Naukri.com has worked wonders for Info Edge. But can its success be replicated at the company’s other ventures?
He helms an almost 20,000-crore (by market capitalisation) public company that has diligently churned out profits every quarter, for a decade, a rarity among homegrown internet businesses. That this has been achieved with a measly 7 crore in venture capital (VC) funding is an even bigger rarity in India, where chasing investors to clinch billion-dollar fundings almost every year is as much a part of a unicorn CEO’s job as running the office.
But ask Hitesh Oberoi, 46, chief executive and managing director at Info Edge, if the company’s cash counters were ringing right from the beginning, and he says, “At that time, nobody really understood how to make money.”
The time that Oberoi refers to is circa 2000, when he quit his job at Hindustan Unilever to launch Baachao.com, an online deals platform, with Sanjeev Bikhchandani, the founder and executive chairman of Info Edge. Bikhchandani had started the company in 1994, and had only one offering—Naukri.com, launched in 1997—when Oberoi joined him. This was an India where high speed internet was a pipe dream, and venture capital a novelty. The likes of MakeMyTrip, Indiaplaza and Contests2win, the early birds of India’s dotcom story, were beginning to take wings, but it wasn’t clear how long their flight would last.
The US markets, however, were a different story. The dotcom bubble was only growing bigger, with companies such as search engine eXcite, and grocery delivery startups Kozmo and Webvan. Bikhchandani and Oberoi could only hope that some of that enthusiasm would spill over to India as well.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 1, 2019 من Forbes India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 1, 2019 من Forbes India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Home-Cooked Meal Is Now Greatly Valued
The pandemic has also brought with it an improved focus on hygiene, use of technology in dining, rise of cloud kitchens and resurgence in popularity of Indian ingredients
Paytm 3.0 - Reaching Near Breakeven In Two Years
As of 2020, Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s super app for financial services had run up losses in thousands of crores. Now, as digital payments gets yet another boost courtesy Covid-19, he’s hopeful of reaching near breakeven in two years
THE PANDEMIC HAS CAUSED WOMEN GREATER LABOUR PAIN
Covid-19 has shown that women are more likely to face the brunt of job losses than men, and find fewer opportunities when they want to resume. That apart, several have to deal with increased hours of unpaid work at home and even domestic abuse
LEADERSHIP WILL BE ABOUT SEEING THE BIGGER PICTURE
Leaders must not only guard their teams first during a crisis, but also deal with stakeholders with respect and dignity. And apart from pursuing business goals, they should remain committed to our planet and the environment
PHILANTHROPY SHOULD BE HUMBLE, BUT NOT MODEST
Apart from building a flexible and resilient framework for the future, philanthropists, civil society and the government must work in tandem so that every rupee is absorbed on the ground
INTEGRATED HEALTH CARE, TECH WILL DISRUPT SECTOR
While clinical research will get a boost, having a skilled workforce and public spending on health care will be challenges in the near term
DIGITALISATION WILL HELP IN VALUE CREATION
As the pandemic brings technology and innovation to the core of business and daily life, the next decade will see about 150 million digital-first families in India
Industry 4.0: Climate Revolution?
Augmenting sustainability alongside digital capabilities is an economic, competitive and global opportunity for India’s businesses, but regulations need to reflect intent
EV Dream Still Miles Away
Electric vehicles have remained a buzzword in India for years. But not much has moved on ground due to high upfront costs, range anxiety and charging infrastructure
Living Waters
A virus has caused us to scramble for oxygen but our chokehold on the environment is slowly strangling the very waters that breathe life into us. The virus is a timely reminder: We are merely consumers, not producers of life’s breath on this planet