Rahul Yadav: Housing.Com's Maverick Entrepreneur
| Case Code: LDEN102 Case Length: 14 Pages Period: 2012-2015 Pub Date: 2016 Teaching Note: Available |
Price: Rs.500 Organization : Housing.com Industry: Online Realty Market Countries : India Themes: Entrepreneurship |
Abstract Case Intro 1 Case Intro 2 Excerpts
Abstract
This case discusses the dilemma faced by the investors and board of the real estate online search portal, Housing.com, with regard to retaining the entrepreneur and co-founder of the company, Rahul Yadav (Yadav), as the CEO of the company. Yadav was mired in several controversies. It all started with an e-mail he wrote on March 6, 2015, to Shailendra Singh (Singh), Managing Director of the venture capital firm, Sequoia India (Sequoia), accusing him of poaching employees from Housing.com. With the spat between Yadav and Singh becoming public, The Economic Times (ET), an Indian daily published by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (BCCL), the holding company of the Times Group, one of India’s largest media conglomerates, carried a report on March 12, 2015, stating that the investors at Housing.com were considering removing Yadav from the post of CEO as they were concerned that his behavior would jeopardize the future of Housing.com. Dismissing the claims made by ET, Yadav denied that he was being replaced. Yadav again courted trouble when he sent an internal e-mail to his employees on the day the report was published, alleging that the Times Group, which ran a competing real estate online portal MagicBricks.com, was maligning Housing.com in India. In response to this e-mail, on March 17, 2015, Locon Solutions Pvt Ltd., owner of Housing.com, received a legal notice from BCCL for defamation and claimed US$ 16 million in damages.
Even as Yadav remained embroiled in several controversies, he got into a spat with the board members of Housing.com. On April 30, 2015, Yadav sent his resignation letter in to the board. The letter only served to worsen his already adverse relationship with the board members and investors. However, despite Yadav’s antics, investors and board members decided to retain him as the CEO of Housing.com. Yadav also stated that he would work in full harmony with the board.
Issues
The case is structured to achieve the following teaching objectives:
- Analyze how personality traits and behavior affect the business decisions of an entrepreneur
- Analyze how Yadav and the controversies surrounding him affected the brand image of Housing.com
- Discuss the entrepreneurial challenges faced by the CEOs of start-ups
- Understand the factors that lead a young entrepreneur to question the status quo
- Understand the challenges a young entrepreneur has to face while questioning the status quo
- Understand the issues and challenges faced by board members and investors of Housing.com
- Understand why the board and investors of Housing.com reaffirmed their faith in Yadav and retained him as the CEO of Housing.com
Contents
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Introduction
About Housing.com
Controversies
Investors Retain Yadav
The Response
Investors' Troubles Continue...
The Road Ahead?
Exhibits
Keywords
Housing.com, Online real estate portal, Rahul Yadav, Entrepreneur, Innovative, Brand image, Subscription-based model, Slice View technology, Data Science Lab, International realty market, Locon Solutions Pvt Ltd, SoftBank, Helion Ventures, Nexon Ventures, Falcon Edge, Qualcomm Ventures, CommonFloor, 99Acres.com
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