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Everyone has a story waiting to be heard. We’re highlighting some of the amazing stories from within CleverTap — from our very own CT’zens — because we believe in the amazing people we work with everyday and want to share the exciting work culture that we’ve built together. Presenting: the CT’zens of CleverTap.
When Steve Jobs said, “I want to create a dent in the universe,” he expressed his entire mission through this statement. He is, as we know, renowned the world over for marrying creativity seamlessly with technology. Just think of the difference his Apple products have made to the world we live in today.
On most days, when I introduce myself as a tech guy who is also a comedian, most people are surprised by it, but trust me, the connection is ideal.
I have had the privilege of working with multiple early stage B2C startups in my career, allowing me to hustle from first principles, think creatively, validate vast amounts of hypotheses, and discover how to approach problems more efficiently.
We onboarded CleverTap as a vendor at a company where I was a Product Manager, charged with determining the right tool for us and then training employees on how best to use each tool or service in our stack. There are a lot of discussions that happen between building something and hiring a vendor. After being a part of these evaluations, I felt like exploring the B2B sector. I came across a Product Manager role at CleverTap for Startups catering to early-stage startups with less than 100,000 MAU.
This excited me as I had relevant experience working with such startups. At an early stage company, things are raw, goals and metrics are not defined, bandwidth and resources are limited, and approaches towards fixing things are sometimes inspired by the hustle and budget constraints.
The approach taken at the CleverTap for Startups program is very liberating for such early-stage companies, especially with the added affordability and flexibility over the core capabilities. This is why the role resonated with me.
My prior experience helped me contribute right from the start. Being able to understand the traits of our end users and their needs allowed me to implement features that made a difference. We were able to achieve our yearly targets, with all things falling into place at the right time.
In addition to being a techie, I am interested in the performing arts and comedy. In 2016, I joined a theater group in Bangalore to enhance my public speaking skills, learn projection techniques, and get rid of stage inhibitions. I then fell in love with comedy and gradually began hitting open mic sessions. They give me the confidence to express myself and channel my ideas, both personally and professionally.
Being a stand-up comedian is an integral part of who I am. It’s difficult to describe the feeling of performing in front of a live audience where the audience’s reaction provides immediate feedback.
I came to discover that performing arts and my professional role in tech are hugely connected. Writing an act or a joke and then iterating based on the audience’s reaction is similar to creating product ideas and validating them. Both processes (developing a joke or script and building a product) involve research, analyzing the audience, and coming up with what best meets their expectations.
Similarly, my experience in the performing arts has enabled me to have more empathy towards our customers. It has also helped me collaborate with my team better, and work on the best approach to any problem. I recognize customers’ stumbling blocks, which drives me to work on giving them better solutions. In addition, the performing arts have helped me to improvise more in my professional role at CleverTap. For me, the two processes are so similar that I find transitioning between both personalities very smooth, making me a better practitioner of both.
The message I want to put out there is you don’t always have to choose between two things you love. Sometimes, you find that you can seamlessly integrate both and give your best. Like the quote says: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” I decline to choose, as I believe in utilizing all my passion and interests to create the life and career of my dreams.
Ready to help build the future of mobile? Check out the career opportunities at CleverTap.
