Tarun Mehrotra

1. A crore is still a crore regardless of how big the company is. You’re still answerable to shareholders. 2. Even if they had a crore to spare, this would only encourage others to do the same and make a quick buck. 3. Domain squatting, while is a grey area in India, is illegal in many countries and is unethical regardless. 4. Buying a domain (and possibly many others as a backup) is not an entrepreneurial skill. It costs barely ₹300-400 to buy a domain these days.

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Wow, what a journey! It's hard to believe I've already spent 5 years at Zomato. My time here has been a mix of roles—from Individual Contributor to Engineering Manager, PM for consumer products, and Tech Architect for core projects. I've been accountable for some of the most critical business impacts and faced many exciting challenges. Learning here never stops, especially when you work with incredibly talented people. But we're just 1% of the way there! One piece of advice from a mentor that really stuck with me: your impact should far exceed the investment the company puts in you—aim for 100x or more! Too often, we focus on the tasks we've completed instead of the impact we've made. Quality always trumps quantity, and progress is measured by outcomes, not just activity. If you’re an engineer who prioritizes impact and outcomes over mere activities, let’s connect! Make sure your resume highlights your impact in bold, not just paragraphs of tasks. #impactfirst #growthmindset #zomato #quality

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📈 Zomato on the Rise: Zomato shares continue their upward momentum, with UBS raising its price target to ₹320 following impressive results in quick commerce and food delivery. 🚀 Blinkit All-Time High: Blinkit, Zomato's quick-commerce arm, hit a new milestone with an all-time high GMV on #RakshaBandhan, recording 693 Rakhis per minute at peak. CEO Albinder Dhindsa shared this achievement as a testament to the platform's growing influence. 📊 Growth Projections: GMV estimates for FY 2026-2028 have been revised upwards—20-30% for quick commerce and 2-3% for food delivery, showcasing strong future prospects. 💡 Valuation and Performance: Despite trading at a FY 2027 EV/EBITDA of 35x, above the average of 30x for Indian consumer/retail peers, Zomato's superior growth and margin profile justify the premium valuation. 💼 Brokerage Confidence: UBS maintains a "buy" recommendation, marking the second-highest target on the street after CLSA's ₹350 target. 📊 Market Momentum: Zomato’s stock has already doubled in 2024 with a 112% gain and has nearly tripled over the last 12 months, delivering close to a 194% return.

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IPL: Razorpay's Second Innings 🏏 The title "IPL: Razorpay’s second innings" really intrigued me. What does a fintech platform have to do with IPL? 🤔 It turns out, user behavior during an IPL match, like ordering food or gaming, had an indirect impact on Razorpay. In 2019, they struggled with traffic bursts during IPL matches, which lasted over 10 minutes—something their engineering hadn't anticipated. After this challenging IPL season, they strategized to handle future traffic bursts better. Here are the key problems they identified and solved: Problems: 🧵 Thread Exhaustion: PHP Laravel, their backend, lacked proper DB connection pooling, blocking threads and connections when the gateway took longer. 🚦 Throttling: They weren’t throttling requests, making them vulnerable to DDoS attacks. 🏦 Banking Gateway Backpressure: Banking gateways experienced 20x their normal P99s during traffic bursts. 🚥 Smart Routing Requests: There was no way to identify the load on different banking gateway nodes to route requests to less loaded ones. 📊 Alerts & Monitoring: Their alerting mechanism was too slow, giving them no time for remediation. Solutions: 🧵 Thread Exhaustion: They used ProxySQL as a layer between the backend and MySQL, deploying it as a sidecar with each backend pod for fault tolerance. 🚦 Throttling: Implemented simpler fixed window rate limiting instead of the earlier one which was a leaky bucket algorithm implementation backed by a Redis store, also moved this service to an NGINX-based proxy server as a side car with dedicated cache and new rate-limiting configurations (e.g., requests per route per merchant). 🏦 Easing Banking Gateway Backpressure through Smart Routing: Built a machine learning-based system to route transactions smartly, considering earlier payment success/failure events. This improved success rates by 60% during bursts and 4% during normal periods. 📊 Alerts & Monitoring: Using Victoria Metrics and Grafana, they developed a real-time alerting system for business and engineering KPIs. This is how Razorpay overcame their engineering challenges! For more interesting engineering stories, follow me. https://lnkd.in/gbzx8qen #Engineering #Fintech #Scalability #MachineLearning #DevOps 🚀

