Chirag
Taneja, Co-Founder and CEO of GoKwik discusses his entrepreneurial journey,
E-Commerce trends, GoKwik's growth story, and venture capital funding with host
Gautam Srinivasan.
There is no one-size-fits-all
formula for startup success, each company’s journey is unique and full of
uncertain challenges. The founders behind these successful startups possess an admirable
spirit of determination, passion and vision to bring change through innovation.
The "Crafting
Bharat - A Startup Podcast Series" powered by AWS, and an initiative by NewsReach, in association with VCCircle, unlocks the secrets behind
these successful entrepreneurs’ journeys aiming to equip aspiring entrepreneurs
and business enthusiasts with invaluable insights. The podcast series is hosted
by Gautam Srinivasan, famed for hosting a diverse range of TV and digital
programs, currently consulting editor at CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Forbes
India, and The Economic Times.
In the dynamic
landscape of India's startup ecosystem, Chirag Taneja, the Co-Founder and CEO
of GoKwik, stands out as a visionary leader driving innovation and reshaping
the e-commerce sector. In the debut episode of Crafting Bharat, Taneja shared
how he embarked on a challenging entrepreneurial journey that led to the
founding of GoKwik. He also talks about building a remote-first company during
the pandemic and the future of the e-commerce industry with emerging
technologies like GenAI.
Through the Crafting
Bharat Podcast Series, let’s discover the stories of Indian startup founders’
journey of turning dreams into reality and turning challenges into
opportunities.
Edited excerpts:
Segment 1: The Incubator
Which parts of your original thesis of
founding GoKwik panned out and which did not?
The initial thesis
centered around whether India would embrace direct-to-consumer models, mirroring
the USA rather than China. Another thesis was targeting the untapped
Cash-on-Delivery market globally. Finally, the focus shifted to building a
diverse VC-backed business in India, requiring multiple products to foster D2C
market growth, embracing a vision yet adaptable strategy.
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO8ZwWyfakE
What were the challenges you faced in building
a remote-first company?
GoKwik is a
pandemic-born company. By the time we could even think about whether we were
going to be remote or in-office, we were already 150 people. We had already
crossed the Dunbar Number, the mark where the organization starts to change. I
am still not married to the fact that we must build the company remotely, I am
married to our overall vision with GoKwik.
As a founder how did you manage that
transition from intuition to data-driven decision-making while GoKwik was
exponentially scaling up? How do cloud platforms like AWS make this transition
easier?
If you see second or
third-time founders, they would have done something and would have figured out
that this is a problem nobody else is solving, for me, I came from that
world and I knew nobody was solving this problem and I didn’t require data to
support that it was purely my gut and starting figuring out what is the right
way to solve this problem.
Segment 2: The Accelerator
You are a big fan of Rahul Dravid. Tell us
about his influence on your leadership approach.
He has stuck to one
field and played the long game. I have learned how to take long-term calls
which are important for what you’re trying to build and it’s applicable in
almost everything. It is okay to be impatient in the short term but your results
should yield in the long term.
What’s your view on this conversation that is
happening around work-life balance?
I am a firm believer
that outcomes matter more than the number of hours you have put in, which helps
us drive the remote-first company. Simply put, if you’re working in India you
shouldn’t be thinking about the work-life balance at the moment
especially as a startup founder, as it is our opportunity to build the
country and we have a huge responsibility on our shoulders in building the country.
How do you stop overthinking and over
complicating and spending bandwidth on things you shouldn’t when starting
up?
From a simplicity
point of view, I would say that overthinking does not lead to anything. My
view is that if you’re overthinking or if you’re in confusion then act, don’t
overthink. The action will tell you whether it’s working or not working instead
of spending one month thinking or having excessive strategic discussions.
Don't find customers for your products, find
products for your customers. What is your view on this?
It is said that all
customers are looking for their problems to be solved rather than buying
our solutions or products. Typically, I would say that always the
pitch or product discovery calls that you do is to discover what is the real
problem you’re trying to solve for your client.
India's startup
landscape is growing by leaps and bounds, coming forth as one of the most
vibrant startup ecosystems on the global stage. Entrepreneur’s unwavering
motivation and dedication to building something unique have greatly contributed
to shaping India’s startup landscape.
Stay tuned to the
Crafting Bharat Podcast Series as we bring you these inspirational
entrepreneurs for insightful and candid discussions with Gautam Srinivasan.
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