Big Billion Startup: The Untold Flipkart Story

by Mihir Dalal

  3. Henry Blodget. 2009. ‘Mark Zuckerberg On Innovation’ Business Insider, 1 October, available at https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-innovation-2009-10?IR=T

  4. Network effect refers to a process in which the more people use a service, the more valuable and improved the service becomes.

  9 BOOM

  1. Deepti Chaudhary. 2011. ‘E-commerce firms get an edge over others on valuations’, Livemint, 22 July, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/BddlAITwuM3uJ3wRiFyf1N/Ecommerce-firms-get-an-edge-over-others-on-valuations.html

  2. Rohin Dharmakumar. 2011. ‘E-commerce in India – The Second Coming’, Forbes, 25 July, available at http://www.forbesindia.com/article/boardroom/ecommerce-in-india-the-second-coming/27042/1

  3. Telecom Authority of India. Available at https://web.archive.org/web/20130927084149/ http://trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/Recommendation/Documents/Rcommendation81210.pdf

  4. The Boston Consulting Group. 2010. ‘The Internet’s New Billion’, available at https://www.bcg.com/documents/file58645.pdf

  5. Deepti Chaudhary. 2011. ‘Flipkart raises $20 million from Tiger Global for supply chain expansion’, Livemint, 16 June, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/BTIzPAoIV7HHHsTKYO4YbL/Flipkart-raises-20-mn-from-Tiger-Global-for-supply-chain-ex.html

  6. Registrar of Companies.

  7. John Cassidy. 2002. Dot.Con. HarperCollins.

  8. Ministry of Corporate Affairs

  9. Based on statements made in interviews to the author.

  Shrutika Verma. 2012. ‘FDI Escapades’ BusinessWorld, available at http://www.businessworld.in/article/FDI-Escapades/08-11-2014-67048/

  10. Ministry of Corporate Affairs

  10 THE KING OF SHAKTIPEETH

  1. IIT Bombay. 2016. ‘Fireside Chat – Sachin Bansal & Rahul Yadav @ E-Summit 2016’, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZR_mSOP5Mg

  2. Hugh MacLeod. 2009. Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity Hardcover. Penguin.

  3. ‘Lala’ is a derogatory term used to describe the promoters or owners of certain kinds of Indian companies. Such companies are usually associated with retrograde business practices and poor corporate governance.

  4. Ministry of Corporate Affiars

  5. Happy mcgarrybowen. 2011. ‘Flipkart.com - The Granny & The Mouse’, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2yh9pjnuTQ

  6. TiE. 2016. ‘Keynote Conversation’, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u97hLvCO3Kw

  7. Flipkart. 2011. ‘Flipkart: No Kidding. No Worries. (Cafe)’, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLnJJ0CNBok

  11 SETBACK

  1. Satish John. 2008. ‘Biyani moves on with 4 new stores in 5 days’, Livemint, 29 September, available at https://www.livemint.com/Home-Page/ZlzTlEGr521WcHPbrqsoXJ/Biyani-moves-on-with-4-new-stores-in-5-days.html

  2. TiE. 2016. ‘Keynote Conversation’, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u97hLvCO3Kw

  3. Brad Stone. 2013. The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon. Little, Brown and Company.

  4. Deepti Chaudhary. 2012. ‘Flipkart acquires Letsbuy.com’, Livemint, 10 February, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/HSkOJC5yIpsOTsy8ZKr4bP/Flipkart-acquires-Letsbuycom.html

  5. Anupam Saxena. 2012. ‘Flipkart Shutters LetsBuy; Why Not Keep Two Storefronts?’, Medianama, 29 May, available at https://www.medianama.com/2012/05/223-letsbuy-shuts-down/

  6. Mihir Dalal and Deepti Chaudhary. 2013. ‘Flipkart raises $200 million amid e-commerce fund drought’, Livemint, 11 July, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/Dkaigg2rge8dNbXGO6DxJJ/Flipkart-raises-200-million-from-existing-investors.html

  7. Biswarup Gooptu. 2014. ‘Snapdeal co-founder Kunal Bahl: A rising star of India’s e-commerce space’, Economic Times, 28 February, available at https:// economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/snapdeal-co-founder-kunal-bahl-a-rising-star-of-indias-e-commerce-space/articleshow/31125419.cms Based on statements made in interviews to the author.

