Book on the untold Flipkart story to launch in October

IIT graduates Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal founded out of an apartment in Bangalore (now Bengaluru) what would become India's biggest e-commerce start-up. Recounting the astounding story of how the Bansals built Flipkart into a multi-billion-dollar powerhouse in a span of few years, journalist Mihir Dalal has penned a new book.

Based on extraordinary research, extensive interviews and deep access to key characters in the Flipkart story, 'Big Billion Startup' (Pan Macmillan India), releasing in October, is the riveting and revealing account of how the Bansals built and sold India's largest internet company.

Screen adaptation rights of the book have already been acquired by a leading producer. Established in October 2007, Flipkart began as an online bookstore and soon came to be known for its 'customer obsession'. As the start-up's reputation grew, so did its value, with venture capitalists in India and abroad lining up to invest heavily in the company that stood for bold ambition, unabashed consumerism and the virtues of technology.

It is also a story of big money, power and hubris, as both business and interpersonal complexities weakened the founders' control over their creation and forced them to sell out to a retailer whose dominance they had once dreamt of emulating.

Flipkart's auction involved some of the corporate world's biggest names, from Jeff Bezos, Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai to Masayoshi Son and Doug McMillon, an ironic testimony to the strength of what the Bansals had forged.

Mihir Dalal is a journalist with Mint, from where he has covered Flipkart and other internet businesses for more than five years. He previously worked at Reuters and CNBC TV18. Born and brought up in Bombay, Mihir currently lives in Bengaluru, where he has spent most of his professional life. 'Big Billion Startup' is his first book.