Jul 14, 2023 · 1h 1m · neon-show
Sanjeev Bikhchandani on Finding Zomato & Taking the First Tech Company in India to IPO
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this in-depth conversation, Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani reflects on his 33-year entrepreneurial journey, detailing how bootstrapping Naukri.com, maintaining strict capital discipline, taking India's first internet company public, and backing market leaders like Zomato and PolicyBazaar shaped the Indian startup ecosystem.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Siddhartha holds 13.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Siddhartha as informed peer 2.8 Guest teaching 3.0 Guest disagreement 0.7 Siddhartha pushing back 0.2
speaking balance: gold is Siddhartha, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 34:08 Bikhchandani rejects the premise that aggregation is dead
Bikhchandani immediately cuts in with 'You don't know' when Ahluwalia suggests aggregation has run its course, clarifying that aggregation is merely one manifestation of solving unsolved consumer problems.
Hardest push from Siddhartha ▶ 47:53 Ahluwalia challenges Bikhchandani on PolicyBazaar's lack of natural tractionAhluwalia directly confronts Bikhchandani's core investment rule of requiring natural traction by pointing out that he wrote a 20 crore check to PolicyBazaar based purely on a PowerPoint deck.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 45:20 Bikhchandani dismantles conventional TAM analysisBikhchandani uses his own investor rejection in 2000 to explain why legacy TAM calculations fail in disruptive tech, showing that Info Edge beat its four-year forecast by 7x because new internet markets expand addressable demand.
Siddhartha holds their own ▶ 55:00 Ahluwalia critiques applying American VC listing timelines to Indian marketsAhluwalia demonstrates market expertise by articulating the structural mismatch between American growth-stage capital holding companies private and Indian retail/QIB markets demanding early profitability.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Siddhartha as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Siddhartha pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preview: Sanjeev Bikhchandani on Frugality, Zomato, and Going Public | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Ahluwalia introduces Bikhchandani reverently as the 'Dronacharya' of Indian startups and recounts asking him a question about exit strategy back in 2008. Bikhchandani repeats his long-standing advice that building for the long term requires patient capital. | |
| Leaving Corporate Comfort and the Seven Years of Drift | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Ahluwalia prompts Bikhchandani on his initial seven-year period of experimentation. Bikhchandani describes leaving corporate life and explains how drifting, teaching management, and working at The Pioneer taught him crucial leadership skills. | |
| Bootstrapping Naukri and Surviving the Dot-Com Meltdown | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | Bikhchandani corrects the timeline, clarifying that Info Edge predates Naukri and explaining how bootstrapping kept overhead low until raising venture capital right before the dot-com crash. Ahluwalia follows along, noting the dot-com bubble collapse. | |
| Building a B2B Sales Engine and Scaling Info Edge | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | Bikhchandani explains how Info Edge discovered its 'repeatable profitable unit' by transitioning from direct mail to an in-person B2B sales force modeled on Xerox. Ahluwalia tracks the revenue trajectory leading up to the IPO. | |
| Taking Info Edge Public and the Tech Scarcity Premium | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Ahluwalia inquires about avoiding further private funding rounds, and Bikhchandani explains that going public provided independence and came with a tech scarcity premium. He also details how unused IPO proceeds led them to start investing in startups. | |
| Structuring Info Edge Ventures and Partnering with Temasek | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Bikhchandani explains the origins of Info Edge Ventures and the decision to partner 50-50 with Temasek to avoid NBFC classification and manage risk during COVID. Ahluwalia asks whether real estate funds were rolled into the AIF. | |
| Capital Scarcity Mindset Versus the Era of Abundant Capital | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | Ahluwalia wonders why more startups don't replicate Info Edge's timeline to IPO. Bikhchandani educates him on how zero-interest-rate monetary policies post-2008 created capital abundance, delaying the need for startups to achieve profitability. | |
