About this episode
Vidit Aatrey is cofounder and CEO of Meesho . Meesho is a platform in India that allows people to resell products using their social networks. They were in the Summer 2016 batch of YC and you can check them out at Meesho.com . Adora Cheung is a Partner at YC. Before working at YC she cofounded Homejoy. You can find Vidit on Twitter @viditaatrey and Adora is @nolimits . Y Combinator invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups (recently 200), twice a year. Learn more about YC and apply for funding here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ *** Topics 00:00 - Intro 01:20 - What is Meesho? 3:20 - Why not just sell directly to consumers? 5:05 - What are the macro trends in Meesho's favor in India? 7:30 - A trust deficit market 8:55 - How does Meesho help users get online and start selling? 11:45 - Most impactful user stories 13:50 - Growth drivers 15:50 - Balancing growth and quality 17:25 - What if Facebook copies Meesho? 18:50 - When did Vidit and his cofounder know they wanted to start a startup? 21:20 - Their first startup idea and the inspiration for Meesho 25:40 - When did they know Meesho was working? 27:20 - How hard was it to pivot the business and how did they manage it? 30:05 - As a CEO how does he stay in touch with users? 34:50 - How has Vidit's role changed over time? 36:55 - How has he learned to be a CEO? 38:30 - What mistakes have they made? 39:35 - What was his best decision? 40:15 - What's a strong opinion he had about running a startup that he's changed since running Meesho? 41:45 - How has the Indian startup ecosystem evolved? 43:20 - Big problems worth solving in India 43:05 - Can foreigners come to India and start a startup? 45:10 - Best advice for aspiring Indian founders 46:20 - After Meesho, what's the most exciting startup in India? 47:20 - Why is Delhi the best IIT? 48:15 - What's a must read book and why? 49:10 - What's a startup idea he'd be working on if Meesho didn't happen? 49:25 - In 100 years, what does he hope Meesho is?