Ajey Gore

Operators
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Operating Partners
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Technology & Product

“Technology is the most effective tool to challenge the impossible.”

Backstory

I was born in a small town in India and aspired to become a rail engine driver for much of my formative years. In childhood that was the coolest job. I loved to design and paint so at the age of 20, after graduating with a commerce degree, I started a business that specialized in greeting and wedding cards. I eventually got curious about how the computers I spent all day on actually worked. After taking a few apart, I made my way to Bangalore and signed up for a computer science course. I have been on a continuous learning journey ever since.

I went on to start a financial insights startup and a cloud automation company called CodeIgnition. In 2016, I became the Group CTO of Gojek, after they acquired my company. I knew how to build teams and software products, but this was unknown territory to me. The learning curve was steep with no time to learn from mistakes on the job. I learned some critical lessons while scaling Gojek, which include: trust people, build teams with autonomy, become a force multiplier, see data as your biggest friend, focusing on consumer retention – and that thinking about second-order effects is more important than rolling out features to acquire consumers.

My mission is to help startups leverage technology in every possible way. I always tell people that I am a cargo of failures, and I carry those lessons with me all the time. I can tell you what does not work as much as what will. In almost every situation, that’s probably just as important.

On the lookout for

Building a product is all about removing friction from the user’s life; product engineering is all about making that process fun and enjoyable. I love to meet people with a builder’s mindset, who are willing to go to lengths to make fantastic, frictionless and engaging products.

I enjoy helping founders think through topics of scale, people and building a product engineering organization. I like people who want to take everyone with them on a building journey – who are unstoppable, curious, empathetic, and hold no dogmas so that they can listen. When I meet people who understand intuitively that teams win, I come back full of energy and enthusiasm. I know I just met a builder in making.

Technology excites me. When I see someone using tech as a ‘weapon’ of change, I aspire to work with them to realize their full potential. That’s the core of my job.

Get in touch with Ajey