🧩 The Problem
Food Delivey App Swiggy, was in hypergrowth mode—scaling from 100 to 500+ cities in just 6 months, entering deep Tier 3 and Tier 4 regions across India. These cities were organized into “Pods,” with each Pod having an owner responsible for execution.
I was assigned two Pods—Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, managing 63 cities ( ~$11 M Yearly revenue), during a time when both regions were grappling with negative unit economics:
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Karnataka: -₹15
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Tamil Nadu: -₹8
To make things more fun, I was a North Indian leading teams across the South—without knowing the local language. 🙂
The goal?
Drive growth while making the model sustainable—without leaning on discounts.
🔍 The Data Study
Growth wasn’t just about more users or more discounts—it was about:
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Fixing gaps in supply
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Removing operational inefficiencies
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Matching user demand with better delivery experience and offerings
📊 Data Testing & Initiatives
1. Supply Gap & Competitor Analysis
Mapped high-performing local restaurants missing from Swiggy using competitor benchmarking. Closed those gaps within 3 months.
2. Delivery Executive Gap Management
Introduced part-time delivery partners and login-based incentives to cover peak hours—cutting down order loss during demand spikes.
3. Traffic Optimization
Analyzed traffic + conversion patterns by hour. In Kalaburagi, extended delivery hours from 9 PM → 12 AM (college crowd = late orders), leading to a 15-20% uplift.
4. Team Upskilling
Invested time in training ops teams in Excel/internal tools → reduced cancellations and improved customer experience.
📈 Result:
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20–25% additional order growth
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+₹20 improvement in unit economics per order
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Tamil Nadu became the first pod to go positive, followed by Karnataka
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Got promoted to lead 8 pods
🧠 The Lesson
Sometimes, the biggest growth levers aren’t new ideas—they're old leaks.
Fix inefficiencies, question what you assume is “optimized,” and never underestimate the power of operational compounding.