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Gokul Rajaram
Profile of Gokul Rajaram
Gokul Rajaram is a prominent figure in product development, currently serving as the General Manager of Caviar at DoorDash. He previously held the position of Product Engineering Lead at Square from 2013 to 2019, where he played a crucial role in leading software development for various products, including Square Register, a comprehensive point-of-sale system designed for businesses.13
Education and Early Career
Rajaram has a strong academic background, holding a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, where he was awarded the President of India's Gold Medal for being the class valedictorian. He also earned a Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management.23
Before his tenure at Square, Rajaram was the Product Director of Ads at Facebook, where he was instrumental in transitioning Facebook's advertising business to a mobile-first approach. He also worked at Google as a Product Management Director for AdSense, contributing significantly to its development and growth.237
Contributions and Current Role
At DoorDash, Rajaram leads Caviar, a premium food ordering service, and serves on the boards of several companies, including Pinterest and Coinbase. His expertise in product management and development has made him a sought-after advisor and investor in early-stage technology startups.245
Rajaram is recognized for his strategic insights and collaborative approach to product development, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer needs and fostering innovation within teams.67
Highlights
Domain name acquisition
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MENTORS / ADVISORS
Leaders: when you move an employee into a role that necessitates new skills (eg: Individual Contributor to Manager, Manager to Manager-of-Managers, Engineer to Product Manager, etc), one of the biggest gifts you can give them is to simultaneously get them a mentor / coach for their first year. This coach is a person who has several years of experience with the skillset (eg: an experienced Engineering Manager, an experienced Product Manager, etc). The coach should definitely not be in the same team (maybe not even at the same company) as the employee, so the employee can get advice on sensitive topics without worry.
The first year in a new role is critical, and the right mentor can be the difference between success and failure.
For startups, these mentors can be angel investors in your company, or you can bring on a mentor as advisor for equity.
At Square, @BillCoughran and Greg Badros were mentors / advisors for eng managers (many of whom were battlefield promotions), and folks found sessions with them to be incredibly valuable. It really helped that neither worked at Square, so folks felt comfortable confiding in them.
tl;dr To help employees succeed when they change roles, strongly consider mentors.
