Lessons from Myntra on how to build a long-lasting marketplace

As they evolve and scale marketplaces, entrepreneurs and investors evolve and scale too. Their grasp over gut and data and people shows ease and confidence. In this conversation, Mukesh Bansal of Myntra and Cure.fit, and Subrata Mitra of Accel reflect on the various stages of and learnings from that progression.
Lessons from Myntra on how to build a long-lasting marketplace
Lessons from Myntra on how to build a long-lasting marketplace
40 Mins
Available on your favorite podcast app
Guests
Subrata Mitra
Subrata Mitra
Partner at Accel
Subrata is an entrepreneur turned VC, and joined Accel when Erasmic Venture Fund, a firm that he co-founded, rebranded to become part of Accel in 2008. Before becoming a venture capitalist, Mitra was an entrepreneur who built and sold an AI startup called Firewhite to mobile and wireless services provider Ubiquio in 2002. Since joining Accel, Subrata was the first investor in CasaOne, Curefit, Flipkart (acquired by Walmart), Juspay, Moglix, Money View, Mu-Sigma, Myntra (acquired by Flipkart), Scripbox, Virident (acquired by Western Digital), WIBMO (acquired by PayU), and several other category leaders
Mukesh Bansal
Mukesh Bansal
Founder and CEO at Myntra
Mukesh Bansal is the founder of the fashion e-commerce firm, Myntra. He is an Indian businessman, who currently serves as the co-founder and CEO of cure.fit. He is also on the board of Olympics Gold Quest, a non-profit organization that promotes the development of sports infrastructure and training in the country.
About 
Myntra

What does it take to build a timeless marketplace? Time. 

Long-lasting marketplaces have little to do with restless hustling, and a lot to do with clear research and balancing gut calls with data calls. You can trust that bit of wisdom because it comes from Mukesh Bansal who knows the ups and downs of entrepreneurship in India more intimately than most.

As founder of Myntra, head of commerce and advertising at Flipkart, and now as founder-CEO at cure.fit, the relentless entrepreneur has sold fashion, fitness, and almost everything in between. 

Mukesh was one of the first startup folk to have brought the Bay Area ethos to the Bengaluru ecosystem. Over the last 15 years, he has steered companies through teething problems, pivoting and scaling missions, as well as acquisitions. 

In this part of a series of conversations sponsored by Accel, Mukesh shares his favourite entrepreneurial hits and misses. Joining him is Subrata Mitra of Accel who has been among Mukesh’s earliest backers. He shares wisdom not just for the benefit of founders but also for venture capitalists as they go from backing two to four to 20 companies. 

Over the course of chatting with Pankaj Mishra, the duo sum up their journey so far in many quotable quotes.

We’re looking for the next generation of successful Indian marketplaces. If you’re an early-stage marketplace founder, apply now here or learn more about the #DecodingMarketplaces Startup Hunt.
We’d love to hear about your experiences with marketplaces. Let us share our learnings and build a better and stronger ecosystem. Write to us at seedtoscale@accel.com to be a part of the Accel family.
40 Mins
   •   
November 22, 2022
SHARE :
This is some text inside of a div block.