The founder dilemma: Should Indian startups embrace professional management?

In 2022, foodtech major Swiggy, which was preparing for an Initial Public Offering (IPO), brought in McKinsey alum Rohit Kapoor to lead its core food delivery business. At the time, Swiggy faced fierce competition from the newly listed Zomato, which was rapidly expanding while cutting losses. Kapoor's mission was clear: to turn around Swiggy’s food delivery operations. 

Two years on, even as Swiggy remains on the precipice of a public listing, Kapoor has successfully turned the company’s food delivery segment profitable. And though Swiggy on a consolidated basis is still burning cash, the profitability of its food marketplace could serve as a blueprint for the company to achieve overall profitability, which is especially crucial as its IPO now seems imminent. 

Kapoor has also become one of the key public faces of Swiggy, especially given how the company’s founders have historically been little-known outside of business circles.

Swiggy is far from the only startup that saw merit in bringing on professional management to overcome obstacles that had proven difficult to tame. Indeed, this wasn’t even Kapoor’s first tryst with steadying a startup ship. Prior to this, he had been enlisted for a similar role at hotel aggregator OYO, which had lost control of its unit economics in its relentless quest for growth.