mini warehouses

Zepto co-founder Aadit Palicha describes how he and Kaivalya started by delivering groceries to Mumbai neighbors during COVID, then pivoted from Kirana Cart to a mini warehouse model after learning that customers wanted better speed, quality, selection, and prices. He explains how they tested the model neighborhood by neighborhood, reached product-market fit, and built around customer experience rather than conventional assumptions about what was feasible. The talk also covers Zepto’s logistics, supply chain, fresh produce operations, advertising business, and use of machine learning and generative AI. Palicha’s advice to founders is to stay close to customers, experiment, and learn from experienced people around them.

Aadit Palicha explains how Zepto grew from a neighborhood grocery delivery project into a 10-minute commerce business by starting with customer needs and iterating toward faster delivery, broader selection, and control of fulfillment. He describes how hands-on delivery work and retention data helped the founders identify product-market fit, and how dark stores supported speed, quality, and selection. He also shares lessons from cash constraints, hiring, fundraising, and building an execution-focused company in India. Finally, he discusses Zepto’s expansion into food, advertising, and AI applications, and argues that founders should build for the love of building.