Shiprocket's Transformation: More Than Just a Name Change
When Saahil Goel states, "We renamed ourselves to Shiprocket," he isn't discussing a superficial rebranding exercise. He's describing a pivotal moment when a company, after fourteen years of operation, finally understood its core identity and ultimate mission. "I think for the first time, the whole company felt it," Goel reveals during an exclusive conversation with Abhishek Singh, Deputy Editor of LiveMint, on the popular series Rollin' with the Boss. This wasn't merely a change in branding; it represented a profound organizational alignment, a shared conviction that the business had discovered its true north after years of experimentation and adaptation.
Early Beginnings: A Punjabi Bagh Boy Discovers Technology
Goel proudly identifies as a Punjabi Bagh native whose technological journey began at home rather than in formal classrooms. His mother, remarkably tech-savvy for her era, mastered FoxBase, an early database program, and introduced him to computing when he was in eighth standard. By ninth grade, Goel had discovered HTML during the late 1990s—a period when the internet remained largely unstructured and open. He naturally gravitated toward this new frontier, becoming his school's resident computer expert, managing the school website, assisting friends with technical issues, and continuously experimenting with digital tools.
In Class 11, Goel and a friend launched a jokes website that they monetized through banner advertisements. The site eventually climbed to the top position on Rediff's rankings, attracting approximately 100,000 monthly visitors and generating around $1,000 in revenue. While the financial gain was significant for its time, the lasting impact was the realization that the internet wasn't merely an abstract concept—it was a tangible platform that could be constructed, shared, and monetized effectively.
Formative Years and Partnership Foundations
After completing college studies split between India and the United States, Goel met Gautam Kapoor, who would later become his co-founder. Their discussions focused less on formal business plans and more on exploring ideas and solving problems. Kapoor demonstrated remarkable resourcefulness and operational acumen, consistently finding ways to implement solutions where others hesitated. This partnership thrived due to complementary strengths: Goel contributed product and technological vision, while Kapoor provided execution capabilities and ground-level insights.
Following graduation, Goel worked at Max before returning to the US for his MBA and MS degrees. Despite working across various organizations, he felt something was amiss. "I was doing tech. But it's not my calling," he confesses. Even during this period, he remained certain about building his own venture. Discussions with Kapoor about entrepreneurship began around 2009, but the timing proved unfavorable as Indian e-commerce was still in its infancy. "Timing is extremely important," Goel emphasizes, noting that they relied on instinct and iterative testing while waiting for the right moment.
The Return to India and Initial Ventures
The idea that ultimately drew Goel back to India wasn't logistics—it was website development. Family members frequently approached him for assistance in creating websites, and he assumed India would have Shopify-like solutions available. Surprisingly, such do-it-yourself infrastructure didn't exist, revealing a clear market gap. Convincing his wife to relocate from the US presented challenges, but Goel framed it as a limited-risk experiment: a few years to build something meaningful, with the option to return if unsuccessful.
They moved back in January 2012, joining Kapoor who had already established a modest office in a Jasola shop owned by Goel's father. With monthly rent of ₹5,000 and pooled capital of ₹10 lakh each, they embraced a professional mindset: "If you want to build a business, behave like a business," Goel asserts. Their initial venture was a store builder called CartRocket, which attracted around 1,000 merchants paying modest monthly fees over three years. However, Goel recognized that while the business could survive, it couldn't achieve the scale necessary to fulfill their ambitions.
Pivotal Lessons and Strategic Shifts
The early business model drew inspiration from Shopify: simplify enterprise software for small businesses, then integrate payments and shipping. However, India presented unique challenges. "India is not website first," Goel observes. By 2014–15, commerce conversations were already migrating to social media platforms, while payments and shipping—critical components—proved difficult to integrate seamlessly. Logistics companies remained skeptical about e-commerce, and cash on delivery was widely considered impractical. Once again, the company found itself ahead of the market curve.
Each time resources dwindled, the company pivoted. CartRocket didn't shut down but stagnated, followed by Craftly—a marketplace targeting long-tail sellers with integrated payments and shipping. This phase proved instrumental in identifying the fundamental problem: unreliable logistics. For small sellers, inconsistent pickups and delivery delays created cascading problems across the ecosystem. With most orders being cash on delivery, return rates were high and margins thin. Goel realized shipping wasn't merely an operational afterthought—it defined the customer experience.
The Logistics Breakthrough and Rebranding
By 2016–17, the problem statement crystallized: shipping needed to be treated like payments—a core transactional layer rather than a backend chore. "When we realized that shipping is a key part of the e-commerce transaction," Goel explains, "we built this in a way where it had never been built before." Inspiration came from payment gateways: a unified platform connecting multiple providers, accessible to small businesses, and abstracting operational complexity. For merchants selling through websites or social media, delivery mattered as much as discovery and conversion. "If you take away delivery," Goel clarifies, "the customer will not buy."
This realization triggered the company's most decisive pivot and its transformation into Shiprocket. For the first time, the entire organization felt unified behind a clear mission. The vision remained constant—enabling MSMEs in India to embrace digital commerce—but the understanding of implementation evolved. Recognizing India's structural differences from the US or China, with fragmented retail and MSMEs as the largest employers, Shiprocket focused on empowering individual merchants across multiple channels through integrated payments, fraud checks, shipping, and cash collection.
Current Scale and Market Impact
Today, Shiprocket supports approximately 200,000 businesses on a paying run rate, processing ₹25,000–30,000 crore in Gross Merchandise Value annually. The platform powers roughly 4.5–5% of India's total e-commerce and about 20–25% of direct commerce transactions. More than half of its deliveries reach tier-2 cities, and over time, Shiprocket has served around 140 million consumers—approximately 55% of India's shopping population. With average order values around ₹1,500, Goel observes a new wave of first-time online shoppers emerging from smaller towns. "It feels like we've been waiting for it for 14 years," he reflects.
Beyond Business: Personal Philosophy and Future Vision
As discussions move beyond logistics, Goel becomes contemplative, speaking about parenting, multigenerational living, and how raising children has enhanced his management skills through patience and perspective. He credits his wife, Neha, for making his entrepreneurial journey possible, acknowledging that her support in managing their home enables him to focus on building the company. Music remains his personal anchor—a former band member and Metallica enthusiast, he now enjoys jamming sessions with his guitar-playing daughter.
Regarding work-life balance, Goel rejects compartmentalization in favor of integration. "You can't compartmentalize," he argues. "You're at work, you need to do something for your kid. Do it. Come back." He believes ownership applies equally to professional and family responsibilities. With Shiprocket having filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus, signaling IPO preparations, Goel maintains a long-term perspective: "We're not in this for five years to sell out. We're in it forever." The journey from Punjabi Bagh to building India's logistics infrastructure has spanned fourteen years—a testament to perseverance, adaptation, and staying power that ultimately creates enduring enterprises.