  8. Shayon Pal. 2012. ‘Amazon launches Junglee.com in India’, Hindustan Times, 2 February, available at https://www.hindustantimes.com/tech-reviews/ amazon-launches-junglee-com-in-india/story-yY35tJFsT0gPVh9K1qzQ4H.html

  12 NO RESPITE

  1. Rohin Dharmakumar. Linkedin. Available at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohin/

  2. Rohin Dharmakumar. 2012. ‘Can Flipkart Deliver?’, Forbes, available at http://www.forbesindia.com/article/boardroom/can-flipkart-deliver/33240/4

  3. Indrajit Gupta. 2012. ‘Flipkart CEO responds to our cover story’, Forbes, 25 June, available at http://www.forbesindia.com/blog/editors-blog/flipkart-ceo-responds-to-our-cover-story/

  4. Economist. 2003. ‘Finding Nemesis’, 21 October, available at https://www.economist.com/news/2003/10/21/finding-nemesis

  5. Deepti Chaudhary. 2012. ‘Flipkart raises $150 mn from investors’, Livemint, 24 August, available at https://www.livemint.com/Industry/fGAYKfohxjwyHNK7JjTtlN/Flipkart-raises-funding-from-Naspers-ICONIQ-Capital-and-oth.html

  6. ‘Too big to fail’ is a phrase used to describe companies that are so large and so important to an industry that their collapse would threaten the survival of that entire industry. In this case, Flipkart’s failure would cast doubt about the survival of the entire e-commerce business in the country.

  7. Shrutika Verma and Mihir Dalal. 2014. ‘Inside Flipkart’s complex structure’, Livemint, 25 November, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/VXr8oJzNJ4daOYSO5wNETN/Inside-Flipkarts-complex-structure.html

  8. Ministry of Corporate Affiars.

  Shrutika Verma. 2012. ‘FDI Escapades’ BusinessWorld, available at http://www.businessworld.in/article/FDI-Escapades/08-11-2014-67048/

  9. Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

  Shrutika Verma and Mihir Dalal, 2015. ‘Sujeet Kumar, head of Flipkart’s largest seller WS Retail, quits’, Livemint, 18 May, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/5Z9dMYCZA2GjZsdhRhO9lI/Sujeet-Kumar-head-of-Flipkart-seller-WS-Retail-quits.html

  10. Shrutika Verma. 2012. ‘FDI Escapades’ BusinessWorld, available at http://www.businessworld.in/article/FDI-Escapades/08-11-2014-67048/

  11. Anupam Saxena. 2012. ‘Enforcement Directorate To Probe Flipkart For Alleged FDI Norms Violation’, Medianama, 11 December, https://www.medianama.com/2012/12/223-enforcement-directorate-to-probe-flipkart-for-alleged-fdi-norms-violation/

  12. Based on statements made in interviews to the author.

  TiE. 2016. ‘Keynote Conversation’, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u97hLvCO3Kw

  13 THE TIGER CUB

  1. Kalyan Krishnamurthy. LinkedIn. Available at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kalyankrishnamurthy/

  2. Paul De Bendern and Henry Foy. 2011. ‘Manmohan Singh fails to dispel policy paralysis fears’, Reuters, 29 June, available at https://www.livemint.com/Politics/DwkoGovkYHoDxZzX28SwWO/Manmohan-Singh-fails-to-dispel-policy-paralysis-fears.html

  3. Anirban Sen. 2014. ‘Infosys not satisfied with recent performance: Narayana Murthy’, Livemint, 27 February, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/r0q9bVUle15fLbngVSgHtK/Infosys-not-satisfied-with-its-recent-performance-Murthy.html

  4. Mihir Dalal and Deepti Chaudhary. 2013. ‘Flipkart raises $200 million amid e-commerce fund drought’, Livemint, 11 July, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/Dkaigg2rge8dNbXGO6DxJJ/Flipkart-raises-200-million-from-existing-investors.html

