’s low of Rs 19,828 on Tuesday on NSE despite the company reporting strong earnings in the quarter that ended in June 2026. The company’s Q1 profit after tax surged nearly 466% year-on-year, with a 180% growth in its EBITDA for this quarter.

According to a filing with the exchange on Monday, the company delivered a strong beginning to FY27, with consolidated growth supported by scaling advanced manufacturing programmes, execution across aerospace and defence applications, and increasing contribution from its integrated materials and components platform.

The total income was reported at Rs 197.1 crore, registering 83% year-on-year growth against Rs 107.7 crore in the same quarter a year ago. The EBITDA was recorded at Rs 54.2 crore in Q1FY27, rising 180% YoY.

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The company’s profit after tax stood at Rs 29.1 crore in Q1FY27, registering a year-on-year growth of 466% from Rs 5.1 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

PTC Industries is a leading Indian manufacturer of precision metal components and strategic materials for critical applications. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Aerolloy Technologies, the group produces titanium and superalloy materials and components for aerospace, defence and space applications in India and global markets.
During the quarter, Aerolloy Technologies, the wholly owned subsidiary of PTC Industries, continued to remain a key growth driver. Aerolloy Technologies reported total income of Rs 74.27 crore in Q1FY27, implying a growth of 466.4% YoY over Rs 13.11 crore in the June quarter of FY26, with EBITDA of Rs 33.42 crore with a margin of 45.0%. Its profit after tax jumped 322.9% YoY to Rs 22.08 crore.Trac Precision Solutions (UK), the group’s precision machining platform supporting high-value aerospace and industrial applications, reported total income of Rs 71.40 crore and EBITDA of Rs 6.1 crore in Q1FY27.

PTC Industries secured a landmark order from BrahMos Aerospace for the development, integration and supply of a strategic missile sub-system. The order marks the Company’s entry into systems and sub-systems integration, strengthening its role in advanced defence and aerospace programmes.

“Q1FY27 marks a strong start to the year and reflects the progress we are making in scaling PTC Industries as an integrated advanced manufacturing platform for aerospace, defence and strategic applications. Our consolidated performance improved significantly during the quarter, with strong growth in income and profitability and meaningful expansion in margins. Importantly, Aerolloy continued to emerge as a key growth driver, demonstrating the operating leverage beginning to come through from the capabilities and investments we have built over the past several years,” said Sachin Agarwal, Chairman and Managing Director.

“The quarter and the subsequent period were equally significant strategically. Our landmark agreement with Airbus expands our participation in global commercial aerospace supply chains, while the programmes with BrahMos Aerospace, ARDE-DRDO and Gun Factory Kanpur extend PTC’s role beyond precision manufacturing into design-led development, systems and sub-systems for mission-critical defence applications. These are important steps in the evolution of the Company and validate the depth of the integrated materials, metallurgy and manufacturing platform we are creating,” Agarwal further said.

In the last one year, the stock jumped over 2% and delivered nearly 40.38% returns in the last three years. The stock has delivered nearly 67% gains in the last five years.

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Mukul Mahavir Agrawal, Vikas Khemani hold over 1% stake in PTC Industries

Investors Mukul Mahavir Agrawal and Vikas Vijaykumar Khemani each held more than 1% stake in PTC Industries, as of the quarter ended June 30, 2026, according to shareholding pattern data.

Vikas Khemani held a 2.57% stake in the company, while Mukul Agrawal owned 1.07%. Mona Russell Mehta also holds a 2.33% stake in PTC Industries, the data showed.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Shares of BSE dropped around 3% on Tuesday, extending losses for the fifth consecutive session after Nuvama downgraded the stock’s rating to Hold from Buy, and slashed its target price, listing three key headwinds converging in FY27.

BSE shares dropped to Rs 3,235 apiece on Tuesday morning, the lowest level seen by the stock in around five months. Shares of the stock have now fallen more than 10% over five consecutive sessions of losses.

