The startup industry in India has been flourishing at an appreciable pace. Quite a few successful startups have been acquired by popular and established companies. The recent acquisition of redBus.in by the ibibo Group is one such success story. Now in an interview with NextBigWhat, Phanindra Sama, the chief executive officer of redBus, spoke about their journey and highlighted the importance of executive search firms for Indian startups. Phanindra was asked about the things that he could have done differently with redBus. He replied, “Many things. But one thing that comes to mind is that we should have used an executive search firm to find senior management. I didn’t do it at the time because I thought it was expensive. But the value they can add is huge. I would hire early rather than wait until we can afford.”

In addition to highlighting the significance of executive search firms for startups in India, Phanindra shared many interesting tidbits about redBus, including lessons learned during funding, ESOPs, and work-life balance. For the uninitiated, redBus is an online portal, which sells bus tickets online for intercity bus routes in India.

We completely agree with Phanindra Sama’s views on using executive search firms to hire senior lever executives. With the rising number of tech startups, executive search firms are gaining a lot of importance. At SutraHR, we have helped hundreds of Indian tech startups, SaaS companies, and digital agencies to hire mid to senior level professionals.