| Navigating Economic Slowdowns with a People-First Philosophy | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | Ahluwalia asks if this is the first capital drought Bikhchandani has witnessed. Bikhchandani corrects him, noting he has survived six major economic shocks and explains why keeping three years of cash buffer allowed them to avoid layoffs during COVID. | |
| Origin of Naukri: Solving Unmet Needs Through Consumer Insights | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | When Ahluwalia suggests aggregation is a finished playbook in 2023, Bikhchandani immediately pushes back ('You don't know'). He educates the host on how deep consumer insights solve unsolved problems, sharing how he noticed colleagues reading Business India appointment ads from the back. | |
| Discovering Zomato and the Menu Aggregation Insight | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Bikhchandani tells the story of discovering Deepinder Goyal and FoodieBay through a domain WHOIS lookup after observing how useful menu cards were. Ahluwalia listens and asks about their early funding rounds. | |
| Staged Investing and Why Traditional TAM is Misleading | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | Ahluwalia asks about calculating Total Addressable Market (TAM). Bikhchandani dismisses orthodox TAM calculations with an anecdote about an investor rejecting Naukri based on print ad market math, arguing that restructuring markets expands TAM beyond forecasts. | |
| The PolicyBazaar Opportunity and Solving Market Opacity | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Ahluwalia points out that PolicyBazaar was funded without natural traction on just a pitch deck. Bikhchandani readily agrees it was a leap of faith, detailing Yashish Dahiya's live demo showing how Sanjeev was paying 40% more for car insurance due to market opacity. | |
| Long-Term Holding Strategy and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's Advice | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Ahluwalia questions whether Info Edge should have taken partial secondary exits earlier. Bikhchandani explains his long-term philosophy inspired by Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's advice that good companies should be held indefinitely. | |
| Indian Public Markets, IPO Timelines, and Valuation Discipline | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | Ahluwalia argues that India should not adopt the US venture model of staying private until massive valuations and claims retail investors were left with nothing. Bikhchandani defends recent tech IPOs, arguing valuation corrections were market-wide and that patience and risk management define enduring founders. |
Statements from this episode (27)
Info Edge Remains Invested in PolicyBazaar and Zomato Since Their Early Rounds
“Look, we invested in Policy Bazaar in 2008. We are still shareholders. We invested in Zamaatwo in 2010. We are still there.”
Bikhchandani: Teaching Management Teaches More About Management Than Studying It
“I learned more management while teaching management than while studying management. Because when you're teaching management, you're in front of an audience of 50 or 60. They're asking you questions. Right? If you're studying management, you know, you can get a…”
Bikhchandani Did Not Draw a Salary for Six of His First Ten Years
“So in the first 10 years of being in Antrimana from 1990 to 2000 I didn't take a salary for approximately six years, right?”
Info Edge Raised 7.3 Crore Rupees ($1.7M) Before the Dot-Com Crash
“We had to make do with what we'd raised, which was 7.3 crores, which was 1.7 million dollars then, exchange it was 40 rupees that time.”
Info Edge's Post-Funding Salary Bill Reached 4x Monthly Sales Collections
“So, I recall there was a point in time when we, the sales collections every month was 25% of our salary bill. In other words, salary build was Forex of our sales collections, and we had some 16 months of money left.”
Info Edge Reached 84 Crore Revenue Before Its October 2006 IPO
“We were 84 CR in March. We are ending March 2000 six. We went public in October. And in March, 2007, we did one 47 CR.”
Bikhchandani: IPOs and Profitability Grant Complete Independence From VC Agreements
“And to do that you your best independence from venture capital and p agreements is profits is profit and is going public because when you go public all vcp agreements fall away”
Info Edge Benefited From a Scarcity Premium as India's Sole Internet IPO
“We also had scarcity premium. We were the only internet company out of India going public.”
Bankers Warned SEBI Would Reject Info Edge's Non-Standard IPO Rationale
“However, the bankers told us, if you put these reasons, you will never get your SEBI permission. You gotta put five standard reasons.”
