Kunal Shah on winning in India, second-order thinking, the philosophy of startups, and more

Kunal Shah is one of the most well-known and admired product leaders in India. He is the CEO and founder of CRED, an Indian-based fintech startup valued at over $6 billion. Prior to CRED, he founded three other startups, including Freecharge, which he sold for over $400 million to Snapdeal. He has also been an advisor to India’s most influential organizations. In our conversation, we discuss:• The prevalence of successful Indian immigrants in top CEO roles across the tech industry• Why companies in India can grow DAUs but not ARPU—and what that means for building products for India• What most sets India’s market apart• Challenges and opportunities in the Indian market• The Delta 4 framework for building new products• Lessons from building CRED so far• The power of curiosity and second-order thinking• Lessons from failure—Brought to you by:• WorkOS—The modern API for auth and user identity• Orb—The flexible billing engine for modern pricing• Dovetail—Bring your customer into every decision—Find the transcript and references at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/kunal-shah-on-winning-in-india-second—Where to find Kunal Shah:• X: https://twitter.com/kunalb11• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kunalshah1/• Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@CRED_club—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Kunal’s background(04:22) The Delta 4 framework(11:00) The success of Indian CEOs in the U.S.(19:55) Challenges and opportunities in India(23:04) DAUs vs. ARPU in Indian markets(25:50) The perception of time in India(27:55) The curse of focus in Asian markets(30:33) Challenges and opportunities in India (continued)(33:23) Lessons learned from building CRED(36:40) Profit pools can provide valuable insights into the values of a country(37:55) Founders’ role in company growth(39:55) Profitability and Indian business culture(43:24) Advice for staying positive amid criticism(44:41) The promising market in India(47:35) The power of curiosity(52:59) Who Kunal looks up to(55:31) Kunal’s favorite sources of content(58:42) Asking great questions(01:02:54) Contrarian corner: Wealth is nothing but storage of energy(01:05:26) Failure corner(01:08:57) Closing thoughts: Share your learnings(01:09:38) Lightning round—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe