Assignment ESBD

Name Sushobhit Gupta

Roll no.- 038964039016
MBA-3C
 A story of

BIBIN PREET SINGH

Who Brings
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

From being a small-town boy from Aligarh who bought second-hand tech magazines to the
founder of one of Indias most trusted technology brands, Bibin Preet has come a long way.

Bibin was an exceptional student, passing secondary school at the early age of 14. However,
this would only be the start of a long journey to success for the young boy.

1. His English proficiency came in the way of getting into IIT: Owing to his poor
English proficiency, Bibin couldnt sit for the IIT entrance and other competitive exams.
Later in college, he had to simultaneously read two booksone in Hindi, the other in
English to understand the course material.

2. From a topper in school to back-bencher in college: Bibin passed out of Delhi College of
Engineering at an early age of 19. His English proficiency meant he could hardly understand what
was taught in class. This led him to spend a lot of time in the Computer Room, browsing the
internet and dreaming about being in Silicon Valley, the mecca for worldwide innovation.

3. A startup in college: While most of young and bright engineering graduates were excited
about the prospect of being placed, Bibin had built his first company- XS Communications,
a college-based startup that created Content Management Systems. By then, he had learnt to
code all by himself and had designed a Content Management System that was being used by
several major publications including The Indian Express.

4. No one to fund: While trying to set up One97, Bibin once ended up with a loan of Rs. 8
lakhs. A huge amount for a common man back in the days, he had taken the principal amount
at 24% interest, which got him into a vicious cycle of unpayable debt. This forced him to take
up petty jobs to make ends meet, setting up LAN connections, delivering guest lectures and
so on.

A topper in his school, he was lost in transition in college-Delhi College of Engineering.

Coming from a very humble background (his father was a highly principled, school teacher,
who refused to earn the extra buck through tuitions, because he believed in what was the right
thing to do), Bibin did not know how to read and write English for he completed his school
education completely in Hindi, in his small town. However, he realised soon enough that to
make it through college he must start learning the language first and with the help of books,
second hand magazines and his friends, he mastered the language in a way which few can.
His modus operandi was to read a Hindi version of the book simultaneously with the English-
one, a habit that ensured that he soon learnt to read two books at the same time! But it wasn't
easy to say the least. The first-bencher in school slowly started gravitating towards the back
benches, and in a short while, was so disheartened and disillusioned with his bad grades,
mostly due to language constraints, that he completely stopped attending college.
IDEA CONCEPTUALIZATION
Mobikwik, founded by Bibin Preet now has a value of $3 billion in the market which is
enough to say about its importance and popularity. The man who once struggle to save Rs 10
now owns the company which has so much of value in the market. Bibin Preet was born on
7th June in Aligarh to a middle-class family where the father was a school teacher and the
mother was a housewife. He was one among the 6 children. He went to a Hindi Medium
School and from the childhood only he was a bright student, passed his higher secondary
school at the age of fourteen and was the topper of the class. He was not allowed to give DCE
entrance exam as he was under-age and so he has to take permission from the VC of the
Delhi University to appear in the examination. As he was from a Hindi Medium School he
faced many difficulties there. He was not able to speak English and therefore attend special
classes there in order to have a better control over the language. He read magazines and
books and from there he got to know about Silicon Valley and dreamt of becoming a man like
Sabeer Bhatia.

He started a start-up company while in the third year of his college along with one of his
batchmate Harinder Pal Singh. In 2001 he founded One 97 communications Pvt. Ltd along
with one of his former colleague, Rajiv Shukla but the company went into the loss. His
colleague left him and again he was alone. His family members forced him to do a job and
therefore he joined Startec Global communications as a consultant but the thought of doing
something new forced him to borrow Rs 8 lakhs from his father and sister. While waiting for
a break he got to know about Bharti Airtel Ltd which was interested in creating live astrology
and therefore Bibin hired seven astrologers and started making out money through this. This
dial- in model for phone system fascinated him the most and from there he came up with the
idea of entering into payment ecosystem. He launched Mobikwik on August 10, initially
providing the service of prepaid mobile recharge. Then later on introducing Mobikwik wallet
it becomes the largest mobile payment service. Bibin Preet received an honorary doctorate
degree from Amity University Gurgaon
CHALLENGES FACED
There was not one, but many hurdles in his road to success.
1. Mother tongue Hindi couldn't be of much help. His entire school education was in
Hindi medium. For this reason, he could not appear for the subjective type examination of IIT
entrance and such other competitive exams. He literally had to translate and re-study his
engineering books from Hindi to English using Bhargava Dictionary.
Although this only added to his agility. Bibin can now read two books at a time!
2. Once a prodigy, now a back-bencher. Bibin was a whiz kid back in Aligarh. With a true
disciplinarian for a father, Bibin had his familys ethics and values deeply rooted in him since
childhood.
He completed his XII by the age of 14 and was the youngest kid to enter College. He was an
Engineer before turning 19! But English didn't do justice to him. He didn't understand what
the teachers taught, hence couldn't respond to their questions. Gradually he moved from first
bench to the last.
3. The Wrath of College and hostel was beyond measures. He was young and naive to the
extent that he took oye as an offense. Taking the leap from Aligarh to Delhi had its own
repercussions for him. With no Ramesh-Suresh like friend by his side, he was on his own for
most of his college life.
4. Job Placements was another nightmare. Bibin ended up with a few supplementaries in
the freshman year. So,grabbing a job was basically out of the question. That was the time
when he decided, Why worry about job if you can build something which gives you stable
income?
When his batchmates were busy preparing for placements, Bibin was building a Company of
his own, XS being the name. A die-hard fan of Sabeer Bhatia and Yahoo in College times,
Bibin learnt Software Coding all by himself. As he puts it, he has a dual Engineering Degree
in Electronics and Computers. Unaware the grandeur of his success, he actually built a whole
Content Management System of his own, back in College. His products were put to use by
huge publications then, The Indian Express being one of them.
5. No funding, no concessions. When he set up One97, he had no Venture Capitalists to
render help. The only money he had was the one he earned after selling off XS. Getting a
fund was difficult to the extent that running a Company without it seemed easier.
But that was not the end of the war. His other 2 partners left One97. He was totally on his
own.
6. No friend in need, no friend indeed. During his struggle, he was broke to the extent
that he couldn't afford a decent meal. He had to take food loans from his friends. Two cups
of tea, he adds, was perk in those days.
GROWTH STORY

