Mukesh Bansal, the head of commerce and advertisement platforms for e-commerce website Flipkart, put in his papers on Wednesday. Bansal, who was one of the co-founders of the fashion and lifestyle website Myntra, said in a farewell letter to employees that he will continue to mentor the team.
Myntra had a merger deal of $330 million with Flipkart in May 2014.
"I never thought that Myntra would come this far. It has been the leader market with premium service, differentiated shopping experience, unique in-house brands," Bansal said.
Here's the full text of the letter:
Time to pass on the Baton!
Hi All - My incredible journey with Myntra and Flipkart comes to an end. It has been amazing nine years filled with lot of learning, privilege to work with outstanding people and chance to participate in building future industry of India that will impact hundred of millions of people.
When Ashutosh and I started Myntra in 2007, we never dreamt in our wildest imagination that we will come this far. What's even more amazing is that it seems we are just getting started and the journey ahead for Flipkart/Myntra is going to be even more fascinating and at the scale that India has never seen before.
Today, Myntra is by far the best fashion destination in the country and is run by a strong, passionate leadership team led by Ananth. I am confident that this team will make Myntra an iconic company which will change the face of fashion industry in India. Myntra is leading the industry with premium service, differentiated shopping experience, unique in-house brands and lot of progress towards achieving profitability. I am particularly proud of the culture at Myntra which is a huge source of strength and differentiation and inspiration for entire ecosystem.
My two years with Flipkart has been nothing short of fairy tale! Sachin and Binny have built a very unique company that has practically created the eCommerce industry in India and consistently led in innovation like COD, eKart, 30 Day Returns and mCommerce. The Audacity, Flipkart first and Bias for action have been cornerstone of the Flipkart culture that enables us to dream big and consistently beat our own expectations. We are well on our way to build India's first real tech company, drive genuine innovation and transform commerce in India through technology.
I have enjoyed every minute of my time with Flipkart and felt inspired every moment. In last two years, we have established very strong leadership in Fashion, transformed the business into Marketplace model, increased our Smartphone market share to 60% and built differentiators in Large. We have pivoted to completely mobile first company with 60% mCommerce market-share for the group. We have embarked on the journey to be a strong product/tech organisation with very high caliber talent. Last year, we set out to build the best leadership team in India and we have done exactly that. With the caliber of this team, I am very confident that Flipkart is in safe hands and this team is eminently capable of charting the course for next phase of Flipkart journey.
I am very excited with Binny coming in as CEO and my transition will enable him to work directly with CP leadership. Binny's ability to drive execution rigour, objectivity and long term vision for Flipkart will give us best shot in dealing with the challenges that lie ahead. Binny, along with the leadership and the amazing talent pool at Flipkart will do justice to any mandate and continue to push the boundaries for eCommerce/Internet businesses in India and beyond. I will transition my role to Binny and will be available as long as required to ensure a smooth and successful transition. With this team in place and the momentum on multiple fronts, CP is in great hands and I feel confident that this is right time for me to move on to next phase.
Even though my journey comes to an end, I will always be deeply emotionally connected to Flipkart and Myntra. I will continue to be available from outside as sounding board and mentor to the team. Last nine years have completely transformed me as a person and I will cherish every moment. The hardest part will be to part ways with all the incredible people I had the privilege to get to know and work with. I will seek you out over next few weeks to say my good-byes in person and to celebrate what we have achieved together.
Flipkart posted a loss of ₹2000 crores in FY15 from the loss of ₹715 crores of the previous year. Although the sales trebled to ₹10390 crores.
In an interview Bansal said, "I have been talking about my departure since October. Things at Flipkart are very stable, it is time for me to give a bit more attention to my family. The investors wanted me to stick around for 2-3 years more but eventually, they understood".
Recently before a potential IPO Flipkart made changes in top management. Sachin Bansal moved to the post of executive chairman and Binny Bansal took over as the CEO of the e-commerce company. Flipkart was also one of the most searched term on Google in India in the year 2015.
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