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Akshit Kumar Gupta
Fintech Product Manager | Ex- Niyo, Paytm | IMI - New Delhi
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July 20, 2025
๐Œ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ž๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž ๐๐ซ๐ž๐ญ๐ž๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐‹๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ง. ๐ˆ ๐id ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐š๐ฆ๐ž. This week, I read an article shared by Lenny Rachitsky. It was about real learning vs. fake learning. And it hit home. For years, I thought I was learning. Buying books (not reading). Listening (thinking of listening) to podcasts. Watching videos. But we just collect smart words. We don't go deep. We don't learn to understand. We learn to look smart. This article changed how I think. ๐ˆ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ค๐ž ๐š๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ž๐๐ ๐ž. Learning from books. Not from articles or podcasts. Book by book. Everyday ๐ˆ๐ญ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐๐ž๐ ๐ฆ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐š ๐ญ๐ž๐š๐œ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐ข๐ง ๐œ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ ๐ž. He had this glow. He didnโ€™t talk to look knowledgeable. He was knowledgeable. That glow came from years of deep learning. Not from reading or summaries. But from reading. Writing. Thinking. Now, I intend to create my learning path. ๐“๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐ž๐š๐ซ, ๐ˆ ๐ฐ๐š๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐จ ๐๐ž๐ž๐ฉ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ: - Artificial Intelligence and design - Managing People - Teaching others I want to stop skimming and start digging. Learning not to show off. But to understand. What do you want to learn deeply this year? ๐‡๐จ๐ฐ ๐œ๐š๐ง ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ง ๐๐ž๐ž๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฒ? E-reader Taking notes Spaced repetitions Writing Article and Lenny's post in the first comment. #Learning #Growth #DeepWork #Compounding #LifelongLearning #LennyRachitsky #Reading #AI #SelfImprovement
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July 20, 2025
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Profile picture of Akshit Kumar Gupta
Akshit Kumar Gupta
Fintech Product Manager | Ex- Niyo, Paytm | IMI - New Delhi
2 months ago
https://andymasley.substack.com/p/strategies-for-learning
7 ๐‹๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐ฒ๐จ ๐„๐ฑ๐ข๐ญ:(๐’๐จ ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ ๐ƒ๐จ๐ง'๐ญ ๐‹๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ง ๐“๐ก๐ž๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐‡๐š๐ซ๐ ๐–๐š๐ฒ) During my Niyo exit, HR head of Niyo ๐‰๐š๐ ๐š๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ promised full notice period payment for early relieving. Reality? They paid only till last working day and then ghosted. As the head of HR, his role was to provide transparency and ensure ethical treatment of employees. Here's what I learned: 1. ๐„๐š๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐‘๐ž๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‘๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ Know the notice period rules: Companies can cut it short when you resign, but must honor it fully when they terminate. The initiator of the exit matters. But making false promises about payment? That crosses an ethical line. Prepare your finances for early exit and get ALL payment commitments in writing. 2. ๐„๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐œ๐ฌ ๐‡๐š๐ฌ ๐๐จ ๐‡๐ข๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ซ๐œ๐ก๐ฒ When I specifically asked HR employee ๐’๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ž๐๐ก๐š ๐’๐š๐ฑ๐ž๐ง๐š about the payment, she confirmed they would settle the full notice period amount. She was present in the meeting with HR Head Jagadish B and backed his promises. Later, when confronted, she hid behind the excuse of being 'just a junior employee without authority. If you help mislead others, you're equally responsible. 3. ๐‹๐ž๐š๐๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ ๐‘๐ž๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐š๐ ๐ž Instead of admitting they wouldn't pay, they chose deception. True leaders face tough conversations. 4. ๐Š๐š๐ซ๐ฆ๐š ๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฌ ๐€๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ When I tried to call ๐‰๐š๐ ๐š๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ he said he is in meeting and would call after the meeting. When the HR head lacks courage to even take calls (3 months of "in meetings" now), it shows character. Stand up against fraud - it matters. 5. ๐ƒ๐จ๐ง'๐ญ ๐“๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐„๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐–๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฌ Despite founders ๐•๐ข๐ง๐š๐ฒ ๐๐š๐ ๐ซ๐ข and ๐•๐ข๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐ญ constant reminders of their employee-to-entrepreneur journey (to highlight empathy towards employees) and claims of '5 years of runway' in every townhall, their actions spoke louder: they couldn't even honor simple promises. 6. ๐๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐…๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ ๐–๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ Creating jobs isn't enough if they're toxic. Many Indian startup founders prioritize business goals over ethics. Choose role models wisely. 7. ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ'๐ซ๐ž ๐•๐š๐ฅ๐ฎ๐š๐›๐ฅ๐ž ๐”๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ'๐ซ๐ž ๐๐จ๐ญ Top ratings for 2 years meant nothing when their "values" were tested. Companies can flip overnight. This isn't about settlement anymore. It's about calling out a culture where leaders make false promises. Where ethics are preached but not practiced. Remember: If you can't face someone after making a promise, don't make that promise at all. Sharing my story so others don't have to learn these lessons the hard way. #StartupCulture #IndianStartups #WorkplaceEthics #LeadershipLessons #TechStartups Niyo Solutions Inc.
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January 7, 2025