Company founders and CEOs who work on the ground and directly communicate with customers epitomize effective leadership. By delving into the daily realities of their business, they gain valuable insights on how to make their product/services better, foster trust and lead by example. Previously, the President of Uber in India, Prabhjeet Singh, was found driving cabs and taking on customers.
And now, the Chief Growth Officer of Juspay, a fintech company, has been found riding an autorickshaw as a part of his research for Namma Yatri, an open mobility auto-booking app in Bengaluru.
This story was shared online by a guy named Manasvi Saxena who was the passenger travelling via the autorickshaw. Here’s what he wrote:
My Uber auto driver tonight was the Chief Growth Officer at @juspay, doing user research for @nammayatri.
If this isn't @peakbengaluru then what is!
— Manasvi Saxena (@minusv_) October 10, 2023
The Chief Growth Officer of Juspay has been identified as Shan M S, an IIM Bangalore graduate who has been working at Juspay for the past 2 years, according to LinkedIn. Manasvi revealed that their conversation was a “casual chit chat” where he asked all the “right questions”. He grew suspicious when the driver was speaking in a very articulate manner.
It wasn't any specific question but the flow of the entire conversation. It didn't feel like a user interview but a casual chit chat and yet he asked all the right questions. I only got suspicious because the conversation was well articulated else there was no telling.
— Manasvi Saxena (@minusv_) October 11, 2023
People online lauded the man for putting such great efforts into bettering his company. Here’s how they responded to the post:
I think @juspay is like yahoo of India, the greatest engineer will be brewed there, even there tech stack reflects the efforts they put into it product
— Harsh Mahajan (@007harshmahajan) October 11, 2023
Thanks for posting this. Nothing to be astonished here. This is routinely done by quite a lot of startup CXOs on a daily basis. We live in a country where it is given that higher we go up the corporate ladder or political ladder, the less we see the ground. Not so with #startups
— Srivathsa Kalale Nadaddur (@srivathsa_kn) October 12, 2023
The CXO getting their hands dirtier to achieve excellence represents top-notch growth and commitment.
— Trishla Singh Bhati (@bhati_trishla) October 13, 2023
I would call it peak professionalism rather than peak Bangalore.
he was doing user research by being on the ground himself.
Kudos ! @juspay— Amit Kulkarni (@amit3d) October 13, 2023
This kind of hands-on approach not only helps people to come up with innovative ideas but also ensures a deeper understanding of customer needs.