"Differences between partners is good": Sachin Bansal

We are living in the best of times and the time has never been ripe enough for entrepreneurs to try new things and to think out of the box. At the India Internet Day conference the best of the minds have got together to discuss the life cycle of the Internet, start up and the world we wish to survive in.

"It is only in low tide you realize that you are swimming in shorts", the keynote address by Pankaj Mishra - Editor in Chief, FactorDelhi & Sachin Bansal, Flipkart was an eye-opener for the audience at India Internet Day conference. 

Indian start-ups have been in doldrums this quarter and raising money is a big challenge now. PepperTap became the latest victim when it closed its door few days before. Speaking at India Internet Day, Sachin Bansal said that creating better customer experience each year is fundamental for any e-commerce business as e-commerce is a cluttered market.

If you see the history of e-commerce then you will find that almost every big internet company has been through the usual ups and downs and the down rounds. Financial cycle governs down round so it's always better to  make sure that business is well capitalized. For example, Alibaba is down by 40% since their IPO.

Talking about IPOs and Flipkart, he said, the market is growing pretty fast and we do want to go public but, the call will be taken at the right time as at Flipkart we believe that funds should be raised when they are available rather than when we have to. Focus on business quality, capital efficiency should be the priority.

For budding entrepreneurs, Sachin suggested that they should make a boundary or they will end up making a lot of mistake. When someone mentioned, conflict between partners, he said: "differences between partners is good".  Yes, because out differences and conflict come out change and thought.  Differences should be tackled in a healthy way as ideas should never be ignored. 

On Internet Infrastructure

Internet economy is linked to internet infrastructure. The Internet in India is fired by smartphone's and with the cheap internet, we can expect that in three years Flipkart will cross all the projections.  Data connectivity is a challenge but, yes more infrastructure will help us and with Reliance Jio, we hope that things will get better.

Mobile Vs Desktop

We tried the mobile experiment at Myntra and we have made good progress. App based business is the key to getting out of the desktop mindset.

Every market has a different need, features, and constraints. In India, the population is big, labour cost is low, the internet is all mobile and consumers are large. This gives us the edge.

On Hiring

Ownership mindset is important but with time key people also lose the learning mindset if they become successful. Flipkart's policy is to find the best talent for the job and it doesn't matter were they come from.

Dealing With Criticism

Criticism/feedback is very important and I am always very open to it.

About Going Global

E-Com Market is not saturated in India as many believe. Our numbers are pretty exciting. User per year transaction is low in India when compared to China and US. Therefore, need to focus sincerely in India before going global.

In 2008, Flipkart was thinking about closing its door but thanks to one of our mentors it never happened. We were facing lots of uncertainties at that time but we stayed on the path but right decision saved us. Always question yourself and take help from mentors if you lack the larger perspective.