Twilio, Product Marketing and Learning Online: Pranav Deshpande
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Our guest Pranav Deshpande started working with Twilio when they were a growth stage company with 300 employees. He has since worked in sales and product marketing and seen Twilio become a public company with 3300 employees.
Pranav explains the fundamentals of product marketing and how Twilio's culture has evolved over the years. He also tackles the questions whether a Master's degree in the US is still worth it for foreign students, why he is bullish about API infrastructure companies, how he learns on the internet, and his views on India tech.
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Links from the show
Learnings from my trip to India
Summary
On Twilio:
1:57 Impact of COVID-19 on Twilio's business
3:56 How Twillio's valuation doubled during lockdown?
5:27 Pranav's journey to working with Twilio
13:25 Twilio's evolution from 300 to 3300 employees
On Recruiting as a Foreign Student:
7:27 Recruiting challenges as a foreign graduate student in the US
8:06 Pranav's approach when searching for jobs
9:17 Advice for recent Master's graduates
9:49 On wanting to come work in the Bay Area
11:19 Pranav's perception about Silicon Valley when he was in India and why he wanted to go there
12:40 Breaking into tech
19:44 How Pranav ended in Product Marketing and how it compares to Product Management
24:47 Is a Master's degree today worth it?
28:10 Understanding global context gives you an edge when you go back to India
On the Stock Market, SAAS ecosystem, API Infrastructure Companies
16:41 Stock market's on steroids
17:55 SAAS is where the opportunity lies ahead
18:42 BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index
30:36 Bullish on API Infrastructure companies including Postman
On Learning on the Internet, Writing & Lifehacks
36:11 Learning on the internet
38:56 Abhineet's focus on building a second brain
41:37 Pranav's approach to writing online
43:46 Thoughts on India tech
47:19 Culture of buying software isn't there yet
48:41 Building from India from the world
49:39 One habit that has changed Pranav's life