POPULARITY
Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Friday, January 10, 2025. This is Nelson John, let's get started. A recent report by the State Bank of India has sparked widespread debate with its claim of a significant reduction in India's poverty levels. The report suggests rural poverty fell sharply from 25.7% in 2011-12 to just 4.86% in 2023-24, alongside a notable decline in urban poverty. It attributes this dramatic improvement to the success of government initiatives, including direct cash transfers and infrastructure development. However, as Nandita Venkatesan writes, the methodology behind these figures has come under scrutiny. Critics argue that the report's approach—adjusting old poverty lines for inflation to measure current poverty—fails to account for shifts in consumption patterns and changes in survey methodologies over the past decade, potentially skewing the conclusions. India's stock market is bracing for heightened volatility as foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) adopt their most cautious stance in seven months. As of January 8, FPIs' combined net short positions on Nifty and Bank Nifty futures surged to 238,321 contracts, the highest level since June, according to data from IndiaCharts and the NSE. This sharp increase in bearish bets reflects growing concerns over both domestic and global economic uncertainties, reports Ram Sahgal. FPIs have been consistently shorting Indian markets, driven partly by India's revised economic growth forecast of 6.4% for FY25, a four-year low and slightly below the Reserve Bank of India's projection of 6.6%. Adding to the unease is the timing, with Donald Trump's imminent inauguration as US President stoking fears of tariff wars and stricter immigration policies—both of which could disrupt the global economic landscape. As 2025 unfolds, identifying the Indian sectors poised to lead the charge can feel like a guessing game. To cut through the uncertainty, Mint's Abhishek Mukherjee sought insights from three major AI chatbots: OpenAI's ChatGPT, Elon Musk's Grok, and Google's Gemini 2.0. While each emphasized the speculative nature of market predictions—shaped by dynamic factors like economic policies and global events—their perspectives offer intriguing takeaways. Read today's Long Story to see what these AI models foresee for the markets. The Maha Kumbh Mela, returning after 144 years and expected to draw millions to Uttar Pradesh, has become a prime target for cybercriminals. Experts from Aon, mFilterIt, and Quick Heal warn of a surge in sophisticated cyberattacks aimed at stealing personal and payment information. Scammers are leveraging the event's vast digital footprint, creating fake websites and using platforms like WhatsApp to trick pilgrims into paying for fraudulent services. In response, the Uttar Pradesh government and police are stepping up cybersecurity measures, report Pratishtha Bagai and Devina Sengupta. A dedicated cyber police station has been established in Prayagraj, and authorities are closely monitoring and securing online platforms to safeguard attendees from digital threats. The sudden passing of Amit Banerji, founder of Table Space, from cardiac arrest has sent shockwaves through the startup community, highlighting the toll of intense pressure and poor work-life balance in the industry. Banerji's death is the second such incident in a month, sparking renewed concern about the health and work habits of startup founders. Industry leaders, including Kunal Bahl of Titan Capital and Snapdeal, are urging a shift toward sustainable work practices, emphasizing that long-term business success depends on prioritizing health, reports Sneha Shah. Recent high-profile cases, such as Rohan Mirchandani of Epigamia and Ambareesh Murty of Pepperfry, who also succumbed to fatal health issues, underscore the risks of high-stress startup leadership. In response, there is a growing call for founders to adopt a healthier balance between their professional and personal lives. Some are turning to therapy, while others are being encouraged by boards and investors to take breaks, pursue hobbies, and focus on downtime to avoid burnout.
Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Tuesday, August 6, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started: Global currents affected the Indian stock markets too: Sensex and Nifty both were down by about 2.7 percent during yesterday's trading session. This was the steepest intra-day drop in nearly two months. Ram Sahgal writes that fears of an economic slowdown in the US and a huge equities crash in Japan prompted the massive sell-off. The worst may not be over yet: Ram also writes that foreign investors have turned bearish on Indian markets, and are betting that they will fall even further. India is a global economy — that means it is also prone to suffering from the headwinds of other economies, in the form of crashes like yesterday's. There's violent trouble with one of our neighbours: yesterday, Bangladesh's newly-elected Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign by protestors. Most of these protestors were students. She had been in power since 2008, and will be succeeded by an internal government controlled by the country's army. Elizabeth Roche explains the turmoil, its rich history, and why India should keep a close eye on this coup's ultimate result. According to new rules set by the markets regulator, any company in India that has sizeable debt on its books is liable to turn public. That put Tata Sons in hot soup: despite having 16 listed entities, the parent company often leveraged itself to balance out the books of its subsidiaries. After Sebi's ruling, Tata Sons quickly pared this debt down to avoid getting listed. Shayan Ghosh and Varun Sood report that it has now reduced its disclosed debt to just 5 crore rupees. Last year, it had nearly 19,000 crore rupees worth of borrowings. It used its crown jewel, TCS, to repay most of the debt, write Shayan and Varun. Have you noticed a growing trend of consultants among your peers? While their work remains the same, their designation changes. Mid to senior level employees who are switching roles enjoy a host of tax benefits via this method, writes Shipra Singh. When you earn as a consultant, your income gets categorised as a business revenue. This allows you to claim a lot of deductions. This strategy could help you save tax on more than half your income, tax experts told Shipra. Instead of paying tax at your slab rate, you instead pay a flat 6 percent GST on this income — helping you amass quite a bit of savings. Kunal Bahl is one of the most prolific people in India's burgeoning startup landscape. He is the co-founder of Snapdeal, an e-commerce app. At one point, Snapdeal hoped to topple Flipkart from its position as India's top online seller. That fight didn't turn out so well for Snapdeal and Bahl. However, some would argue that Bahl is a better investor than an executive. Bahl is also the main man behind Titan Capital, which boasts of returns greater than 100x from investments such as Urban Company, Mamaearth, and Ola Cabs. Another acquisition, Unicommerce, is set to IPO today — yet another huge return for the investment company. Mansi Verma and Priyamvada C write a detailed story on how Kunal Bahl became the titan of early-stage investing in India. We'd love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Let us know by writing to us at feedback@livemint.com. You may send us feedback, tips or anything that you feel we should be covering from your vantage point in the world of business and finance. Show notes: Markets reel under global pressure Mint Explainer: Why India needs to have a wary eye on Bangladesh coup Tata Sons goes debt-free as it seeks listing exemption Switch to consultant from employee and you can save tax on half your income Don't do as I did: How Snapdeal's Bahl became the titan of early-stage investing
Welcome to this episode of Humans of CX with your host, Garima. Our guest today is Sandeep Sachdeva, Head of Customer and Seller Experience at Snapdeal. Join us as we delve into the world of customer experience. Discover Sandeep's journey and insights as the Head of Customer Experience at Snapdeal. Learn about the skills needed for a successful career in customer service, the importance of employee empowerment, and Snapdeal's focus on customer delight. Explore the challenges of fragmented customer interactions and the future of AI-powered customer service. Don't miss out on this engaging discussion on e-commerce customer experience.
How do hidden dynamics fuel successful e-commerce strategies?In this episode of the Greenbook Podcast, host Karen Lynch engages with Rasika Mathur, Head of Consumer Insights at Snapdeal. Rasika delves into her extensive career, highlighting her expertise in understanding consumer behavior and her journey in the industry. She shares her passion for fostering a customer-obsessed culture and explains how understanding consumer emotions can bridge the gap between intention and action, driving business growth and customer loyalty. Rasika offers practical insights into the nuances of e-commerce, from leveraging emotional intelligence in personalization to maintaining authenticity in digital interactions. Join us for a compelling conversation packed with actionable strategies and heartfelt anecdotes that underscore the power of consumer insights in shaping successful businesses.Read Rasika's interview here.You can reach out to Rasika on LinkedIn. Many thanks to Rasika for being our guest. Thanks also to our producer, Natalie Pusch; and our editor, Big Bad Audio.
Kunal Shah is one of the most well-known and admired product leaders in India. He is the CEO and founder of CRED, an Indian-based fintech startup valued at over $6 billion. Prior to CRED, he founded three other startups, including Freecharge, which he sold for over $400 million to Snapdeal. He has also been an advisor to India's most influential organizations. In our conversation, we discuss:• The prevalence of successful Indian immigrants in top CEO roles across the tech industry• Why companies in India can grow DAUs but not ARPU—and what that means for building products for India• What most sets India's market apart• Challenges and opportunities in the Indian market• The Delta 4 framework for building new products• Lessons from building CRED so far• The power of curiosity and second-order thinking• Lessons from failure—Brought to you by:• WorkOS—The modern API for auth and user identity• Orb—The flexible billing engine for modern pricing• Dovetail—Bring your customer into every decision—Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/kunal-shah-on-winning-in-india-second—Where to find Kunal Shah:• X: https://twitter.com/kunalb11• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kunalshah1/• Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@CRED_club—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Kunal's background(04:22) The Delta 4 framework(11:00) The success of Indian CEOs in the U.S.(19:55) Challenges and opportunities in India(23:04) DAUs vs. ARPU in Indian markets(25:50) The perception of time in India(27:55) The curse of focus in Asian markets(30:33) Challenges and opportunities in India (continued)(33:23) Lessons learned from building CRED(36:40) Profit pools can provide valuable insights into the values of a country(37:55) Founders' role in company growth(39:55) Profitability and Indian business culture(43:24) Advice for staying positive amid criticism(44:41) The promising market in India(47:35) The power of curiosity(52:59) Who Kunal looks up to(55:31) Kunal's favorite sources of content(58:42) Asking great questions(01:02:54) Contrarian corner: Wealth is nothing but storage of energy(01:05:26) Failure corner(01:08:57) Closing thoughts: Share your learnings(01:09:38) Lightning round—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
This week we're joined by CX Expert Ankur Agrawal, former SVP and Head of Customer Experience at Paytm, Ola, MakeMyTrip and Snapdeal. He shares his insights on the importance of understanding customer expectations, analyzing feedback, and combining it with data to enhance the overall experience. Ankur also delves into the impact of AI on contact centers and the role they play as treasure troves of customer conversations. Don't miss this engaging conversation to enhance your own customer experience journey.
