Why is a turnaround expert joining Snapdeal?

Former Housing CEO Jason Kothari is joining Snapdeal. Photo credit : Snapdeal.

Remember Jason Kothari? The guy who was sent to Housing to straighten the house, and lied about the company’s acquisition? Well, he’s joined Snapdeal as chief strategy and investment officer.

We note the underlying Softbank connection here.

Jason was appointed chief of Housing at a time when the startup was crumbling, some of which was wont to happen when a bunch of volatile youngsters take charge of a company with a huge amount of money at their disposal.

For those who don’t know, we are talking about Housing founder Rahul Yadav abusing his investors, and then getting kicked out of his own company. Read about it in all its detail here.

Softbank, a major investor, stepped in to control the chaos, and Jason was inducted to the board.

See: Housing after Rahul Yadav: time to make some money

Now that Housing’s a part of PropTiger, Jason’s landed himself a job at yet another Softbank-backed startup.

As chief strategy and investment officer for Snapdeal, Jason’s responsibilities will include leading strategy, raising new capital, investments and strategic partnerships, as well as managing Snapdeal’s portfolio, the company said.

That is basically everything important for the running and growth of a company.

See: SoftBank writes down $550m in its biggest India investments, Ola and Snapdeal

Snapdeal says he’ll work alongside founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, but this can well be an indication that the Japanese giant is also getting restless and wants tighter control over its investment.

Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl. Photo credit: Wikimedia.

Interestingly, Tiger Global has done just that with Snapdeal’s bigger rival Flipkart. New CEO Kalyan joined the Flipkart team from Tiger Global as a head of category design before he took charge of the company this week.

Jason is essentially a turnaround expert. At Housing, he changed business strategy and plans, hired a new, experienced management team, restructured and reduced operating costs, and raised an additional US$20 million from lead investor Softbank, among other things, before finding the company a suitor.

Rumors about a potential Snapdeal sale have been going around for years in the industry, each time vehemently denied by the company.

So the question is, what is Jason doing joining Snapdeal?

We’ve asked the company, and will update if we hear back.

This post Why is a turnaround expert joining Snapdeal? appeared first on Tech in Asia.

from Tech in Asia https://www.techinasia.com/housing-ceo-joins-snapdeal
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