Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) Shops, the new online shopping platform just launched by the social media giant, has been a long time coming.

The company has experimented with e-commerce on Instagram for over a year and offers a number of tools for businesses to connect with customers such as chat through Messenger and WhatsApp, but it's never synthesized its apps before into one cohesive shopping experience open to all businesses.

The rationale behind the deluge of dollars flooding into billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s  Reliance Jio Platforms is beginning to become more clear as his e-commerce venture JioMart starts rolling out to more people across India.
An e-commerce venture between the nation’s top telecom operator Jio Platforms and top retail chain Jio Retail, JioMart just launched its new website and started accepting orders across 200 cities and towns in India incl. Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune, Bathinda, Ahmedabad, Gurgaon, and Dehradun. 

Meesho is an online supply marketplace for resellers to source products and sell via social channels like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram. It talked about social commerce before it became a fad and was no more than a marketing gimmick to Indian VCs. 

From failing to build a monetizable business previously (Fashnear) to facing struggles to raise Series A, the founders (Vidit & Sanjeev) persevered, ultimately building a business that is: soon to become a unicorn, has raised money from marquee investors like Naspers, DST, Sequoia, Facebook and has created 10 million micro-entrepreneurs. Today, Meesho is the poster boy of Indian startups, and founders are an inspiration to a generation of entrepreneurs dreaming to start their venture.

As the economic crisis deepens, capital efficiency becomes a more pressing issue for startups. Not only is it necessary to maximize runway, it also plays a larger role in how investors evaluate companies. While growth is always prized during good times or bad, investors increasingly scrutinize burn and margins during downturns. Startups whose burn is too high relative to their growth will find it hard to fundraise. Founders should be prepared for this shift in emphasis. This post provides a framework for how to think about capital efficiency.