Vani Kola is the Managing Director at Kalaari Capital, an early stage VC firm committed to the development of India-based global companies and entrepreneurs. Vani's notable successes include Cure.fit, Dream11, Myntra, and Snapdeal. She is one of Fortune's Most Powerful Women in Business, an avid meditator, yoga practitioner, and a sustainable organic farmer. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theindustryshow/support
This week's episode is about Building Snapdeal, IIT Delhi - 2006 Batch & India's Positive Future as we welcome Rohit Bansal, co-founder of Snapdeal & Titan Capital, to the Neon Show!What Sells & Doesn't Sell In India?Have Aspirations Of Young India Changed In The Last 20 years?The Most Common Misconceptions About Investors!All these JUICY topics and more in this MASTERCLASS conversation about India's e-commerce industry. A deep dive into how India has grown incrementally in the e-commerce industry over the last 15 years & what it takes to create a great product-market fit in the e-commerce space… Tune in NOW!
Get ready for an inspiring tale of resilience, innovation, and the entrepreneurial spirit as we delve into the remarkable journey of Akash Sharma, the co-founder of Farmley, a thriving brand specializing in premium dry fruits and nuts. In this exclusive interview, Akash takes us on a fascinating trip down memory lane, recounting his humble beginnings in a small town in Rajasthan. Raised in a family deeply rooted in farming, he developed a close bond with the agricultural world from a young age, where he witnessed the traditional methods of mustard oil production. Akash's journey took a significant turn when he decided to pursue mechanical engineering at the prestigious IIT Delhi. What's intriguing is the pivotal role a teacher played in shaping his path. This teacher, during his coaching days in Kota, encouraged Akash to opt for IIT Delhi over the popular choice of computer science engineering, citing the city's vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem. As you'll discover, Akash's journey was not without its fair share of trials and tribulations. His two years at IIT Delhi were a mix of excitement and challenges, marked by the unwavering support of his parents. He actively participated in the entrepreneurship development cell and worked with startups during his college days, gathering invaluable experiences that would serve him well in the future. After graduating, Akash chose a different path by joining a rising star in the startup world, Housing.com, which offered him insights into the nuances of launching a business. The experience was invaluable, but it wasn't all smooth sailing. His first entrepreneurial venture, Delivery King, was an ambitious endeavor in the last-mile delivery services for e-commerce companies. While they secured major clients like Snapdeal, Amazon, and Flipkart, profitability remained elusive, leading to its eventual closure. This experience drained Akash's personal savings, even forcing him to seek financial assistance from his parents. However, Akash's story is a testament to the resilience of an entrepreneur. After his initial setback, he knew that being well-prepared was the key to future success. Armed with the knowledge of the importance of financial stability, he saved up enough to sustain his business for several years even if he earned no revenue. This preparedness allowed him to take risks and pivot as needed, which ultimately led to his current venture, Farmley. Farmley's journey has been marked by constant evolution. Initially a B2B startup, it transformed into a consumer brand business in 2021. Throughout this journey, Akash emphasized the vital role of mentors. Finding mentors who have succeeded in their respective fields and aligning their interests with the company has been a game-changer for Farmley. In this interview, Akash Sharma shares his personal formula for entrepreneurial success: the power of mentors, the wisdom found in books, self-introspection, and a strong willingness to adapt and pivot. His story is not only a tale of entrepreneurial triumph but also a compelling lesson on the value of resilience, mentorship, and continuous learning in the ever-changing world of business.
Anuj Rathi is the Chief Product and Marketing Officer at Jupiter Money, where he leads product management, marketing, design, growth, and analytics. Before Jupiter Money, Anuj served as the Senior Vice President of Revenue and Growth at Swiggy, VP of Product at SnapDeal, a Senior PM at Walmart Labs and the first-ever PM at Flipkart. He's also one of the most beloved and respected product leaders in India. In this episode, we discuss:• How product management is different in India• How to rethink your approach to new users• How Anuj operationalizes the “working backwards” framework• Why Anuj thinks PMs should be more full-stack than they are• How to use Anuj's “4BB” framework to get better at product strategy and prioritization• Advice on developing innovative roadmap ideas• The three essential skills of a successful PM• Three reasons why leadership fails• Why OKRs don't work in marketplaces—Brought to you by Sanity—The most customizable content layer to power your growth engine | Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security | Wix Studio—The web creation platform built for agencies—Find the transcript for this episode and all past episodes at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/episodes/. Today's transcript will be live by 8 a.m. PT.—Where to find Anuj Rathi:• X: https://twitter.com/anujrathi• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anujrathi1—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Anuj's background(04:28) How product differs in India (08:34) When modern product thinking started to gain traction in India(14:01) How Anuj thinks about new-user experiences(15:07) Scott Belsky's “lazy, vain, and selfish” framework (19:59) Why PMs must understand category consumers(22:30) Anuj's philosophy on the PM job(23:59) How Anuj applies the working-backwards framework(28:36) The importance of FAQs(30:10) The full-stack PM mindset(33:06) Anuj's “show don't tell” framework(36:19) How to use the show-don't-tell framework(39:14) The impact of using this framework(41:27) Anuj's “4BB framework” for product strategy(48:59) Contrarian corner(50:49) Anuj's “framework of 3” for great PMs(52:34) How to develop grit and influence(54:00) Three reasons why leaders fail (56:21) AI corner(57:51) Lessons from building a successful marketplace(1:02:19) How to balance and maintain stability on all sides of a marketplace(1:07:48) Lightning round—Referenced:• MakeMyTrip: https://www.makemytrip.com/• Shaadi.com: https://www.shaadi.com/• Bharat Matrimony: https://www.bharatmatrimony.com/• Flipkart: https://www.flipkart.com/• Ola: https://www.olacabs.com/mobile• Swiggy: https://www.swiggy.com/• Jio: https://www.jio.com/• UPI: http://cashlessindia.gov.in/upi.html• The First 15 Seconds by Scott Belsky: https://medium.com/positiveslope/the-first-15-seconds-9590d7dabc• Jupiter: https://jupiter.money/• How to get better at influence: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-get-better-at-influence#• Working Backwards: https://www.workingbackwards.com/• Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World: https://www.amazon.com/Range-Generalists-Triumph-Specialized-World/dp/0735214484• In Search of Greatness on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Search-Greatness-Wayne-Gretzky/dp/B07P5X99P5• Team Topologies: Organizing Business and Technology Teams for Fast Flow: https://www.amazon.com/Team-Topologies-Organizing-Business-Technology/dp/1942788819• Conway's Law: https://www.atlassian.com/blog/teamwork/what-is-conways-law-acmi• Lessons from scaling Spotify: The science of product, taking risky bets, and how AI is already impacting the future of music | Gustav Söderström (Co-President, CPO, and CTO at Spotify): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/lessons-from-scaling-spotify-the-science-of-product-taking-risky-bets-and-how-ai-is-already-impac/• Taobao: https://world.taobao.com/• Alibaba: https://offer.alibaba.com/• Working Backwards: https://www.amazon.com/Working-Backwards-PB/dp/1529033845• How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don't Know: https://www.amazon.com/How-Brands-Grow-What-Marketers/dp/0195573560• The Luxury Strategy: Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands: https://www.amazon.com/Luxury-Strategy-Break-Marketing-Brands/dp/0749464917• The Office on Peacock: https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-tv/the-office• Rise: https://www.risescience.com/—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
The Desi VC: Indian Venture Capital | Angel Investors | Startups | VC
Rohit Bansal is the Co-founder Snapdeal, one of the largest online marketplaces in India. The company has raised over $1.7B from eBay, Kalaari Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Intel Capital, BlackRock, Temasek Holdings and SoftBank. He is also the Co-Founder of Titan Capital, which has invested in companies such as Mamaearth, Dealshare, OLA, RazorPay and OfBusiness. He an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. . . . Episode Notes: Introduction (2:00) What motivated Rohit to become an entrepreneur (2:57) Why is entrepreneurship on the rise in India (10:30) How did Rohit get into investing (14:30) How did and does Rohit deal with tough moments in life (19:26) How do founders continue to stay motivated over the years (27:58) What frameworks does Rohit deploy to navigate tough situations in life (31:39) Why it's important for founders to look after themselves (36:20) Looking back at his career what is Rohit the most proud of? (41:15) What is Rohit dedicating the next 5-10 years of his life towards (45:45) What advice would Rohit give his younger self? (52:02) . . . Social Links: Follow Rohit on Twitter Follow Rohit on LinkedIn Follow The Desi VC on LinkedIn Follow Akash Bhat on Twitter Follow Akash Bhat on LinkedIn
Join Instagram Growth Masterclass Here: https://hi.switchy.io/FFAFOrder 'Build, Don't Talk' (in English) here: https://amzn.eu/d/eCfijRuOrder 'Build Don't Talk' (in Hindi) here: https://amzn.eu/d/4wZISO0--------------Subscribe To Our Other YouTube Channels:-https://www.youtube.com/@rajshamaniclipshttps://www.youtube.com/@RajShamani.Shorts----------------Tune in to this enlightening podcast episode as Raj Shamani hosts Mohit Sadaani, Co-founder of The Moms Co., and unravels the secrets of building a successful business.Mohit, a prodigy who has worked with reputed companies like McKinsey & Snapdeal in the past, went on to launch his startup of The Mom Co. when he & his wife faced problems fetching the right products for their kids and realised the gap in the Indian market.The conversation kicks off with a fundamental question: How can a business thrive and stand out in today's competitive market? Mohit shares a powerful perspective on moving beyond merely selling products to crafting unique experiences for customers. He highlights how businesses are not just about transactions; they are about creating memorable encounters.Raj and Mohit delve into the importance of differentiation and growth strategies. Mohit emphasises the significance of understanding that you're not selling a product; you're selling an experience. Drawing from examples like Nike, he illustrates how building a brand around customer experience can lead to remarkable success.The conversation turns towards the competitive landscape and the inevitability of imitation in business. Mohit shares his views on staying true to your mission and being faster and more accessible to customers as key strategies. He advises against becoming too enamoured with problems or solutions. Raj and Mohit discuss global business dynamics and how trends often repeat worldwide. Snapdeal's rise and fall and Amazon's customer-centric approach come under scrutiny, revealing the complexities of the Indian market. Mohit provides valuable insights into the intricacies of India's market dynamics.They wrap up the discussion with insights into consumer and traditional brands, the importance of cultural relevance in India, and the challenges and opportunities in the personal wellness industry. The episode concludes with Mohit sharing the top three skills every entrepreneur and founder should possess. Make sure you watch this podcast till the end!Follow Mohit Sadaani OnLinkedin: https://in.linkedin.com/in/mohitsadaaniInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mohit.sadaani/-----------------Timestamps:00:00 - Introduction2:24 - Journey of The Moms Co. 7:05 - Why is operating in the niche market better? 10:32 - How to survive against the big giants?15:36 - The story of Rocket Internet17:23 - Shocking social Commerce in China18:45 - How to make your me-too product win in India? 24:17 - Why Snapdeal tanked in India? 26:36 - Why Hyundai succeeded in India? 28:49 - Why did Amazon succeed in India? 33:42 - Will Zepto beat Dmart? 37:04 - Favourite consumer brands in India? 41:46 - How Darshan Patel has cracked India's pulse? 43:36 - What works in India? 48:28 - 3 Things a founder should have50:12 - Who made Apple Successful? 53:22 - What works in Corporates that doesn't work in Startups? 56:45 - Conclusion ---------------
Anindya Ray in conversation with our guest Mr. Himanshu Chakrawarti. Himanshu is the Chief Executive Officer at Snapdeal, a leading e-commerce platform in India. In this episode we discuss about emerging fashion markets in India. We deep dive into the paradigm shift in retail; from offline stores to online experiences. Himanshu shares with us some key insights from his vast experience, on how retail was and how its shaping today.
