Myntra founder Mukesh Bansal exits Flipkart

Just weeks after a top level restructuring at Flipkart, Mukesh Bansal, Founder of Myntra and head of commerce and advertising business at Flipkart, resigned. Along with him, chief business officer Ankit Nagori has also resigned. Bansal will continue till the end of March while Nagori will stay for three months. Bansal will, however, continue as an adviser to Flipkart and Myntra.

The 40-year-old Bansal joined Flipkart when the firm acquired his fashion portal in May 2014. Bansal, who graduated from IIT Kanpur, was instrumental in hiring top talent from the Silicon Valley and was even rumoured to be in the running for the CEO’s post at Flipkart. However, Bansal defends his move as ‘things are all settled at Flipkart now and the time is right’. He plans to take a break for 3-6 months and then return to start something.

Bansal is known for his clarity of thought and ability to stay focused through rough times. In his two year stint at Flipkart, Bansal was at the centre of all major developments – from leading the effort of making big hires from Silicon Valley to building an army of ex-McKinsey professionals. He won the support of many backers, employees and investors who all liked the calm and in-control leader. Things changed earlier this year when Binny Bansal, Co-founder and COO, Flipkart, became the CEO while Sachin Bansal stepped down from that role.

Bansal started off as a software engineer and worked for Deloitte and later other startups in the US. He started Myntra has a customised gifts and merchandising portal. Later it became a fashion portal. Bansal’s exit comes at a time when Flipkart has set aggressive targets for growth.