π¦ Thank you for joining us in the eChai Ventures Product Growth meetup at Urban Vault Headquarters in HSR, Bengaluru! π
Glimpses -
Aditya Agrawal is a product leader at Cuemath. He left no stone unturned to remind all of us in the room about our math marks and tuition classes from school days! There are over 4,000 tutors on the platform, largely women who consider Cuemath to be a source of income and identity. He believes that the two most important deliverables for a product manager are the value to the customer and the viability to the business. He recommends reading 'Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value' by Melissa Perri. Shout out to Amal Mishra for the warm welcome extended to his college senior π
Ashish Singh is not just a product leader at Paytm, he is also certified to climb the Mount Everest! He shared titbits from his days at Swiggy sprinkled with buzzwords like customer lifetime value, churn score, priority support and the icing on the cake - customer satisfaction score which witnessed a massive jump during his tenure. He believes that 70% of product management is identifying the right problem and knowing when to solve it. His go-to book recommendations include 'The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact' by Chip Heath, and 'Principles: Life and Work' by Ray Dalio.
Madhurita M. is a product leader at Meesho, a board games enthusiast, F1 fan and a globe trotter who has been to 35+ countries! She shared insights from building her favourite products and activating people on return. She believes it's important to understand your customer really well at the n-th level. The skill to ask the right questions to know what they truly want is critical. This will ensure that the need for iterations and pivots drastically reduces. Whether you are looking to break in to product or get better at it, what gets you anywhere is curiosity! Go through apps from start to finish. Think through why someone would add these features and how that impacts your experience.
Sameer Mandge is a product leader at GoKwik. Recalling his days from Amazon, he says when Amazon launched in India, the default check out option was COD. They went through a journey of introducing changes for the new users and the existing users to eventually reduce COD. While Cash On Delivery is a growth lever, they aimed at reducing it owing to higher return to origin, frequency of purchase and more reasons. Return To Origin is an important step as it adds to merchant cost and operations to bring the undelivered orders back. He believes that customer keeps evolving and so do their needs. It's important to do your customer research well and put a clear persona to your user. He recommends reading 'The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business' by Charles Duhigg and 'The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you' by Rob Fitzpatrick.
The eChai Effect - In Their Words
"For me, eChai is a second home. I've been associated with it since the early days, when it was already setting a different tone for how startup communities could work.Β As a traditional business owner entering the new-age D2C space, eChai supported me in every direction.Β Over the years, it became my window to the startup world β and also gave me lifelong friends who continue to show up, for business and beyond."
Pankaj Bhimani
Founder, 58miles
βeChai has been that turning point in my journey. It gave me a platform when I wasnβt looking for visibility but needed direction. Over the years, it became more than just a network. It became my tribe; a place where conversations sparked collaborations, and strangers became trusted sounding boards. What I value most is how effortlessly eChai brings people together - no airs, no filters, just genuine people with shared dreams. I owe a lot to this community and to Jatin, whose consistency and belief in people have shaped journeys like mine. Forever grateful to be part of something so real.β
Rushabh Shah
Managing Partner - STIR Advisors
"I have evolved from role of Community Builder to Startup Consultant to Startup Ecosystem Enabler to Angel Investor and now launching a Venture Studio and eChai has been a catalyst in my overall journey as Startup Evangelist since 13 years."
Mehul Shah
Co-Founder at Counselvise & Ivy Growth
eChai Partner Brands
eChai Ventures partners with select brands as their growth partner - working together to explore new ideas, open doors, and build momentum across the startup ecosystem.