00:00 Introduction00:50 European stocks close higher01:29 US bank stocks rise as investors assess efforts to calm turmoil02:33 Fed to decide on rate hikes amid banking crisis03:25 Google's Bard AI chatbot is now open to users in the US and UK04:26 Indian IT sector to tread turbulent waters going ahead05:53 Steep decline in new mutual fund investors in FY2306:40 India exploited only 29% of hydropower potential07:37 India misses RE capacity target08:36 India's eye-watering 1.7% spend on transport upgrade09:29 RBI hopes to see 7% economic growth10:24 Domestic tyre industry expected to see double-digit growth10:50 Army partners NTPC arm for clean energy11:36 Tata Power secures ‘Letter of Award' for 200 MW solar project in Maharashtra11:57 Indian Oil setting up Mega Petro chemical plant12:53 E-commerce giant Snapdeal starts receiving orders through ONDC14:31 IDFC announces plans to complete merger in FY2315:22 Knowledge SectionComplete Fundamental Stock Analysis Tool - Stock-o-meter:https://investyadnya.in/stock-o-meterResearch Based Ready-made Model Portfolios:https://investyadnya.in/model-portfoliosComprehensive Mutual Fund Reviews:https://investyadnya.in/fund-o-meterYadnya Books and eBooks now available:On Amazon - https://amzn.to/2XKtlksOn our website - https://investyadnya.in/booksFind us on Social Media and stay connected:Blog - https://blog.investyadnya.inTelegram - http://t.me/InvestYadnyaFacebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/InvestYadnyaFacebook Group - https://goo.gl/y57QcrTwitter - https://www.twitter.com/InvestYadnyaLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/investyadnya/#InvestYadnya #YIALEGAL DISCLAIMER: Use of this information is at the user's own risk. The Company and its directors, associates and employees will not be liable for any loss or liability incurred to the user due to investments made or decisions taken based on the information provided herein. The investment discussed or views expressed herein may not be suitable for all investors. The users should rely on their own research and analysis and should consult their investment advisors to determine the merit, risks and suitability of recommendation. Past performance is not a guarantee for future performance or future results. Information herein is believed to be reliable, although its accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. The images used may be copyright of the company or third party. As a condition to using the services, the user agrees to the terms of use of the website and the services. DISCLOSURES UNDER SEBI (RESEARCH ANALYST) REGULATIONS, 2014:Yadnya Academy Pvt. Ltd. (InvestYadnya) is registered with SEBI under SEBI (Research Analyst) Regulations, 2014 with registration no. INH000008349.Disclosure with regard to ownership and material conflicts of interest1. Neither Research Analyst nor the entity nor his associates or relatives have any financial interest in the subject Company;2. Neither Research Analyst nor the entity nor its associates or relatives have actual / beneficial ownership of one per cent or more securities of the subject Company, at the end of the month immediately preceding the date of publication of the research report or date of public appearance;3. Neither Research Analyst nor the entity nor its associates or his relatives have any other material conflict of interest at the time of publication of the research report or at the time of public appearance. Disclosure with regard to receipt of Compensation1. The Research Entity and its associates have not received compensation from the subject company in the past twelve months.2. The subject company is not or was not a client during the twelve months preceding the date of recommendation.
Join us as we talk to Raghuram Talluri, the Co-founder and CEO at LoadShare Networks about their story. Raghuram Talluri is a highly accomplished and visionary entrepreneur who is the co-founder and CEO of LoadShare Networks. He holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Later on, he pursued his master's degree from IIM-L. Prior to co-founding LoadShare Networks, Raghuram held several senior leadership positions at well-known companies like McKinsey & Company and Myntra, where he was instrumental in driving growth and innovation. About LoadShare Networks: Loadshare Networks is a technology driven new-age logistics company. They are building an asset light integrated logistics network stitching together SMEs in the logistics sector using a proprietary technology platform. It is co-founded by Raghuram Talluri (CEO, ex-Myntra, McKinsey), Pramod Nair (CTO, ex-Freecharge, Snapdeal, MartMobi), and Rakib Ahmed (Co-Founder, ICICI, Lunate Technologies).
