My last 10 years — Part 2

You can read the Part 1 here.

Life at CaratLane (May’16-Feb’21) — Finding My Stride in Consumer Products

##The Initial Culture Shock

I wanted to build consumer-facing products, which is why I applied for the PM role at CaratLane to develop mobile apps. I loved my interview with my manager Avnish, who later went on to become CEO of CaratLane.

CaratLane presented a major culture shock. While Hopscotch had been data-obsessed, CaratLane had barely any data to analyze, let alone make decisions with. The work pace was also significantly slower. Initially, I questioned my decision but committed to giving myself 9–12 months to properly evaluate.

##Growing Product Portfolio

Gradually, I came to enjoy my work at CaratLane. Avnish gave me complete freedom to experiment with app development, and soon the app’s contribution to overall revenue began climbing.

During this time, I was also given the opportunity to build an in-house CRM (which we named “OneView”) from scratch. I vividly recall how Girish (our designer) and I would come to the office on Saturdays to work on the design, partly because Girish’s assigned PM was reluctant to let him collaborate with me. (I can write multiple blogs about all the politics that happened, but it’s not worth my time and yours :) )

These weekend sessions also allowed us to connect with the Customer Service team and understand their challenges firsthand. Looking back, I consider OneView one of the best products I’ve developed in such a short timeframe.

My responsibilities expanded to managing all consumer products (web, mobile web, apps), international shipping, PoP (saving schemes), and the omni-channel experience.

##The People Who Made the Difference

CaratLane represents my longest tenure at any company throughout my career — and one of my most cherished. The primary reason was the exceptional team I worked alongside: Avnish, Venkatesh, Shobhit, Muthu, Shivam, Madhu, Dhivya, Jen and many more. When you collaborate with colleagues who avoid office politics and fully commit to their work, your professional life becomes immeasurably more fulfilling.

Avnish — A true coach whose infectious positive energy cascaded down to the entire team.

Venkatesh — Witnessed his remarkable transformation from an angry young man at Hopscotch to achieving zen-like composure at CaratLane

Shobhit — Our resident yogi whose positive energy and calming vibes created balance in our high-pressure environment

Muthu — Pragmatic. Learnt a lot from him on how to manage stakeholders.

Madhu — Drama Queen. Absolutely hated her when I first met her. But went on to become one of my close friends at CaratLane. Her journey in my life proves that first impressions aren’t always lasting ones.

Dhivya — My go-to person for FDFS movie tickets and IPL tickets. Used to be my running partner in Chennai marathons.

##Balancing the Experience

Of course, not everything was perfect during my tenure. There was persistent friction with the tech teams, and my relationship with the CEO could have been significantly better. Overall, though, the positives far outweighed the negatives.

Unlike with other companies, where I typically lose touch with colleagues after moving on, CaratLane proved to be the exception. I believe that’s why I still fondly remember my time there — these lasting relationships preserved those good memories.

##Personal Growth Alongside Professional Development

While my professional relationships at CaratLane were flourishing, I was also making progress in organising my personal affairs. On the personal front, I paid off my loan in 2017 and began my investment journey.

In 2019, I cautiously started dating. But to be honest, I lacked clarity about what I wanted in a partner or why I even wanted to get married. After going out with a few girls, I realised they were also in the same boat. Either they were experiencing family pressure to settle down, or most of their friends were getting married and they simply needed someone to socialise with. My dating experiences were still evolving when the pandemic dramatically altered everyone’s plans.

##Pandemic Pivot and Farewell

When Covid hit in 2020, everything came to a halt — both professionally and personally. The forced pause, while disruptive to many aspects of life, unexpectedly opened a door to personal development that would ultimately inform my career decisions.

Fortunately, it helped me start practicing yoga which significantly improved my physical and mental wellbeing. As my physical and mental health improved through yoga, I gained clarity about other aspects of my life as well, including my career. I realised I was getting too comfortable at CaratLane and needed a new challenge.

