Nishith Modi

2017: Joined Juspay before India's fintech boom 2020: Tried everything PM at Razorpay 2023: Now, Building for scale at Paytm Navigating the world of product management has been a journey filled with learning and growth. From honing my tech, system thinking & abstraction skills at Juspay. To laying the foundation for product thinking, execution & GTM at Razorpay. To leading a high-performance team at Paytm. Each step has been an integral part of my career progression. While my path has seen its share of challenges, I have received the necessary support at each stage of my career and have not shied away from asking for help whenever required. On similar lines, when I wanted to upskill myself, I joined GrowthX®, and the learning has been invaluable. Putting effort is in your hands, so focus only on that with discipline. Key lessons? As Dhoni said, "Focus on the controllable." Huge thanks to the GrowthX community for their relentless support and knowledge sharing. It truly embodies the spirit of community-driven learning without expectations of monetary return. PS: the deadline to apply for the 4 Week Growth Program is Nov 30th. Join me at GrowthX with my link in the comments. 🌱

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Ever had that moment when your engineering team says a feature will take 3 months to build, and you're thinking "Really? 😅" Well, something wild happened yesterday - I and Pranay Gaddam⚡ built an entire YouTube-style platform for Product Management content in just 90 minutes! Not a mockup, not a prototype, but a working product. I know, I know... I couldn't believe it either! 🤯 Here's the fun part: We are not some 10x developers or coding wizard. We just paired up with Replit's AI Agent (think of it as having a super-smart coding buddy who actually listens to what you want 😉). We recorded the whole journey, showing exactly how it works, because let's be honest - as product folks, we need to understand this AI revolution beyond just the buzzwords. What you'll see: • Real-time problem-solving (including the head-scratching moments!) • How AI actually understands and implements product requirements • The future of rapid prototyping (spoiler: it's already here) • A peek into what's possible when AI meets product development The best part? No coding experience needed to follow along. We explain everything in product manager language - no tech jargon overload, promise! If you're a product person trying to navigate the AI landscape (aren't we all?), come geek out with me: [Link in comments] P.S. For all my PM friends who've ever wished for faster development cycles - this one's especially for you! 😊 ---------- 🎓 Learn Product Management - Link in bio #ProductManagement #AI #Innovation #RealTalk #ProductLeadership

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India’s Oyo, once valued at $10 billion, is finalizing new funding at a $2.5 billion valuation. This marks a steep decline from its $10 billion valuation in 2019. The startup, which has raised over $3 billion from backers like SoftBank, Peak XV Ventures, Lightspeed, Airbnb, and Microsoft, has struggled to attract institutional investors. In recent months, it has aggressively pitched to high-net-worth individuals after withdrawing its IPO application twice in the past four years. Once a red-hot Indian startup active in markets including the U.S. and Europe, Oyo has now scaled back its international presence. #venture #downround https://lnkd.in/gE2GjYnM

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As I sit with son on factorisation of polynomials... Example: a-square -5a -6 The trick is to multiply the coefficients of a-square and the constant term. You get -6. And then find the numbers that on multiplication gives -6 but on summation gives -5 Now he ponders on 3 and 2 the more obvious ones. Soon he realises that since the signs need to be opposite, they cannot on addition get you to -5. That 1 is a factor of all numbers and the number itself is then recollected. So you get 1 and 6, one of which needs to be negative. Now you come to an interesting part. Which one is to be kept negative? Things are a bit involved by now and so the attention doesnt come on the obvious point. After some pondering, it took some pointing attention to the fact that to get to -5 on addition, it is the bigger number that needs to be made negative. It was a wow moment, even if it was obvious... As i observed him solving subsequent problems, he started remembering this new rule, which he knew from earlier, but just got reinforced. Point 1 - Mathematics Education Now one thing is what it tells us about Mathematics education. The 100 small things to which attention need to be paid to, to get Maths right. It is cognitively taxing. You need supervisory/facilitating human attention, which is the simplest way to motivate a child to go through with it. It can become fun, but only if you get it right often. And like in all learning if you dont get it right often enough, it can make one lose interest. Point 2 - Neural net learning But to come to my soapbox, the neural networks also seem to be learning a 100 small things. The combination of getting trained where a pattern repeats and reinforces is what makes learning happen. The rule is not what we memorise. The rule is the compression of patterned enumeration. But human beings seem to internalise it, not based on memorising rules. We seem to internalise it based on the repetition of the enumeration and the fact that, now you can jump the step and not have to enumerate at all. The Rule is not what is either Taught or Learnt. The Rule is what you arrive at through a process. The process is the observation of the repetition of the enumeration and then suddenly being able to "see" the pattern. And for the LLM to learn any new Rule, we need to give it the Data which has this Patterned Enumeration. We thought in 2023 that we had some generalised Intelligence. We thought wrong. Anyone spending 1000s of hours with LLMs now knows that the LLM is not able to get into too much of generalisation. Neither are most Human Beings able to do that when they Learn! I will be very curious to know how AGI can be achieved. Because like the Ring in the Lord of the Rings, it will have to be the Ring that rules them all! How will we manage to pull that off? Does the patterned enumeration of Rules, have a Rule? Do we Humans somehow get it? Can we produce Data that makes this happen for Neural nets? #humanlearning #agi

