SeedToScale | Curated by Accel

We continue with the #InsightsPodcast Series with a conversation on the evolving role of a Founder-CEO with Elad Gil, serial entrepreneur, investor and most recently, author of High Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups from 10 to 10,000 People.

Elad Gil has had a lot of experience with super-high-growth startups, having grown Google from 1,500 people to 15,000 people in just over three years. Following the stint at Google, Elad started a company called Mixer Labs, where he expanded the team from 90 to 1,500 in just a couple of years. The firm was acquired by Twitter in just a few years.

It was around this time that he started contemplating high growth and how to build a machine that can recruit 10 people a week instead of one person a month. What was supposed to be a blog post became a massively successful book. Elad is also involved as an operating executive, investor or advisor to private companies such as AirBnB, Coinbase, Gusto, Instacart, Optimizely, Pinterest, Square, Stripe, Wish, and Zenefits.

In this podcast, we talk about the role of the startup CEO. Until very recently, the Founder was CEO only until they could get the company off the ground. After that, professional management took over. Mark Zuckerberg changed that, establishing a tradition where the Founder and CEO became the mainstay with a very strong executive team backing them.

Elad tells us about the importance of the Founder-CEO, and the vision and entrepreneurial spirit they bring to the table. He also goes into greater detail about the evolving role of the CEO.

While hard work is important for success, avoiding burn-out is even more critical. It is important for founders to take a break and make some time for themselves. Founders should focus on building relationships outside of work, because this will be their support system when they go through really hard times at work. The typical image of a Silicon Valley founder is that of an individual who works very hard. What we don't hear about is the vacations and breaks they take that allows them to push that hard.

As startups scale, it is important for the CEO to play multiple roles, but it is even more critical for them to realise their weaknesses and hire for those positions. They also need to be willing and open to learn from the next level. The "growth mindset" is extremely important for founders to lead the company and make it a truly generational one. Learning from your peers, and being able to trust them with their work and letting go is key to taking the company to the next level each and every time.

In the first episode of the #INSIGHTSPodcast series for 2019, I had the pleasure of speaking to Binny Bansal – his first ever interview after his departure from Flipkart.

The pace at which Flipkart scaled remains unparalleled in India – it inspires both envy and awe. The pitfalls of scaling too fast are well known but scale is what every startup aspires for. It’s what Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal wanted, and it’s what they achieved, that too in just a few short years.

With scale comes having to let go – something that most entrepreneurs struggle with. It requires a level of trust that is not easy to give. But Flipkart wouldn’t have been what it is today if the founders hadn’t made that leap of faith.

In this podcast, Binny takes us through his childhood growing up in Chandigarh and how that moulded him, his early interest in computers and how he was "lucky" to join the Computer Science Department at IIT Delhi.

We get a glimpse of his life in IIT Delhi, his love for the "not so popular" courses and how a very unique set of circumstances had him meet Sachin, a year senior to him, as well as the woman he would marry.

He talks about the businesses that he and Sachin considered going into before zeroing in on ecommerce. Coding was easy, convincing distributors to sign up with them was not.

Binny also talks about why Flipkart bought Myntra (and the one reason they wouldn’t have done so). He’s candid about the acquisitions that didn’t work out. When it was time to plan the next leg of growth, what it took to decide to bring in the likes of Kalyan Krishnamurthy (now Flipkart CEO) and Ananth Narayanan (until recently CEO of Myntra).

Binny also discusses his next venture and the role he plans to play in India’s startup ecosystem – one that was synonymous with Flipkart for the longest time.

In this episode of #INSIGHTSPodcast Series, we focus on Cross-Border startups - particularly software startups that are cross-border in nature from early days. Dinesh Katiyar, our Accel India partner who is based in Silicon Valley shares some of his key learnings from working initially as a cross-border entrepreneur and now as a VC who focuses on this sector. 

There is a range of important topics we cover in this podcast:

India advantage: Is there an India advantage while building Enterprise Software products out of India for the globe? 

