“Early on, we decided that we will play the high-risk high-reward game. We will not be a ‘good company’. Either it has to be a great company or it has to be a failure.” Unacademy, which is on a mission to democratize access to quality and affordable education in India, has helped over 10,000 educators reach more than 50 million learners since it was founded in 2015. Their subscriber base has grown by more than five times in the last year alone. On this episode of Moonshot, Gaurav Munjal, Co-Founder and CEO of Unacademy, talks with Shailendra Singh, Managing Director at Sequoia India, about building and scaling iconic products, creating a culture of experimentation, and the role that ‘Founder’s DNA’ plays in a startup’s trajectory. The conversation took place during an AMA at Surge – our rapid scale-up program for early-stage startups.

Show notes:

• How crucial pivots define the trajectory of the company [6:08]
• Deciding early to be great, not good, and aligning the team to that goal [11:27]
• Have enough runway to create a culture of experimentation [13:40]
• Build or acquire autonomous teams to drive product innovation [18:19]
• Create iconic products by setting iconic goals [22:20]
• Build a strong brand as a long term moat [29:07]
• Improving your game through continuous learning and growth [31:48]
• Be relentless in the quest for mentors [41:09]
• Managing relationships with your board [47:16]
• How confrontation can build trust and transparency [54:14]