The Conversation - VIJAY SHEKHAR SHARMA

It wouldn’t be wrong to call Sharma a bit of a chameleon. From selling ringtones in the early 2000s to running what can be called an Internet conglomerate, he has not just stayed relevant but is also creating an ecosystem. Now, he wants to take Paytm to the developed world.

- ARNIKA THAKUR AND SOURAV MAJUMDAR

RUNNING AN EVOLVING BUSINESS

Paytm is today valued at $16 billion and is the most funded unicorn in the country. Now the ecosystem has changed, there is UPI, e-commerce, lending verticals, you have bigger competitors. What do you see as the growth drivers?

SHARMA: Now it is the big game, there is a bigger plan. Earlier it was a startup game, which had the startup plan. It is no longer a one vertical business. It is now an ecosystem war. Just like in the U.S. and China markets, where ecosystems fight, it is all about the ecosystem [in India also]; it is not about payments anymore. I believe that with payments/financial services as a moat you are very well positioned, in fact in a dominating position, and we believe that while we have the largest number of users, the largest number of transactions, and those KPIs [key performance indicators], we will also be the largest revenue and profit generator, which is where the ecosystem today is going towards.

There is still a question mark on profits; you have attracted a huge amount of funding 3 but profits are still a concern.

We are a 20-year-old company now. We, as a company, have always gone through the cycle of investment, generating cash, free cash, investment, generating cash, free cash. Right now, it is not about losses which are very high. We have reduced our costs dramatically without reducing the number of people. People costs have actually increased; the other costs have automatically optimised because our revenues have started kicking in. Right now, on a year-on-year basis, our losses will go down by at least 50%.