Kali Bhogaraju graduated from BITS Pilani (Goa, ’12), and has a Master’s in Business Administration. He has since furthered his career in the domain of Fintech, a long-held interest of his. After making a few jumps from Goldman Sachs to Welathdesk, he currently works at PhonePe as a product manager directly involved in the transaction process of users.

Q1. Could you share with us your career journey from BITS Pilani to Goldman Sachs, and then to WealthDesk and now PhonePe? What motivated these transitions?

Capital Markets and Fintech domains have always been my area of interest. While I was at BITS Pilani and selecting companies for my practice school, I opted for an internship with Goldman Sachs. This 6-month internship at Goldman Sachs truly helped me to validate my interest in finance, and I ended up joining them for a full-time position in their Global Markets division after my graduation. Soon after that, I came across an interesting opportunity in the Investech domain where I was asked to build a broking gateway that would change the way India invests. Building this 0-1 gateway is how I joined WealthDesk, which in the next 10 months, after creating multiple revenue-generating clients, was quickly acquired by PhonePe. After the acquisition, I am currently building PhonePe’s stockbroking app called Share.market.

Q2. How did your experience at Goldman Sachs influence your approach to product management, especially transitioning into the tech industry?

Recently, capital markets have become a ‘tech-first’ industry as opposed to a finance industry. Whether we’re talking about the revenue side and its deployment of new investment strategies, the backtesting of strategies, algorithmic trading, or the cost side of the business, technology has played a major role in the transformation of investment banks. I am happy that I joined at the right point in time at Goldman Sachs and had a chance to be a part of one of the few industry leading initiatives. Ever since I first joined as a graduate, Goldman Sachs has given me a lot of exposure to understand the industry, identify the user pain points, and design and develop solutions while abiding by the regulatory frameworks.

Q3. What are some of the key responsibilities and challenges you face as a Product Manager at PhonePe?

I am responsible for the entire post-transaction journey of the users, such as holdings, positions, reports, and more. I also built the IPO feature of share market. Before moving to PhonePe, I had never worked on B2C products at such a large scale, and due to that, there was a large learning curve at PhonePe that I needed to overcome. I understood the importance of data to make decisions, unlike in the B2B space where the requirements directly come from the customer. The obsession to provide the best customer experience possible is the most important thing that I learned while being part of the PhonePe group. Most of my time as a Product Manager goes in analysing the metrics, arriving at meaningful insights, and then using the data to prioritise the features or improvements of the product.

Q4. What skills or experiences from your BITS Pilani education do you find most valuable in your current role?

The option to select electives at BITS Pilani helped me to pursue my passions outside of my course syllabus and allowed me to take multiple finance electives where I learned about capital markets. In addition, working in different clubs at BITS Pilani helped me learn skills such as team building and networking which are crucial in the corporate career. The practice school concept at BITS Pilani is also unique and helps students have a career advantage with a 6-month internship compared to a 2-month internship at other institutes.

Q5. What advice would you give to BITS Pilani students who are aspiring to pursue a career in product management?

Focus on first-principle thinking, which will be a major help in product management careers. There are a lot of avenues such as Whatsapp groups and Discord servers where alumni can help you with mock interviews, referrals, and introductions to the world of product management. Since product management doesn’t have a specific set of roles and responsibilities defined, I suggest students speak as much as they can to PMs, understand the nuances, and select the best company that suits their expectations. Recruiters and hiring managers are always interested in applicants who have done plenty of research about the company and industry. So be prepared for the interviews with a basic idea about the company’s products, competitors, and revenue models.

Q6. Looking ahead, what trends or developments do you foresee in the fintech industry that will shape the future of Capital Markets?

SEBI has been in the startup mode for the past few years and this is the most important factor that has been making, and will make, the Indian capital markets the most advanced in the world in this decade. While the whole world follows the T+2 settlement cycle, India is already in the T+1 cycle, and within a year we will be the only country in the world to have instant settlement. Another example is the time taken for an IPO process to complete. A decade ago, it used to take weeks for the IPO process to complete, in addition to the debit and refund of money. With the advent of technology, this whole process has been cut down to 3 days, with money never leaving your account until your allotment is confirmed.

Similarly, there are many other policies being drafted by SEBI that are in the best interests of retail investors, and those FinTechs that implement these regulations in spirit will be the ones who thrive in this landscape.

Q7. How has being an alumnus of BITS Pilani influenced your career and personal development?

There is a vast network of closely connected alumni who have helped me in different phases of my life, such as searching for jobs while relocating to a new city or even getting career advice.

Q8. Are there any memorable experiences from BITS Pilani that you believe have contributed to your success today?

While I was at BITS, my father had some serious health issues and I wasn’t able to focus on my studies. I want to thank all the professors, especially Prof. Niranjan Swain, who helped me by motivating me during those tough times so that I could stay focused on my career aspirations. BITS Pilani has taught me to be empathetic, which is a great personal skill I learned.