Featured Guest: Kshitij Patel, Co-Founder, Rogan & Student, IIT Kharagpur
My guest today is Anand Chandrasekaran, Partner at General Catalyst. While India has become a popular investment hub in recent years, it wasn't the case just shy of a decade ago. Even more rare were investors that spent equivalent amounts of time in India and the Bay Area. Anand has a unique perspective, and it's why I wanted to bring him on to Return on India. He's operated and invested in both the East and the West. He has spent time at formidable players in both countries, such as Facebook, Yahoo, Bharti Airtel and Snapdeal, and coalesced those perspectives into over 80 investments prior to joining GC. For that, Anand is widely recognized as one of the top seed angel investors in the Indian ecosystem. Today we went wide and deep. We unpacked the different phases of India's growth, the challenges of building in India, and how India compares to the US ecosystem with some insight for the outlook ahead. Please enjoy my conversation with Anand Chandrasekaran. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Return On India is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Return On India, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @RomeenSheth | @joincolossus Show Notes [00:02:50] - [First question] - The Cowboy, Jio and Growth phases of India's startup ecosystem [00:06:18] - Moving from basic infrastructure to a creative hub for entrepreneurs [00:11:04] - How we should appropriately think about India [00:14:54] - Startups are seen as the solution for building a great country in India [00:17:47] - Thinking about the size of the opportunity set that sits beneath each of India's innovation archetypes [00:19:55] - Characteristics of companies that are building natively for India [00:23:32] - Why differentiate between India's consumers using the english and hindi word for India [00:25:47] - How to build successful companies depending on which Indian consumer you're addressing [00:28:59] - Reacting to the US statement that Indians make great employees but not leaders [00:32:57] - Why the west erroneously refers to India as the developing world [00:34:46] - What the US ecosystem can learn from India [00:36:30] - Bullish factors about India that the rest of the world doesn't understand [00:39:27] - The bear case for India that people may not be aware of [00:41:46] - What will have to go right or wrong in the future to elevate or hurt India's success Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Kunal Shah is a serial entrepreneur and founder of two iconic Indian companies -- CRED and Freecharge. CRED is an Indian consumer fintech that is valued at over $6.4B, and Freecharge was one of the earliest Indian fintechs that sold to Snapdeal in 2015 for $450M. Kunal has an unmatched track record not just as a founder, but also as an investor and thinker. He's a prolific angel investor in over 200+ Indian startups and shares insightful, bite-sized philosophical wisdom on Twitter with over 700K followers. In this conversation we explore frameworks and insights that have guided Kunal's approach to building consumer internet products, the "delta-4" framework he uses to evaluate the potential for a breakout product, how consumer behavior changes in trust vs trust-less societies, and his approach to angel investing. In the closeout, we ask Kunal about the most difficult/challenging feedback he has received and how he processed it, and superpowers he has identified in himself that he leans on day to day. LinksFollow Kunal and CRED on TwitterHit subscribe to keep up with new episodes!Follow Ashish and Zane on Twitter for summariesClick here to share feedback — it only takes a minute
Kunal Shah is a serial entrepreneur and founder of two iconic Indian companies -- CRED and Freecharge. CRED is an Indian consumer fintech that is valued at over $6.4B, and Freecharge was one of the earliest Indian fintechs that sold to Snapdeal in 2015 for $450M. Kunal has an unmatched track record not just as a founder, but also as an investor and thinker. He's a prolific angel investor in over 200+ Indian startups and shares insightful, bite-sized philosophical wisdom on Twitter with over 700K followers. In this conversation we explore frameworks and insights that have guided Kunal's approach to building consumer internet products, the "delta-4" framework he uses to evaluate the potential for a breakout product, how consumer behavior changes in trust vs trust-less societies, and his approach to angel investing. In the closeout, we ask Kunal about the most difficult/challenging feedback he has received and how he processed it, and superpowers he has identified in himself that he leans on day to day. LinksFollow Kunal and CRED on TwitterHit subscribe to keep up with new episodes!Follow Ashish and Zane on Twitter for summariesClick here to share feedback — it only takes a minute
Chapterisation:00:00-00:46: Coming Up: From when no one became an entrepreneur to now00:46-13:10: Money, Freedom & Fearlessness: Can it be planned?13:10-19:59: How Snapdeal Co Founders became investors19:59-25:01: 3 qualities that will get you an investment from Rohit & Kunal25:01-27:43: The MOST IMPORTANT trait Rohit looks for in an entrepreneur27:43-44:13: What to do when things don't go your way. Managing stress.44:13-48:47 Rohit on helping founders. “We are not investors..But”48:47-56:16 Rohit & Kunal: A marriage of a different kind56:16-57:57 Who becomes an entrepreneur and who doesn't?------------------------------------------Hi, thanks for stopping by! Liked the video? Like, comment & subscribe for more!#podcast #entrepreneurship #tbws-------------------------------------------Can't get enough on YouTube? We are everywhere!YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWx7JXxm2xkTabER32I0GZgInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebarbersh...LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-barbe...Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBarberSho...Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheBarberShopwS-----------------------------------------About me & The BarberShop with Shantanu:My name is Shantanu and I am the founder of Bombay Shaving Company and Bombae. I LOVE entrepreneurship. Personally, I would rate myself as an average (at best) entrepreneur, but I love great ones.The BarberShop with Shantanu is a podcast where I call entrepreneurs I admire, and go deep with them. Their journey, dreams, failures, challenges, parenthood, marriage, cofounder fights, loneliness, investors, money, success and so much more.The aim is to make entrepreneurship relatable and accessible. We will be releasing an episode every Friday at 6 pm. Tune in and hope you enjoy. :)————
Snapdeal wasn't the first business built by Rohit and Kunal - the first was Money Saver and this is the story
In the first and second part of ‘How Bengaluru became India's Silicon Valley', we discussed the journey from Bengaluru's early history, to setting up of Indian Institute of Science, and then finally the post dot-com bubble burst scene. In this video, we take a look at how Amazon's arrival into India changed Bengaluru's entrepreneurship scene forever. Amazon hired best talent in India and focussed obsessively on customer satisfaction, and this was adopted by two of it's employees, Sachin and Binny Bansal with their own E-commerce startup, Flipkart. A month before Flipkart was started, Infibeam launched their own Amazon-inspired e-commerce platform. The company's founder, Vishal Mehta, had been working for Amazon in Seattle for 5 years before moving back to India in 2007 after realising that Amazon had put their plans to launch in India on hold. Meanwhile, Binny and Sachin were struggling financially. They'd approached Sequoia, Matrix Partners, IDG Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, but without any luck. In 2010 when Flipkart raised their headline-grabbing Series B, but they weren't the only game in town. Fabmart.com had been around since 1999, and by 2010, they had rebranded to indiaplaza.com and then there was also Myntra as well. Then, in Mumbai, Flipkart had an indirect competitor in eBay India, and there was also Naaptol, which is still around to this day. In 2010, Flipkart's real competition wasn't in Ahmedabad or Bengaluru - it was in NCR, where a number of companies were vying for a piece of the e-commerce pie. One of the earliest was Snapdeal, which got its start in 2008 as a coupon service in Delhi called MoneySaver, which was pivoted into Snapdeal in 2010, and at that time they weren't selling products, they were selling discounts, so they weren't a huge threat yet. Besides Snapdeal, you also had Homeshop18LIST starting out in 2008 in Noida, Letsbuy came onto the scene in 2009 as eTree Marketing in Gurugram and was selling items like mobile phones, cameras, laptops and home appliances, and then in 2011, Gurugram-based startups like Jabong and Shopclues appeared too. Jeff Bezos was excited by the burst of e-commerce activity in India, and finally decided to put their limited presence in Bengaluru to good use. But instead of trying to re-enter India under their own name, Amazon instead approached Flipkart in 2011 to talk about a potential acquisition13, and in response, Sachin Bansal told Amazon that he would only sell at a 1 billion dollar valuation. This deal didn't happen and Flipkart ended up raising 20 million dollars from Tiger Global, this was their Series C round, later on in 2011, at a 200 million dollar valuation. This was the single-biggest round of funding secured by an e-commerce startup in India. Flipkart would go on to raise 150 million dollars in their Series D round, then 200 million, then 160 million, then 210 million, and then a billion dollar Series G round in 2014. And they weren't the only ones raking in the capital here - in 2014, Snapdeal raised a massive round too: 600 million dollars from Softbank, and this is just e-commerce we're talking about here. There were multiple other industries being fought over by startups at around this time, like Ola and TaxiForSure, both of which were based in Bengaluru, and then Uber showed up, with Bengaluru being its first city as well. And then towards the end of 2014 and into 2015, India saw its first startup food fight, where companies like FoodPanda, TinyOwl, Swiggy, and Zomato raised hundreds of millions of dollars to capture India's food delivery space.
Click https://bit.ly/3LCy7uk and open a Demat & Trading A/c with Bajaj Financial Securities Limited! A platform that is empowering users with diverse options to invest in the stock market!Features at your fingertips:-Stock Baskets picked by experts-Avail Brokerages for all segments as low as Rs. 5 per order with subscription packs-Margin on Delivery Trades-Investing in US Stocks-Investing in Bond Markets-IPO InvestingLink to the website: https://www.bajajfinservsecurities.in/Experience the Bajaj Securities app as a guest user, log in with your number and explore in detail.---------In this latest episode of Figuring Out Podcast we are in conversation with Kunal Bahl, Founder and CEO of Snapdeal and AceVector Group and we have discussed:-Mistakes you should never make as a leader-What's the correct way to fire people from an organization when their vision doesn't align any more?-How did he receive his first investment of a million dollars in just a 2 minutes phone call?-Things Kunal look for in a Startup before putting his own money-What leads to the doom or success of a startup and entrepreneurs?Kunal Bahl is often regarded as one of the early ecommerce entrepreneurs from India. And, his journey has been an inspirational one. Kunal graduated from the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology, University of Pennsylvania. After completing his education, he took up a job at Microsoft in the United States but had to return to India in 2008 due to some visa complications.Kunal joined Rohit Bansal, his childhood friend who was working for CapitalOne at that time to start Snapdeal. Kunal describes Snpdeal's culture as “smart, generous and humble”. According to him, culture determines a company's pace of growth. In this podcast he shared how the Indian e-commerce company got its first angel investor 14 years ago.Kunal's Social Media Handles ⤵︎Twitter@1kunalbahlhttps://twitter.com/1kunalbahlLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kunalbahl/• • •
This is Part 2 of the series where we discuss India's Digital Infrastructure.Here are our Research Notes for the episode. Open Network for Digital Commerce or ONDC has been in the news lately. Currently, online marketplaces (Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal) follow a platform model. In this model, they have end-to-end control over the entire e-commerce transaction process, right from seller on-boarding, customer acquisition, order fulfilment, complaint redressal, and managing payments. Right now, all these processes are being controlled by a single entity.ONDC's open network will 'unbundle' or break down this complex system of small activities into separate micro-services that can be addressed separately by any entity. These organisations can chooses to perform one or more of these activities. As a result, the proponents of ONDC say that if it is successful, ONDC will democratize e-commerce, increase competition and accelerate growth.If it is democratised, one big change through ONDC will be that it caps referral commissions for platforms that send shoppers to a seller at just 3% – much less than the roughly 30% cut charged by Amazon, Flipkart and others.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------If you like the content we create, I need 30 seconds of your time to help us reach more people. Do one or more of the following, depending on how much you love The Indian Dream.Subscribe on Youtube (Posting 5 Videos every week)Follow us on Instagram (Posting 3 Reels every week)Follow us on Twitter @sahil071 & @sidbetala (Trying to figure out Twitter!)------------------------------------------------------**This episode is brought to you by PushOwl.PushOwl is a web push marketing app built for e-commerce busiensses. Trusted by more than 25000 brands across the globe, PushOwl lets you turn one-time store visitors into subscribers, send highly-visible web push notifications, and increase customer retention!------------------------------------------------------Here are some research notes that we compiled or referred to for this episode:Jefferies Report about ONDC - tonne of details not available elsewhere.Twitter Thread by Aditya Kondawar - helped us structure our thoughts.
