When it comes to starting a startup in India, Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha thinks there’s one unquestionable advantage: top-notch talent. In an unvarnished interview with Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan on the How to Build the Future podcast, Palicha spoke about his experience as a founder, India’s rapid commerce surge, and why Indian engineers are a startup game-changer.
From WhatsApp Idea to Grocery Delivery Giant
Founded in 2021 by Stanford computer science dropouts Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, Zepto was born out of a discussion over WhatsApp. Within three years, it has become one of India’s top fast commerce platforms, hiring more than 3,000 employees and revolutionizing how urban India purchases groceries.
But Palicha is quick to caution that the startup’s meteoric success is no time to rest on laurels.
“No, absolutely not. Not even close to it,” he replied when asked whether Zepto is a success. “I think we’ve got a couple of decades before we can realistically say that we’ve won.”
India’s Secret Weapon: Exceptional Talent
One of the most compelling parts of the conversation was Palicha’s praise for India’s deep and diverse talent pool. When Zepto was scaling, the team interviewed engineers in the U.S.—and while many were exceptional, they quickly realized that Indian engineers could match, if not surpass, their skills.
We spoke to American engineers – and they’re great – but we said hey, the guys that we have here are as good,” Palicha said.
He added that although the talent pool in India is competitive, it’s still much more open than Silicon Valley to get high-quality engineers.
“It would’ve been improbable for us to hire this sort of talent if we were establishing Zepto in San Francisco,” he mentioned.
The Bangalore Effect
Palicha also added that most top global tech firms have seen this benefit, and that is why they have all set up engineering campuses in Bangalore. The Indian ecosystem—particularly in Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Pune—has become a fertile ground for innovation, powered by a generation of can-do, highly qualified tech entrepreneurs.
Building for the Long Term
Even as Zepto grows at a breakneck pace, Palicha’s eyes are on the long term. His viewpoint is based in humility and drive: success, for him, is not about today’s metrics but about lasting impact over decades.
His observations are an important reminder to startup founders: the true potential of a company is not necessarily in the idea itself, but in the people who bring it to life.
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