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Nitin Lakhotia
Staff Data Analyst @ CashApp
Nitin Lakhotia is an accomplished professional with a diverse background in product analysis, data science, analytics, and engineering.
He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology Warangal.
Nitin pursued his Master's degree in Operations Research at Columbia University in the City of New York, where he also worked as a Teaching Assistant.
Previously, Nitin has held key roles at top-tier organizations like Eightfold, Quip, LinkedIn, Facebook, and AOL, showcasing his expertise in product analytics and data science.
His experience includes positions such as Principal Product Analyst, Staff Data Scientist, Senior Data Scientist, Client Analytics Lead, and Monetization Analyst.
Nitin Lakhotia's professional journey also involves analytical roles at ZS Associates and a summer internship at Castrol.
With a solid educational foundation and a successful track record in the industry, Nitin is a seasoned professional contributing significantly to the fields of data science and product analytics.
Highlights
TLDR - if you’re an early career data professional / work in data at a Startup / work at a startup with no data team - you encounter many "novel data problems". In these, you are not alone and if you can find the right people to talk to, you’ll realize that your problems are solvable and aren’t as bad as they seem.
I have worked in Analytics roles for over 15 years now and given the breadth and depth of the data space, I’m not surprised now when I encounter a problem I have not faced before. There’s always something new (both data and non-data) to learn and lots to figure out.
What makes this easier at times is the people who can be your sounding board/ advisors that can help you tackle the pickle you find yourself in. I encountered one such person when I happened upon Sebastian's post (https://lnkd.in/gX9eQ7uR) about challenges that data people face in startups. His post spoke to me and I realized through our conversations that a) I’m not alone in my struggles, and b) while some problems seem unique/ brand new, others may have encountered something similar or can provide a different lens to see your problem through
When I first spoke with Sebastian, he was trying to build a place for people to come talk to and get advice from experienced data operators.
This place is a community called Data Action Mentor and since I’ve signed on as a mentor, I’ve been able to get on a few mentorship calls for people working through a variety of challenges in their roles. These calls are requested and mentors matched based on mentee needs and mentor expertise/ experiences. A lot of this scheduling and other discussions about all things data happen on our Slack channel! The group of mentors at DAM are fantastic and have a wide range of experiences and expertise.
If you are in a place in your career where you can benefit from such mentorship, try to find such people in your network (former & current colleagues, former managers, etc.) or maybe check out the Data Action Mentor website to see if this might be something you could benefit from(below). Reach out to Sebastian or me if you have any questions about the community.
I recently concluded my job search after getting laid off in February. Before I start, I find myself with the luxury of real “free time”. Below, I share some reflections based on my search and tips I picked up along the way that I hope can help someone similarly impacted.
#layoffs - what now? I remember feeling sad and angry. It’s normal. One piece of advice that helped me was to not immediately start thinking about finding a job. Take some “time off” to process things.
Don’t be on this journey all alone The mind goes into overdrive when you’re brooding by yourself at home. While it’s ok to do that at times, see if you can talk to a friend or colleagues who were similarly impacted. Get out of home and meet someone for coffee or a drink if possible - every time I met a friend or went for a walk with my dog I felt a little better. One of the things that benefited me most was able to talk to some peers who were in the same boat as I was. They were empathetic to my situation, we had experiences we could share with each other and thoughts we could discuss freely. Find a few people like that and talk to them regularly.
Reflect So many of us are in this situation because macro-economic changes in the market led businesses to re-evaluate their priorities. When you are ready to think about what’s next, you should start with a similar exercise - think about what is important to you in a job, think about your strengths and where you want to grow. Discuss this with the people you trust most and get feedback.
Market realities and the slow burn of rejections At some point, you’ll realize that this market is very different from what you have been used to. It’s a classic (and bad) case of marketplace imbalance. Too many people are vying for the jobs you’d like for yourself. This makes every step of the interview process harder to pass. You might find yourself rejected after good interviews or being considered only for roles that are a step down from what you were doing. Don’t take it personally. Most teams are trying to hire the best person they can find and given the market conditions, they might not be willing to budge on their budgets. (Definitely Reflect some more when you feel a little jaded by the process)
Evolve, polish and repeat Your first interview is likely not going to be your best performance, but that’s ok. Each conversation is an opportunity for you to understand what companies are looking for, to polish your messaging and how you deliver it and to learn what is required to pass to the next stage, but that doesn’t happen automatically. Get into the habit of practicing answers to questions that you get asked often and to do a post call review with a friend and soon you’ll be seeing better conversions. (I wrote down my answers to the most common questions in a gdoc and often re-read and polished them over time.)
Remember to not get bogged down by unfavorable results. Be a goldfish (#TedLasso) and move on. All the best, you got this!
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Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.