Meesho helps people start social stores on platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram without upfront working capital. By 2019, Aatrey said the company had nearly 500,000 monthly active store owners, many selling unbranded goods to customers who trust them through community ties.
on Building Meesho, India's Top Reselling Platform, with Adora Cheung
Speakers
Vidit Aatrey, co-founder and CEO of Meesho, discusses building India's social reselling platform with Y Combinator's Adora Cheung on the Y Combinator channel.
Aatrey credits the timing of WhatsApp's popularity, Jio's cheaper mobile data, and UPI's adoption with bringing hundreds of millions of people online and making online transactions more familiar. Many new users lived in smaller cities and wanted affordable, often unbranded products, which suited Meesho's model.
The founders first built Fashnear, a hyperlocal fashion service, then noticed small shops selling through WhatsApp groups. Their initial merchant tool attracted women running informal boutiques, so they tested a separate supply marketplace; after it doubled monthly for six months, they shut down the other product and focused on Meesho.
Aatrey says the team had to learn directly from women and housewives whose lives differed from their own. He kept in touch with users on WhatsApp, had managers listen to support calls monthly, and sent users a monthly video update called “We Hear You” to gather feedback.
Meesho alternated periods of rapid growth with work to fix operational and product debt. Aatrey says rising support volume can signal product problems, and that founders should stay close to users, question familiar product assumptions, and adapt to local needs such as language or phone support.
Takeaways
- Remove upfront costs that prevent customers from starting, and let them act when demand arrives.
- Watch how people already solve a problem; unexpected usage can reveal a stronger product direction.
- Treat customer support patterns as evidence about product weaknesses.
- When serving users unlike yourself, build regular, direct feedback into company routines.
- For new markets, test assumptions about language, trust, and the customer journey with users.
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What was claimed 21
- role atVidit Aatrey is CEO at Meesho
“CEO and co-founder of Meesho”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- ceo ofVidit Aatrey CEO of MeeshoCEO
“Vidit Aatrey, CEO and co-founder of Meesho”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- foundedVidit Aatrey founded Meeshoco-founder
“Meesho ... was founded in 2015”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- metricMeesho: Close to half a million monthly active social store owners
“grown to close to half a million monthly active social store owners”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- featureMeesho: Enables people in India to start and grow social stores using social platforms
“a way for anyone ... to come and start, as well as grow, their social store”
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- featureMeesho: Resellers can access a supplier marketplace and purchase after receiving an order
“only when you get an order do you purchase it from the marketplace”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- usesResellers use WhatsApp to open stores and sell products
“start your shop on WhatsApp”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- featureJio: Reduced the cost of mobile data in India
“drastically reduced the cost of data in India”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- metricMeesho: More than 80% of users are in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities
“more than 80% are in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- metricMeesho: About 90% of users are women
“About 90% of our users are women”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- featureMeesho: Provides onboarding content and mentorship to help new resellers start businesses
“we connect you with some of our top trainers for a month”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- builtMeesho built Meesho Community
“we have a Reddit-type community in our app called Meesho Community”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- metricMeesho: Top 5% to 10% of users make about $400 to $500 per month
“The top 5% to 10% make about $400 to $500”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- metricMeesho: Average user makes about $150 to $200 per month
“Our typical average user makes about $150 to $200 a month”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- featureMeesho: Expanded from ethnic fashion into other categories and cross-border supply
“we expanded and now do everything”
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- role at
“my co-founder, Sanjeev”
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- featureMeesho: Fashnear provided hyperlocal fashion fulfillment
“Let’s build hyperlocal for fashion”
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- built
“We built Fashnear”
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- metricMeesho: Meesho Supply doubled every month for six months
“in six months we were doubling every month”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- featureMeesho: Meesho Supply connected resellers with products through WhatsApp and a back-end supply marketplace
“on WhatsApp, connecting with these women and sending them products”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
- featureMeesho: Monthly user video updates called We Hear You
“Every month, I create a video and talk about what we did last month”
YouTube Unverified1 source· Talk
