YC
How Zepto Became India’s Fastest Growing Startup
@ Y Combinator
04/18/25
Takeaways
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
I genuinely believe we've got a once in a generation opportunity to build a world-class internet company out of India, but we had to push ourselves through some really tricky moments.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
We went from close to zero in scale to 200 million in just 6 months, but I would not recommend that to anybody; really do it for the love of building.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
The end goal should not be to build so I can make XYZ; it should be to have the opportunity to wake up in the morning and build again.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
When we started, there was no grand strategy; it was bottoms up from users in the early days, and we were able to make a dent because many competitors were building supply chain backward instead of customer backward.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
The insight was to do 10-minute delivery while also building out the full stack of commerce, allowing us to run logistics and maintain better quality control.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
If you build a better product for users, you also end up with a better profit and loss statement and better economics; if users love the platform, your customer acquisition cost is lower and throughput is higher.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
In India, the overwhelming majority of consumption happens within 4 km from your house, and people buy small tickets multiple times a week, which is why most retail is hyper-proximity.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
10-minute delivery was not just about convenience; it became a necessity because of smaller household sizes and lower disposable cash, making bulk buying impractical.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
We realized that we had to be at the customer's doorstep to improve retention, so we started doing initial deliveries ourselves to understand the customer experience better.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
The 10-minute delivery model got our foot in the door, but now customers see us as their go-to supermarket chain in India, offering a wide range of products.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
In March 2022, we faced a significant challenge when capital markets fell, and we had to create as much efficiency as possible to survive against competitors with much more cash.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
Despite the challenges, we learned to allocate capital better and operate more efficiently, which allowed us to grow significantly even in tough times.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
The biggest roadblocks have been related to talent; execution excellence relies on high-quality talent, and mistakes in hiring can be very costly, especially during critical periods.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
We faced existential crises, especially when we realized there was no retention in our early model, leading us to question if there was even a viable business model for grocery delivery.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
We had to build financial controls and go through audits to secure capital, which was critical for our survival against competitors with substantial cash reserves.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
We realized that grocery in India can be much better than it is in general, as the market is broken across speed, quality, assortment, and price.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
To truly solve the grocery delivery problem for customers, we needed to own the entire process from backend to delivery.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
The brutally honest feedback we received from Y Combinator helped us understand that we weren't at a point where we could credibly claim product market fit.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
We went from close to zero in scale to 200 million in run scale in just six months, which was a crazy growth period for us.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
We believe we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a world-class internet company out of India, but we have a long way to go before we can claim success.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
The ambition is to build something exceptional that can serve as a benchmark for the rest of the ecosystem, which will take 20 to 30 years to achieve.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
At Zepto, we focus on execution and accountability, which helps our team become the best version of themselves.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
If you don't have a mission that excites people, you can't push them to give their all, which is crucial for building a successful company.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
We want to build a truly great internet company in India and kick off the internet revolution that should have been much bigger than it is today.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
The advantage of building a startup in India is the incredible talent available, which is often underestimated.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
We need to cultivate a mindset in India that encourages ambition and the pursuit of big goals, rather than settling for mediocrity.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
We're focused on innovating in Indian consumer internet by deepening our product market fit rather than diversifying into multiple verticals.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
Zeppto Cafe, our first-party food delivery service, has scaled from zero to over 100,000 orders per day, showcasing the potential of our business model.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
Our advertising business has grown significantly, from 40 million AR in ad revenue last year to over 200 million AR this year, indicating strong market demand.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
We're building a high-quality performance ad stack in-house, which is crucial for scaling our advertising business effectively.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
Over 50% of customer support tickets on Zepto are now resolved dynamically by a generative chatbot tailored to our specific use cases.
AP
Aadit Palicha
04/18/25
@ Y Combinator
I would tell my younger self to build for the love of creating, rather than for money or fame, as that passion will drive true success.