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Sharing an interesting story from around the time when e-commerce started becoming a thing in India. Snapdeal at that time was a couponing business (similar to Groupon). We were selling restaurant, spas, travel coupons and even date with a celebrity as lightning deals on the platform. The sourcing team then started bringing in products like bean bags, perfumes and watches to be sold on the platform. From a technical perspective, we kept the data model as same and fit these products to be sold as deals on the platform. Everything was selling like hot cakes. One fine day, the sourcing team came up with a men's shirt to be sold. But there was one problem. "The shirt came with multiple size options." What started with a small data modelling problem fitting multiple sizes into a deal became a multiple day discussion of whether we need a rewrite the platform into a full fledged e-commerce. Seeing the traction on product deals, the answer was a definitive yes. Once we got the nod, began a marathon of sleepless nights and relentless brainstorming sessions, as a tight-knit team of 6-7 engineers poured their hearts and souls into making our vision a reality. Despite the inevitable challenges and hurdles along the way, we persevered, and against all odds, we succeeded. Now, thirteen years later, as I look back on my career journey, I can't help but smile at the memory of those exhilarating days. Building that e-commerce platform from the ground up remains not just a highlight, but a testament to the power of teamwork, innovation, and unwavering determination. Karun Singla Rahul Narang Shubhanshu Srivastava Praveen Garg Anand Kishor Dubey Kuldeep Singh Karan Sachdeva Snapdeal | AceVector Group

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60,000 calls a day, all handled by AI! India based #Meesho , valued at 4.9 Biillion, with 160M customers; “We get a ton of customer support calls,” said Sanjeev Barnwal. Their AI #voicebot design had to overcome low-end phones and tons of background noise, and multi-language issues. https://lnkd.in/gkUs6Pw2

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Did you know that over the last 30 years, Walmart has sourced products worth over $30 billion from India? Now, Walmart has set a new goal to source $10 billion worth of products from India annually, aiming to play a bigger role in the country's e-commerce landscape. This ambitious target shows Walmart's commitment to India's economic development, particularly through its collaboration with Flipkart. This partnership is making a positive impact on India's economy by supporting the growth of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Walmart and Flipkart's collaboration not only increases opportunities for these businesses to export globally but also fosters economic growth and job creation across the country. By enhancing the capabilities of MSMEs, Walmart is helping to build a stronger, more resilient economy in India. And this is just the beginning. As Walmart continues to expand its sourcing from India, the future looks bright for the nation's e-commerce sector and its small and medium enterprises.. #Walmart #India #ECommerce #MSMEs #EconomicGrowth #GlobalTrade #JobCreation #Flipkart #FutureGrowth

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Coming strong into an area that's already hot - but in a way that's sustainable and beneficial to all the parties involved in the ecosystem. Download the Pincode app and if we're currently operational in your area - would love to get user feedback and experience ; Drop me a DM and I'm happy to respond. Tangential benefits of working in this area: Using phrases like "This is like comparing apples to oranges" or "It's a chicken and egg problem" when discussing an actual assortment issue 😁 #quickcommerce #pincode #phonepe

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CLSA published a detailed research report on India quick commerce. Recommended reading. Who will be the first to create a $50-100Bn company in India internet? #Zepto #Zomato #IndiaInternet

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Nothing brings more joy than seeing a vision come to life—empowering businesses to truly have it all. At nurture.retail, our journey is about more than just numbers like 100,000+ retailers and 9,000+ SKUs. It’s about rewriting what’s possible, just like this creative twist on Shashi Kapoor’s iconic line: "Mere paas gaadi hai, bungalow hai, paisa hai… aur maa bhi!" We’re building a platform where our partners don’t have to choose between scaling their business and fulfilling their dreams. Together, we’re redefining success—growing connections, fostering progress, and celebrating every milestone along the way. What does having it all mean to you? Let’s grow and shape this journey together. #Innovation #Empowerment #RetailTech #GrowthJourney #productleadership #ecommerce #agtech

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This is the best definition of product sense you'll read today: Picture this: It’s peak dinner time, and Swiggy's delivery system is crashing. Riders are lost, orders are stuck, and angry customers are flooding in with complaints. The engineer, Ravi, is buried in lines of code, trying to figure out what's broken. Meanwhile, Meera, the product manager, is coordinating with operations and customer support to try to calm the storm. Ravi looks at Meera and asks, “Do we stop all orders until this is fixed, or do we patch it and hope it holds?” Meera thinks for a moment, then replies, “We pause. If we can't fulfill orders properly, we'll make more people unhappy. Let's fix this issue first, do a proper test, and then open things back up, keeping trust more important than taking a few extra orders.” That clarity, that instinct, is product sense. It’s balancing the urgent with the importance of understanding what's best for your users and your business. Now, how do you turn a vague problem into actual work? Here’s a framework that’s helped me across multiple products: 1. Clarify Your Goal: First things first, what's the bigger picture? Whether it’s increasing retention or driving growth, clarify what matters most. 2. User Discovery: Know who you're serving. You can’t solve everyone’s problems, especially as an early-stage startup. Pick your main user, the one who will benefit the most. 3. Problem Discovery: Dig into their pain points. What frustrates them the most? What problem, if solved, would add the most value? 4. Solution Discovery: Brainstorm, prototype, and figure out the solution that hits hardest on that core problem. Keep it scrappy, but keep your eye on impact. 5. Align with Your Overall Goals: Make sure whatever solution you build moves the needle on your startup's key goal if it doesn’t, don’t waste your resources on it. From Here, Execute: - Build and Deliver: Create the solution—build it fast but thoughtfully. - Measure Success & Collect Feedback: Launch, measure, and iterate. Does it solve the problem? Are users happier? Adjust if needed. As a founder, you will face ambiguity every day. Product sense is the skill that helps you navigate those waters, make decisions when things are murky, and align your solutions with both your users' needs and your startup's goals. Start with the goal, know your user, solve the real problems, and always keep your startup's vision in focus. –   P.S. I’m Avi Gupta, sharing actionable insights to help early-stage startups grow smarter.

