Welcome to Episode 38 of First Principles!
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In this episode, you will hear Vaibhav Gupta, the CEO and co-founder of Udaan, an online trade platform whose mission is to "transform India".
It hopes to achieve that lofty goal by bringing tens of thousands of shopkeepers and grocery store owners closer to their suppliers and offering them competitive pricing, guarantees on quality, and easy deliveries and returns.
Vaibhav and his co-founders—Amod Malaviya and Sujeet Kumar—were all senior Flipkart leaders before starting Udaan. And yet, he insists Udaan isn't merely a "Flipkart for businesses".
Since 2016, when it first began operations, Udaan has raised over a billion dollars in venture capital. It was one of the fastest startups to achieve the coveted "unicorn tag".
It has also gone through its ups and downs in terms of valuations and headcount.
In this episode—Part 1 of our conversation with Vaibhav Gupta, we discuss:
--> Why Udaan evolved from a marketplace to a first-party business
--> Why the firm instituted a formal CEO position after five years of its existence
--> The five pillars of Udaan's culture
--> What daily conversations inside Udaan's leadership team look like
This is episode 38 of First Principles—The Ken's weekly leadership podcast.
First Principles has been named one of the best shows of 2025 on Apple Podcasts India!
Every listen and every share is what keeps us going. We get to dive into these conversations because you show up for them. Thank you for being part of this journey with us.
Check out all other episodes here.What is First Principles?
First Principles is a weekly interview podcast comprising authentic, candid, and insightful conversations between some of India’s most accomplished founders and business leaders, and Rohin Dharmakumar, The Ken’s CEO & co-founder.
From personal philosophies, mental models and decision making frameworks, to reading habits, parenting styles or personal interests, each episode will delve into what makes each of these leaders unique.