Notes from 3 years at JioHotstar
Three years at JioHotstar, India’s largest streaming platform, starting back when it was still JioCinema. Here are the things I learned along the way, unstructured, written as I thought of them, not forced into a framework. This place shaped how I think, how I work, and honestly, who I am.
Doing the work is the only real currency
Effort spent on making the product, the tech, or people’s lives genuinely better always outlasts effort spent on being seen doing it. Recognition follows the work, it never leads it.
Ownership
If not me, then who. Most of what matters doesn’t wait for a formal assignment, someone has to decide it’s theirs, and start moving.
Communication is the real accelerant
Say the what, the why, and the why now before diving into the how, upfront, every time. And listen at least as much as you write, people tell you more in how they say something than in what they say.
Unblock yourself before you ask
The code has the answer more often than the person you’re about to ping does. Read first, ask second.
Too much work doesn’t lead to burnout, lack of clarity does
Ambiguity is often more exhausting than intensity. Long hours are easier to sustain when you understand why the work matters and how success will be measured.
If code is too hard to understand, it is probably written wrong
Complexity in the reader’s head means the writer didn’t finish the job. Simple beats clever, always. Not just the code, the solution, the proposal or the RCA.
Question everything, respectfully
Ask why we’re doing this and why now, out loud, even when it’s awkward. Assumptions are the most expensive thing on a team, and the cheapest to catch.
Ask for what you want, out loud
Nobody hands over the promotion, the raise, or the bigger problem statement. Earn credibility by operating at the next level, then ask for the opportunity explicitly. The asymmetry of asking is always in your favour.
Relationships are worked at, not waited for
Make other people’s jobs easier without keeping score. Do this up, sideways, and down. No ego, no closed doors, everyone has something worth learning.