BlogFrom Station Master to Product Manager at PhysicsWallah
Kumar Gautam on going from running freight trains as a Station Master at Indian Railways to Product Manager at PhysicsWallah (PW), and choosing to keep building over an MBA.
Pi Lens App: 0 to 400K downloads
How Kumar Gautam, Product Manager at PhysicsWallah, grew Pi Lens App from 0 to 400K+ downloads and lifted its Play Store rating from 4.3★ to 4.7★.
The degree that taught me to think in systems
Kumar Gautam on studying a BBA in Transportation Management at NRTI, now Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV), and how it led to Indian Railways and then product management.
What Yulu riders taught me about product
Kumar Gautam on his 2022 Community Building internship at Yulu, time with gig-economy riders in Bengaluru, and the proposal that seeded #YuSmart two years later.
2,400 trains a month: my life as a DFCCIL Station Master
Kumar Gautam on working as a Station Master on Indian Railways' Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFCCIL) from 2023 to 2025, handling ~2,400 freight trains a month, and what it taught him about product.
Making PW Test Series sell itself
Kumar Gautam, Product Manager at PhysicsWallah, on driving product-led growth for PW Test Series on a learning platform with 50M+ app downloads.
Running a ₹320 Cr category, then choosing product
Kumar Gautam on leading PhysicsWallah's ₹320 Cr+ IITJEE category: pricing, GTM and engagement, a 4% attendance lift, the PYQ Blueprint, and the move into product.
Growing Quizrr: my first test series problem
Kumar Gautam on working on growth for Quizrr, MathonGo's online mock test series for JEE Main, JEE Advanced, BITSAT, WBJEE and MHT CET.
Joining MathonGo early, and owning outcomes
Kumar Gautam on joining MathonGo early (2021–23) as a Product & Growth member: MARKS app, Quizrr, the MathonGo YouTube channel and a 30K+ student Telegram community.
How YouTube took MARKS to 100K+ downloads
Kumar Gautam on helping scale MathonGo's MARKS JEE & NEET app to 100K+ downloads at 4.8★, with YouTube as the growth engine (52K+ subscribers, 15.4M views).
Know Your Branch: letting IIT students tell the truth
Kumar Gautam on hosting Know Your Branch, the MARKS podcast where IIT students explain their B.Tech branch to JEE aspirants choosing one.
ReaderSpace: the startup that taught me to charge
Kumar Gautam on founding ReaderSpace (2019–21), a WhatsApp news-analysis service with 4,000+ members, 500 paying subscribers and ₹30,000 ARR.
YESPYQ: why I keep building around PYQs
Kumar Gautam on building YESPYQ: 20,000+ previous-year questions with solutions for UPSC, JEE, NEET, SSC, Defence and Boards, with a ₹149/year PYQ Pass.
My weekends: shipping small products for students
Kumar Gautam on vibe-coding side projects on weekends for Indian students: Padhle Beta, ILoveExams, PYQ Daily, Brain Games and the Focus and Pause Chrome extensions.
Why I started College and Careers
Kumar Gautam on starting College and Careers, a YouTube channel that helps students pick colleges and careers that excite them, beyond cutoffs.