  5. Mihir Dalal and Deepti Chaudhary. 2013. ‘Flipkart raises $200 million amid e-commerce fund drought’, Livemint, 11 July, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/Dkaigg2rge8dNbXGO6DxJJ/Flipkart-raises-200-million-from-existing-investors.html

  6. Mihir Dalal and Deepti Chaudhary. 2013. ‘Flipkart boosts war chest, gets $160 mn more from investors’, Livemint, 10 October, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/pbOfYVBQigpqm1D2FguQDO/Flipkart-raises-160-million-in-another-round-of-funding.html

  7. Shrutika Verma and Mihir Dalal. 2014. ‘Inside Flipkart’s complex structure’, Livmeint, 25
November, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/VXr8oJzNJ4daOYSO5wNETN/Inside-Flipkarts-complex-structure.html

  8. Deepti Chaudhary, Mihir Dalal and P. R. Sanjai. 2013. ‘Ibibo buys online bus ticket agent redBus’, Livemint, 22 June, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/NBINnTouWd7lGrixgF2xZK/Ibibo-buys-online-bus-ticket-agent-redBus.html

  14 HELLO, MOTO

  1. Based on statements made in interviews to the author.

  Shrutika Verma. 2012. ‘FDI Escapades’, BusinessWorld, available at http://www.businessworld.in/article/FDI-Escapades/08-11-2014-67048/

  2. Economic Times. 2013. Available at https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/et-now/daily/et-awards-2013-entrepreneur-of-the-year-sachin-bansal/videoshow/27036411.cms

  3. Mihir Dalal. 2013. ‘Snapdeal CEO says inventory model is ‘dead’, looking for deals’, Livemint, 13 April, available at https://www.livemint.com/Industry/D2Xufph6zu7w9ZYg8Ze0dM/Snapdeal-CEO-defends-marketplace-model-looking-for-acquisit.html

  4. Ashish K. Sinha. 2013. ‘Exclusive: Snapdeal raises $50 million from eBay and existing investors’, NextBigWhat, 1 April, available at https://nextbigwhat.com/ebay-invests-in-snapdeal/

  5. PTI. 2013. ‘eBay invests an undisclosed amount in Snapdeal’, 4 June, available at https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/ebay-invests-an-undisclosed-amount-in-snapdeal/articleshow/20428923.cms

  6. Mihir Dalal. 2017. ‘How smartphone sales revived Flipkart’s fortunes’, Livemint, 22 September, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/AgpQ0QQSCWBW3v3oTnFcLL/How-smartphones-changed-Flipkarts-fortunes.html

  7. Mihir Dalal. 2017. ‘How smartphone sales revived Flipkart’s fortunes’, Livemint, 22 September, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/AgpQ0QQSCWBW3v3oTnFcLL/How-smartphones-changed-Flipkarts-fortunes.html

  8. Mihir Dalal. 2014. ‘Flipkart on course to touch $1 bn in annual sales’, Livemint, 7 March, available at https://www.livemint.com/Industry/BzamePoHG135hdYwUwz31K/Flipkart-on-course-to-touch-1-bn-in-annual-sales.html

  15 ANOTHER BANSAL JOINS THE FAMILY

  1. Mihir Dalal and Shrutika Verma, 2014. ‘How Flipkart Sealed The Deal With Myntra’, Livemint, 23 May, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/p5nkYHmjFR5jNqn1Q9ZZLO/How-Flipkart-sealed-the-deal-with-Myntra.html

  2. Mihir Dalal and Shrutika Verma, 2014. ‘How Flipkart Sealed The Deal With Myntra’, Livemint, 23 May, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/p5nkYHmjFR5jNqn1Q9ZZLO/How-Flipkart-sealed-the-deal-with-Myntra.html

  3. PTI. 2014. ‘Flipkart acquires Myntra’, 22 May, available at https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech-news/Flipkart-acquires-Myntra/articleshow/35472797.cms

  4. Mihir Dalal and Shrutika Verma. 2014. ‘E-commerce firms continue to attract investments’, Livemint, 27 May, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/lbfXg1DXl0Etm13uEedIpJ/Flipkart-raises-210-million-from-DST-Global-others.html

