I first wrote about Flipkart in 2013. In the four years before its sale to Walmart, Flipkart had been the main subject of my coverage for Mint. The book is the culmination of this experience.
Apart from Flipkart, the book traces the development of the wider startup ecosystem in India, by which I refer mostly to the internet companies that serve shoppers. A smaller part of this ecosystem comprises startups that provide software for companies, as opposed to shoppers. Their development, while somewhat related to the internet companies, has not been covered.
Many people deserve thanks for contributing directly and indirectly to this book: Sukumar Ranganathan, my former editor, for giving me the opportunity to write on startups and for backing me fully on controversial and sensitive stories. I learned a great deal from him. My friend and former colleague Shrutika Verma, together with whom I learned about startups, and news reporting. Vinay Kamat, my current editor at Mint, who generously allowed me the time and space to work on this book. It was truly gracious of him. Pankaj Mishra, my former boss at Mint, who compelled me to track startups before he left. Somak Ghoshal, who introduced me to my agent and provided helpful advice on various matters. My agent Anish Chandy for believing in this book and working diligently to bring it out. His feedback on the book and advice on related matters were critical. A special thank you to Teesta Guha Sarkar, my editor at Pan Macmillan India. She was the arbiter of the book’s tone and quality, and if the book is readable, it is thanks to her. And, of course, thanks to my family – my grandmother, parents, brother, and in remembrance, my late grandfather – for their unwavering support.
Most of all, I thank all the Flipkart officials and everyone else who participated in the development of this book. Thanks especially to those who spoke without inhibition. I am unable to name them for obvious reasons. But without their help, it is unlikely that this book could have been completed. These people spoke with me several times, spending many hours detailing their experiences and perspectives. It helped me immensely in piecing this story together.
Footnotes
* Name changed
* enterprise resource planning
NOTES
1 BREEDING GROUND
1. New York Times. 2004. ‘Google Goes Public’, 20 August, available at https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/20/opinion/google-goes-public.html
2. Sabarinath M. 2005. ‘Meet Kishore Biyani, the Sam Walton of India’, Economic Times, 15 October, available at economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1263228.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
3. Business Standard. 2004. ‘eBay buys Baazee for $50 million’, 24 June, available at https://www.business-standard.com/article/management/ebay-buys-baazee-for-50-million-104062401142_1.html
4. BBC. 2004. ‘BJP admits “India Shining” error’, 28 May, available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3756387.stm
5. BBC. 2009. ‘India billionaires double in 2009’, 11 March, available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8562957.stm
James Crabtree. 2018. The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India’s New Gilded Age. Tim Duggan Books.
6. While Shockley was a brilliant physicist, he was a terrible manager whose mismanagement pushed his colleagues to leave his firm and start Fairchild Semiconductor, a pioneering hardware startup. For more, see: Scott Rosenberg. 2017. ‘Silicon’s Valley first founder was its worst’, 19 July, available at https://www.wired.com/story/silicon-valleys-first-founder-was-its-worst/
7. Raj Chengappa. 2013. ‘Bangalore clocked to be the fastest growing metropolis in India’, India Today, 22 July, available at https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/19830415-bangalore-clocked-to-be-the-fastest-growing-metropolis-in-india-770617-2013-07-22
8. Hindu. 2005. ‘The Bean City’ available at https://www.thehindu.com/mp/2005/02/22/stories/2005022201010300.htm
Divya Shekhar. 2017. ‘Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV: The philosopher-king who laid foundation for modern Bengaluru’, Economic Times, 14 September, available at economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/60510235.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst Divya Shekhar. 2017. ‘Date with history: The 107-year-old home in Bengaluru that is a tribute to Mysore’s first Dewan’, Economic Times, 12 January, available at economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/56499881.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
T. J. S. George. 2016. Askew: A Short Biography of Bangalore. Aleph Book Company.
Janaki Nair. 2005. The Promise of the Metropolis. Oxford University Press
9. Chidanand Rajghatta. 2004. ‘Bangalored: function – transitiveverb!’, Times of India, 23 July, available at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/787599.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
10. Thomas Friedman. 2005. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Friedman’s theory of the modern world being flat has been discredited by many intellectuals as an overly simplistic idea that distorts the understanding of globalization and its workings.
11. Amazon. 2004. Available at https://press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/amazoncom-acquire-joyocom-limited
12. Amazon. Available at https://www.amazon.jobs/en/principles
13. Divya Shekhar. 2016. ‘Aga Ali Asker, the Persian horse trader whose legacy lingers on in Bengaluru’, Economic Times, 21 January, available at https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/aga-ali-asker-the-persian-horse-trader-whose-legacy-lingers-on-in-bengaluru/articleshow/50667052.cms
14. LinkedIn. Sachin Bansal, available at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sachinbansal/
2 THE BANSALS GO TO IIT
1. Mihir Dalal. 2018. ‘Why startups are exiting Bengaluru’s Koramangala’, Livemint, 3 September, available at https://www.livemint.com/Companies/LnV18zLsDCfIGcckMb9tsI/Why-startups-are-exiting-Bengalurus-Koramangala.html
2. Chandigarh official website, available at http://chandigarh.gov.in/knowchd_gen_historical.htm
Sunil Khilnani. 1997. The Idea of India. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
3. Shraddha Sharma. 2013. ‘Binny Bansal with YourStory in TechSparks2013’, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPFptdATk_s
4. Aditi Tandon, 2000, ‘Record number of city students make it to IIT’, Chandigarh Tribune, available at https://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000530/cth1.htm
5. Chetan Bhagat. 2004.Five Point Someone. Rupa & Co.
6. Anand Daniel. 2019. ‘Insights #22: Binny Bansal’, Soundcloud, available at https://soundcloud.com/insights-podcast-accel/binny-bansal-final-podcast
7. Term used by Nicholas Carr in his book The Glass Cage. It refers to the philosophy of Frederic Winslow Taylor, a pioneer of the scientific management theory. Taylor was obsessed with improving the efficiency of labour and machines in factories and in industry overall.
8. Shekhar Gupta. 2015. ‘Walk the Talk with the founders of Flipkart’, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye2LLhZdHLM
3 EXODUS FROM AMAZON
1. Walter Isaacson. 2011. Steve Jobs. Simon & Schuster.
2. Nick Bilton. 2013. Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal. Penguin.
3. Ibid.
4. Shekhar Gupta. 2015. ‘Walk the Talk with the founders of Flipkart’, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye2LLhZdHLM
5. Based on statements made in interviews to the author.
Rachel Chitra, 2018. ‘Binny Bansal: Flipkart happened as Google rejected me twice’, The Times of India, 10 August, available at https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/flipkart-happened-as-google-rejected-me-binny-bansal/articleshow/65346358.cms
6. NextBigWhat. 2010. ‘Sachin Bansal: When Flipkart Was A Startup’, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLvW_8xNXq8
7. Based on statements made in interviews to the author.
Binny Bansal. LinkedIn profile, available at https://www.linkedin.com/in/binnybansal/
Neha Jain. 2018. ‘Working at Amazon was riskier than starting Flipkart – Binny Bansal’, YourStory, 10 August, available at https://yourstory.com/2018/08/working-amazon-riskier-starting-flipkart-binny-bansal
8. Seattlepi.com. 2006. ‘Google hires Amazon’s search chief’, available at https://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Google-hires-Amazon-s-search-chief-1195185.php
9. Brennon Slattery. 2010. ‘Google Buys Jambool: Social Networking Battle Begins’, PCWorld, 16 August, available at https://www.pcworld.com/article/203335/google_buys_jambool_social_networking_battle_begins.html
10. Krishna Motukuri.
