Part 2: Saahil Goel of Shiprocket on wanting a paisa of every Indian transaction outside the marketplaces, who doesn't survive at Shiprocket, and still playing Pink Floyd on a Fender

Part 2 of 2. In Part 1 we walked the road from 2011 — three companies, an investor ultimatum, and the capital it took to build. Part 2 is the mind. Saahil Goel starts with what, given hindsight, he'd do differently, then the first principles he runs Shiprocket on (distribution beats product), the two or three metrics he genuinely obsesses over, his bet on applied AI, why he believes you can't actually manage people, who does and doesn't survive at the company, the guitar he still plays, his dog, and the question Rohin closes every episode with, which Saahil answers with a single number.

Chapters

1:02  With hindsight, what he'd do differently

2:10  “A paisa of every transaction in India”

5:23  First principles: distribution beats product

11:32  The metrics he obsesses over

17:22  Betting on applied AI

29:33  “You can't manage people”

31:45  Who doesn't survive at Shiprocket

42:05  The guitar, Pink Floyd, and Bruno the CHO

58:28  The book he forgets — and how he reflects

1:00:50  Rating his life an 8