Who is Binny Bansal? 10 facts to know about Flipkart's former CEO

In a shock move, Binny Bansal has stepped down as group CEO of Flipkart, the firm he co-founded with Sachin Bansal (not related) in 2007, following a probe into "serious personal misconduct". Flipkart's parent company, Walmart, announced his resignation in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.  

Binny, who along with Sachin formed the dynamic duo of Indian start-ups, left Amazon, where he was an executive, to set up Flipkart, which went on to become India's most well-known unicorn. His resignation marks the exit of both the founders of India's largest e-commerce firm.

Here are 10 facts about him:

1. Binny Bansal, who attended Indian Institute of Technology - Delhi, is regarded as the “operations guy” and “the executioner” at Flipkart— where Sachin Bansal dreamed up the big ideas, Binny Bansal executed them. The two men hail from Chandigarh but are not related.  They moved to Bengaluru after completing their engineering, taking up jobs at different firms. Interestingly, Binny Bansal was rejected by Google twice. Binny and Sachin both worked at Amazon in 2007. 

2. Binny, a data junkie at heart and an avid reader, quit Amazon after six months and joined Sarnoff Technologies. It was during his stint at Sarnoff Technologies, that Binny though of starting up a business along with Sachin. The two men wanted to launch a price-comparison site, but scaled up their ambition and Flipkart was born in October 2007. The duo started Flipkart from a two-bedroom flat in Koramangala, Bengaluru's IT hub, by pooling Rs 400,000 as their first capital. With innovations like cash-on-delivery, Flipkart soon won over customer's trust. 

3. According to Forbes, Binny had a net worth of $1.2 billion in 2016. In July 2014, Flipkart entered the global stage as one of the most valuable start-ups when it raised $1 billion at a valuation of $7 billion. Binny took up the operational role as CEO in January 2016. Binny Bansal has focused on improving efficiency, cutting costs and shedding jobs, to bring the business to profitable levels. Binny’s prowess is said to have been the driving force behind the company’s massive scale. 

4. Sachin, as CEO, was more of the face of Flipkart. Biny, as COO of Flipkart, would join Sachin for joint interviews during important occasions, like the Myntra Acquisition in 2014. Later, the company acquired firms like PhonePe to which helped to maintain diversity. Like Amazon, Flipkart also started with selling books and began with only three servers. The first book to be sold was Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood. 

5. In 2016, Sachin Bansal and Binny were chosen for 'Asian of the year' under the group 'The Disruptors' by Straits Times of Singapore. Flipkart has invested in two logistics start-ups, BlackBuck, an online freight booking platform, and QikPod. It also has picked up a crucial stake in MapMyIndia. Flipkart became the first e-commerce company in India to reach $1 billion in GMV and also the first to raise $1 billion in funding. In September 2016, Flipkart has emerged as the 'E-commerce company of the year' in a nationwide consumer study conducted by BusinessWorld Group in association with Nielsen.

6. In just eleven years of founding India’s e-commerce poster boy Flipkart, Sachin and Binny Bansal outgrew the financial success of several iconic Indian businessmen. They were not only able to ride India’s robust consumption story but also earned the investors’ willingness to place their bets on their company.

7. After staring with a single category, Flipkart today is on its own journey to compete with Amazon. According to a profile done by The Hindu on Binny Bansal on October 2018, he has been quoted saying, "It (startup journey) is a marathon. I think physical and mental fitness is very important and gives a competitive edge against [rivals]….You can run much faster. One key principle was not to run out of cash...We have been lucky to have partners (investors) like Accel, Tiger Global.” 

8. About the growth of Flipkart after been acquired by Binny Bansal, he has been quoted saying by Business Standard, "As we continue to scale up, we are looking to strengthen our supply chain deeply, by integrating it with technology." What would they have done in life, if Flipkart didn't happen? Software engineer's Binny Bansal's reply was "I would have liked to build computer games."

9. After US-based Walmart acquired 77% stake in Flipkart, Sachin sold his 5.5% stake in the company for about $1 billion and stepped down from the post of Flipkart's group chairman. 

10. None has attained the status of former Amazon employees Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal and their venture, Flipkart, now a household name. From delivering packages on their two-wheeler when it was launched in 2007 as an e-commerce site for books to an online marketplace now valued at $7 billion, it has been something of a fairytale for the duo.