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Our vision at Niti AI is to empower the next billion (non) developers to build and ship products with AI! Whenever I reflect on ambitious goals like this, I'm reminded of the below quote from The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. Hari Subramanian | Aravind R. | LoopX

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Yes, everything in the age of AI is an API. And as AI evolves, the need for well designed and secure APIs will become even more crucial in the ecosystem #postman #ageofAPIs #noAIwithoutAPI

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Have you ever been lost in a railway station, not knowing where to go or which way to take? Left or right? Even nobody else knows. That’s how I felt opening the Paytm app after a few months. I couldn’t get to the transaction history page, and I really didn’t know how to figure it out. It turned out that it took me 15 minutes to get to the transaction history, check some previous activity, confirm, and close the app. And in 15 minutes, my iPhone started heating up really bad. What a royal mess! Advise product managers and designers: Please make your UI simpler and easier to understand and navigate. Just don’t think using simple colors will lead to a simple UI. There’s an art behind it. Learn it.

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topmate.io is coming up with ZERO DAY on 30th May - the day where it will not charge any commission from its mentors. Doing my bit on this - whatever commission topmate.io is not charging me, I am giving it back to the community - not just on 30th May but this entire week. You can book 1:1 session with me or enroll in 'Cracking your next PM interview' using the code - TOPMATE and get 10% discount - yes, the commission saved is passed on to you. Here's the link for you to enroll: https://lnkd.in/dhQz8937 If you are a mentor looking to explore mentorship platforms, there is no better time to explore topmate.io than now. #Mentorship #Career #topmate #GivingBack

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The Decision That Doomed a Dream 📽️ 🎬 What if your most hyped product idea became the reason your company collapsed? This is the untold story of a decision that sent a $2 billion startup spiraling. Priya: “Remember Quibi? The short-form streaming platform that raised $2 billion only to crash and burn in six months?” Amit: “How could I forget? But wasn’t their whole idea—quick bites of content on mobile—a good one? People are obsessed with short videos now.” Priya: “Exactly! The concept was solid, but the product decisions? Not so much. One of their biggest missteps was locking all their content behind a paywall with no free tier.” Amit: “Wait, they didn’t offer even a single free episode? Not even ads-supported content?” Priya: “Nope. They banked on the idea that people would pay $5–$8 a month upfront for content they’d never seen before from a brand they didn’t know. Add to that the fact they launched during the pandemic, when people were glued to their TVs—not mobile phones.” Amit: “Oof. That sounds like a classic case of not reading the room.” Priya: “It gets worse. Their product didn’t allow screenshots or sharing clips on social media. Imagine trying to launch a video platform in 2020 without virality built in.” Amit: “So, they made themselves invisible on the platforms where their audience hangs out. That’s a killer mistake. Did they try to fix it?” Priya: “Too little, too late. By the time they introduced features like TV support and extended free trials, their subscriber numbers had tanked. They shut down just six months after launch.” Amit: “Man, all that money and talent—and it was decisions, not the idea, that sank them. Makes you wonder how many product decisions are make-or-break moments in disguise.” Sometimes, the right product decisions aren’t about flashy features but about understanding your audience’s needs. #QuibiStory #ProductManagement #LessonsFromFailure #StartupJourney #InnovationGoneWrong #PMJourney Photo Credits: https://lnkd.in/gtg33zHu

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Can technical founders become effective CEOs? Srinath Sridhar knew he needed to step out of his comfort zone when he founded Regie.ai four years ago. Now he and cofounder Matt Millen have raised more than $20 million and landed on G2’s list of fastest-growing software products of 2024. My full conversation with Sri is in the comments.

