Today, Rapido has nearly half the share of the overall ride-hailing market, with monthly active users at ~50 million across bike, auto and cab taxi versus Uber’s 30 million (as of July-25).

It’s come a long way since founding in 2015, nearly 10 years ago, fighting the Uber-Ola duopoly to emerge as a dominant player of reckon. Even Uber CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi called Rapido a formidable competitor in India in his recent podcast with Nikhil Kamath.

Also, Rapido has been in the news recently – with the launch of food delivery services ‘Ownly’ to now fight the duopoly in food delivery. And its recent partnerships with OTA (Online Travel Aggregators) to launch flight, hotel, bus and train ticketing. It’s on a steady pursuit to become the everything app, for every Indian.

In this podcast, Shantanu and I explore in this podcast how Rapido began as a B2B logistics venture called The and pivoted to the bike taxi model, the evolution of the taxi and ride hailing segment in India, key aspects from Rapido’s business model like it’s zero commission fees, optimizing for ~4 min ETA and more. Do check it out!

Key Timestamps

00:10: Rapido – Introduction & Industry Context

03:44: Rapido's Big Market Moments & Partnerships

05:07: Founding and Evolution of Rapido

06:53: Initial Growth, Guerilla Marketing & Expansion

09:50: Regulatory and Safety Challenges

11:30: COVID Pivot – Grocery & Essential Deliveries

14:32: Product Expansion: Autos and Cabs

16:25: Execution Philosophy & Tier 2 City Focus

18:40: Early Investors and Strategic Advice

20:02: Competition: Rapido vs Ola/Uber Models

21:36: Ride-Hailing Industry Timeline in India

24:57: Rapido's Diversified Business Model

27:10: Subscription Model for Drivers

29:48: Driver Earnings and Platform Stickiness

32:23: Product Strategy vs Ola/Uber

33:56: Cost-Frugal Culture & Tech Optimization

36:20: Customer and Driver Experience Innovations

38:17: Founders’ Vision and Bharat Focus

40:05: Market Share, Financial Metrics & Operational Insights

43:10: Final Thoughts on Disruption and Growth

Urban Company is a home services provider with plans to become a publicly traded unicorn soon.

Its story begins with a fundamental frustration experienced by millions of urban Indians - finding reliable, professional home service providers. Hiring a plumber, electrician, or beautician meant navigating an unorganized sector plagued by unprofessionalism, price opacity, and trust issues. Service providers often arrived late, charged arbitrary rates, and delivered inconsistent quality, while customers had no recourse for poor service.

Since its inception in 2014, Urban Company has emerged as an undisputed leader in the organized home services sector in India, perfecting a challenging service marketplace business. In this episode, we cover the journey from being UrbanClap, started as a Uber for X marketplace model to Urban Company, a full stack service provider. The co-founders, Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Varun Khaitan, and Raghav Chandra, each bring a unique skill set to the company, set a high standard of customer focus and have succeeded in building a unique institution, through training and standardization efforts that have set industry standards.

Urban Company is inspiring - a near monopoly in Indian online home services, but not without its own challenges in growth potential. There’s currently <2% online penetration of home services, the target market of mid to high income urban households in India is limited to ~13% of total households and quality supply is a constraint.Tune into our podcast episode, where we break down Urban Company's past, present, and future. We’ve also attempted to take it up a notch this time. Let us know what you think!

Links:

1/ Choti Soch Ad Campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU3y54ybZqA

2/ UC Culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEBPdaABZB4&t=198s

Atomberg Technologies, popular for their energy efficient fans, is one of the few D2C-first brands in India focused on bringing real value to the masses by being tech and product-first and manufacturing inhouse in India. They do this through smart energy savings technology (eg. BLDC motors) and modern design, innovating in a largely ignored small home appliances business (eg. ceiling fans). It recently hit INR 1000 Cr ARR, a big milestone and one few new-age companies have achieved so far. For comparative benchmarks, Mamaearth is at ~1900 cr and boAt at ~3000 cr.

The company was seeded in IIT Bombay's Society forInnovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE). Cofounders, Manoj Meena and Shibam Das are technologists at heart, who dabbled with multiple business models and pivoted a number of times before hitting their Aha! moment, and seeing an opportunity to revolutionalize the $60bn home appliances industry. Early on, they were joined by Arindam Paul, currently the Chief Business Officer, who has been instrumental in cracking distribution for the team. He is a marketing guru sharing who share real deal x No fluff lessons to help others professionals and upcoming startups.

In this episode, we discuss how they first focused on B2B and then moved B2C, the background of the founders and the company's founding story, its products and BLDC technology and key marketing actions that have helped them disrupt a competitive and fragmented small home appliances industry. We also share our take on the way forward for the company with two potential path forwards: 1) Likely will be acquired by one of the industry stalwarts like Crompton or Orient. Like Minimalist by HUL; 2) Build on an Indian opportunity to be truly insurgent and innovative like a Dyson for the masses. The latter is the more exciting one. And, the one we are rooting for.