Info Edge Deployed Over 200 Crores Into Startups Between 2007 and 2012
“Between 2007, when we had our first investment. To 2012, in five years, we had more than 200 crores invested.”
Info Edge's Board Paused New Startup Investments Around 2012
“So we finally agreed in, in the board, I agreed that we will not do any more new companies for a while. We could support the old companies if needed, but we won't do new companies.”
Naukri's Billings Dropped 44% During the Initial COVID-19 Quarter
“Knockly sales growth, buildings growth in April, June, 2000, 20, was -44%.”
Info Edge and Temasek Committed $425M Across Four Venture Funds
“Since then, we've got a total of four funds. Total commitment for twenty-five million. Half from Temasek and half from Profits of InfoEdge. From InfoEdge.”
Info Edge Holds Approximately ₹3,400 Crore in Cash on Its Balance Sheet
“So the company currently has got about three, eight, 3405 hundred crores, 3400 crores, I think, of cash in the books.”
Info Edge's Series A Was Its Only Funding Round Before Going Public
“Six years from our series A, first round. And series A was the only round we ever had.”
Capital Scarcity Forces Startups to Build Their Business on Customer Money
“So really you had to sort of, with meager capital, somehow try and build a business, which means that you have to build on customer money. So this kind of frugality in fiscal discipline got ingrained in our system for the first 10 years.”
Info Edge Has Maintained Excess Cash Reserves Since 2004
“Post 2004, five, we have always had a lot of cash on our books, on our balance sheet, in our bank. More than most investors, analysts will say is required.”
Naukri Launched by Manually Transcribing Job Ads From 29 Print Publications
“I used to get 29 newspapers and magazines from around the country into our office, and two-day entry guys would just input the appointment ads in our own words, in our own format. And we'd upload it.”
Info Edge Solo-Funded Zomato for Four Rounds Before Sequoia Capital Joined
“We were actually solo for the first four rounds. Not first, first four rounds. Fifth round when Sequoia came in.”
Info Edge Invested 20 Crore Rupees Into PolicyBazaar Before Product Launch
“We invested 20 crores on a PowerPoint. Before the product was launched, and therefore, it was a big sum of money for us.”
Traditional TAM Calculations Fail When Industries Are Actively Being Restructured
“What I'm saying is that when new markets have been created when industry is being restructured, what you thought was TAM may not be the TAM.”
PolicyBazaar Founder Proved Bikhchandani's Car Insurance Was 40% Above Lowest Quote
“And sure enough, what I was paying for my insurance was 40% higher than the lowest quote.”
Bikhchandani: Strategic Acquisitions in India Rarely Deliver VC-Level Returns
“You know, if you look at
Strategic sales.
And you leave out Flipkart, they typically don't give you the kind of return that a VC investor would expect and hope for.”
Info Edge's Venture Fund Is Structured With a 14-Year Fund Life
“It's 12 plus two years.
So it's a 14 year fund.
I mean, 12 plus two.
So you can end up with a 14 year fund.
Which gives you a very long holding period, which means, you know, you can afford to be very patient.”
Info Edge Sold Early Partial Secondaries in Zomato and PolicyBazaar
“We have exited Zomato a bit.
When Ant Financial came in, because Ant said we want a secondary.
A little bit.
We're supporting the company.
Likewise, in Policy Bazaar, we exited a bit.
Early on.”
Bikhchandani: Public Markets Will Not Tolerate Startup Losses Beyond Two Years
“Now, as a loss making company go public, you better be sure that you're going to be making a profit in one or two years after you go public. No, I don't think public markets are willing to tolerate losses over five years, seven years further.”
Bikhchandani: Irrationally Valued IPOs Will Inevitably Correct Post-Listing
“You know, you can't go at a valuation which is completely irrational, and that's stupid of you to do that. Market won't take it, and if the market does take it, somehow you force it, the valuation will correct in the aftermarket, and that's not a good idea.”