Cockpit of innovation, scale, and form, Vatsal and Mohit built one of the most well-known hyperlocal logistics startups that helped food tech giant Zomato successfully pivot from a food discovery app to a food delivery app. With a principle of “Click, Pick and Delivered”, Runnr has grown the revenue of companies like Mcdonald's, KFC, Myntra and Snapdeal. Listen to this episode where the duo talks about their journey of building this B2B platform from scratch. Know about:- All things last mile Ola's playbook and targeting hypergrowth TPH and the much-hyped acquisition by Zomato
The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) was launched with the support of the Indian government recently. It aims to break the monopoly of E-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart in the market. In this episode, Arjun Gargeyas and Bharath Reddy talk to Mr. Sanjay Jain, a Fellow at iSPIRIT, on how exactly ONDC works and how it might evolve in the near future. Links mentioned in the episode:Build for Bharat PodcastYou can follow Sanjay Jain on twitter: https://twitter.com/snjyjnCheck out Takshashila's courses: https://school.takshashila.org.in/You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app.You can check out our website at https://shows.ivmpodcasts.com/featuredDo follow IVM Podcasts on social media.We are @IVMPodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.https://twitter.com/IVMPodcastshttps://www.instagram.com/ivmpodcasts/?hl=enhttps://www.facebook.com/ivmpodcasts/Follow the show across platforms:Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Gaana, Amazon MusicDo share the word with you folks!
Angel investor is a high-net-worth individual who provides financial backing for small startups or entrepreneurs, in exchange for equity. In this episode, we take a look at Top 20 Angel Investors in India. #20 Sandeep Tandon: Sandeep co-founded one of India's first mobile payment platforms, Freecharge. He began his journey as an angel in 2015, and his portfolio includes Spinny, Dukaan, Unacademy, and Indiagold. #19 Arihant Patni: Arihant is a Mumbai-based entrepreneur, financial advisor, and angel investor whose father founded Patni Computer Systems. His portfolio as an angel includes companies like Lido Learning, TheMathCompany, White Owl Brewery, BabyChakra, and Fitternity. #18 Alok Mittal: Alok is a founding board member of Indian Angel Network and so far he's made 30 angel investments, including companies like M2P Fintech and Pando. #17 T.V. Mohandas Pai: Mohandas Pai as an angel investor has 30 portfolio companies under his belt, including Zoomcar, YourStory, and Licious. #16 Rajesh Sawhney: Rajesh started his journey as an angel with a 2010 Series A investment into American streaming service Viki, which was later acquired by Rakuten. He has since made 34 other personal investments. #15 Gaurav Munjal: Gaurav is the co-founder and CEO of India's second most valuable edtech startup, Unacademy and he has more than 35 companies in his portfolio as an angel investor. #14 Sujeet Kumar: Sujeet, is the co-founder of Bengaluru-based B2B trade platform, Udaan and he has invested in 38 companies as an angel. His portfolio includes companies like Euler Motors, Newton School, Unacademy, and OneCode. #13 Amrish Rau: Amrish is the co-founder of Citrus Pay, and his investments include fintech company Open, which recently became a unicorn, B2B fish and seafood supplier Captain Fresh, CRED, and KhataBook. #12 Girish Mathrubootham: Girish is the co-founder and CEO of Freshworks, and as an angel investor he has 39 companies including Pepul, traveltech startup PickYourTrail, logistics platform Pando, and social recommendation app Fril. #11 Vijay Shekhar Sharma: Vijay is the founder and CEO of Paytm and he began his journey as an angel in 2010 with a seed-stage investment into Indian crowdfunding platform Milaap, and has since made investments into 40 other companies including Evenflow, GOQii, Unacademy, FloBiz, and Hiver. #10 Ratan Tata: Ratan Tata began his journey as an angel investor in 2014 as a lead investor in Snapdeal and has since added another 39 companies to his portfolio, including GOQii, CarDekho, YourStory, Ola, Paytm, Urban Company. #9 Anand Chandrasekaran: Anand is a partner at American VC firm General Catalyst, and his journey as an angel started around 2014. He has invested in Indian startups like Mudrex, Pesto Tech, Evenflow, SuperK and Oye Rickshaw. #8 Jitendra Gupta: Jitendra is founder and CEO of Jupiter, and he began his investing journey in 2015 and he's added 45 other companies to his portfolio including Open, FarMart, Captain Fresh, and Dukaan. #7 Binny Bansal: Binny started xto10x Technologies to mentor young entrepreneurs and help them scale their startups. His investments include Acko, Curefoods, SigTuple, Unacademy, NIRAMAI, Superplum, Magnifi, and more. #6 Rohit Bansal: Rohit is one of the co-founders of Snapdeal, and he now has 56 companies in his own personal portfolio. It includes companies like Mamaearth, Nat Habit, Bira91, Open Secret, Bewakoof, and Flyrobe. #5 Ramakant Sharma: He began his entrepreneurial journey back in 2012 when he co-founded Zing Ecommerce, and he's invested in 61 companies so far, including Toothsi, Convin, Captain Fresh, Trell, Rupifi, and Wiz Freight. #4 Kunal Bahl #3 Anupam Mittal #2 Rajan Anandan #1 Kunal Shah
In this video, we take a look at India's journey to 100 unicorns, from it's first ever startup unicorn in 2011, in the form of inMobi, to neobanking startup Open becoming 100th unicorn in 2022. The term 'unicorn' was created by American VC and entrepreneur Aileen Lee in 2013, she took all of the U.S.-based software companies that were started in or before 2003 and had achieved a valuation of $1 billion through public or private market investors, and put them in a club: the Unicorn Club. In India's case, it's unicorn journey started in 2011, when InMobi, a company that was founded in 2007, became a unicorn. Following this, Flipkart became a unicorn in 2012, Mu Sigma in 2014 and then Ola in 2014. Snapdeal also became a unicorn in 2014, but they have since exited from this club due to their valuation falling below $1 Billion. Companies like Quikr, Hike and Shopclues also fall in this category. Then we have companies who have been since acquired and also bags the question that should they be counted as unicorn today? Flipkart is an example here, which was acquired by Walmart. Then you have startups like Billdesk, which was bought by PayU, PhonePe getting acquired by Flipkart and BigBasket, which became a unicorn in 2019 and were acquired by Tata Digital in 2021. All this while, India's unicorn growth was pretty slow but steady till 2017, when Jio launched its 4G services, and this brought a mobile internet revolution in the country. From 1 unicorn in 2017, India saw 10 unicorns in 2018: B2C unicorns included Swiggy, OYO, BYJU'S, Policybazaar, Paytm Mall, and Phonepe, and B2B unicorns included Rivigo, Freshworks, Billdesk, and Udaan, which was the fastest company to become a unicorn at the time - it took them just 26 months. Then, in 2019, things slowed down a bit, with just 7 unicorns that year: in the B2C category were Ola Electric, Lenskart, Dream11, Delhivery, and BigBasket, and in the B2B category were Incertis and Druva. In 2020, COVID increased people's reliance upon the internet, and host of Indian e-commerce startups like Firstcry, Cars24, and Nykaa became unicorns. Facilitating these online payments resulted in fintech companies like Razorpay and Pine Labs also achieving unicorn status. B2C startups like Verse Innovation (Dailyhunt), ed-tech startup Unacademy, fintech startup Zerodha, and SaaS startup like Zenoti and Postman also became unicorn in the same year. 2020, was followed by an even bigger year in terms of unicorns in 2021, when 44 Indian companies became unicorns. This year saw 11 E-commerce startups (Spinny, OfBusiness, Moglix, Mensa, Meesho, Mamaearth, Licious, Infra.Market, Good Glam Group, GlobalBees, Droom), 11 Fintech startups (Zeta, Slice, Mobikwik, Groww, Digit, CRED, Coinswitch Kuber, CoinDCX, Chargebee, BharatPe and Acko) becoming unicorns. Then we have 5 enterprisetech and SaaS startups (Mindtickle, MapmyIndia, Gupshup, BrowserStack, Apna), 4 health startups (Cure.fit, Innovaccer, Pharmeasy, Pristyn Care), 4 consumer service startups (Blinkit, CarDekho, Rebel Foods, Urban Company), and 3 edtech startups (Eruditus, Vedantu and Upgrad) also becoming unicorns. Other 2021 unicorn categories include Media and Entertainment startups MPL and sharechat, Logistics startup Blackbuck, Traveltech startup Easemytrip , Real Estate startup Nobroker, and Manufacturing startup Zetwork. Talking about where where these startups coming from, they were all from tier 1 cities. Bangalore is leading this list with 39 unicorns, NCR region with 32 unicorns, mumbai with 16, Pune with 6, Chennai with 5 and Hyderabad with 2. Now we are halfway in 2022 and we have already produced and now it seems that by 2025, India will have upwards of 250 unicorns. So that will be exciting to watch and we will continue to track all of this in our upcoming episodes.
