Part 1: Saahil Goel of Shiprocket on rebuilding the same company three times, the $4 million he was told to take or leave and why in India you sell outcomes, not software
About this episode
Saahil Goel discusses the evolution of Shiprocket, its challenges, and the lessons learned from building the company over the years.
Part 1 of 2. Most people date Shiprocket to 2017; in truth it was born in 2011, and the road there runs through two companies called KartRocket and Craftly. Saahil Goel walks Rohin through the build: Rs 15 lakh of their own money, nearly not being hired by their own first engineers, the hard lesson that in India you sell outcomes not software, an investor ultimatum to take $4 million or nothing, and by the end, just how much capital it's taken to get from that first office to the edge of a public listing. Part 2 gets into how he actually thinks. Chapters 0:00 The company that started in 2011, not 2017 4:01 KartRocket: building an agency to learn the market 6:09 Bootstrapped on Rs 15 lakh 9:02 Why Indian SMBs wouldn't pay for software 17:58 “Take $4 million or nothing” 22:38 How Shiprocket was born 27:06 What Shiprocket actually is — and how it makes money 37:58 The IPO, and the state of the business 44:19 Quick commerce without owning a truck 48:42 From Delhi to a US career — and back 55:59 Lessons from failed fundraises 1:04:23 How much they've raised This episode was produced by Rohin Dharmakumar and mixed and mastered by Rajiv CN. Write to us at fp@the-ken.com with your…
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