Quick-commerce platform Blinkit has the potential to become bigger than its parent Zomato’s food delivery business, the company’s Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal said on Monday.
Speaking during a fireside chat with Info Edge Founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani, at the three day start-up event Startup Mahakumbh, Goyal said, “It is all about how do we disrupt our own businesses. For instance, right now we have a business plan competition going on within the company, which will focus on offering funds to a small team, which will come up with a plan to disrupt the businesses that we are in right now. That could lead to Zomato version 5 or Blinkit version 2. Blinkit is a part of Zomato version 4, and in one year’s time, Blinkit could be bigger than Zomato.”
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Stating that Zomato is already operating at its fourth iteration in its 16 years of journey, Goyal said, “I don’t thing we are running the same company that we started back in 2008. The business that we had is very different from the business that we have now. I think this the fourth version (Zomato 4.0) of the company.”
He pointed out that its tougher to build a generational company in current times compared to previous times. “None of the business models that are being created right now will last beyond a decade because with all the tech and distribution systems that are changing. You have to innovate and create new businesses from the outcomes you’ve created so far if you want to last longer.”
Strong culture
Goyal also emphasised that importance of building a culture within the organisation. “When we asked our entire team to take voluntary salary cuts, we didn’t force it on anyone. About 80 per cent of the team decided to take voluntary salary cuts. That’s building a strong culture. Culture is the only long-term moat. You may say the product is the moat or the distribution is the moat. None of these are moats because they will not last long,” he said. He also said building a team is also one of the biggest privileges of being a founder.
Goyal stated that competition helped in shaping Zomato. “Maybe we would not have become the company that we became right now if there was no competition. We could have slipped into being complacent if there was no competition,” he added.
Goyal also advised start-up founders that the cash burn should be in proportion to the size of prize that they are trying to get.