Nuvama on BSE share price

Nuvama downgraded its rating on the shares of BSE to ‘Hold’ and slashed its target price to Rs 3,240 apiece from Rs 4,090 apiece. The latest target price implies around 3% downside potential from the stock’s previous closing price of Rs 3,332 apiece.

The brokerage highlighted three headwinds for the stock exchange that converge in the ongoing financial year 2027. Here are the 3 key headwinds.

1) CAS has reset volumes, impairing expiry-day decay trading dynamics

The newly introduced closing auction session (CAS) has led to huge confusion among traders, resulting in lower participation. Nuvama highlighted that BSE’s index option premium volumes (ADPTV) of Rs 18,100 crore are the lowest since January 2025.

The premium per contract, which had spiked 54% to Rs 2,605 in the first week of August, has fully unwound, and premium-to-notional is back to 11.1 bps versus 10.9 bps in July, it added, noting that the key issue is lower trading velocity and participation loss.
“Earlier, option premiums decayed predictably into expiry, enabling repeated participation through short duration trades. CAS introduces uncertainty in final settlement due to auction-based closing, reducing the predictability of this decay path. This weakens theta-harvesting strategies and reduces leverage for buyers that previously relied on rapidly falling premiums, and reduces seller interest due to uncertainty of option decay—impacting a large part of the ecosystem,” Nuvama said.The damage is visible as BSE expiry-day contracts fell 33% versus 24% for non-expiry, the brokerage highlighted.

2) Bank guarantee norms are second leg

RBI’s bank guarantee norms are the second leg, and they arrive precisely as CAS impact could heal, according to Nuvama. Tighter collateral requirements may raise capital intensity for intermediaries, reducing turnover efficiency in high-frequency strategies that drive contract volumes, it added.

The brokerage feels that the impact is likely gradual but could cap recovery into FY28.

3) Market share gains are nearing saturation

Nuvama highlighted that BSE’s contract share of nearly 51.5% is already high, but ADPTV’s share remains lower at around 36%, due to a lower mix of non-expiry-day contribution. This is limiting incremental upside from further share gains, according to the brokerage.

“With contract MS at 50% and incremental levers exhausted, we see no near-term trigger. The gap to ADPTV share of 36.3% is structural due to higher concentration near expiry,” it further said.

Nuvama cut BSE’s EPS estimates by 6.3% for FY27 and 15% for FY28. However, it sees a recovery in VIX as the largest swing factor, suggesting that a move in VIX towards 16–18 could materially lift premium per contract and ADPTV even without a recovery in contracts.

Faster-than-expected adaptation to CAS, deeper closing-auction liquidity, regulatory recalibration of CAS mechanics, and stronger non-expiry participation could also drive volumes above Nuvama’s revised assumptions.

Jefferies on BSE share price

Nuvama’s downgrade comes a day after Jefferies downgraded the counter to ‘underperform’ from ‘hold’ and trimmed the target price to Rs 2,940 from Rs 3,520.

Jefferies flagged risks to BSE’s revenue from domestic proprietary traders, who account for around 50% of notional turnover. It sees headwinds from the STT hike, RBI’s bank guarantee norms and the Closing Auction Session (CAS).

Also read | BSE shares tumble 5% after Jefferies downgrades stock to ‘underperform’. Here’s why

BSE share price

BSE shares have fallen over 9% in a week and 8% in a month, although the stock is overall up 25% in 2026 so far. After hitting a 52-week low of Rs 2,021.50 apiece in September last year, BSE shares more than doubled in eight months to hit a 52-week high of Rs 4,447 apiece in May this year. The stock has now fallen more than 27% since then to trade at Rs 3,235 apiece on Tuesday morning.

In the longer term, BSE shares have delivered stellar returns of 1,038% in three years and more than 2,500% in five years. The company has a market capitalisation of more than Rs 1.3 lakh crore.

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(With inputs from agencies)

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)