Product Manager (2021- 2023)

Walmart-owned PhonePe is India’s largest fintech with more than 500 million users.

Consulting was a fantastic launchpad for my problem-solving skills, but my passion lay in creating tangible products. So, I transitioned to product management, diving headfirst into a new and exciting world. Through perseverance, I honed my skills and became a competent product manager. Within the payments team, I led the cards product team. My ownership grew significantly in both complexity and scope. The Indian credit card market was experiencing a golden age fueled by government initiatives. This period was both challenging and invigorating for a card product manager. We were crafting truly innovative products – the first of their kind anywhere. While development presented its hurdles, customer education proved to be another significant challenge. Over my three years as a product manager, I spearheaded the creation of dozens of groundbreaking products (0 to 1) and spearheaded the scaling and revamping of several legacy products.

Skills

1. Customer discovery and requirement analysis

2. User stories / PRD / Confluence

3. Wireframing/ Figma/ Balsamiq

4. UI and UX strategy

5. GTM and Release management

6. Data analysis and visualization / SQL/ Tableau / Qliksense

7. Product success definition and ownership

Product Manager (2023)

PhonePe PG is a payment gateway that wants to become the Stripe of India.

My prior product management experience paled in comparison to the complexities of B2B. Entering this new space, I had to shed and rebuild my understanding from the ground up. We were at a critical, nascent stage, fiercely focused on building and launching the minimum viable product (MVP). The product's novelty led to constant inefficiencies, making each day a fire drill. Unlike B2C's broad audience, here we catered the product to the specific needs of a few key, initial clients. This experience significantly honed my stakeholder management and prioritization skills. I learned to navigate the complex dance of balancing client needs with the overall product vision. A surprising highlight of this role was the technical depth. We were responsible for building a vast array of new APIs and services. Witnessing this intricate back-end development process gave me immense respect for the unseen effort required to create a reliable product.

Skills

1. User onboarding

2. A/B testing and product experimentation

3. API design and management

4. Product prioritization and backlog management

5. Roadmapping

6. Agile development and execution / JIRA

7. Negotiation

Senior Analyst (2020-21)

Everest Group is a tech-focused research and advisory firm.

My interest in Tech led me to Everest, where I worked with Enterprises such as Google and Microsoft and service providers such as Accenture and Cognizant. As a market analyst, my job was to develop viewpoints on the IT services market and help clients make better decisions by providing objective insights. I worked directly with the clients on their problem statements as well as published several analyst reports.

Skills

1. Critical thinking

2. Stakeholder management

3. Quantitative and qualitative data modelling

4. Prioritization

5. Technical expertise

6. Decision making

7. Domain knowledge

Consultant (2017-18)

The Smart Cube is a boutique consulting and research company.

Fresh out of college, I landed a dynamic role supporting procurement stakeholders at Fortune 100 companies. My mission was to tackle their critical business challenges, ranging from supplier identification and selection to acquisition target recommendations.

This role presented a steep learning curve. As a recent graduate, I was now navigating complex conversations with CPOs of billion-dollar corporations. Each client brought unique problems, demanding a versatile and analytical approach.

Skills

1. Problem-solving

2. Secondary and primary research

3. Industry and company analysis

4. Databases such as Bloomberg, Nexis, Ibis etc.

5. Attention to details

6. Presentation skills

Product Operations Intern (2016)

Airtel is the second-largest mobile network operator in the world.

My first foray into the exciting world of product management came through Airtel's prestigious Young Leaders Program (YLP). Embedded within the network procurement team, I played a key role in developing an internal tool to optimize cost tracking and identify areas for improvement. Taking ownership, I spearheaded the implementation of a new, enhanced codification system based on the UNSPSC (United Nations Standard Products and Services Code) classification. This system significantly improved data accuracy and granularity, enabling the team to pinpoint cost leakages and unlock potential savings opportunities.

Skills

1. Streamlining workflow

2. KPI identification and tracking

3. Cross-function stakeholder management

4. NPS and feedback tracking

5. Product experimentation

Research Analyst (2015)

Analyzo was a platform that compared SaaS software and tools.

As the very first intern at a fledgling software startup, I had the incredible opportunity to work directly with the two-person founding team. Our ambitious goal? To revolutionize software selection for businesses by building a one-stop platform for side-by-side comparisons. I played a pivotal role in this mission. I meticulously combed through the technical specifications of thousands of SAS applications, documenting them for our platform. By launch day, our collective efforts had amassed a comprehensive database of over 3,000 software programs across a staggering 300 categories.

