Why former founders are joining Rippling in Bangalore, India

At Rippling, we love hiring ex-founders. And the feeling’s mutual. More than 150 former founders have joined Rippling so far. Some came from early-stage ventures, others from companies that grew much larger — but all share that same builder’s mindset.

We sat down with a few former founders to talk about why they chose Rippling as their next place to build.

One thing came through in every conversation: they didn’t have to leave the founder mindset behind. Now they have scale, a bigger canvas, and the right people around them.

Hard problems, smart people, and a place to keep building: Ajay Chandra

(From Infibeam to Rippling)

“Since end-2007 I have owned my own destiny. I banded up with a small group of like-minded folks who believed in changing the e-commerce landscape in India. This was the pre-mobile era when we barely had broadband connectivity. There was no real tech, logistics, or startup infrastructure. It was rife with challenges at every turn. It was never a dull day at the office.

Fast forward to today, I was yearning for a similar environment again. Smart people, fast-paced culture, big dreams, and a never-say-no attitude. In my hunt for this utopia, I found Rippling ticked almost all the checkboxes and made it easy for me to jump right in.

Considering Rippling’s size, my initial fear was whether I would be anywhere close to at least 70 percent like a young company. Having been at Rippling for close to 9 months, I can safely say that number is closer to 85 percent. Rippling has very smart and motivated people I love working with, hard problems that keep us challenged, and a market that lets us test ideas, gather feedback, and iterate, all without the downsides of running your own company.

For an ex-founder, Rippling provides a well-oiled machinery to run with. The challenge is to navigate the company and make its machinery work at a pace and in a direction you want.”

Smart people who love complex problem solving: Nishant Arora

(From Olvy to Rippling)

“I have always been an early-stage startup person, and I was looking for a place that was more mature than the companies I had worked at or seen before. I also didn’t want to join something so big that I’d get bored or lose the chance to work on interesting problems. Rippling fit right into what I was looking for. It had grown into a large, mature company but had managed to keep the startup way alive in its culture.

For Nishant, that balance is what makes Rippling such a great fit for former founders.

As a former founder, you’re probably coming from a world of chaos — product, business, operations, team, finance, everything. At Rippling, you’re surrounded by smart people who’ve handled that kind of complexity. It means you can focus on the kind of interesting, chaotic problems you want to work on.

Because Rippling operates at a huge scale, making changes isn’t as straightforward as it would be at a smaller startup. You often need to work with multiple teams to find the best way to approach a problem without breaking things.”

Startup speed without the existential overhead: Nikhil Bohra

(From Flibbr to Rippling)

“After Flibbr, I wanted startup pace but with real scale. Rippling still ships fast, but the problems and impact are bigger. The transition from founder to product lead felt natural because ownership is real here. You are trusted to drive outcomes, not just build features.

It preserves the parts of founding I loved: speed, autonomy, solving hard user problems, and end-to-end ownership, without the constant existential overhead. I can move quickly, make founder-style bets, and see them land with customers. The team is accessible and collaborative, so you don’t lose time to bureaucracy.

At my startup, decisions were instant and trade-offs were mine alone, so speed was natural. At Rippling, you inherit a live product with real users and some (more than expected) quality debt. The job is to raise quality while shipping new capabilities that keep us relevant and growing revenue. The upside is the product surface. Most products are linear, while Rippling is both deep and broad across HRIS, IT, Finance, and the platform layers. That interconnectedness makes the work harder and more rewarding.”

A startup inside a rocketship: Sumit Vohra

(From Neobrix to Rippling)

“What pulled me in was the people. Talking to Albert Strasheim, Laks Srini, Ajay Chandra, and Jonathan Como — all ex-founders with amazing journeys — felt like joining a tribe of builders, and really smart ones. Rippling isn’t just doing AI because it’s trendy; it’s solving real, hard problems in HR and payroll where AI can actually change the game. That’s exciting.

Rippling feels like a startup inside a rocketship. The stakes are high, the problems are messy, and the impact is huge. You get the thrill of building 0→1, but with the backing of a company that already has PMF and massive scale.

At Neobrix, constraints shaped every decision. We had to be scrappy and ruthless with focus. At Rippling, the resources are almost infinite, and customers are eager to adopt what you build. The hardest part is prioritization: there are so many opportunities, and choosing the right battles keeps you thinking like a founder every single day.”