Leave No One Behind : Prikshit Kumar, SDE — III (Backend) on how the tech team demonstrates this unwritten code of conduct every day at Meesho
When we interview our star Meeshoites every week, the one topic that always comes up is the amount of personal and professional growth Meesho offers its employees. Prikshit Kumar, Software Development Engineer (SDE) — III (Backend), our Employee of the Week also shares a similar trajectory of growth like other Meeshoites. In fact, he categorises the growth curve Meesho takes Meeshoites on, and the growth Meeshoites elevate Meesho to, as the most appealing thing about the company.
Prikshit, who joined as an SDE — II in September 2018, when Meesho was still very much in startup mode, says that the company’s growth has been exponential. In terms of strength alone, Meesho went from X to 10X in this period, he says. And while the company grew, it ensured that all Meeshoites grew along with it. ‘Leave no one behind is an unwritten core value here,’ he says.
Read on learn all about Prikshit’s life at Meesho :
Two years ago, when I joined, Meesho’s startup culture had everyone doing everything. In fact, Tech and Product used to be one accumulative team of maybe 20 folks. We used to interact with our resellers directly to understand their expectations and their requirements. Now, we have dedicated teams, and streamlined tasks for each team. The company has evolved impressively, and so have we. In the two years that I have been here, the growth of the team alone has been nothing short of 8X — 10X.
This growth has allowed us to explore and expand on our knowledge as individuals as well. All of us in the Tech team are conscious of making decisions that will be relevant in the future as well. It is ingrained in us to Think 10X, about how the tech we make today can adapt to the problems of tomorrow. That can only happen when we take full ownership of our projects and work on lightning speed to achieve our targets. After all, Think 10X, Take Ownership and Speed Over Perfection are our core values and we live by them.
Resolving problems at lightning speed
For example, as someone in Tech, when I write a feature, I take ownership of it naturally. I see it evolve from something small to an essential code for our product. No matter the variables, I need to ensure its sustenance and utilisation. While there is a cross-functional approach to how we work, where we do feature developments and project coordination with other teams as well, Take Ownership and Speed Over Perfection take precedence. We often do not have the bandwidth to wait for someone else — even our managers — where there is a problem that needs fixing. We end up dealing with it ourselves.
Historically, we have also pitched in when we see the need for it, even if it isn’t explicitly required of us. This is in tandem with another core value, which is Company>Team>Individual. Meeshoites never look at a task at hand as my task vs. someone else’s task. It is usually a task that needs to be done for the company to grow. I am willing to do it even if it may not directly fall under “Prikshit’s to-do list.”
Following my passion
I moved to Bangalore for my career as a software engineer in 2015 after completing Btech. Computer Engineering from IIT Ropar. Having lived in a joint family in a small town called Mahendergarh, 100 km away from Gurgaon, all my life, moving to Bangalore was a huge decision and I did not take it lightly. I had complete clarity regarding what I wanted to do in life and knew that being in the IT hub is the only way to launch it the way I wanted to.
Throughout my career I have worked in startups, where I tackled challenges constantly. I believe that being in those spaces of constant hustle and experiencing those challenges regularly prepared me for Meesho. Working here has been a privilege because the growth here is like none other. Not only do we as Meeshoites foster the growth of the company and the business, but the company in turn helps us grow.
An unwritten value that we at Tech team follow is not leaving anyone behind. The company as a whole set the premise for this, but as a team we are very conscious of lifting everyone up as we rise. When we move to the next level, meaning when we go from X to 10 X, we go as a whole. It is all about lifting each other up.
Climbing up together
This two-way street when it comes to growth is my favourite thing about Meesho, because it is what has enabled us to take things to the next level always. Take, for example, Meesho’s tie-up with My Academy to bring you Learnovate. There are so many courses from so many educational platforms that Meeshoites get to learn at their own pace for free. I am personally pursuing a course in photography from Udemy, because it is a passion of mine.
I am also an avid badminton player. In fact, pre-lockdown, I was engaged in sports activities in general and loved going on treks regularly. As far as indoor hobbies go, I am always watching and discovering one amazing TV show after another or playing video games.
Work, however, is my priority right now, because we are working on some really interesting and challenging stuff at Meesho, and my focus and priority is on that at the moment.
Have you read these employee stories yet?
Head over to Life at Meesho’s Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages if you are a fan of fun and positivity.