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Hey there, entrepreneurs! As you know, starting a service business can be a breeze, but scaling it up can be a whole different ball game. In this recent chat at one million by one million, I've delved into some strategies that can help you accelerate your growth. First off, let me tell you about the power of persistence. Even when things got tough, I never gave up on my entrepreneurial dreams. I learned a lot from my early failures, and those lessons were invaluable in building Mindbowser Inc. Finding the right co-founder was another game-changer for me. My partnership with Pravin Uttarwar has been a driving force behind our success. We've also focused on offering solutions based on foundational products, which has helped us provide more value to our customers and stand out in the market. And let's not forget the importance of strategic partnerships. Collaborating with US-based salespeople has been instrumental in expanding our reach and boosting our revenue. For more information read here: https://lnkd.in/dsYf8HEy I'm curious to hear your thoughts on bootstrapping a services company. Have you faced similar challenges or discovered effective growth strategies? Sramana Mitra One Million by One Million (1Mby1M) nasscom nasscom startups Digital India Corporation Manisha Khadge #bootstrap #business #startup #entreprenuership #servicebusiness #entrepreneurlife #strategicpartnerships #valueproposition #growthmindset #startuplife

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Kaun Banega CTO?! Shocking insights via The Mint - Highly valued Indian startups are opting out of hiring new executives at exuberant packages to lead tech innovation. This comes when a persisting funding downturn has pushed them to put a lid on hiring and venturing into new growth verticals to control cash burn. - Several new-age companies, including Zomato and Healthify, that have relied on tech to drive disruption are now opting out of hiring replacements for the once-prized C-suite role. - Companies retaining their high-cost CTOs are pushing them to take on additional roles such as “IT management, product oversight, or broader organisational responsibilities", it said. Why? “Over the last year or so, there’s been a lot of focus on profitability and making the business viable. We are now emphasising the right mix of talent and cost, and honestly, titles don’t matter," Mota Moti: It seems the “overpaid, over-hyped, over-marketed, overvalued” CTO is coming back to becoming just another #dhandhekibaat row item :)) If you have views, please share?! My view: if you are a promoter that doesn't know Tech, then this is not an option. Article link in comments!

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(Hiring/Update 2): In the last 3 days, we have almost touched ~1000 applicants for the open founding PM role at Trumio which is way, way more than what I was expecting PS: Given I am a 1-person hiring team, I would request your patience while I sort and shortlist the most relevant profiles PPS: I will close the form this weekend and then begin the shortlisting process in one go next week onwards PPPS: Many of you have asked for conversations/feedback which I believe will be hard in the short term right now but if we continue staying in touch, I will more than make it up in the long term (I myself hate it when companies and hiring managers go dormant on applicants)

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Watching someone struggle with something you've built is both humbling and enlightening. When Prashant and I introduced the initial version of prd2proto.ai, we thought we were onto something. Upload a PRD and boom—your prototype is ready! Made sense, right? After all, it's in the name. But as we sat down with our early access users, we noticed a sharp edge: many didn't have a PRD ready or found it a hassle to create one in another tool just to use our app. They dropped off, and we felt that sting. Garry Tan captures this perfectly: "When you make software, you have to watch at least 10 people use it. Sit next to them and say absolutely nothing... WATCH USERS AND CRINGE AND THEN FIX IT. SAND DOWN THE EDGES." We listened, we cringed, and we learned. Today, we're excited to share that we've updated prd2proto.ai with a chat interface! Now, you can talk through your ideas—think of it as a product assistant right inside the app. No barriers, no prerequisites - just a seamless way to bring your vision to life. Check out the video below to see what's changed. We've been holding off on opening prd2proto.ai to more people until we got this right. Now that we have, more invites are heading out this week! A huge thank you to everyone who's been patiently waiting on our waitlist. And if you want to be part of this journey and help shape how the product evolves, sign up here for early access: https://prd2proto.ai/ #ProductDesign #BuildInPublic #StartupJourney