One97, the parent company of Mobikwik. They started experimenting with the three basics of
internet- content, advertising and commerce. But the big eureka moment came in 2011 when
he first pitched the idea of entering the payment ecosystem in front of his board. The board
was not convinced, as he was talking about betting the company's money on a non-existent
market.
"Some other entrepreneur would have sold the equity and started their own company. But I
aspire to build a 100 year old company. I think that men and boys are different because the
boys flip and sell. Men run and build legacies," Bibin said.

So he put 1% of his equity, which was about $2 million around 2011, on the table and said,
"This is for all of you, if I waste the money that we put on the site." He adds, "There is no fun
in doing what others ask you to do, the real fun is in doing what people say you can't do."

And it is with this belief that the first avatar of Mobikwik, Pay Through Mobile, was born,
going rapidly onto becoming the next big thing of the startup ecosystem in India. And, since
then it was never looking back

he secret behind this steep arch is the trust he built with his customers which none other gave
as much value to before. Even before Bibin began the roll-out of his internet wallet services,
he first built a strong 24x7 customer care service to address the worries of customers to
enable them to trust the wallet enough to put their money into the hands of the unknown.
"30% of the company's campaign budget is invested in building trust with the customer. For
us it was the single most important factor," says Bibin, with a deep pride in what he has built
so far.

"We propagated through word of mouth once the trust was built. I have a firm belief that the
truest relationship test comes when one goes through a stress case. This makes our
relationship with our customers special and unique than the rest. We also launched in Twitter
and Facebook so that as soon as a customer complained, we got back with an immediate
response and help. Trust is the secret formula which worked for us, though there were 30
other licences already available in the market like Mobikwik." Backed by consumer trust,
Mobikwik's stupendous journey to the top of the internet wallet market is now a part of
startup folklore, but what is unkown is that Mobikwik also became one of a handful
companies worldwide to secure Series A funding exceeding several $100 mn. They have done
only a single round of funding till now with Alibaba, SAIF and Alipay. "I have always
wanted a business partners and not a syndicated investor. Our relationship with "business
partner/investor" is of a journey together. There are four people who own this company- me,
SAIF, Alibaba, Alipay, says Bibin, in his usual animated way. After building a billion dollar
worth company, maintaining the success is the most difficult part of the journey and it cannot
be done without good teamwork, he says. For that, he ensures that the right people are taken
onboard who share the same passion to build like his. He has also given 4% of his equity to
the team, which in current value terms is about $120 million.
PRESENT SITUATION
In August 2016, Mobikwik received an investment from Mountain Capital, one of Taiwan-
based MediaTeks investment funds, which valued Mobikwik at of over USD$5 billion.
Mobikwik launched bill payments services in Canada, its first overseas market in March
2017. The company launched a dedicated app and website, Mobikwik Mall, for the online
marketplace business on 27 February 2017 and aims to offer a unique combination of the
Mall and Bazaar concepts to Indian consumers.
In May 2017 Mobikwik Launched Mobikwik Payments Bank For Mobikwik E-Wallet Users.
Also in May 2017, Mobikwik was reported to be in talks to pump in $30 million in Insider.in
for a majority stake. In July 2017, Mobikwik acquired a majority stake in Insider.in, allowing
its users to book events instantly.By June 2017, Mobikwik Mall, the recently launched online
marketplace of the Noida-based organization, has confirmed that it is digitizing the
catalogues of more than 1,000 cars and two-wheeler dealerships to increase online usage and
offline sales. In June 2017, The Economic Times reported that Mobikwik was seeking a
license to set up a money market fund to enable its users to store cash and earn interest on it.
They were awaiting an approval having already applied to India's central Reserve Bank of
India to start the fund.
Services and products
Service is available through a browser, and an app is available on the Android, Windows and iOS
operating systems.Mobikwik is also approved as an operating unit for integrated bill payment
system Bharat Bill Payment System, allowing multiple payment modes for consumers.
Mobikwik Wallet
The Mobikwik Wallet application enables users to book air tickets and taxis, mobile
recharge, and payment of DTH, broadband and electricity bills among others. The money
transfer feature is only available for mobile users, not for desktop. Users can also pay for
fuel at Petrol pumps and buy movie tickets at PVR Cinemas through the wallet.