The Mentor Effect: Mr. Deepinder Goyal and Mr. Sanjeev Bikhchandani

Great mentors have a profound effect on people. Mr. Deepinder Goyal's transitioning out of Eternal is very similar to how Sanjeev Bikhchandani Sir did it at InfoEdge.

InfoEdge was founded in 1995. The company went public in 2006, and Sanjeev Sir moved on from the CEO's role in 2010. As he moved out, he handed over the reigns to Hitesh Oberoi Sir, who's been doing a terrific job ever since. The timing of his moving out also coincided with InfoEdge starting to take startup investments seriously (with the first cohort of investments including PolicyBazaar and Zomato already in place).

Compare it with Zomato. The company was founded in 2008, went public in 2021, and Mr. Deepinder Goyal is moving on in 2026. Coincidentally, the timing of his moving out (also about five years after the IPO) is also coinciding with him starting to take his interests outside company's core operations seriously. A lot of investments, new adventures, and so on.

Would you say it's just coincidence? No, it's a pattern. Business history is rife with examples of how people's career trajectory literally mirrors their mentors'. The resemblance is uncanny, even if it's unintended.

This is why it's very important to have the best people in the world as your mentors/advisors. Greatness by association (no matter how obscure) is a terrific concept, and it works like magic. (Though most of it is pure luck, otherwise we'll all be blessed with the most incredible mentors).

Here's wishing the best to Mr. Deepinder Goyal. May his contributions to the Indian startup ecosystem be as legendary as Sanjeev Bikhchandani Sir's, if not more. God knows, India needs a lot of Sanjeev Sirs.

P.S. There’s a notable difference here. It’s that despite moving away from day to day operations at Naukri, Sanjeev Sir always stayed committed to InfoEdge. This was done to the extent that he had MakeMyTrip transfer his fee as a board member to InfoEdge instead of his personal account. Because, “His time at MakeMyTrip was essentially InfoEdge’s time” (it’s perhaps one of the most exemplary moves from an ethics perspective in the history of Indian business landscape). This kind of extraordinary integrity and commitment led to everything compounding for the entire InfoEdge group, instead of just him personally.

Would Mr. Goyal’s exit and his “high risk” endeavours be for adding value to the institution that is Eternal, or just himself? That’s going to be very important going forward. Let’s find out.

Mr. Deepinder Goyal and Sanjeev Bikhchandani Sir

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