I don't have any dark secrets,
only bright ones.
I started my career producing animated videos for kids. Not exactly the kind of origin story you'd expect from a content marketer. But that's where it started. At Byju's, one of India's most infamous ed-tech startups, I learned how to write stories that made complicated concepts interesting.
Byju's, for all its chaos, taught me how to tell a story. Turns out, it was the most useful skill I'd learn.
My career, since you asked
(okay fine, nobody asked, but here it is)
Codecademy
Joined right when AI was disrupting search. Figured out what content looks like when users stop clicking Google search links. It's also where I decided to go freelance.
Upraised
At most companies, you have a job title. At Upraised, I had six. Organic content, events, community, social media, all at once. Learned that content that provides value is the only kind that works.
Cult Fit
This is where I discovered content marketing. Not just making content, but using it to build a business. First time I went from zero to something real.
Lido Learning
Joined as a founding team member and built a 60+ person content team from scratch. I was just 25. Made a lot of mistakes. More than I'd like to admit.
Byju's
Started as an animator. Somehow ended up writing scripts for a product in collaboration with Disney and then producing them.
A few questions I get asked
(you caught me again, I'm just making these up)
What do you actually do?
I help early-stage tech companies figure out what content to build and where it needs to show up. The execution varies. Different companies, different problems. But I'm always essentially trying to solve for: will a buyer actually find this when they're looking wherever they are looking?
Why freelance?
I've spent nine years working in-house. I know what it's like to defend content spend to a skeptical leadership team, or explain why organic takes six months to compound. At some point I decided I'd rather help multiple companies navigate that than stay inside just one.
Where are you based?
I'm based in India. Grew up between Mumbai and Bangalore, a proper metro-city kid. Then I took a remote job with a global team and somewhere along the way ended up in a much smaller, more isolated city. I don't think I can ever go back to a metro. But I work with companies everywhere. Time zones haven't been a problem for me.
What do you do outside of work?
Other than taking care of my cat and dog, I write a newsletter called That's Baffling. Stories from history and science I stumble across (while spending way too much time online). I don't have a massive following, but about 400 people read it every week.
Check it out: thatsbaffling.substack.com
Do you think pigeons are smarter than they look?
OBVIOUSLY. Have you ever tried running over a pigeon with your car? You cannot.
If you've read this far, we should probably talk.