My farewell day was truly memorable. It happened in the Chennai office with a few colleagues attending via video call from Mumbai. I became quite emotional listening to my colleagues’ words about me, and for the first time, I cried in front of everyone. I remain forever grateful to Madhu who organised my farewell.

Life at FanCode (Feb’21-Feb’23) — Remote Life & Strategic Thinking

##The Transition Challenge

Life at CaratLane taught me the value of team culture and product ownership. As I bid farewell to my colleagues, I was ready to challenge myself in an entirely different domain. The opportunity to work in the Sports category as part of the Dream 11 ecosystem was too compelling to ignore, even though it meant adapting to a remote-first culture during a pandemic.

Working remote for the first time, I realised soon that I need to unlearn lots of things as FanCode’s culture is drastically different from CaratLane’s. I am good at building rapport with colleagues with face to face interactions and that is not going to happen anytime soon. So, I struggled to build relationships with my peers. In PM role, that’s extremely crucial to get things done. Working remotely, you will miss all the nuances which are part of every organisation. This is unspoken culture but it’s prevalent in every company.

##Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone

Additionally, FanCode had well-defined processes and cultural practices they followed religiously, which took me time to internalise. Two specific responsibilities pushed me well beyond my comfort zone:

1. I was asked to lead the Engagement and Retention teams, areas crucial for any content platform. Until then, I had always managed Revenue and Conversion, which require a completely different mindset. Tackling retention proved to be one of my toughest challenges.
2. Even when heading consumer products at CaratLane, I still maintained some hands-on execution work. At FanCode, however, I was asked to focus solely on strategy while helping teams with their execution.

##Learning to Adapt and Grow

Initially, I struggled with both these new challenges.

To bridge the knowledge gap in engagement and retention, I enrolled in a specialised Reforge course that provided me with in-depth understanding of these metrics and strategies. Simultaneously, I immersed myself in books on strategic thinking, which significantly improved my ability to articulate product strategy across my product lines.

While the transition wasn’t smooth, these deliberate learning efforts transformed what began as uncomfortable challenges into valuable growth. The experience reinforced my belief that stepping outside your comfort zone, though difficult, often results in the most substantial development.

The strategic planning and work which I did at FanCode helped me to understand the nuances of working on Product Strategy and articulating the same and getting buy-in from CEO.

##Reassessing Long-Term Goals

Despite the valuable growth experiences, after two years I began reassessing my long-term goals. I decided to move on from FanCode for 2 reasons.

1. I wanted to get married and settle down. Deep inside, I know Mumbai is not the place where I want to settle down. I wanted to move to Chennai or Bangalore.
2. I realised the TAM for FanCode is limited and we are never going to achieve hockey stick growth. In all my previous firms, my career grew at a faster pace because the company was also growing. I knew my career would stagnate with limited growth at FanCode

##Farewell to Mumbai

After nine years, I made the difficult decision to leave Mumbai, a city that had become my second home. Mumbai had gifted me countless beautiful memories alongside a few painful ones that shaped who I am today. I’ll deeply miss my evening walks around the beautiful Five Gardens in Matunga and the charming old-world feel of Gaothan in Chembur. Those midnight conversations with friends at Marine Drive, while savouring Bachelor’s ice cream, have become precious memories etched in my heart. The crazy monsoons and the madness of Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations are irreplaceable experiences I carry with me as I turn this new page in my life.

Break (Mar’23- Apr’23) — A Spiritual Reset

Before committing to my next professional chapter, I decided to take what I thought would be a brief break. Little did I know this would transform into a profound spiritual journey across India. After vacating my Mumbai apartment and storing my possessions, carrying only a backpack as I traversed the country.

The pilgrimage began in late February 2023 when I visited the ancient holy city of Varanasi with my friend Veerabahu. I absolutely loved the vibrant energy of the Ghat areas and our stay at Tent City. The journey continued to Rameshwaram in March, visiting the famous Ramanathaswamy temple. From there, I had the privilege of visiting twelve Divya Desam temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu. My spiritual exploration culminated with the intensive Bhava Spandana program at the Isha Yoga Center in Coimbatore, which pushed me physically, mentally and emotionally.

