'To new beginnings'. Urban Ladder co-founder Rajiv Srivatsa finds change scary, but his LinkedIn parting note wins hearts
Hours after stepping down as the CTO, he posted a parting note on LinkedIn.
By ET Online and Agencies | Updated:
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Rajiv Srivatsa will transition out of his leadership role at the end of this month.
NEW DELHI: 'The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step' - Lao Tzu
Quoting the renowned Chinese philosopher, Urban Ladder's co-founder has decided to take his first step in pursuit of a new journey. Rajiv Srivatsa stepped down from his role as the home furnishing company's Chief Technology And Product Officer on Monday after eight 'outstanding' years, and his parting note on LinkedIn is what won hearts.
Mentioning that while the 'period of change is exhilarating and scary', the 40-year-old entrepreneur revealed that he is keen at exploring various avenues in the coming months before he decides to choose a specific path.
"I am starting with a reasonably blank slate... I would love to connect with many of you, hear your experiences and maybe some dots will connect," he added.
In his LinkedIn post, Srivatsa confirmed that he will 'continue to be an engaged shareholder and Board member', and work with the Ratan Tata-backed company's founder and CEO, Ashish Goel. He will transition out of his leadership role at the end of this month.
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Furthermore, he thanked the customers, investors, partners, team members, friends, family and Goel for the ride of a lifetime.
Rajiv Srivatsa (L) thanked Ashish Goel (R) for the ride of a lifetime. Under his leadership, the Bengaluru-based raised five rounds of over $100 million capital from some of India's best VC firms including Kalaari, Sequoia, SAIF Partners, Steadview and investors such as Ratan Tata, Anand Rajaram and Venky Harinarayan, etc.
Founded in 2012, Urban Ladder is present in more than 90 cities, with five offline stores in Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR. The company had announced a shift in its business model from online retail to a furniture brand in July 2017.
Reports in June claimed the omnichannel furniture retailer trimmed 40 per cent of its headcount in the country, bringing it down to nearly 700.
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Azim Premji, Indra Nooyi & Jack Ma: Farewell Notes By Business Leaders That Struck A Chord
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In his final letter to Wipro employees, Azim Premji, who recently announced his retirement, wrote: “Leading Wipro from 1966 till now has been the greatest privilege of my life.”
Here are some other memorable words from departing CEOs.
(Text: Shannon Tellis)
In his final letter to Wipro employees, Azim Premji, who recently announced his retirement, wrote: “Leading Wipro from 1966 till now has been the greatest privilege of my life.”
Here are some o..
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“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.”
These were the opening lines of Steve Jobs’s resignation letter in 2011 informing the board that he was stepping down as chief executive. Jobs, who had been suffering from pancreatic cancer at the time, read this letter out at one of the company’s board meetings where he recommended that Tim Cook be appointed his successor. Jobs passed away a few weeks later.
“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.”
These we..
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“Think hard about time. We have so little of it on this earth.”
When Indra Nooyi stepped down as CEO last year, she reminded employees to be lifelong students and good listeners. One of the lessons she recalled from her own career was to be more mindful of time. “I’ve been blessed with an amazing career, but if I’m being honest, there have been moments I wish I’d spent more time with my children and family,” she wrote.
“Think hard about time. We have so little of it on this earth.”
When Indra Nooyi stepped down as CEO last year, she reminded employees to be lifelong students and good listeners. One of the lessons..
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“My biggest regrets are the moments that I let a lack of data override my intuition on what’s best for our customers.”
When he was fired in 2013 from a company he co-founded, Andrew Mason sent employees a memo saying, “If you are wondering why... you haven’t been paying attention.”
In his memo to the ‘People of Groupon’, Mason took responsibility for the company’s lacklustre performance, controversial metrics, poor stock price and offered employees one last bit of advice. “This leadership change gives you some breathing room to break bad habits and deliver sustainable customer happiness — don’t waste the opportunity!” he wrote.
“My biggest regrets are the moments that I let a lack of data override my intuition on what’s best for our customers.”
When he was fired in 2013 from a company he co-founded, Andrew Mason sent empl..
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“I’m brimming with nostalgia, gratitude and optimism.”
When Verizon acquired Yahoo in 2017, then Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer penned an email informing the employees of her exit. She reflected on her five years with the company and the milestones they achieved for each stakeholder group, signing off the email with a celebratory “Yaho-o-oo!” (Image: Reuters)
“I’m brimming with nostalgia, gratitude and optimism.”
When Verizon acquired Yahoo in 2017, then Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer penned an email informing the employees of her exit. She reflected on her f..
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“At 48, I am no longer young for the Internet business.”
In January 2013, Alibaba founder Jack Ma announced he was stepping down as chief executive of the Chinese e- commerce group. In his letter to the employees, he hinted that the decision was part of a larger company-wide change that would allow younger employees to take up leadership mantles. “It’s not because I wanted to take things easy,” he wrote. “It’s because I see that Alibaba’s young people have better, more brilliant, dreams than mine, and they are more capable of building a future that belongs to them.”
“At 48, I am no longer young for the Internet business.”
In January 2013, Alibaba founder Jack Ma announced he was stepping down as chief executive of the Chinese e- commerce group. In his letter t..
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“After much contemplation, I have decided to leave because the distractions, the very public noise around us, have created an untenable atmosphere.”
In August 2017, Vishal Sikka resigned as CEO citing “unrelenting, baseless/malicious and increasingly personal attacks”. In a long letter posted on his blog, Sikka detailed the challenges he faced when he took the helm in 2014 and also gave employees some words of wisdom. “However difficult the noise of the last several months has been, I wouldn’t trade our time together for anything,” he wrote.
“After much contemplation, I have decided to leave because the distractions, the very public noise around us, have created an untenable atmosphere.”
In August 2017, Vishal Sikka resigned as CEO cit..
Urban Ladder founder launches AC startup Optimist; raises $12 million from Accel, Arkam Ventures, others2026-01-22T06:58:31Z
