A Goizueta BBA alum turned early setbacks into a fast-growing e-commerce business with full P&L ownership.
For Ajar Rajbhandary 20BBA, building a business has never been about chasing trends — it has been about identifying the right problems to solve and moving quickly to solve them well.
As founder and CEO of Herd, a bootstrapped e-commerce company operating a portfolio of consumer brands across Amazon, Walmart, Target, and other major marketplaces, Rajbhandary has scaled the business to more than $15 million in revenue in just over a year. The company owns and operates multiple brands across categories ranging from electronics to beauty, with several more launches on the horizon. But for Rajbhandary, growth is a byproduct of discipline — not the goal itself.
“I see the recognition as a signal that I’m probably working on the right problems,” he says.
Rajbhandary was recently named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Retail & E-Commerce, an honor he describes as deeply meaningful — particularly as the first Nepali to be named to the U.S. list. But the recognition reflects years of intentional focus rather than an overnight success.
“Since graduating from Goizueta, I’ve concentrated on solving the unglamorous challenges in e-commerce: supply chain friction, weak product differentiation, and poor customer experience,” he says. “In a world where everyone is chasing viral trends, the biggest opportunities exist where nobody is looking.”
Building an Operator-First Business
The idea for Herd emerged as Rajbhandary watched private equity–backed Amazon aggregators raise billions of dollars to acquire third-party brands — and then struggle to integrate them effectively.
“The lesson wasn’t that the brands were bad,” he explains. “It was that M&A integration is expensive and economies of scale are hard to realize.”
Instead of acquiring existing sellers, Herd was designed from the ground up. From day one, Rajbhandary focused on building infrastructure, systems, and operating discipline alongside the products themselves — an approach that allowed the company to scale quickly and profitably without outside capital.
In a world where everyone is chasing viral trends, the biggest opportunities exist where nobody is looking.
Ajar Rajbhandary 20BBA
“We operate on a few simple principles: speed over perfection, invest in systems as much as products, and let data drive decisions,” he says.
That operating mindset shapes how Herd evaluates new opportunities in crowded marketplaces like Amazon. While many see saturation, Rajbhandary sees inefficiency.
“When evaluating new products or brands, we use AI to look at millions of data points to determine which are good markets to enter,” he explains. “Often the most interesting opportunities aren’t where hype is loudest, but where customers are quietly dissatisfied.”
We operate on a few simple principles: speed over perfection, invest in systems as much as products, and let data drive decisions.
Ajar Rajbhandary
Rather than competing purely on price or brand gravity, Herd looks for opportunities to redesign outdated products and create clearer positioning — while paying close attention to operational leverage.
“If complexity compounds faster than demand, whether in fulfillment, returns, or support, margins disappear,” Rajbhandary says. “Sustainable brands are usually the ones that look simple on the surface but are engineered carefully behind the scenes.”
Learning to Connect Strategy and Execution
Rajbhandary credits his time at Goizueta Business School with helping him develop the mindset required to operate at speed without sacrificing discipline.
“My experience as a student in Goizueta’s undergraduate Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program gave me the foundation to think like an operator,” he says. “Classes in organization and management taught me about building teams and how businesses actually function.”
Just as important, he says, was learning how to move between theory and action — a skill he relies on daily as a founder.
“Whether it was through casework, team projects, or leadership roles, I learned how to analyze a problem, act decisively, and adapt as new information came in,” he says. “That mindset has carried over directly into how I think about scaling today: move fast, stay disciplined, and build systems that can grow without breaking.”
Leadership at Scale
As Herd has grown, Rajbhandary’s role has evolved from doing everything himself to building systems and teams that can operate independently — a transition he describes as one of the most challenging aspects of leadership.
“In leadership, I’ve learned that clarity beats intensity,” he says. “People don’t need pressure; they need direction.”
Early-stage founders often fall into the trap of becoming indispensable, he notes — a pattern that eventually limits growth.
“The hardest part of leadership becomes learning when to let go,” Rajbhandary says. “The best organizations aren’t built by founders alone; they’re built by teams of smart people, who are given complex problems, and the freedom to find their own solutions.”
In leadership, I’ve learned that clarity beats intensity.
Ajar Rajbhandary
For Rajbhandary, success is measured by how well a business functions without constant oversight.
“Ultimately, good leadership is about building systems that work without you,” he says. “If something always requires your direct involvement, it’s a signal that the process isn’t working.”
Still early in his career, Rajbhandary remains focused on staying curious, taking calculated risks, and continuing to build where others hesitate. The recognition may be public, but the work remains intentionally grounded.
“The compounded effect of years of staying curious, taking risks, and executing quickly is what led to the recognition I received,” he says.
Goizueta’s undergraduate Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA) degree prepares students to turn strategy into execution and lead with ownership. Learn more about the undergraduate BBA program.
