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InterviewwithSaiPriyaMahajan,CoFounderEatlo|CrazyEngineers
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InterviewwithSaiPriyaMahajan,CoFounderEatloDiscussionin'FoundersCircuitTheVentureCaptureSeries'startedbyGuneetKaurKhanuja,Apr17,2015.
byGuneetKaurKhanuja,Apr17,2015at9:21AM
EatloisanewfoodstartupcompanycofoundedbySaiPriyaMahajanandRahul
Harkisankaintheyear2014.SaicompletedherdualdegreeinElectricalEngineering
fromIndianInstituteofTechnologyBombayintheyear2011.Afterworkingforabout
fouryearsinvariouscompanieslikeUrbanTouchandMyGola,SaistartedupwithEatlo.
CheckoutthefollowinginterviewtoknowmoreaboutEatlo,thesourceofinspiration
behindthisstartupthekindofactivitiesSaiwasinvolvedinatIITBombay,theirhiring
strategies,opportunitiesforbuddingengineersandalotmore!Readon!
RahulHarkisankaandSaiPriyaMahajan
1.HelloSai.CouldyougiveourreadersabriefoverviewofEatlo?
Sai:AtEatlo,we'rebuildingthemosthasslefreeandconvenientfoodserviceever.
142Recommend
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InterviewwithSaiPriyaMahajan,CoFounderEatlo|CrazyEngineers
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Eatloislikeyourgotobrandforfooddelivery.Sowheneveryou'rehungry,youopen
ourapp,choosefrom45optionssuitableforthetimeoftheday,orderin20seconds
andgetyourfoodin20mins.Ourmenuchangesdailysoyoudon'tgetboredofhaving
thesamethingdayindayout.Anyitemonthemenuisnotrepeatedfor1520days
andevenafterthatitisnotofferedinthesamecombination,soit'snotlikearotating
menu.YoucanchoosefromourvegornonvegoptionsintheHealthy,Homelyor
Interestingcategories.Ourfoodisbothtastyandfillingbutalsoguiltfreeandnon
restaurantishonmostoccasions,sothatyoucanorderdailyfromus.
Rightnowwe'redoinglunchesin7areasinBangalore.Butwewanttobeabletoserve
food,ondemand,throughoutthedaybreakfast,lunch,snacks,dinnerandovernight
deliverieswhichiswhenwe'llbecometheonestopsolutionforallfoodneedsofa
customer.
2.Youhaveaworkexperienceofclosetofouryearspriortostartingupwith
Eatlo.Whatwasthesourceofinspirationforyou?
Sai:IwantedtodosomethingexcitingaftercompletingmygraduationfromIITB.Ihad
ajobofferofaSoftwareEngineerfromafirminTexas,Austinbutwantedtodo
somethingthatwasmoredynamicandonthegroundsoIjoinedthisstartup
Urbantouch.com.ThatIthinkwasaturningpointforme.Hadwantedtostartupsince
then,justcouldn'tfixmymindtoanideabeforethis.
3.Couldyoutellusmoreaboutyoureducationalbackground?Whatkindof
activitieswereyouinvolvedinatIITBombay?
Sai:IcompletedaDualdegree(Mtech+Btech)fromIITBinMicroelectronics(Electrical
Engineering)in2011.Iwasprettyseriousaboutacademicsandwouldtrytounderstand
concepts.ButIwasalsoextensivelyinvolvedinalotofextracurricularactivities.Wasin
theinterIITbasketballteam,usedtosingandperformregularlyeverysemandalsogot
involvedintheplacementteam,sportscouncil&ourdeptmentorprogram.
4.HowbigistheteamatEatlo?
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Sai:We'renowaround40peopleincludingthecoreandexecutiveteams.
TeamEatlo
5.Whatareyourhiringstrategies?Anyopportunitiesforbuddingengineers?
Sai:Ourstrategyistohirerockstarswhowethinkhavethepotentialtogetthingsdone
andbuildscalablesystems.Attheseniorlevel,wemostlyhirethroughreferences.But
wealsospeakwithpeoplewhoapproachusandthentrytofindareferencewhocan
giveussomefeedback.Havingaverageperformersontheteamnegativelyaffectsthe
moraleofhighperformers.Sowethinkit'sreallyimportanttohiretherightpeopleasit
reallyaffectsthecultureandultimatelywhatyourteamstandsfor.
Absolutely!We'regrowingveryfastandtherearelotofopenpositionscurrentlyfor
peoplewho'vebeenactivelyshippingproducts.
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6.Universityorlifeexperience,whichdoyoufeelbestpreparesyouforlife?
Sai:
7.Haveyoubeeninafailedstartupbefore?Ifyes,whydiditfail?
Sai:I'vebeenat2startupsbeforethis,asateammemberthoughnotasafounder.
See,therearefailuresandwinseveryotherday.Sometimesyouaresuccessfulinwhat
you'redoingandatothertimesyou'renot.Instartupsespeciallyyouneedtotryto
solveaproblemviamanydifferentapproaches.Youdo3040thingsandperhapsonly
510ofthosewouldwork.Theimportantthingistokeepimplementingandnotslow
downbecausesomethingdidnotgowell.Andalsotonotoveroptimizeoroverthink.
Implementingatspeediskeytodoingwell.
8.Whatwouldyoudodifferentlyifgivenachance?
Sai:I'ddomoreandworrylessaboutoptimization.
9.Whyshouldcustomerschooseyouoveryourcompetitors?
Sai:We'dliketohearthatfromourcustomers.
Atourend,weensurewedowhatis
bestforthecustomer.We'retryingtobuildthemosthasslefreeandconvenientfood
serviceeverforcustomersandallourdecisionsandstrategyshapeupfromthis
thought.Wedon'tsaywe'rebuildingamarketplaceofchefsoraninternetfirst
restaurant,becausehonestlywedon'tcareaboutthesefancyterms.Whatwereally
careaboutandaretryingtosolveeverydayishowtomakegettingfoodforour
customerssupereasyandconvenient.
10.Thankyouforthetimeyouhavespentwithus.Anymessageforour
readers?
Bothandnone.Whilethesetwogiveyouexposuretoalotofthingsyoucanneverbepreparedenoughforalotoflifeexperiences.
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Sai:Ifyou'relookingtojoinafastpaced,highgrowthstartup,shootusanemail
[email protected]'reinBangalore.ThanksLikex2
#1Apr17,2015