In our third episode of Disruption Diaries, we discuss Lenskart.com. A company that focused and nailed one vertical and organised the very unorganised largely single store opticians and eyecare market in India. And, it is not just another me-too company of a Western counterpart but bigger than any other global omnichannel eyewear marketplace.

This wasn't always the case.

Early on, the company also sold watches, bags, and jewelry through Watchkart.com, Bagskart.com and Jewelskart.com largely replicating the Titan model online. But, sharp and good advice from early investor Ronnie Screwvala made them narrow their focus and close down all other businesses to focus on Lenskart.com. This company is soon to IPO at an estimated value of $10bn and hence the timing couldn't be better. Its full-stack manufacturing and crazy funny marketing are its superpowers. From 2010 inception to today, with a revenue of approximately ₹5,428 crore (~$700mn), operating 2000+ stores across in India, UAE, Japan, and South East Asia, we cover the founding story, the landscape of eyewear in India, some the the technological innovations and experiments that differentiates this company from other retailers and so much more. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did making this.

Key topics discussed at timestamp based on the Lenskart Disruption Diaries podcast episode you provided:

• 0:00 - Introduction to Podcast & Hosts: Shantanu and Jinal introduce the show, reference previous episodes, and set the context for discussing Lenskart as a disruptive business.

• 4:13 - Lenskart’s Genesis: Shantanu gives an overview of Lenskart’s founding in 2010, its rise to a $6 billion company, and outlines the journey to market leadership. They preview major discussion themes for the episode.

  8:27 - Personal Connection & Consumer Experience: Jinal shares her long-standing personal connection to Lenskart, her order history, and talks about affordability and variety. She recounts converting her husband from Titan to Lenskart.

• 12:40 - Eyewear Pricing Disruption: Jinal compares Lenskart’s pricing to traditional opticians, emphasizing affordability and product range as key factors for repeated purchases.

  16:54 - Product Assortment & Appeal: Discussion about Lenskart’s broad product selection, repeat purchases, and customer conversion anecdotes.

• 21:07 - Lenskart’s Larger Purpose, Vision & Social Impact: The hosts discuss the company’s mission—not just selling eyewear but improving vision and productivity across India. Mentions 70% of Indian adults needing corrective lenses.

• 25:21 - Business Model & Founder Story: Story of founder Piyush Bansal—his journey, career pivots, initial e-commerce sites, and the critical role of focus (with investor Ronnie Screwvala’s influence).

• 29:34 - Co-Founders & Company Formation: Background about the co-founders, Bansal’s inspiration from Bill Gates, Amit Chaudhary’s technology and operations background, Sumit Kapahi’s supply chain expertise.

• 33:48 - Eyewear Industry Structure & Lenskart’s Strategy: Overview of India’s eyewear sector—fragmented, dominated by mom-and-pop stores, and the challenge of scaling organized retail. Lenscart’s strategy to penetrate deeper into smaller cities.

• 38:01 - Operational Innovation & Customer Experience: Details on omni-channel innovation—online/offline integration, AR/VR features, store experiences, and NPS score of 80. Discussion about customer data, automated store merchandising, and focus on service excellence.

  42:15 - Full Stack Manufacturing & Premium Segment: Shantanu and Jinal explain how Lenskart manages the supply chain end-to-end (factory and tech investment), for both affordability and quality, and touch on launch of premium brand John Jacobs.

We are back with our second episode of Disruption Diaries, where we will deep dive on Delhivery, a disruptor company to the age old logistics business.

From its founding in 2011 to becoming a $3 billion company and a market leader in the logistics space in India, where 1 in every 4 e-comm parcels are handled by Delhivery. Their vision is to be the "Operating System for Commerce."Broadly, in this episode, we deep dive on

- Why is logistics important,

- The founding story of Delhivery

- Its business model and key products

- The mesh network (vs hub and spoke) that sets them apart from competitors

- Its financial performance and

- What lies ahead for this company
Hope you enjoy this. And, do let us know your suggestions on what other companies you would like us to cover

Key timestamps for each major topic0:00 – Introduction

• Hosts (Shantanu & Jeenal) introduce themselves and the Delhivery episode.

• 2:00 – Logistics industry context & importance

• How logistics contributes to GDP, the government’s targets, and India’s logistics cost.

• 4:00 – Fragmentation and opportunity in Indian logistics

• Discussion of the unorganized sector, growth rates, and potential for organized players.

• 6:00 – Delhivery’s founding story

• Origin in 2011 as a hyperlocal express service; founding team backgrounds (Sahil Barua, Mohit Tandan, Bhavesh Manglani, Surat Saharan, Kapil Bharti).

