Thread by @MohapatraHemant

Delighted to host a Masterclass with Abhinav Asthana @a85, Founder of @postmanclient at #EE2019 today on “Building in India for the world”.. his perspectives on the opportunities and challenges founders will face in building a truly global product were invaluable. A thread 👇:

@a85 @postmanclient Recalling the early days of Postman, Abhinav emphasised that "survival spirit" and "resourcefulness" underpinned the bootstrap phase of their journey and helped them sail through tough times.. times when bank balance was barely down to few months of making rent..

@a85 @postmanclient “If you’re not ready to invest everything behind it, entrepreneurship is not for you.” It was intriguing to hear how hard he tried *not* to start a company. It didn’t feel right, until the day conviction got really strong this is something that’ll really add value to the world.

@a85 @postmanclient From starting as a side project to getting immense love from developers, Abhinav claimed that constant listening (user feedback) coupled with quantitative data has continuously helped them unlock value, get clarity on their reason to exist, and make developers their champions.

@a85 @postmanclient Abhinav feels strongly that great global companies can be built out of India. Talent exists, but first 10 hires are mission critical - Postman hired these slowly & carefully over 18 mos. Yet, mistakes are inevitable, and that’s when you really learn about your company’s culture.

@a85 @postmanclient Moving to Silicon valley has helped Postman to embed itself in a similar breed of companies. Being surrounded by people who’ve been there done that, speak the same “language” has raised the bar and grounded the team in the reality of what it takes to build a truly global product.

@a85 @postmanclient However, moving to US is not a magic-pill. Be very conscious about the “why”, but once you’re clear about the reason – move sooner than later. Transplanting cultures once they’re set is very hard.

@a85 @postmanclient Practically speaking, running Indo-US teams is like running two companies. Your culture will vary no matter what. Each one feels other is making the important decisions. Managing this tension should be front-and-centre for the founding team.

@a85 @postmanclient Clearly and comprehensively writing down the cultural ethos and “over-communicating” has helped Postman avoid chaos. However, Abhinav stressed that often the biggest mistake is that founding team doesn’t follow the principles themselves. There can’t be incongruence.

@a85 @postmanclient Commenting on product pricing for different countries, Abhinav explained that the simpler it is, the better. It allows for better experimentation, understanding, and a frictionless buyer experience. Remember, every line in your pricing plan is a decision point & adds complexity.

@a85 @postmanclient To conclude, Abhinav left founders with the thought that “Ambition evolves over time through conversations. Our north-star was to continue delighting users. To bring them real, tangible value. It is still day-one in this journey.” Thanks a lot @a85 for doing this! 🙏🤘