FFF: A sudden spark of inspiration

I have never worked at Uber, but they definitely gave me one of the biggest wins of my career. This is the story of that how.

The Context

One thing I learned very early about working at startups is that things move at breakneck speed. You either match that pace or get left behind.

And honestly, if that isn’t exciting enough to make someone give their best and feel the adrenaline rush, I’m not sure what is.

But even after working for more than two years at Sunstone, when I thought I had perfected the craft of sprinting, a conversation at 9:00 AM just left me stumped. All thanks to Ankur Jain, our CBO.

To set the context: Sunstone had two verticals under which the organization operated—Acquisition and Experience. Until a week before this conversation, I was leading the product for the Experience vertical and had just been asked to switch and lead Acquisition. Being part of the core team, I was familiar with the workings, the ideas, and the challenges. But trust me when I say ownership doesn't work by "skimming through"; it’s the depth that needs to be conquered. I was right in the middle of getting into that depth.

The 9:00 AM conversation

Ankur: "Tune mujhe kl leads ka first response time ka data bheja tha, vo sure hai tu?" (The lead FRT data you sent yesterday—are you sure about it?)

Me: "Haan, 100%. Average FRT abhi 12 days se zyada hai." (Yes, 100%. Average FRT is currently over 12 days.)

Ankur: "Aur any link it has to conversion metric?"

Me: Showing another data set. "If we group by 2-hour windows, conversion is more than twice as high if the FRT is under 2 hours. Even the number of calls taken to convert a lead and the pickup rates are much, much better."

Ankur took his trademark pause before dropping a bomb.

Ankur: "Acha, do one thing. Lunch k baad ek baar iske 2-3 solution present kar kaise solve kar sakte hain." (Okay, do one thing. Present 2–3 solutions after lunch on how we can solve this.)

Me: "Kis din lunch k baad? Next week? :P"

Ashish (CEO): "Cute. Aaj lunch tk bna le aur hume present kar. This is the highest priority for the org currently." (Make it by today's lunch and present to us.)

Me: ".........."

The "Holy Trinity" walked out, leaving me in the room.

The "Eureka" Moment

There I was, roaming the office like I always did, thinking of all the bad decisions I had made in life that landed me here. Maybe it was the curse of some begrudged old manager.

I was looking for a way out or planning an escape by calling an Uber and disappearing, when Uber suddenly gave me a jolt of inspiration.

A couple of days back, while in my Uber from Ghaziabad to Gurugram (yes, crazy, I know), I had this unstoppable curiosity when my driver's phone beeped with another ride. He had 30 seconds to accept or the ride went to another driver. I had dissected the behavior during that ride; the beauty of its simplicity had left me spellbound.

I had my moment. I knew exactly what to pitch. All I had to do now was think of a couple of "decoy" ideas which could be rejected—partly to show my sincerity, and partly because there can be no 'Yes' without a few 'No's (IYKYK).

The Pitch: FFF

I started working on a presentation (trust me, you never do that in a startup unless you need absolute flair). I really believed this could be a game-changer.

Yes, there were doubts. This has never been done in EdTech. How do I run an MVP? Is the tech too challenging for a 3-month window? But those questions could wait.

Ankur (All smiles): "Haan bhai, bna liye solutions? Tayyar hai fodne k liye conversion?"

Me: "100%. Let me explain the ideas."

A lot of discussion and a few rejections later...

Piyush: "Ye badiya lag rha hai solution, bs isko 'Uber for Sales' mat bolna."

Me: "Oh, I have a beautiful name: FFF—Fastest Fingers First!"

Ashish: "Haha, amazing. Ab ek kaam aur kar, FFF ko next sprint tk live karva. Let’s test it in the off-season. And also run your MVP to validate the hypothesis in parallel."

Ankur: "And yes, also convince the sales leaders for this idea in the meantime."

Me (Thinking internally): I should have never joined a startup. Everyone is crazy. I should just tell them I’m taking retirement. Who in their right mind can convince the sales team? They will kill me! And my EM is going to take my life if I tell him I just conjured an idea that needs to be delivered by next sprint.

The next three months were a blur of 'What the hell were you thinking?' from the tech team and 'This will never work' from Sales. My EM practically lived in my cabin for a week, and I spent more time on the sales floor than at my own desk, literally showing them how a 3-minute FRT makes their life easier. It wasn't just a tech launch; it was a daily battle to keep everyone from reverting to the old '12-day hustle.' But once that first batch of high-conversion data hit the dashboard? The room went silent. The skeptics became the biggest advocates.

The Impact

What happened next was the biggest people-management lesson of my career. Something that changed me as an operator. (I'll write about that in a separate blog). But all thanks to the amazing people who hustled despite the disagreements, we pulled it off.

The Results:

• Speed: Reduced FRT from 12+ days to under 3 minutes catering to even more leads.

• Efficiency: Average talk time per counselor increased from ~130 to ~280 minutes daily.

• Growth: Activation percentage more than doubled, and conversion saw an uptick of ~23%.

  
  

The Learnings

1. Pressure reveals strength: We underestimate ourselves until our backs are against the wall.

2. Data is the shield: It can convince people to set differences aside.

3. Rally the cause: You can move mountains if you know how to rally people.

4. Data + Politeness: This wins 90% of the time. The other 10%? Brute force.

5. Go headfirst: In a startup, dipping a toe is never an option.

6. Leaders back "Crazy": The reward for high-risk thinking is disproportionately high.

I love discussing moonshot ideas and finding solutions to difficult problems. If you're looking to pick someone's brain for a challenge you’re working on or exchange notes on cross-domain systems, let’s connect virtually or over a cup of coffee.