• 11:00 – Delhivery’s business model and scale

• Fully integrated logistics, service reach (18,700 pin codes), “operating system for commerce”, and vision.

• 14:00 – Key revenue streams & products

• Parcel/courier business (60%+ revenue), daily order volumes, part truck load, full truck load, supply chain solutions.

• 18:00 – Growth opportunities

• Warehousing, cross-border logistics, reverse logistics, and the “fulfilled by Delhivery” analogy.

• 23:00 – Cash flow challenges, payment cycle

• Credit terms with partners vs. clients, negative cash flows, and strategy for market share.

• 26:00 – What sets Delhivery apart

• Shift from hub-and-spoke to mesh network, technology focus, autonomous robotics in warehouses, investment in drones.

• 30:00 – Spoton acquisition and integration

• 2021 Spoton merger, synergy and challenges, impact on part truck load segment.

• 32:00 – Rivigo vs. Delhivery

• Business model and strategic differences: asset-heavy vs. asset-light, leadership stability, funding/dilution, last-mile “mesh” advantage.

• 35:00 – Financials and profitability

• Shift to profitability, revenue growth, improvement in customer concentration risk.

• 38:00 – Current and future challenges

• Competition from in-house logistics (Amazon/Flipkart), quick commerce, customer concentration, market risks, and cloud warehousing.

• 42:00 – Technology trends and future opportunities

• Cloud warehousing, making warehousing a variable cost, elastic demand fulfillment.

• 44:00 – Sustainability and EVs

• Role of electric vehicles in logistics, cost savings, current barriers in “middle mile”.

• 47:00 – Further opportunities

• Quick commerce as a service, regional/national shipping, “Delhivery One” platform as a tech enabler.

• 50:00 – Closing thoughts

• Why Delhivery is strongly positioned, final host impressions, request for listener suggestions

• 
  

This is a deep dive on one of our favourite companies and an Indian startup posterboy, PhonePe. It's one of the best acquisitions in Indian startup history, which turned out great for Flipkart. And with the recent release of their first annual report with financials in Aug-24, it gave us an inside view of the company’s performance.

PhonePe was founded in 2015 by three cofounders, Samir Nigam, Rahul Chari and Burzin Engineer, ex-Flipkart and longtime friends. Initially, it launched as a digital wallet facilitating mobile recharges and bill payments. But in 2016, just a few months before demonetization, it adapted to the changing digital finance landscape in India and launched its flagship product on UPI. And, that completely changed the game for the company.

In this episode, Shantanu and Jinal discuss in depth the founding story, the enabling macroeconomic climate, its business model, financials and what the future holds for the company.

Broadly, the topics that flow are:

- The dominance of PhonePe in today's UPI market

- The founding story

- Culture and values

- Business model and new bets

- Financial strategy

- Key challenges and future opportunities

Key Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction: Shantanu welcomes listeners and introduces the podcast and co-host Jinal.

00:37 – Jinal’s Introduction: Jinal shares her background in economics, startups, ISB, and Amazon India.

02:10 – Shantanu’s Introduction: Shantanu discusses his background in mechanical engineering, steel plants, and startups.

03:04 – Topic Intro – PhonePe: Jinal explains why PhonePe is being discussed—its significance and acquisition by Flipkart.

04:30 – What is PhonePe: Shantanu describes PhonePe’s function as a financial intermediary/super app.

05:23 – PhonePe Founders’ Story: Jinal shares the backgrounds of Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari, and Burzin Engineer and their connection to Flipkart.

08:00 – Why They Built PhonePe: The founders’ motivation around solving Flipkart's payment issues during Big Billion Day.

10:23 – Acquisition by Flipkart: Early sale of PhonePe to Flipkart and strategic reasons for it.

12:02 – Company Culture: Discussion of PhonePe’s values, integrity, and emphasis on company culture.

13:58 – Key Events in 2016: UPI launch, Jio revolution, and demonetization propelling PhonePe’s growth.

16:00 – Competing with Paytm: Comparison with Paytm, marketing strategies, and “Indianness” of PhonePe.

18:32 – PhonePe’s Scale in 2024: Jinal shares usage and statistics (users, transactions, market position).

19:58 – Business Model Overview: Shantanu details merchant and customer revenue drivers, government subsidies, sound boxes, POS, and more.

23:00 – Expansion Areas: Diversification into Pincode, Indus App Store, wealth management, and how data powers growth.

25:35 – Financial Performance: FY23-24 revenue, PAT figures, and sustainable growth strategies.

27:03 – Competition and Market Share: How PhonePe surpassed Paytm and Google Pay, focusing on rural/vernacular solutions and UPI lead.

29:38 – User Experience Comparison: Discussion on UI/UX: PhonePe vs. Paytm vs. Google Pay—functional strengths and weaknesses.

32:14 – Regulatory Challenge: Potential NPCI market cap on UPI transactions and the challenge ahead for PhonePe.