Skills

1. Technical documentaion

2. Project Management

3. Data analysis

Travel Content Writer (2014)

Oyo is an Indian hospitality unicorn. Its like Airbnb but for budget hotels.

At 19, I landed my first paid gig as a travel writer, crafting captivating written content for the company's travel blog. My mission? To lure readers in with the allure of their destinations and then seamlessly guide them to the website to book their dream stay. Back then, in pre-ChatGPT days, my process was a fascinating blend of in-depth research and the art of condensing it into engaging bite-sized pieces.

Skills

1. Story telling

2. SEO

3. Research proficiency

4. Written communication

Product Manager Intern (2024)

Sourceree is a boutique software development and analysis agency.

I was working on their Diamond Pass product which is a ticketing solution. This was a new product in the MVP stage and had only few clients. This was a wonderful opportunity for me to come and think about the GTM for the product as well as design the road map for this product to help it become successful. I had to start with understanding the customer behavior because the US market was very new to me and drastically different from what I had encountered before. Coming up with the roadmap again was a challenge because there was definitely a trade-off between what is more desirable tor the customer vis-a-vis what can make more revenue.

Skills

1. Opportunity analysis

2. B2B sales

3. Customer segmentation and analysis

4. Gen-AI and LLMs

5. POS integration

6. Growth hacking

In January 2024, I embarked on a challenging yet rewarding journey by pursuing a Master of Science in Product Management (MSPM) at Carnegie Mellon University. This intensive, one-year STEM program is a unique collaboration between the world-renowned Tepper School of Business and the ranked #1 School of Computer Science, offering a focused path to product management success. Leveraging my five years of professional experience, I'm eager to translate my skills into the product management field through this rigorous program.

Relevant courses:

1. Design of Artificial Intelligence Products

2. Service Design for Product Management

3. Data Science for Product Managers

4. Digital Service Innovation

5. Principles of Product Management

6. Managing People and Teams

7. Product Marketing

8. Human AI Interaction

9. Modern Data Management

From 2018 to 2020, I pursued my MBA at IIM Indore, a prestigious Indian institute consistently ranked among the nation's top 10 B-schools. With an acceptance rate below 1%, it boasts a rigorous selection process, ensuring a high-caliber learning environment. My MBA in Strategy complemented my engineering background, solidifying my analytical skills and transforming me into a well-rounded product manager. During my two years, I actively participated in the Consulting Club, honing my strategic thinking. Additionally, I served on the management committee for conferences and fests, demonstrating my leadership and teamwork skills. Notably, I participated in the week-long Rural Engagement Programme (REP), where I explored rural markets and identified business opportunities firsthand, experiencing the realities of India beyond major cities.

Relevant courses:

1. Startup in E-commerce (Entrepreneurship)

2. New Product Development

3. Agile Project Management Methodologies

4. IT Project Management

5. Data, Analytics and Learning

6. Design Thinking

7. Social Media and Consumer Driven Marketing

In the fall semester of 2019, I did my exchange term (MBA) at NEOMA Business School. Nestled in the charming city of Rouen, just two hours from Paris, this experience allowed me to not only delve into the French education system but also immerse myself in the rich tapestry of French life. I had the opportunity to explore consumer behavior in a European context, contrasting it with trends observed in Asia and America. Furthermore, interacting with classmates from over 50 nationalities profoundly broadened my cultural horizons.

Relevant courses:

1. Innovation Management

2. Influence and Social Media Strategies

3. Navigating Technology and Digital Disruptions

4. Advanced Team Management

5. Traffic Management and Search Engine Marketing

My journey as an engineer began with a top 1% ranking on India's grueling engineering entrance exam (JEE), paving the way for my Bachelor's in Electronics and Communications Engineering (ECE) at Netaji Subhash University of Technology (NSUT) from 2013 to 2017. The four years at NSUT were a catalyst for transformation. Not only did I acquire a strong foundation in engineering, but I also honed my soft skills significantly. I actively participated in case study competitions and MUNs (Model United Nations), garnering accolades at both national and international levels. My leadership qualities flourished through roles like Vice President of the Student Council and Senior Member of the Debating Society.

Relevant courses:

1. Data Structures and Algorithms

2. Machine and Learning and AI

3. Operating Systems

4. Mathematics for Communication & Signal Processing

5. Computer Systems Organization

6. Computer Software Engineering