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🚀 Revenue Growth: Swiggy's revenue surged by 36% in FY24, reaching ₹11,247 crore (vs ₹8,265 crore in FY23). 📉 Loss Reduction: Losses were slashed by 44%, down to ₹2,350 crore (vs ₹4,179 crore in FY23), driven by a 8% reduction in expenses. 📈 Competitor Comparison: Zomato: ₹12,114 crore revenue, ₹351 crore profit Swiggy: ₹11,247 crore revenue, ₹2,350 crore loss 🍽️ Core Business: Food delivery generated $3 billion GOV with 14.3M MTUs and an AOV of ₹428. 🛒 Quick Commerce: Instamart lagged with ₹1,100 crore revenue and a ₹460 AOV, trailing Blinkit’s ₹2,301 crore revenue and ₹617 AOV. 📊 Instamart’s Reach: Operating in 27 cities with 17,000 SKUs through 523 active dark stores. 💡 Outlook: Swiggy indicates the peak of investments in Instamart is over, paving the way for further profitability. https://lnkd.in/gVC6mJAU

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Buying gold / silver coins on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Trithiya come under low frequency - low complexity purchase category. It is a seasonal product bought generally during specific occasions. Zepto Blinkit Swiggy lapped up this opportunity and started selling this with the benefit of quick delivery. No wonder the sales picked up quite well. I wonder how much would it have impacted the sales of larger eComm players. Sales trends from swiggy is already out. I am sure the trend will be similar for Zepto - Aadit Palicha and Blinkit - Albinder Dhindsa I detailed out this approach and more in my notes - https://lnkd.in/gBmvVKy2

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A little mortified Ajay Bulusu posted my tweets on "Cab Company CEO" here. Twitter & LI are like Oil & Water - they don't mix well. But to summarize my thoughts, the attempt by the Cab Company CEO to package Cloud and AI as a "nationalistic" venture, is dubious & unworkable. Very soon it will turn into an attempt at regulatory capture in the name of patriotism & national security (he has already called for data localization using the CrowdStrike outage as an excuse - never mind that these have no relation). I have seen Gaurav and Ajay build NextBillion.ai into a viable alternative to Google maps for enterprises. Krutrim is welcome as well - but no special favors because it's 'Indian'. The world of digital products & ideas is global. More innovation lies ahead than behind - and it will come from talented people - not legacy factories or fertile land. Countries that do well in this will be the ones who attract the best innovators. Technologists tend to cluster around these leading innovators. Capital too is globalised and will fund these innovators wherever they are. Digital innovators are nomadic - they only need an internet connection as a tether - & the world's leading and wannabe tech hubs are all competing to attract them. Our benchmark for success should be how many innovators setup companies in India, work from here, patent their IP here, bill their clients from here. Today, most of our innovators incorporate abroad & emigrate at the first chance. News of relaxed entrepreneur visa norms in the US gets a million views and likes. Many of our best engineers are always looking for emigration opportunities. If the Indian Govt. is interested in capturing more of the value of this ecosystem - it should try to align governance to attract this crowd. That means low and predictable regulation, economic and social freedoms, moderate taxes, great livable urban spaces and so on. This is a far far cry from the India of today - with it's urban hells, parasitic taxation levels in certain areas, ridiculous and high friction regulation around global currency movement and securities transactions, and lack of a trustworthy judicial and L&O system. Hucksters step into this lack of an internationally competitive environment - and claim that "protectionism" in the name of "nationalism" is the answer. It is most definitely not. We won't get our own Facebooks and LinkedIns by erecting walls. Such walls will only help give these hucksters' ventures a leg-up - so their otherwise shoddy goods and services are not exposed to international competition. And in fact such walls will only drive further emigration of genuine innovators. To the contrary - we should be tearing down walls like FEMA laws - that harass economic freedom today. We are the kids of 1980's India. We don't want to go back there. We don't want our internet captured by reincarnations of the Bajaj Auto regulatory capture model (the sheer irony). Compete fairly in the global marketplace and win.

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