Interview Introduction: Dipti Desai
Dipti Desai, founder and CEO of CRSTL, has over a decade of experience in product management. Dipti specializes in big data, web & mobile applications, and commerce. As the founder of CRSTL, she is building the next generation commerce network, enabling brands and merchants to conduct business with distributors and retailers in a much more efficient way.
Prior to founding the EDI platform, Dipti was a founding member at Uber’s Product & Tech Strategy team and the Product Lead for their Data Platform.
Passionate about business growth, organizational culture, and product innovation, Dipti emphasizes the importance of intimate customer communication, and she actively supports founders and teams working on innovative solutions to make the world a better place.
Summary
In this episode with Dipti Desai, you’ll learn:
- What CRSTL is, what they do, and how they are modernizing B2B commerce.
- Dipti’s journey from building data software products and working at Uber to addressing market gaps exposed during COVID-19 by founding CRSL.
- How CRSTL utilizes product-led development to differentiate itself from current industry players.
- Dipti’s perspective on how the past informs modern, innovative solutions in a rapidly evolving market.
- CRSTL’s strategic approach to growth and the phased migration process they use to ensure business continuity and compliance for customers transitioning from other platforms.
- The diverse range of customers CRSTL serves and the broad applicability of their solutions.
- Why CRSTL has made a deliberate decision to maintain a small team.
- Why Dipti decided to go down the VC funding route despite initial reservations.
- The strict financial discipline Dipti maintains, including personal sacrifices and the careful allocation of resources to ensure operational excellence.
- The transition from being a solo founder to recognizing a team member as a co-founder.
- Dipti’s book recommendations for other SaaS founders, an entrepreneur she admires, an underrated tool she uses, critical lessons she’s learned, and the best piece of advice she has received as a founder.
Important Links:
Book Recommendation
- Behind the Cloud by Carlye Adler and Marc Benioff
- The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande