Zuckerberg reveals why he chose Kunal Shah to lead WhatsApp
What's the story
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has revealed why he appointed CRED founder Kunal Shah as the head of WhatsApp. Speaking on the Cheeky Pint podcast, Zuckerberg said Shah sees a chance to bring new entrepreneurial thinking into the messaging platform and leverage its huge user base in India. He described Shah as one of India's top entrepreneurs with experience building CRED.
Strategic direction
'Bring more entrepreneurial energy'
Zuckerberg clarified that his decision to bring Shah on board was not the same as Meta's attempts to rebuild its AI program.
He said, "We just wanted to bring more entrepreneurial energy there."
The Meta chief also emphasized that WhatsApp needs to do more in commerce, and he believes Shah can help explore this opportunity.
Growth areas
India is WhatsApp's biggest market
Zuckerberg stressed on the importance of India as WhatsApp's biggest market, saying "India is the biggest country that we're in."
He also spoke about how WhatsApp is already being used by millions of Indians, from personal chats to customer-business interactions.
This makes it a great platform for exploring commerce opportunities, including payments and other financial services.
Entrepreneurial expertise
Shah's experience in building consumer-facing products
Shah, who founded CRED in 2018, has built a fintech company around credit card bill payments and rewards.
His experience in building consumer-facing products could help Meta explore new ways to make WhatsApp more useful to users and businesses.
This is exactly what Zuckerberg wants from his new hire - someone who can spot opportunities and build on them instead of just managing an established messaging service.