Winning In a Connected World: Winning In a Connected World My InfoEdge Experience


It all started with an Anonymous Advertisement in 1999: It all started with an Anonymous Advertisement in 1999 Do you want to retire in 3 years or 30 ? (Not an InfoEdge Advt)


My Early Years at HLL: My Early Years at HLL First Job – HLL (1996) Worked in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore As a Management Trainee worked in Factories, Villages, Sales, Purchase, Logistics First Job in Corporate Office – Not much to do Not in touch with the outside world Last Job as a Regional Planning and Distribution Manager for IceCreams in Delhi – Solid Independent Operating Experience


Meeting InfoEdge: Meeting InfoEdge Knew Sanjeev from earlier and that he was doing Naukri About 9 years my Senior Went to him for advice on my decision to quit HLL Naukri – 16 people (Mostly Data Entry Operators), Revenue 3L a month, run out of a House Said No to Naukri Decided to start Bachao.com with InfoEdge – A discount site Took a huge salary cut


The Early Months at InfoEdge: The Early Months at InfoEdge Dot Com Boom ZipAhead, Indya.com, Ties2Family etc all launched VCs Invaded India No Understanding of all this JobsAhead – Heavily Funded Competitor Launched with an Ad campaign on TV Looked like the Game was Changing


The Early Months at InfoEdge: The Early Months at InfoEdge Decided to Go for Funding Took VC from ICICI Ventures in May 2000 Gave out 15% for around 7.3 crores Focus on Naukri – Shutdown Bachao Lousy business plan Thought valuations were crazy


InfoEdge – 2000(Pre VC) vs 2006(Pre IPO): InfoEdge – 2000(Pre VC) vs 2006(Pre IPO) 16 people 36 lakhs turnover 1 office Breakeven 2-3 main products No Sales force 1 ManTech team Naukri 1000 people 85 crores turnover 34 offices PAT of 13 crores 30+ product offerings 700+ people in Sales and Service 100 Strong Development Centre Naukri + Jeevansathi + 99acres + Quadrangle


Going Public: Going Public Went Public in Nov 2006 Stock offered at Rs. 320, currently trading at around Rs. 640 Market Capitalisation of around 1600 crores


Some Life Changing Decisions : Some Life Changing Decisions Quitting HLL to do a startup Raising Money Going Public


Do you really want to be on your own ?: Do you really want to be on your own ? You don’t necessarily have to be an entrepreneur – Its a career choice. Understand the risks involved Be prepared to bootstrap, work hard, make sacrifices and even fail Overnight success usually takes about 10 years


Key Learnings - Getting Started: Key Learnings - Getting Started Focus on the basics Do something different or do something differently Sell to customers yourself Keep overheads low Focus on cash flow, not profits Don’t shake a tree unless you can gather the fruit If you are first mover you don’t have to be foolish about spending your money


Key Learnings - Scaling Up: Key Learnings - Scaling Up Build a broad based management team with relevant and diverse experience Put in basic processes – but don’t get bureaucratic Empower your key people Retention and Continuity of your key people is important Be prepared to let the wrong people go


Key Learnings - Raising Money: Key Learnings - Raising Money Everytime you dilute you give up some control VC agreements scary for entrepreneurs VCs Decide Salaries Targets MIS’ VC Approvals for almost everything Exit Clauses Buy Backs, Drag along, Tag Along Its important that you get along well with your VC. Go with a VC you are comfortable with not with the one which offers you the highest valuation


Key Learnings – Raising Money: Key Learnings – Raising Money Do it with your own money first, the later you dilute, the less you dilute Look out for game changers – raise money if you need to before its too late The best valuation is not necessarily the highest valuation The relationship post investment is key An unhappy investor is a recipe for disaster


Key Learnings - Going Public: Key Learnings - Going Public Still Learning to Handle this Analysts, Board Meetings, AGMs / EGMs Investor conferences, Quarterly Projections, Daily Fluctuations in Stock Prices etc Less time for Business More Pressure, More Accountability, More Responsibility With a VC you are still private and accountable to just 1-2 people, now you are accountable to the public at large


Why Did I do it ?: Why Did I do it ? Always wanted to do something on my own Building and not Managing To make a difference To be in Control of my life Achievement Ofcourse the advertisement acted as a catalyst


In the Ultimate Analysis: In the Ultimate Analysis 3 years have already become 8 Money is really just a scorecard You need to be lucky – you can make lots of mistakes