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Here's What Made These Founders Step Down in 2018 From Flipkart's Sachin Bansal to the builders of Instagram, the market has witnessed several high-profile exits over the past few months

By Komal Nathani

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur Asia Pacific, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

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The startup ecosystem of Asia Pacific might be growing at a large pace, but the staggering number of exits in the market calls for a concern. 2018 has not just seen startups exits in the market, but a substantial number of founders exit in the companies too. From Flipkart's Sachin Bansal to the founders of Instagram, the market witnessed the high-profile exits in the company's management system.

Here's a quick look at the companies whose founders have quit and why it had happened.

Instagram Co-founders - Kevin Systrom & Mike Kreiger

The founders of photo-sharing app Instagram Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger resigned from the tech giant Facebook abruptly this week due to unknown reasons. According to the media reports, Systrom and Kreiger left due to the growing difference with the Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg.

Flipkart Founder - Sachin Bansal

The Indian unicorn Flipkart saw major shifts in the company's management as the company was acquired by Walmart of late. The group chairman of company, Sachin Bansal stepped out after a few weeks ago soon after the Flipkart's acquisition with Walmart. Bansal sold his 5.5 per cent stake for about $1billion and exit the company he co-founded with IITDelhi college mate Binny Bansal.

Zomato's Co-founder - Pankaj Chaddah

After ten years of its journey, the food tech platform Zomato saw the exit of its co-fouder Pankaj Chaddah in March this year. Chaddah tweeted about his exit on the micro-blogging website Twitter. Chaddhah exit happened at the time when the company was reshuffling its top management. According to a report by The Economic Times, "The reshuffle in the management especially with the roles of chief operating officer and chief business officer were speculated to have been made due to Chaddah's move away from a profit and loss accountability mandate."

WhatsApp's founders - Jan Koum and Brian Acton

Another acquired entity of Facebook, WhatsApp saw the founders quitting over the clashes with Mark Zuckerberg. The messaging app's chief executive officer Jan Koum and Brian Acton pushed back against Facebook's approach to user data, advertising, and encryption. The app was acquired by Facebook for an eye-popping sum of $19 billion, $3 billion of which consisted of Facebook stock granted to both Koum and Acton in 2014.

Komal Nathani

Former Correspondent, Entrepreneur Asia Pacific

A firm believer of hard work and patience. Love to cover stories that hold a potential to change the momentum of business world. Currently, a part of all-women web team of Entrepreneur’s Asia Pacific edition to jig the wheel of business journalism!

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