This whirlwind sacred journey, living out of a single backpack while moving from one spiritual landmark to another, offered me the clarity I needed, far removed from the corporate metrics and strategies that had defined my previous years.

Life at Fyno (Apr’23— Present) : Navigating the B2B SaaS Landscape

I got the opportunity to talk to the founders of Fyno thanks to my friend Ram, who introduced us through his VC contacts. Founded in July 2022, Fyno was in its nascent stages, still building their MVP with zero customers. After multiple discussions about their vision for a communications infrastructure platform, I decided to join them.

This represented a significant pivot in my career trajectory. After years in B2C environments at Hopscotch, CaratLane and FanCode, joining a B2B SaaS startup meant stepping into unfamiliar territory. However, I had always been curious about Product Management in the B2B space, and this presented the perfect opportunity to explore that dimension while applying my existing product expertise in a new context.

## Customer Discovery Journey

The initial months were radically different from my previous roles. Without an established customer base, we focused heavily on customer discovery — conducting interviews, validating assumptions, and iteratively refining our hypotheses about market needs. This process, while challenging, helped us shape our product direction with remarkable clarity.

Our persistence paid off when we acquired our first customer in September 2023. That milestone brought validation but also new challenges in implementation and support. I took on additional responsibilities that stretched beyond traditional product management:

- Creating comprehensive user documentation
- Establishing compliance frameworks
- Implementing InfoSec protocols
- Designing and executing customer onboarding processes

## The B2B Revelation

One aspect of B2B work that I’ve come to genuinely appreciate is the direct customer interaction. Unlike my B2C experience where data often served as a proxy for user needs, approximately 40% of my daily work now involves direct conversations with customers , understanding their workflows, pain points, and success criteria in remarkable detail.

Through methodical customer discovery, we identified our target customer segments and prioritized which specific needs we should address. Though sometimes painful and time-consuming, this process helped us crystallize our value proposition. The foundation is now set; scaling the business and achieving profitability are the logical next steps on our journey.

## Technical Evolution

Perhaps the most unexpected development has been my transition from Consumer PM to Technical PM. Our product’s API-driven architecture demanded deeper technical engagement than my previous roles. Working alongside technically strong founders and an energetic Gen-Z team has accelerated this evolution, making what could have been a daunting transition feel natural and energizing.

The B2B SaaS environment has revealed new dimensions of product management that complement my B2C experience — creating a more complete product leader capable of operating across diverse business models and customer types.

##Personal Life

Good thing about moving to Bangalore is most of my batchmates live in Bangalore. We have started playing Badminton on weekends. I love spending time at Cubbon Park and Blossoms book store. The food scene in Bangalore is also really great.

I went under the knife for the first time and had my Inguinal Hernia surgery in June last year and I was asked not to practice yoga for 6 months.It was a tough few days. Thanks to my friends, Karthija and Varun, I got through it.

Was back to travelling after covid and visited Finland, Germany and Australia last year. Rovaneimi was magical and the New Year Fireworks in Sydney lived up to the expectation. Was lucky to watch 3 Euro matches. So overall a fantastic year for travel and my professional growth.

On the personal front, I’ve been putting myself out there and meeting new people. The dating scene in Bangalore has been good, and unfortunately, nothing has worked out so far. Despite the setbacks, I remain optimistic about finding someone who shares my values and life goals. The search continues, but I’m trying to enjoy the journey rather than fixating on the destination.

##Looking forward

The technology landscape is evolving at a pace that feels both exciting and daunting simultaneously. Over the past decade, I was fortunate to have chosen a profession with tremendous scope and demand, which helped me accelerate my career growth. With AI and the efficiency it brings, I anticipate many successful companies will be built with leaner teams in the future. I’m currently exploring various paths to upskill myself in this changing environment.

Meanwhile, an inner voice persistently nudges me toward entrepreneurship — toward building something of my own. This year feels pivotal as I need to clarify what I want to pursue for the next 10–20 years and determine the concrete actions required to achieve that. The uncertainty brings both challenge and possibility.

Exciting times ahead, indeed.