  16 A BILLION DREAMS

  1. Mihir Dalal and Shrutika Verma. 2014. ‘Flipkart bags $7 billion valuation after mammoth fund raise’, Livemint, 29 July, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/X49vLQnJNq1QHnx8GwPjzL/Flipkart-raises-1-billion-in-latest-round-of-funding.html

  2. Economic Times. 2014. ‘Flipkart raises $1 billion in funds, company may be valued at $7 billion’, 30 July, available at https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/retail/flipkart-raises-1-billion-in-funds-company-may-be-valued-at-7-billion/articleshow/39233188.cms?from=mdr

  3. Based on statements made in interviews to the author.

  4. Mihir Dalal and Shrutika Verma. 2014. ‘Flipkart bags $7 billion valuation after mammoth fund raise’, Livemint, 29 July, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/X49vLQnJNq1QHnx8GwPjzL/Flipkart-raises-1-billion-in-latest-round-of-funding.html

  5. Amazon. 2014. ‘Amazon Announces Additional US $2 Billion Investment in India’, 30 July, available at https://www.amazon.in/gp/feature.html?docId=1000818573

  6. Mihir Dalal, Leslie D’Monte and Shrutika Verma. 2014. ‘Amazon’s Jeff Bezos loves India business, ready to invest more’, Livemint, 29 September, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/RBZ8yTWUu1MsNRbZ9CIEiN/I-love-this-business-in-India-Amazons-Jeff-Bezos.html

  7. Samidha Sharma and Boby Kurian. 2014. ‘Amazing India energizes me: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’, Times of India, 29 September, available at https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Amazing-India-energizes-me-Amazon-CEO-Jeff-Bezos/articleshow/43757725.cms

  8. Samidha Sharma. 2014. ‘Flipkart taunts Bezos with welcome ad’, Times of India, 27 September, available at https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech-news/Flipkart-taunts-Bezos-with-welcome-ad/articleshow/43563597.cms

  9. Shrutika Verma and Mihir Dalal. 2014. ‘India e-commerce gets latest push from SoftBank’, Livemint, 29 October, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/TelpPwsX51qyj8ZkFduKyK/Snapdeal-raises-627-million-from-Japans-SoftBank.html

  10. Samidha Sharma. 2014. ‘Online startup boom: What made the year 2014 special’, Economic Times, available at https://cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/corporate-news/online-startup-boom-what-made-the-year-2014-special/45689585

  11. Amrutha Gayathri and Denny Thomas. 2014. ‘China’s JD.com IPO raises $1.78 billion, augurs well for Alibaba’, Reuters, 22 May, available at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-jddotcom-ipo-idUSBREA4K19H20140522

  12. William Alden. 2014. ‘Alibaba’s Shares Close Up 38% on First Day of Trading’, New York Times, 19 September, available at https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09/19/live-blog-tracking-the-giant-alibaba-i-p-o/

  13. Duncan Clark. 2016. Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built. Ecco.

  14. Laura Lorenzetti. 2014. ‘Alibaba’s IPO has made Masayoshi Son Japan’s richest man’, Fortune, 17 September, available at http://fortune.com/2014/09/17/alibabas-ipo-has-made-masayoshi-son-japans-richest-man/

  15. Shrutika Verma and Mihir Dalal. 2014. ‘India e-commerce gets latest push from SoftBank’, Livemint, 29 October, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/TelpPwsX51qyj8ZkFduKyK/Snapdeal-raises-627-million-from-Japans-SoftBank.html

  16. T. N. Ninan. 2015. Turn of the Tortoise: The Challenge and Promise of India’s Future. Penguin.

  17. Nandita Bose. 2012. ‘Retailers retrench as reform hopes dashed’, Reuters, 11 June, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/7idDw8Li2bfjwuWRuZOK6O/Retailers-retrench-as-reform-hopes-dashed.html

  18. Sapna Agarwal. 2012. ‘Aditya Birla to buy Pantaloons retail chain’, Livemint, 1 May, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/7gYxcYC8xH8OjggQWmIfAJ/Aditya-Birla-to-buy-Pantaloons-retail-chain.html