More than 1,700 people have lost their jobs in the latest round of layoffs announced by startups like Unacademy, Meesho, Furlenco, Lido Learning and Trell. Why are well-funded startups trying to save money? Host Bhavya Dilipkumar speaks to employees who've been laid off, Director and CEO, CIEL HR Services, Aditya Narayan Mishra, and ET's Digbijay Mishra on whether there is a crisis brewing in the startup space and if downsizing is the only way for restructuring and cost cutting in addition to exploring themes of how different these layoffs are from those that happened in 2010-2011 at Flipkart or Snapdeal. Credits: ET Now
Brought to you by the Founders Unfiltered podcast by A Junior VC - Unscripted conversations with Indian founders about their story and the process of building a company. Hosted by Aviral and Mazin. Join us as we talk to Nitin and Vasant, two of the co-founder of OfBusiness about their story. Asish's desire to leave a crater of impact in the world, coupled with his “hands-on” nature of getting into the mud made him realise that his calling was in entrepreneurship. Even though he and his cofounders - Ruchi Kalra, Bhuvan Gupta - were in their late thirties, they decided to take the plunge. Convincing Ruchi to join OfBusiness was probably harder for Asish. Ruchi was not only Asish's wife but was also a partner at the consulting firm they worked together. Bhuvan, back then head of Tech at Snapdeal, was a friend of Asish's, and both of them were discussing starting up for quite some time. Asish was discussing the problem of finding a tech co-founder with Bhuvan, and he joined as a co-founder. Nitin Jain, an IIT Delhi Silver medallist and investment banker, and Vasant Sridhar joined the journey a month into the journey. They brought in skill sets that were complementary, but necessary for the success of the venture. You need to stand on the shoulders of a giant to look further. Asish did that just, by assembling a great team with complementary skill-sets. In 2015, OfBusiness v1.0 was born. About OfBusiness: While commerce contributes 55% of its total net revenue, lending and SaaS have a pie of 43% and 2%, respectively. In terms of profits, lending is its biggest contributor followed by commerce. With these two pillars, Ofbusiness serves over 9,000 businesses. But perhaps more importantly it laid the foundation for unique digital services that allows SMEs to tap the global market. Bidassist gives their customers access to government and private tenders across the globe from North America to Russia to the Philippines. Over 6 lakhs business had used bidassist for government and global tenders. OfBusiness has issued loans of 10,000 Cr+, supports more than 5,000 clients and 2,000 suppliers across their suite of products. They have built a profitable business with a large and engaged user base that they are uniquely positioned to serve better than any other bank, fintech or e-commerce platform can stand alone. For more visit - https://ajuniorvc.com/podcast/
Execs is a show from Erik Torenberg and On Deck for founders, operators, and pioneers who want to understand the playbooks, frameworks, and tactics that leading tech companies today have used to scale.Anand Chandrasekaran is a full-time angel and advisor with extensive executive experience at some of the biggest names in tech. Prior to being EVP to Five9, Anand worked at Facebook, Yahoo, and started several of his own companies.He was most recently EVP at Five9 after three years as director of Facebook's Messenger platform and five years at Yahoo. He has extensive founding, advisory and C-Suite experience with both American and Indian companies.In this episode, Anand shares incredible frameworks for product leadership. You can read his thoughts in more detail @anandc on Twitter.Rishi Tripathy, group product lead at On Deck, joined Erik in this episode as a guest co-host. We hope you enjoy.
Anand Chandrasekaran is a full-time angel & advisor with extensive executive experience at some of the biggest names in tech. Prior to being EVP to Five9, Anand worked at Facebook, Yahoo, and started several of his own companies.He was most recently EVP at Five9 after three years as director of Facebook's Messenger platform and five years at Yahoo. He has extensive founding, advisory and C-Suite experience with both American and Indian companies.In this episode, Anand shares incredible frameworks for product leadership. You can read his thoughts in more detail @ anandc on Twitter.Rishi Tripathy, group product lead at On Deck, joined Erik in this episode as a guest co-host. We hope you enjoy.---Execs is a show for founders, operators, and pioneers who want to understand the playbooks, frameworks, and tactics that leading tech companies today have used to scale. To engage further:Check out the On Deck job boardShare your thoughts with us on Twitter:Hosted by: @eriktorenbergGuest: @anandcGuest co-host: @rishi_tripathy_Produced by: @jacksonstegerBrought to you by: @beondeckExplore links from the episode:Anand's appearance on OperatorsAnand's On Deck case study
Welcome to #54 episode of The Startup Operator Roundup. Today we have Roshan Cariappa and Gunjan Saha discussing - 1. PM's announcement of January 16th as National Startup Day 2. 2022 Continues Unicorn Trend 3. Snapdeal launches RuPay Credit Card 4. Acquisitions and fundings and more! Click here to get regular updates on WhatsApp: https://wa.me/message/ZUZQQGKCZTADL1 Other Links: Elizabeth Lin Tweet : https://twitter.com/dunkhippo33/status/1480688533098549249?s=20 Sheel Mohnot Tweet : https://twitter.com/pitdesi/status/1480604335755063299?s=20 Roby John Episode : https://youtu.be/Syi3jnpW94s Hit the like button if enjoyed this roundup, and do not forget to share among your operator friends! Listen to our interviews and conversations with investors, operators, and founders on your favourite podcast platforms. #startups #unicorns #technology #roundup #podcast #news --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message
Anand has built five products globally with 10M+ users (one with 1 billion+ users) and co-founded Aeroprise Inc. (acq by BMC Software). Most recently, he was EVP, Product at Five9 (Nasdaq: FIVN). Five9 has added $10B in value since 2019. He is also seed investor/advisor in 80+ startups across US/India, 35 of which have grown to $250M+ and eight > $1B in valuation. Breakout investments include Dealshare (1.7B valuation), NoBroker (1B valuation), Rupeek (600M valuation) Khatabook (600M valuation), OneCard (750M valuation) , etc. Prior to this, Anand was Director of Messenger Platform at Facebook. He was previously CPO @ Snapdeal, one of India's e-commerce leaders. Previously, he was CPO at Bharti Airtel, a global mobile operator with 300M subscribers. Earlier, Anand was with Yahoo! as Sr. Director for Search and Mobile. He is on the board of directors at publicly listed Future Enterprises Ltd (NSE: FEL).
The year 2021 was one of the most remarkable years for the primary markets. Nearly Rs 1.2 trillion had been mopped up till early December by 66 companies, beating the previous best of Rs 74,035 crore seen in 2017. New-age companies including Paytm, Zomato, and Nykaa raised approximately Rs 46,800 crore of this amount, cornering approximately 40 per cent of the fund raise. While Zomato started the trend of new-age firms debuting on the India bourses, it was Paytm that launched India's biggest-ever IPO worth Rs 18,300 crore. Policybazaar, Nykaa, Nazara Technologies, CarTrade Tech and Easy Trip Planners were some of the other companies that followed suit. Going forward, about 16 new-age start-ups are lined up to go public including Oyo, Snapdeal, Ola, Mobikwik, PharmEasy, Ixigo and Delhivery. However, the road for these companies will not be as easy as their predecessors. Since the appalling investor response to the initial public offer of Paytm, new-age companies have decided to re-assess their IPO sizes and valuation. MobiKwik, for instance, delayed its IPO after Paytm's listing debacle. While cautious market mood was one reason, the company decided to wait for its December financial report to back the valuation it seeks. On its part, markets regulator Sebi earlier this week approved changes to preferential allotment norms on pricing, and lock-in period for anchor investors in an IPO. Here is Ambareesh Baliga, an independent market analyst with his views on the latest Sebi move. As regards the performance at the bourses, except Zomato whose shares have done well since listing, majority of the new-age companies have seen market-cap erosion. So why have the secondary markets been unkind to the new-age companies? This uncanny market response to new-age tech companies across the globe caught the eye of Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath, too, who took to micro-blogging site Twitter to caution investors against the mad rush in these companies. Baliga adds that the discouraging stock market performance can also potentially create roadbocks for further fund raising by these start-ups. On Thursday, markets are likely to remain range-bound in the backdrop of the expiry of futures & options contracts for the December series. It will be the last monthly F&O expiry for the calendar year 2021. Stock-specific action, however, is likely to continue. Watch video
This week in Indian startup news, Blinkit temporarily shuts down 18 locations, Urban Company sues women partners for protesting, Byju's in talks to go public via SPAC, Snapdeal files for IPO to raise Rs 1,250 crore and Cult.fit acquires four fitness equipment brands. In funding news, Cars24 raises $400 million, Razorpay raises $375 million, OfBusiness raises $325 million, Bizongo raises $110 million and Zepto raises $100 million. Blinkit temporarily shuts down 18 locations: Last week, Grofers rebranded themselves as Blinkit to reflect their pivot to 10-minute grocery delivery. With the pivot to Blinkit, the startup has announced that they are temporarily shutting down operations in 18 cities where they are unable to serve their customers in 10 minutes. Urban Company sues women partners for protesting: Urban Company, which offers home services to their customers, has filed a lawsuit against their own women gig workers for protesting against their ‘minimum guarantee plan'. After failing to remove them from the premises, the company filed a lawsuit against the protestors calling their actions ‘illegal' and ‘unlawful'. Byju's in talks to go public via SPAC: According to a Bloomberg report, India's most valuable startup Byju's is in talks with Churchill Capital to go public via SPAC or a blank cheque company in the US at a valuation of over $45 billion. If the deal goes through, it will be the biggest SPAC deal - overtaking Singapore's super app Grab. Byju's is also considering listing in India after they've listed in the US. Snapdeal files for IPO to raise Rs 1,250 crore: Snapdeal, an e-commerce platform now focused on tier 2 and beyond users, has filed for an IPO in a bid to raise ₹1,250 crore. Snapdeal was once a unicorn before it crashed and burned in a bid to out-compete Flipkart and Amazon - both of which are rich in cash. While Snapdeal on the other hand has failed to raise funds from investors since 2019. So going public might have been their only option to raise some cash. Cult.fit acquires four fitness equipment brands: Health and fitness startup Cult.fit has acquired three at-home fitness equipment brands - RPM Fitness, Fitkit and Onefitplus. And also an outdoor fitness brand called Urban Terrain - which makes bicycles. These acquisitions will enable Cult.fit to strengthen their at-home fitness product offerings and also create an umbrella brand for D2C fitness brands - riding the at-home fitness trend kicked by the pandemic and the growth of D2C brands in India. Cars24 raises $400 million: Cars24, an online platform for buying and selling used cars, has raised $400 million in a round led by Alpha Wave Global at a $3.3 billion valuation – raising their valuation almost 2X in just three months from $1.84 billion. Razorpay raises $375 million: Payment gateway provider for SMEs and large enterprises Razorpay has raised $375 million in a round led by Lone Pine Capital, Alkeon Capital and TCV at $7.5 billion valuation – making them India's most valuable fintech startup. OfBusiness raises $325 million: B2B commerce platform OfBusiness, which helps businesses in procuring raw materials like steel, cement, chemicals and leather, has raised $325 million in a round led by Alpha Wave Global, Tiger Global Management and SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 at a $5 billion valuation. Bizongo raises $110 million: B2B packaging solutions provider Bizongo has raised $110 million in a round led by Tiger Global Management at a $600 million valuation to help digitize their entire vendor ecosystem. Zepto raises $100 million: 10-minute grocery delivery startup by two 19-year-old Stanford dropouts – Zepto has raised $100 million in a round led by Y Combinator's Continuity Fund at a $570 million valuation.
