Wishesh June 2015 Online E-Magazine

In BUSINESS
A MONK WHO
SOLD HIS
FERRARI:
INDIAN VERSION
BENGALURU: Rahul Yadav has resigned as the
CEO of Housing. com, capping several weeks of
drama at one of India’s most watched startups and
leaving investors with the challenge of restoring
normalcy at the online real estate services
company.
Yadav, 26, wrote a scornful resignation letter
on April 30 to board members and investors
denigrating their “intellectual capability” and
giving them a one-week deadline to “help in the
transition”. The investors responded a day later
through the law firm Morrison & Foerster LLP
acknowledging the resignation. ET has seen both
letters.
ET had reported on March 12 that investors
were considering a plan to remove Yadav,
who studied at IIT-Bombay along with
the other Housing co-founders, due to
concerns over strategy and his conduct.
The board of Housing will meet on Tuesday to
discuss the resignation and chart a new plan for
the company.
Housing shot to fame as one of India’s startup
success stories after Japan’s SoftBank led an
investment of $90 million ( Rs 550 crore) in
December, valuing it at Rs 1,500 crore. Since then,
Yadav has been in the spotlight for the wrong
reasons — he became embroiled in a social media
dust-up with Sequoia Capital Managing Director
Shailendra Singh and later the Times Group,
which publishes this newspaper.
Late last month, SoftBank’s Vice-Chairman
Nikesh Arora resigned from the board. SoftBank
executive Jonathan Bullock will take his place.
“I don’t think you guys are intellectually capable
enough to have any sensible discussion anymore.
This is something which I not just believe but can
prove on your faces also!” Yadav wrote in the
opening paragraph of his letter resigning as CEO,
chairman and a member of the board.
Documents accessed by ET show that Yadav owns
4.57% stake in the company. Nexus Ventures
owns 19%, SoftBank 32%, and Helion Ventures
and Falcon Edge about 10% each.
Yadav, Housing co-founder and board
member Advitiya Sharma and investors
including SoftBank’s Arora, Helion’s Ashish
Gupta and Nexus’ Suvir Sujan did not reply
to separate emails.
The Housing board consisted of three directors
— Yadav, Sharma and Arora. On Tuesday, sources
told ET that the first item on the board’s agenda
will be the appointment of two new directors —
Ritesh Banglani of Helion and Sujan of Nexus —
and formalising the appointment of Bullock in
place of Arora.
SoftBank has asked all shareholders including
Nexus Venture Partners, Helion Venture
Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, Nirvana Ventures,
Falcon Edge Capital to be present for the meeting
which will be held at the office of the law firm AZB
& Partners in Mumbai on Tuesday.
14
“Everyone is waiting for a valuation correction to happen. Housing was a poster child
for a dramatic run-up to sky-high valuations, so this may be the trigger that ends the
valuation bubble, especially in Internet commerce,” said Sharma.
WWW.WISHESH.COM | JUNE 2015