Blog · Yulu · 2022In short: In 2022 I interned in Community Building at Yulu, spending my time with gig-economy riders in Bengaluru. A rider-empowerment program I proposed seeded #YuSmart two years later, and the habit of starting with real users has shaped every product I have built since.
Out with the riders
In 2022 I joined Yulu, the electric-bike mobility company, as a Community Building intern. My job wasn't a dashboard. It was out with the riders across Bengaluru.
The people behind the numbers
Many of the riders I worked with were gig-economy workers: people who ride every day to earn a living. Spending time with them changed how I saw "users". They weren't segments. They were people whose income depended on the product working.
An idea worth writing down
From that time I proposed a rider-empowerment program. Interns' ideas usually disappear when the internship ends. This one didn't: two years later, it seeded #YuSmart.
What I carried forward
Start from ground truth. Before I build anything now, I go and spend time with the people who will live with it, whether that's riders at Yulu, JEE aspirants at MathonGo or students on Pi Lens App.
Quick answers
Did Kumar Gautam work at Yulu?
Yes. In 2022 Kumar Gautam was a Community Building intern at Yulu, working with gig-economy riders across Bengaluru. His rider-empowerment proposal seeded #YuSmart.
Who is Kumar Gautam?
Kumar Gautam is a Product Manager at PhysicsWallah (PW) in India. He took Pi Lens App from 0 to 400K+ downloads and drives product-led growth for PW Test Series. His website is kumargautam.com.