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As an e-commerce platform, you occasionally list inventories with exceptionally high demand compared to others. Such inventories have the potential to choke site-wide bandwidth and might result in downtime if not handled well. In India, this is similar to a large crowd waiting outside a physical ticketing counter for Tatkal Railway Ticket booking at 10 AM. To solve such chaos, you stand in a queue (let's not discuss if people follow the queue 😛), wait for your turn, and try to book the ticket. If everything is fair, you join the queue at the end. When it comes to e-commerce, always being ready for such disruptive traffic can be very costly. However, you can always plan to scale up beforehand for such exceptional events, given you might be aware of high-demand inventory listings. However, it's harder than it sounds; it's not just scaling 4-5X of your regular peak traffic. This is when you experience traffic that can go as high as 40-50X of your regular peaks. Then how do you overcome such chaos in the digital world? One possible answer is a Digital Queue (like a physical one). Some popular off-the-shelf third-party solutions help you offload such traffic in a fair digital queue. When traffic surpasses a predefined max limit, the customer is redirected to a queue that shows the count of customers ahead of them. The queue is fair in the sense that it acts FIFO (First In, First Out). How about solving this problem yourself? I'm happy to connect with some of you folks to discuss your version of the solution to the above problem. If interested, please reach out over DM with your solution, and I will schedule a call to discuss further in detail. If the discussion goes well, we would be excited to explore the possibility of you joining our tech team at Zomato to work on such real problems daily 😀 #zomato #hiring #challenge #scalability

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Arjun Vijay Imagine ordering a Dosa Pan at 00:45 AM because your old ones handle broke, or a Mixer Grinder at 6:45 AM when your current one suddenly malfunctions. Picture yourself needing a mosquito bat in a remote Airbnb late at night, or the convenience of having 10kg bags of rice delivered straight to your door without carrying the carts to parking lot neither carrying in lifts, not to mention daily grocery runs and last-minute orders of socks or underwear before heading to outstation. These are all my real experiences, showing how quick commerce is set to completely transform traditional e-commerce. The new era has already begun, and it's just a matter of time before everyone catches up.

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📉 The Fall of BYJU'S: A Cautionary Tale for Indian Parents As Byju's valuation plummets from a staggering $22 billion to virtually zero (ref in the comments section), it becomes imperative to examine the practices that have led to such a downfall. Unfortunately, these are not just corporate missteps but issues that deeply affect individual lives, particularly those of unsuspecting parents in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns. One such case involves my relative, who has been entangled in an ordeal with Byju's that perfectly encapsulates the company's current troubles. Despite raising a cancellation request in April'24, Byju's has continued to charge them for both April and May (June they could not deduct because my relative did not put enough money in it). The BYJU'S support staff, which should be a beacon of assistance, has been unresponsive and unhelpful. This negligence has forced my relative to consider closing their primary bank account, a drastic step that disrupts their everyday transactions and financial stability. As per their support staff - they can not assure whether this deduction will stop or not even when the cancellation request has been raised, hence they are left with no choice but to close their primary bank account. Even after closing the bank account, my relative is still being relentlessly chased by Byju's recovery department to pay the subscription fees/emi. The tone and persistence of these recovery agents resemble that of extortionists, putting immense mental pressure on my relative. This aggressive and harassing behavior is unacceptable and further underscores the company's operational failures. Support Ticket # - 5910087 Such practices are not just administrative lapses but a betrayal of trust. Byju's was once seen as a revolutionary force in education, promising quality learning to children across India. However, the company's inability to handle basic customer service issues speaks volumes about its operational failures. Parents, particularly in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, invest in educational services like Byju's with the hope of securing a better future for their children. It is disheartening to see these very families being taken advantage of and left in distress. This erosion of trust is perhaps one of the fundamental reasons behind Byju's precipitous decline in valuation. 🛑 Parents, please exercise caution when dealing with Byju's. Always read the fine print and ensure you understand the terms and conditions before committing to any service. Your vigilance is the first line of defense against such malpractices. #Byjus #CustomerService #Education #EthicsInBusiness #Trust #IndianParents

