Startup Notes #1: Inside CRED team & culture

Short and quick insights on Indian startups.

I am always amazed by insights shared by Kunal shah on the business, team and investing. So I thought of conducting small research through the internet and by talking to CRED teammates to understand nuances inside CRED team and culture.

Here are some the facts & insights I’m able to find that might help if you’re a founder or working at a startup.

• The average age of the team is around 26.

• An average stipend of a CRED intern is around Rs. 25000.

• CRED team members are from: Google, Flipkart, Mckinsey, Myntra, Sequoia, Go-JEK, Grab, Ixigo, Amazon, Ola and Uber.

• CRED senior leadership team is from a performance art background.

• To decide feature release CRED follow this formula:

  Philosophy + Human behaviour + Technology = Product feature

• No. of product managers at cred > No. of engineers.

What CRED looks in the candidate?

• Can argue from both sides.

• Have the ability to take on projects independently.

• Ready to work without Job designation. These people excited about that journey, not status.

• Have deeper knowledge about anything (ex- a sport, a topic, consumer behaviour etc.)

Fun & Perks @ CRED

• “Chai pe charcha” session for informal talks.

• PS-4 gaming slack channel.

• Private counselling and mental health sessions arranged for employees.

• Special webinar with guests from silicon valley organized for the team

• During the lockdown, Employees received a box of mangoes from the senior team of CRED.

• Rewards one employee every month for a successful candidate referral with a fully covered trip for two people to an exotic destination.

Trust factor @ CRED

• CRED Employees need to have 800 plus credit score.

• Gives Mac Book along with the offer letter, post the interview and almost 15 days before joining.

• Salary is pre-paid at the start of the month, against the tradition of paying later to the employees.

• No review culture during execution. People are given goals with the freedom to ask for help to achieve those goals.

• Youngest guys are given deeper projects and without giving them full information about the project. With this, they get to know more about the character and nature of the person.

Other insights from Kunal Shah

• Kunal has hired interns in China, who feed him information about the Chinese ecosystem.

• At times, Kunal plays poker with the interviewee to asses:

Emotions and courage of the candidate.
How a people change strategy with changing circumstances.

• Kunal asks people he trusts and respects to refer to smart talent such as investors, team members etc.

• Filter questions he uses when someone refers him a potential employee:

Do you highly recommend this guy?
If this person is from the top 10–15 people you would have hired?

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Thanks for your attention and going through the pointers. I hope you have found it helpful. Feel free to leave out any feedback you have in the comment section below :)

I’m also running a WhatsApp group where I share insights from books, Twitter threads and worth reading content.