Be Unique, The Flipkart Way: Unravelling Unprecedented Corporate Entrepreneurship  (Hardcover, Varadharaju Janardhanan, M.H. Bala Subrahmanya)

The book traces the history of the unprecedented growth of Flipkart from its inception in 2007 till 2022, owing to the successful adoption of corporate entrepreneurship and the nurturing of entrepreneurial culture. When Flipkart was created in 2007 in Bangalore, the e-commerce industry was hardly present and the entrepreneurial ecosystem for tech start-ups was at its infancy. The book analyses the way the founders of Flipkart and its management overcame multiple challenges and created supply capability, on the one hand, and generated demand on the other. In the process, the founders and management undertook process innovations, financial innovations, and market innovations for supply creation and demand generation. Thus, the simultaneous focus on supply and demand has been the outstanding feature of growth model of Flipkart. Flipkart kept nurturing entrepreneurial culture among its employees leading to many periodic strategic renewal, ‘start-ins’ and M&As. Another significant outcome of Flipkart’s entrepreneurial culture is in the form of emergence of more than 200 start-ups by its former employees (ex-Flipsters). Flipkart has contributed to India’s start-up ecosystem not only in the form of entrepreneurship generation, but also investment funding, market support, mentoring, incubation, and accelerator support system, among others. A near-unanimous convergence of opinions of management, executives and ex- Flipsters on the presence of entrepreneurial culture reflects the strength of the company. Based on extensive research and authentic data, the authors conclude that the successful pursuance of corporate entrepreneurship in Flipkart is contributed by pro-active, risk-taking, and motivated executives with high education qualifications. This book is a game-changer for start-ups and start-up ecosystems.