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Spent some time today going through Meesho's blog on how they reduced 90% of their Redis infra cost and it is filled with interesting details ⚡ The blog covers their design, key decisions, and nuances around picking the right data structure and tuning Redis the right way. Give it a read, it is pretty informative. The high-level overview of it 1. key-value based initial design leading to bloated memory 2. moving to Redis Hash 3. it still bloats memory, but beyond a threshold 4. internals details on how Redis uses ziplist to implement hash 5. tuning `hash-max-ziplist-entries` configuration 6. minimizing calls to Redis using Lua script I have seen many people adopting KV based approach and then throwing money on infra to handle scale. But Meesho's blog highlighted how knowing database tunables can help you significantly reduce your infra costs. give it a read - https://lnkd.in/gp9N3JMh To be honest, this is a pretty interesting blog for anyone using Redis in production. I made a similar blunder back in 2020 and then spent 2 weeks optimizing it, so a hard relate :) #AsliEngineering #SystemDesign

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Had a brilliant conversation with Nuha Bubere from The Ken on how old guards (Flipkart + Amazon) are bringing on the fight to QCs (blinkit + Zepto + Instamart). Following are some pointers that we discussed: 1. Right to win lies with the ones who are able to crack frequency of purchase for the user- thus Fruits & Vegetables + grocery purchase is key for a right to win. Something that QCs are acing right now. 2. For profitability and increasing ASP- categories like electronics, mobiles and large appliances are key for success in the long run. With years of expertise built by the old guards- they have the best of the selection on them right now and will try to guard top selling models from opening up across all channels. Might play aggressive on margin asks on such models to shield marketshare. 3. Old guards also have access to affordability constructs like EMI, exchange constructs for electronics and smartphones, which if unlocked for their QC play, will ensure consumer stickiness given that Indian consumers tend to be net effective price sensitive. 4. In terms of operations- old guards are more seamless- they replicate inventories across their dark stores from the ones that brand/ seller supply to already established warehouses. In contrast- new QC channels are more tuned towards grocery forward replenishment models- which require deliveries every 3-5 days, while electronics are more tuned towards bulk deliveries to ecommerce warehouses. Making the current model of QCs operationally unfeasible for most scaled brands. 5. Large appliances in a quick commerce model is still a puzzle. Single unit delivery for washers, ACs, or TVs would come at huge supply chain costs, and even if deliveries happen within 10 minutes to 4 hours window, can brands enable same day installations? With increasing pressures of unsold inventories and reducing margins in hardware- innovation costs would be tough to figure out. But who had imagined Quick commerce becoming the new age Ecommerce war? Maybe brands too are able to build on scalable solutions across this.   Do read this piece on quick commerce: https://lnkd.in/gH2zue3e

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Heads Up! Fake Courier Scam Targeting Indian Users A recent scam targeting Indian users impersonates well-known courier companies like FedEx and DHL. Here's how it works (similar to the one described in https://lnkd.in/gNhRNPUj): - You receive a call claiming to be from a courier company. - They inform you of a package linked to your phone number containing illegal items. (They often mention Mumbai and Singapore in their script.) - They pressure you by mentioning involvement of law enforcement. Remember, this is a scam! Here's how to protect yourself: - Don't engage. Don't confirm personal details or provide any information. - Ask for specifics. Legitimate courier companies can provide details like tracking numbers, labels, service levels, sender/recipient addresses, etc. Scammers will struggle with these details. - End the call. Block the number and report it as spam. By staying vigilant and sharing awareness, we can help protect ourselves and others from these scams. #Logistics #ScamAlert #India

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8 questions from Meesho PM interview [1] What do you think is the biggest problem you face with Ola? How would you validate your solutions using A/B testing? [2] Check Meesho's landing page and share the process of getting that page to production. Identify all the stakeholders that will be involved in the process. [3] Suggest growth hacks and techniques to grow Notion from X (currently) to 2X users. [4] Understand the reselling market in India and other social commerce trends through primary and secondary research. Based on your understanding of the customers and market landscape, create a plan on how Meesho can improve the metric “Orders per Reseller per month”. [5] What do you understand by a poorly designed product? [6] How would you improve user experience at Meesho? [7] If we plan to introduce new verticals, where do you think we should invest and why? [8] What is one key metric that Practo should track? Which one did you like the most? 👆 #ProductManagement #InterviewQuestions #InterviewPrep #ProductManagers #CaseStudies

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