Flipkart
founder and executive chairman Sachin Bansal said it can be very lonely
at the top, but then that loneliness also pushes people to go beyond
their limits.
"As a company grows big, responsibility grows even more, and it becomes lonely. I don't think anybody can relate to what a founder goes through, or the ups and downs of a startup business. And that is how it should be, as it pushes you beyond your limit," he said at a session at the Surge conference here on Wednesday.
He said he could at least share things with his co-founder Binny Bansal.
He said the company listened to criticisms more than the plaudits. "Even as the company grew, the founders never stopped listening. Once you start coming across as someone who knows everything and can't be questioned, then you will stop getting feedback," he said.
But he also noted that people and media tended sometimes to paint things in black and white. "Things are never as good as people say and also never as bad as people say," he said.
As the executive chairman now, Bansal said he would stop looking at smaller things, "the anchor being the bigger picture."
He said Binny and he had never imagined that their company would be as big as it is today. He recalled that during the first investor presentation, the company put forth a target of $100 million in transactions during the first five to ten years. He said Flipkart was lucky now to be able to choose the investors it wanted to work with.
"As we started digging, the gold mine (the Indian consumer e-commerce market) became bigger and bigger and we grew much faster," said Bansal. Flipkart is today valued at more than $15 billion and is backed by storied investors like Accel Partners, Tiger Global and DST Global.
Bansal attributed Flipkart's growth to the trust and autonomy the company gave to its employees. He pointed out that the e-commerce firm's logistics division, EKart, was formed by an intern from IIM, with the help of a few delivery boys. Bansal added that 99% of what the company did was not known to him and Binny.
He said Flipkart is his life and there is no distinction between his personal life and his business and both are intertwined in the life of entrepreneurs. "Flipkart is like a baby," he said.
"As a company grows big, responsibility grows even more, and it becomes lonely. I don't think anybody can relate to what a founder goes through, or the ups and downs of a startup business. And that is how it should be, as it pushes you beyond your limit," he said at a session at the Surge conference here on Wednesday.
He said he could at least share things with his co-founder Binny Bansal.
He said the company listened to criticisms more than the plaudits. "Even as the company grew, the founders never stopped listening. Once you start coming across as someone who knows everything and can't be questioned, then you will stop getting feedback," he said.
But he also noted that people and media tended sometimes to paint things in black and white. "Things are never as good as people say and also never as bad as people say," he said.
As the executive chairman now, Bansal said he would stop looking at smaller things, "the anchor being the bigger picture."
He said Binny and he had never imagined that their company would be as big as it is today. He recalled that during the first investor presentation, the company put forth a target of $100 million in transactions during the first five to ten years. He said Flipkart was lucky now to be able to choose the investors it wanted to work with.
"As we started digging, the gold mine (the Indian consumer e-commerce market) became bigger and bigger and we grew much faster," said Bansal. Flipkart is today valued at more than $15 billion and is backed by storied investors like Accel Partners, Tiger Global and DST Global.
Bansal attributed Flipkart's growth to the trust and autonomy the company gave to its employees. He pointed out that the e-commerce firm's logistics division, EKart, was formed by an intern from IIM, with the help of a few delivery boys. Bansal added that 99% of what the company did was not known to him and Binny.
He said Flipkart is his life and there is no distinction between his personal life and his business and both are intertwined in the life of entrepreneurs. "Flipkart is like a baby," he said.
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