"As Founders, all of us often make the mistake of confusing a product-market fit problem with a go-to-market problem, focusing too much on articulation rather than execution when hiring, or failing to recognize when it's time to move on to the next iteration"
Prateek is a Senior Associate with the Lightspeed India team. In his previous life, he was an operator and a management consultant. At Lightspeed, he spends most of his time and energy on enterprise SaaS and infrastructure companies.
Before joining Lightspeed, Prateek handled all aspects of business and product development at DIY, an edtech startup. He played a key role in rapidly scaling the business worldwide and launching new products. Prior to joining the startup ecosystem, Prateek spent a significant time at Parthenon, focusing on education, healthcare and private equity projects. Prateek has worked across emerging markets, including India, the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America.
One of his core fundamental experiences is building companies from the ground up – “As Founders, all of us often make the mistake of confusing a product-market fit problem with a go-to-market problem, focusing too much on articulation rather than execution when hiring, or failing to recognize when it’s time to move on to the next iteration. I have been through that journey myself and therefore want to ensure that my founders are aware of these pitfalls”
Prateek admires people who are humble, accessible, and extremely hardworking. He was raised in a middle-class family and spent his formative years in Delhi, India. He studied Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. He is also an ardent fan of Formula 1 (pre-Drive to Survive), enjoys running, and writes a monthly newsletter called “The Hypothesis”.
