It wasn't just Flipkart restructuring this week, Ola, Snapdeal and others followed their lead
2017 has just begun to set in, and it certainly seems to be making quite a statement.
While the Indian startup ecosystem was already abuzz this week with Flipkart’s change of hands, the Tata Sons leadership crisis was also addressed through the appointment of Natarajan Chandrasekaran as the new Chairman of the group.
But while multiple debates may be brewing around these two appointments, Flipkart and Tata Sons were far from the only big guns making changes in their highest echelons. The following are the other big HR movements of the week:
- After CEO appointment, executive exits spark in Flipkart
Just a day after e-commerce behemoth Flipkart appointed Kalyan Krishnamurthy (ex-Tiger Global executive) as its new CEO, it was reported that three top executives at the company had decided to move on from the Bengaluru-based organisation.
Media reports suggest that the three executives are Saikiran Krishnamurthy, head of e-tailer supply chain unit Ekart, head of product, Surojit Chatterjee, and Chief Marketing Officer Samardeep Subandh.
However, Flipkart hasn’t confirmed the news and refrains from commenting on the same.
On Monday, apart from the announcement of Kalyan taking over as CEO, it was also announced that co-founder Binny Bansal was elevated to the position of group CEO. Also, it was announced, as a part of the reorganisation, that Nitin Seth was appointed the Chief Operating Officer at the firm.
Further, on January 6th, the Economic Times reported that Flipkart's head of consumer design, Suvonil Chatterjee, also quit India's largest e-tailer, after a 15-month stint.
- Ola appoints Shalabh Seth as CEO of Ola Fleet Technologies
The news came out on Tuesday that Indian cab aggregator Ola appointed Shalabh Seth as the CEO of Ola Fleet Technologies, a wholly owned leasing subsidiary.
In his new role, Shalabh will drive supply growth through leasing and other driver-focused initiatives. Conceived a year ago, Ola Fleet Technologies is responsible for building its own fleet, skilling drivers and creating a comprehensive ecosystem.
Prior to Ola, Shalabh was the Managing Director at SAB Miller, where he was responsible for business expansion and growth in the country.
- Snapdeal appoints Housing CEO as Chief Strategy & Investment Officer
From one e-commerce major to another, online marketplace Snapdeal on Wednesday announced the appointment of ex-Housing CEO Jason Kothari as its Chief Strategy & Investment Officer.
As Chief Strategy & Investment Officer for Snapdeal, Kothari’s responsibilities will include leading strategy, corporate development (including all investments and strategic partnerships), raising new capital for the company, and portfolio management (overseeing companies Snapdeal wholly owns or has invested in).
In a media statement, it was said that under his stewardship, Housing.com changed its business strategy and plan, hired a new, experienced management team, restructured and reduced operating costs by 70 percent, going from 2,500 to 900 employees, as well as raised an additional $20 million from lead investor Softbank.
This month, Housing.com also announced its merger with News Corp-backed real estate brokerage firm PropTiger, and raised $55 million from Real Estate Australia (REA) Group and Softbank to create the largest digital real estate company in India.
- Moonfrog Labs appoints new director for Human Resources
Mobile game development firm Moonfrog Labs announced the appointment of Deepa Naidu as its Director of Human Resources.
Said to have 13 years of experience in people development and talent management, Deepa is expected to nurture and develop a strong talent pool to propel Moonfrog through its next stage of growth.
In her previous roles, Deepa had worked with companies like GSN Games India, Zynga and Electronic Arts.
- Marissa Mayer to resign from Yahoo board
Further, in the international circuit, it was reported that following the closure of the Verizon and Yahoo deal, Marissa Mayer has indicated that she intends to resign from the board, effective upon the closing (of the deal).
Upon closure of the deal, Yahoo will operate as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Moreover, the size of the board will be reduced to five directors.
- TCS chief to head Tata Sons
Just yesterday, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, the Chief Executive Officer of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), was appointed as the Chairman of Tata Sons, ending what was called the biggest leadership crisis in recent Indian corporate history.
Joining TCS in 1987 as a computer engineer, N. Chandrasekaran steadily climbed his way up the ladder, becoming CEO of the company in 2009. Rajesh Gopinath is expected to fill his shoes at TCS.
The winds of change have been hitting the Indian startup scene since last week.
- Ex-VP, Product at Practo joins CueMath; Freecharge gets new HR head
Last week, edtech startup CueMath snapped up Anshumani Ruddra, ex-VP of Product at Practo. He joined the Bengaluru-based company as its Chief Product Officer.
At the same time, FreeCharge announced the appointment of Mayank Kapoor as its new head of Human Resources, while Simplilearn announced the appointment of Big Data thought leader Ronald van Loon as an Advisory Board Member for its Big Data training category.
But with 2016 seeing a lot of restructuring in investments, the difficult environment for raising capital is pushing businesses to look within and form better teams.
However, how much that helps these businesses will be interesting to watch over course of the year.