‘American Engineers Are Exceptional But Indian Techies Are As Good’: Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha

In a recent episode of YC’s How To Build The Future podcast, Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha told Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan that the Indian techies are exceptionally talented. 

When Tan asked him about the unique advantages and challenges of building a startup in India, Palicha praised the country’s talent pool and called it a big advantage over others.

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About Zepto

Stanford computer science dropouts Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra founded Zepto in 2021. 

Though the idea began in a WhatsApp group, today Zepto is one of India’s most popular grocery delivery apps, with over 3,000 corporate employees.

Palicha lauds Indian techies

Palicha shared the benefits of building a startup in India, saying, “I think the advantage is that the talent is incredible. I initially didn’t realise this deeply, but you know we interviewed American engineers—and they’re exceptional—but we said, hey, the guys that we have here are as good.”

“I think a lot of people underestimate that. That's why you know a lot of great internet startups set up offices in Bangalore and hire people there,” he added.

He resonated that it would have been difficult for him to recruit the same level of talent in San Francisco as he had been able to in India.

“So the big advantage is you just have such an incredible talent base. And although it's very competitive, it's still a lot less competitive to get such high quality talent than it would be sitting in San Francisco,” said Palicha.

When asked if quick commerce company Zepto can be considered one of India’s fastest-growing startups, the CEO denied.

“No, absolutely not. Not even close to it,” Palicha told Garry Tan. “I think we've got couple of decades before we can realistically say that we've won.”

Also read: ‘We Almost Died’: Aadit Palicha Reveals How Silicon Valley Bank Crisis And Wrong Hiring Almost Collapsed Zepto (startuppedia.in)