Multi-cultural team: How do you build a multi-cultural team and why is that super important for a cross-border company?

We continue with the #INSIGHTSPodcast Series and in this episode, we focus on the healthcare sector and discuss opportunities and the market landscape using examples from the Accel portfolio. To talk about this exciting topic, We have Barath & Radhika, Principal & Sr Associate at Accel whose core focus investment areas are in Life sciences, Medtech and digital health.

On this podcast, we discuss the healthcare landscape in India using examples from the Accel portfolio and what to look for while building out a healthcare company from India :

Examples from Accel portfolio on problems being solved in healthcare for global markets

Lifesciences

The Indian Advantage - Why healthcare is attractive in India

Capital efficiency from being in India

The healthcare business - things to consider while getting into the healthcare sector

The trust process - building trust, and the time and effort it takes to build trust

We continue with our discussion on building for India in the #INSIGHTSpodcast Series and in this episode, we focus on selling to manufacturing SMEs. To talk about this important topic, we have Narayan, Co-founder of Power2SME, a "buying club" for SMEs. Narayan is a serial entrepreneur and before starting Power2SME, he was the founder & CEO of Denave, India's largest technology powered sales enabling services company. Previously he held various leadership positions in companies like Oracle and Microsoft.

On this podcast, we discuss the need for a “buying club” for the Indian SMEs, the role of credit in the economy, the life of a few and inescapable market effects:

Identifying a value proposition that can scale

Building out the marketplace

Working capital for SMEs

Lessons learnt from running a startup

We continue with our discussion on building for India in the #INSIGHTPodcast series and in this episode, focus on building an eCommerce company for Industrial India. To talk about this important topic, We have Rahul, Co-founder of Moglix, a B2B marketplace for MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Operating Supplies). Before starting Moglix, He has held various leadership positions at Google in Asia Pacific and is a graduate of ISB and IIT Kanpur.

We continue with the #INSIGHTSpodcast Series and in this episode, we focus on tackling the Indian market, why selling to Indian businesses is an exciting untapped opportunity and how one can build for India. To talk about this important topic, we have Prayank, a Principal at Accel who invests in B2B, Consumer Brands and Fintech. He has invested in multiple startups solving problems specifically for Indian Businesses across sectors.

We continue with the #INSIGHTSPodcast Series on importance of execution and in this episode, we focus on the myriad problems and decisions founders face while scaling. To talk about this important topic, we have Dhruv Agarwala, a successful serial entrepreneur who has built companies across multiple Industries.

On this podcast, we discuss what to expect when we scale, and potential conflicts that arise and how to resolve them:

Early days - the thesis for Proptiger and figuring out the core value proposition for the business, and the focus areas

If there is any feedback on this podcast or questions for the next episode, please do share as a comment below or tweet us at @Accel_India

We continue diving deeper into the importance of execution in an early stage startup and how to get it right. We discussed this topic with Srikanth Iyer, co-founder and CEO of HomeLane in Episode #14. In this episode, we dive into the Education industry and look at execution from the lens of an experienced EdTech entrepreneur Vamsi Krishna, Co-founder and CEO of Vedantu.

In the first part of the podcast we dive into the following questions regarding execution in an EdTech startup:

In the second part of the podcast, we dive into the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) approach that startups can use to stay focused on what matters for the company in the near to medium term. This methodology is very clearly articulated in the book "Measure What Matters" which is a great read for startups founders.

Next episode will be the last on the series "Importance of execution" and how to get that right as a startup founder. If there is any feedback on this podcast or questions for the next episode, please do share as a comment below or tweet us at @Accel_India

We continue the #InsightsPodcastSeries and in this episode, we focus on the importance of Execution and how to get it right in the early stage of a startup. To talk about this important topic, we have Srikanth Iyer a successful serial entrepreneur who has built large companies across multiple industries. Initially in Education with Edurite (sold to Tutorvista/Pearson) and currently founder and CEO of fixed furniture eCommerce startup HomeLane.