On today's episode, Priyanka Ganwani talks about BSE’s latest entrant, Snapdeal. In other news, Priyanka also dives deep into the claims of sexual harassment on Horizon, Facebook’s VR platform and in Tesla.
Top headlines Benchmarks bounce back; Sensex ends 497 pts up, Nifty holds 16,750 Snapdeal files DRHP to raise Rs 1,250 crore through fresh issue C E Info Systems sees bumper debut at 53% premium CMS Info Systems IPO off to a slow start on day one Headline indices bounced back in trade in line with global equity markets, as investors looked for value in beaten-down shares. IT, metals and index heavyweight Reliance Industries led the up-move, while select financials came under selling pressure in the latter half of the trading day. The BSE Sensex opened with a positive gap of almost 500 points, and marched ahead to hit a high of 56,901, up over 1,000 points from its previous close. The index, however, pared gains towards the end of the day and settled 497 points higher at 56,319. The NSE Nifty, meanwhile, surged to an intra-day high of 16,936 but eventually closed at 16,771, up 157 points. IT stocks - HCL Technologies and Wipro - closed 4 per cent and 3.6 per cent higher, respectively. They were the major gainers among the Sensex 30 pack. Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Titan, and RIL rallied between 1.5 per cent and 3 per cent. Among major losers, PowerGrid Corporation closed 1.5 per cent lower. Further, investors also booked profits in banking stocks like Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance and SBI. The BSE Midcap and the Smallcap indices finished with gains of 1.4 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively. The overall breadth was also fairly positive, with more than two advancing shares for every declining stock on the BSE. Individually, MapmyIndia parent C E Info Systems had a bumper listing today. The stock listed 53.6 per cent higher than its issue price of Rs 1,033 per share on the BSE. The stock, however, pared some of its gains and eventually ended 33 per cent higher at Rs 1,376. The shares of Adani Enterprises also rose nearly 2 per cent on the BSE after the company announced that it had received a Letter of Award from the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Authority to implement three major stretches of the greenfield Ganga Expressway. That apart, state-run telecom company MNTL hit an over four-year high of Rs 29.90 after it rallied as much as 17 per cent on the back of heavy volumes on the BSE. The stock of the telco hit its highest level since January 2018. On the downside, the shares of Unitech ended 5 per cent lower amid reports that the Enforcement Directorate had arrested promoters Ajay Chandra and Sanjay Chandra in a money-laundering case. Among sectoral indices, the BSE Metals index surged 3 per cent, the Consumer Durables index was up 2.2 per cent, while the IT, Telecom and Realty indices rallied around 1.5 per cent each. Meanwhile, in the primary market, SoftBank-backed Snapdeal filed the Draft Red Herring Prospectus for its initial public offering to raise up to Rs 1,250 crore through a fresh issue. The offer also consists of an offer-for-sale of up to 30.77 million equity shares by existing shareholders. Besides, the IPO of CMS Info Systems was off to a slow start and was subscribed 40 per cent on day one of bidding. The retail quota was subscribed 79 per cent.
The ruling Trinamool Congress was headed for a landslide victory in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections, Snapdeal has filed preliminary documents with markets regulator Sebi to raise funds through an initial public offer, Sunil Gavaskar feels this time it is India's best chance to win a Test series in South Africa & other top news in this bulletin.
Link to the test assignment mentioned in the news video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w86xLBBJ7clLGOjfc-Vw-JCf4nHIypnc/view?usp=sharing This week in Indian startup news, India's first crypto unicorn CoinDCX is planning for IPO, Snapdeal to file for IPO, Ather Energy to set up a new manufacturing facility and CRED acquires Happay. In funding news, Slice raises $220 million to become India's 39th unicorn this year, Curefit raises $145 million to become India's 40th unicorn this year and Simpl raises $40 million. India's first crypto unicorn CoinDCX is planning for IPO: India's first crypto unicorn CoinDCX is planning to go public once the government's regulations are in place. With more than 100 million crypto investors in India, everyone is waiting for the government's regulations on cryptocurrencies. CoinDCX believes that their IPO will bring a lot of confidence in India's crypto market. Snapdeal to file for IPO: Indian e-commerce startup Snapdeal is planning to raise $250 million from the public at a $1.5 billion valuation. They were previously planning to raise funds at a $2.5 billion valuation but seems to have valued their startup cautiously after an unsuccessful IPO by Paytm. Ather Energy to set up a new manufacturing facility: EV startup Ather Energy is setting up their second manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu to expand their capacity from 1.2 lakh to 4 lakh scooters per year – due to the rising demand for their electric scooters in the market. Their sales have been growing at 20% year on year due to which their first manufacturing facility is already at full capacity. CRED acquires Happay: Fintech startup CRED, which rewards you for paying your credit card bills, has acquired corporate expense management platform Happay - in a deal estimated to be around $180 million. This acquisition will give CRED access to Happay's 1 million users and 6,000 businesses - while allowing CRED users to get access to Happay's expense management platform. Slice raises $220 million to become India's 39th unicorn this year: Fintech startup Slice, which calls itself India's best credit card challenger has raised $220 million in a round led by Tiger Global and Insight Partners – valuing them at over $1 billion and making them India's 39th unicorn this year. Curefit raises $145 million to become India's 40th unicorn this year: Curefit has raised $145 million in a round led by Zomato - valuing them at $1.25 billion and making them India's 40th unicorn this year. Simpl raises $40 million: Buy now, pay later platform Simpl has raised $40 million in a round led by Valar Ventures and IA Ventures to help enhance their customer and merchant experience by building a loyalty program and to bring Simpl solutions to offline neighbourhood stores.
Top headlines • Benchmark indices change course to end in red; Sensex drops 196 points • Go Fashion makes stellar stock market debut, lists at 91% premium • Star Health IPO receives lukewarm response; subscribed around 11% on Day 1 • RBI likely to raise rates and tighten monetary policy, says Goldman Sachs • Crypto Bill to be introduced in Parliament after Cabinet's approval Market bulls failed to keep the indices afloat on the bourses on Tuesday after a statement by Moderna chief on vaccines' likely ineffectiveness jolted investor confidence. Although health authorities have said it will take several weeks to fully gauge how Omicron's more than 30 mutations will affect its response to existing vaccines, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel told the Financial Times that he expected vaccines to be less effective against the new coronavirus strain. Reacting to the development, shares in Asia-Pacific fell during Tuesday's trade. South Korea's Kospi fell 2.4 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Japan's Nikkei slipped 1.9 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively. In Europe, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 1.6 per cent by mid-morning. Dow Jones futures were also down by over 500 points, indicating a weak start for Wall Street. Against this backdrop, the Sensex gyrated 1,683 points intra-day and ended 196 points down at 57,065. The NSE Nifty50 also slipped below the 17,000 mark to end at 16,983, down 71 points. Earlier in the day, the 50-pack index hit a low of 16,931. With today's decline, the benchmark indices took their total decline in November to 4 per cent, their biggest monthly loss since March 2020. This correction was triggered by a cocktail of FII selling, high crude oil prices, fears of a possible change in the interest-rate scenario, and the new heavily mutated Covid-19 variant Omicron. Among individual stocks, 17 of the 30 Sensex constituents and 28 of the 50 Nifty constituents ended the day in the red. Tata Steel, Kotak Bank, Bajaj Auto, M&M, Bharti Airtel, and RIL were the biggest losers. The biggest gainers were PowerGrid, Shree Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Titan, and Tata Consumer Products, all of which rose by up to 3 per cent. The broader markets, however, witnessed decent buying, tilting the overall market breadth in the favour of buyers. The BSE MidCap index added 0.3 per cent and the BSE SmallCap index gained 1.45 per cent. A look at some of the other important developments of the day: • Shares of Go Fashion (India) made a stellar market debut today, with the stock getting listed at Rs 1,316 on the BSE. This was a 91-per-cent premium to its issue price of Rs 690. The shares, however, witnessed mild profit booking and ended at Rs 1,253 apiece. • The initial public offering of Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Star Health and Allied Insurance has been subscribed 11 per cent so far on Day 1. The retail portion has been subscribed 63 per cent. • Indian online retailer Snapdeal, which is backed by SoftBank Group and Alibaba Group Holding, is planning to file preliminary documents for a $250-million IPO in the next few weeks. According to a Bloomberg report, the e-commerce company aims to go public in early 2022, and plans to raise at least $200 million at a valuation of $1.5 billion. • The Reserve Bank of India could start tightening its monetary policy from the next financial year as consumer prices are rising, according to Goldman Sachs Group. The Group expects the central bank to hike rates by 75 basis points in 2022. • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has clarified in the Rajya Sabha that the government is not considering a ban on cryptocurrency advertisements and that the crypto Bill will be introduced in Parliament after it receives the Union Cabinet's approval.