  17 THE COMEBACK

  1. Phrase used in The Everything Store by Brad Stone, Little, Brown and Company.

  Priyanka Pani and Rajesh Kurup. 2013. ‘I will never sell Flipkart’, Hindu BusinessLine, 19 December, available at https://www.thehindubusinessline. com/info-tech/i-will-never-sell-flipkart/article20701868.ece

  2. Eva Dou. 2015. ‘Xiaomi Overtakes Samsung in China Smartphone Market’, Wall Street Journal, 4 August, available at https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/08/04/xiaomi-overtakes-samsung-in-china-smartphone-market/

  3. Danish Khan. 2014. ‘Xiaomi Mi3 sold out in a few seconds; Flipkart website crashes again’, Economic Times, 5 August, available at https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/devices/xiaomi-mi3-sold-out-in-a-few-seconds-flipkart-website-crashes-again/39681826

  4. Technopak Advisors.

  5. Mihir Dalal, Shrutika Verma and Sapna Agarwal. 2014. ‘Flipkart hits $100 million Big Billion Day Sale target in 10 hours’, Livemint, 7 October, available at https://www.livemint.com/Industry/TM8tDvrv3OfeYjeXkEPXZI/Flipkart-hits-100-million-sales-target-in-10-hours.html

  6. Mihir Dalal, Shrutika Verma and Sapna Agarwal. 2014. ‘Flipkart hits $100 million Big Billion Day Sale target in 10 hours’, Livemint, 7 October, available at https://www.livemint.com/Industry/TM8tDvrv3OfeYjeXkEPXZI/Flipkart-hits-100-million-sales-target-in-10-hours.html

  7. Mihir Dalal, Shrutika Verma and Sapna Agarwal. 2
014. ‘Flipkart hits $100 million Big Billion Day Sale target in 10 hours’, Livemint, 7 October, available at https://www.livemint.com/Industry/TM8tDvrv3OfeYjeXkEPXZI/Flipkart-hits-100-million-sales-target-in-10-hours.html

  8. Mihir Dalal, Shrutika Verma and Sapna Agarwal. 2014. ‘Flipkart hits $100 million Big Billion Day Sale target in 10 hours’, Livemint, 7 October, available at https://www.livemint.com/Industry/TM8tDvrv3OfeYjeXkEPXZI/Flipkart-hits-100-million-sales-target-in-10-hours.html

  18 REINVENTING THE KART

  1. Michael Lewis. 1996. The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story. W. W. Norton & Company.

  2. Phrase used by Brad Stone in The Everything Store.

  3. Economic Times. 2015. ‘Digital ad spend to rise significantly in India’, 14 April, available at https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/advertising/digital-ad-spend-to-rise-significantly-in-india/articleshow/46913789.cms

  4. Mike Isaac. 2015. ‘Facebook Revenue Surges 41%, as Mobile Advertising and Users Keep Growing’, New York Times, 4 November, available at https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/05/technology/facebook-q3-earnings.html

  5. Seth Fiegerman. 2015. ‘Facebook’s annual revenue topped $10 billion for the first time in 2014’, Mashable, 29 January, available at https://mashable.com/2015/01/28/facebook-q4-earnings-2014/

  6. Masoom Gupta. 2015. Economic Times. ‘Fashion is ‘highly personal’ for Myntra’s Mukesh Bansal’, Economic Times, 1 January, available at https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/fashion-is-highly-personal-for-myntras-mukesh-bansal/articleshow/45713210.cms

  7. Mihir Dalal. 2014. ‘Flipkart raises $700 million in fresh funds’, Livemint, 20 December, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/jsYNvJSmfB6tbWKqRL9vhK/Flipkart-raises-700-million-in-fresh-funds.html

  8. Mihir Dalal and Shrutika Verma. 2018. ‘How Lee Fixel, Flipkart’s godfather in New York, changed India’s start-up ecosystem’, Livemint, 18 May, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/5Cds0A5aOSil178CM4J9vM/How-Lee-Fixel-Flipkarts-godfather-in-New-York-changed-Ind.html