In whichever industry or ecosystem you are, there are some people you just can't not know about, because they are the ones who have either - # had a major role in shaping the industry as it is today # or achieved something at such a massive scale that no one can miss to notice itThe guest of our today's episode Vani Kola, founder and managing director of Kalaari Capital, is one such person. She was listed as one of the most powerful women in Indian business by Fortune India in 2014.She started her career in the silicon valley, as a serial entrepreneur and spent close to 22 years. While in silicon valley, she founded an e-procurement company RightWorks, which was later sold for $657 million.After returning to India in 2006, she founded Indo-US Venture Partners (IUVP) in 2006, which was later rebranded as Kalaari Capital.Some stats around Kalaari Capital -# 188+ Investments; popular portfolio companies are Dream11, Myntra, Cure.fit, and Snapdeal# 23+ Exits; most notable exits include Workday, Milkbasket, and SimplilearnDuring the podcast, Vani shares with us how she approaches any new investment, how she suggests the founder to treat any failure, how yoga and meditation have positively impacted her life and more. Notes - 02:50 - “What you can't dream, you can't achieve.”10:32 - “What didn't work can give you an actionable insight.”18:09 - Assessing a founder's potential vs pedigree23:12 - Having a depth of clarity rather than just being a good storyteller38:54 - Balance to life: Meditation & Yoga41:05 - CXXO Initiative: $10 million fund for women founders
In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Anand Chandrasekaran, Executive President at Five9, as he helps us decode the black box of "Product" on the 4th Masterclass on the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast. The Masterclass Series of the Podcast is a way to dive deeper into specific domains from the tech ecosystem and uncover them fundamentally. Anand is a maverick when it comes to Product Thinking having had some phenomenal experiences across the years. From scaling Yahoo during its days, to building phenomenal products for Snapdeal as the Chief Product Officer, to leading the Product Development of the Messenger Platform for Facebook, to currently being the Executive Vice President at Five9, Anand has seen it all. Beyond his product accolades, Anand periodically shares his phenomenal learnings with young founders & operating teams across borders, adding immense value to the ecosystem at large. Through the Episode we discuss the following: 1. (02:17) : Why is Product Thinking Important & What does it entail? 2. (05:42) : Decoding Product Market Fit & it's Significance 3. (9:41) : What's the difference in building in Silicon Valley vis-a-vis in India? 4. (15:01) : Understanding some essential qualitative aspects of Product! 5. (19:33) : How can Product Managers deal with Context Switching better? ~ Effective Bucketting! 6. (23:55) : Unlocking the Potential of the abundant Product Talent in India ~ What does Anand look for in candidates? 7. (28:34) : What goes into developing Contrarian Thought Process (Read: Fundamental First Principles Thinking) ? 8. (32:33) : What are some useful frameworks to think about in Product? 9. (37:46) : How has Anand navigated his career pathway? ~ You're going to be okay, eventually! --> The 70% Rule of Decisions Making 10. (42:42) : What has Anand learned about Mentorship having worked alongside Merissa Meyer, Mark Zuckerberg and many other stalwarts! 11. (47:05) : Just reach out and ask for help!! 12. (48:44) : The final 3 Learnings from Anand in terms of Product Thinking for Early Stage Founders & Teams! Here is the 4th Masterclass on the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast on Product! We're available on Instagram & Twitter. Feel free to drop in your feedback! Do not forget to Subscribe to our WhatsApp Newsletter. I, Jivraj, am reachable on LinkedIn & Twitter! "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.
"If you are true Yogi, you have to understand Prana!" - Pooja Rani Coming from a corporate background working with Reliance Jio, Prime Focus, and Snapdeal, she realized this is not what she wants her life to be. Stumbling upon a 7-day retreat at Mcleodganj, she discovered true Yoga. Today, she has conducted multiple 200hr TTC courses and 7-day wellness retreats across Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, and the Himalayas. Topics Discussed: How she started her journey in Yoga (01:36) How she managed to survive with 8 year's provident fund (11:46) Ashtanga - The 8 limbs of Yoga (15:50) The problem with Vipassana (38:08) 3 Vedic Lifestyle changes (43:26) The most popular Mantra misunderstood (56:10) Why she left Non-veg (1:00:16) Her message for everyone (1:09:53) Links: Ashtanga - 8 Limbs of Yoga Vipassana This show is brought to you by your host Haresh Punjabi. We talk with Yoga, Meditation, and Wellness practitioners. We explore this mystic space, try to dissect it, and make it accessible for everyone. Contact Pooja Rani: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shiv_yogini/ Contact me: Instagram - @theyogaconversations Podcast Links - https://linktr.ee/haresh_p777 Email Id: haresh.punjabi777@gmail.com
Our guest for the 100th episode of 100x Entrepreneur Kunal Bahl is best known as the co-founder of Snapdeal & Titan Capital.He co-founded Snapdeal back in 2007 along with his high school friend Rohit Bansal. It initially started as a daily deals platform but soon expanded to become one of the largest online marketplaces in India. Over the years, Kunal has mentored and invested in several early-stage entrepreneurs. In 2011, he decided to formalize it by setting up Titan Capital. Titan Capital has invested in the likes of Ola, Urban Company, Mamaearth, and Bira among others.In this episode, catch Kunal talking about starting Snapdeal, guiding and investing in early-stage founders, having the drive to keep going as an entrepreneur, and much more. For anyone looking to explore entrepreneurship, this conversation is worth its weight in gold. From learning from your own mistakes & failures to keep going even when you want to give up your entrepreneurial dream, this podcast will guide you through it all.Notes - 01:43 - Launching Snapdeal after getting H1-B Visa rejected03:59 - Pivoting from coupons marketplace to a marketplace for physical products05:17 - “Identifying the type of businesses Rohit and I like to build”12:01 - Why not fearing being wrong/failing is important13:29 - “Our greatest powers will come from our greatest wounds”15:04 - What drives Kunal even after 13 years as an entrepreneur18:29 - Tectonic shifts in the Startup ecosystem over the last decade26:42 - Investing in D2C companies; Beardo, Mamaearth, & OZiva, etc39:02 - Investing in Urban Company based on their customer-first approach43:32 - Investing in companies prior to Product-Market Fit 51:48 - Starting up as an Angel Investor and eventually setting up Titan Capital56:59 - What has changed for Kunal after becoming a parent
The SSP revealed how the prime accused in Snapdeal employee Dipti Saran kidnapping case, Devendra, had purchased two autos to kidnap her from outside Vaishali metro station on February 10. Ghaziabad SSP Dharmendra Singh told reporters that Devendra had been stalking Dipti for the past one year and had even followed her as many as 150 times. . He also has 30 cases lodged against him including that for murder.
Today on the show, we have Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, co-founders of Snapdeal. Snapdeal is India's leading online marketplace. The company started out as a flash deal website in 2010, soon evolved into a leader of India's e-Commerce sectors. In early 2017, it was on the verge of being merged to its biggest rival Flipkart, then upgraded itself to Snapdeal 2.0, with a focus on the value-conscious buyers in India. Over the last couple of years, with this focus, the company has seen a significant and positive transformation. As of July 2019, the month this interview is conducted, the company has increased its annual revenue by 70% and cut its loss by 70% comparing to last year. The two co-founders of Snapdeal are high school friends bonded over food and math. Kunal graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with two bachelor's degrees in Business and Engineering. While studying in the United States, he also started a detergent company and worked to sell his product at Walmart stores. Rohit graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology New Delhi with a bachelor and a master's degree in computer science, India's top engineering school. On this episode, we covered the behind the scene story of their decision in saying No to Flipkart, focusing on the 400 million value-conscious buyers in India, navigating substantial change in high transaction velocity business, building a culture of acute intellectual honesty, and going through the best and worst of doing business alongside of your best friends in high school. - For full transcript of the show, go to nextbn.ggvc.com - Join our listeners'community, go to nextbn.ggvc.com/community.
Leena AI, a recentY Combinator graduate focusing on HR chatbots to help employees answer questions like how much vacation time they have left, announced a $2 million seed round today from a variety of investors including Elad Gil and Snapdeal co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal. Company co-founder and CEO Adit Jain says the seed money is about scaling the company and gaining customers. They hope to have 50 enterprise customers within the next 12-18 months. They currently have 16.
So many modern e-commerce sites and marketplaces are really digital forms of their physical counterparts, which makes it easier to figure out how to present and sell products online. But in India, where many small towns do not have "organized" retail -- and have fewer big (let alone well-known) brands -- mobile and web retail is essentially "leapfrogging" over the physical department store phase to online. So how do these new companies connect people to products when the logistics infrastructure hasn't been built out yet? (Imagine if instead of just partnering with carriers, Amazon had had to build not just its services, but delivery, from scratch in the United States!) Similarly, how do payments happen in an ecosystem that still relies more on cash than more "frictionless" credit cards? And how do you solve problems like discovery; design (different web/app versions depending on connectivity); the balance between notifications/ messaging/ and conversational commerce; and controlling vs. owning inventory and infrastructure? Finally, given the fierce domestic and international competition around e-commerce in India, how do international startups like Snapdeal -- one of the largest online marketplaces in India, and interestingly one taking a full-stack approach -- compete with other players' deep (including foreign) capital and existing expertise? Especially in the context of "regulations"? In this episode of the a16z Podcast, we discuss all this and more with Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, the co-founders of Snapdeal, as well as a16z partner Anu Hariharan.
Snapdeal's positioning as a platform gives it the freedom to grow unaffected by India's FDI regulations co-founder Kunal Bahl says. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.