Core Values - Pratilipi

Below principles emphasises integrity and ethics in decision-making. One should prioritise doing what is morally and ethically correct, even when it's difficult or unpopular. It promotes building trust and respect among peers, teams, and stakeholders.

Do the right thing by users?

Example 1 : If users express frustration with the app's user interface or experience bugs that disrupt their reading experience, the right action would be to address these concerns quickly, even if the team is focused on launching new features/business outcomes. Putting user experience first builds long-term loyalty.

Example 2 : If a writer's work is plagiarised/explicit/politically provoking, even if the plagiarised content gains significant traction in readership or revenue, the team would step in to remove it and support the original creator, valuing integrity over short-term popularity.

Do the right thing by colleagues?

Example 1 : If a team member is struggling with their workload or is under pressure ( personal/professional), instead of ignoring the issue, the right thing would be for a colleague or manager to offer support, whether that means reallocating tasks, share some tasks off his/her plate, offering help, or providing emotional support. This fosters a collaborative and empathetic work environment where colleagues feel valued and supported.

Example 2 : If someone makes a mistake in their work, instead of placing blame, the team should focus on addressing the mistake constructively, sharing lessons learned, and ensuring it becomes an opportunity for growth rather than shame. This kind of positive, supportive culture encourages learning and team cohesion.

Example 3 : If you hire someone, and for any reason the person isn't a mutual fit, then letting go of the teammate is the right thing to do. It is the right thing to do for the person because they can spend their time finding a new role which may be a better fit for them and it is the right thing to do for other team members and the company as we can hire someone else who would be a better fit.

Do the right thing by business/company?

From a business perspective, doing the right thing could mean focusing on long-term goals rather than short-term profits.

?Example 1 : If a new initiative or project is not delivering the expected results, rather than pushing forward just to justify your reputation or time or resources already invested, the team should reassess and make difficult decisions about pivoting or stopping the project altogether. This ensures that resources are used efficiently, even if it means admitting something isn’t working.

Example 2 : If Pratilipi notices a trend where sensationalist or explicit content is performing well in the short term, doing the right thing by the business means resisting the urge to focus on that kind of content to drive quick engagement. Instead, the company should stick to its mission of supporting meaningful and diverse stories that are permitted under the legal purview, even if this takes longer to scale.

2. Be Long-term Ambitious

One should focus on sustainable growth and long-term success rather than short-term wins. This mindset encourages strategic thinking, patient investment in people, processes, and resources, while avoiding shortcuts that could compromise future outcomes.

At Pratilipi, long-term ambition might mean focusing on creating a sustainable ecosystem for users rather than just driving short-term metrics like app downloads or daily active users. This value encourages the company to think beyond immediate goals and invest in building strong communities, improving user experience, or diversifying the type of content available.

Example: Instead of rushing to introduce a new feature just to compete with other platforms, Pratilipi could invest time in understanding what writers and readers need, testing it thoroughly, and ensuring it has a lasting positive impact.

3. Take High Ownership And High Accountability?

You are expected to take full responsibility for your actions, decisions, and outcomes. You own not only your successes but also your failures, and ensure that you follow through on commitments on how to avoid it in future. This principle fosters a culture of accountability and encourages teams to take ownership as well.

This point is all the more relevant as Pratilipi’s culture is both unique and different from other companies. High ownership comes with a huge responsibility and demands maturity to let go of your ego and own the failures.?

Owning outcomes of projects

If a particular feature/project/IP/Book/Story you are leading underperforms, the team/you should analyse what went wrong, share the learnings openly, analyse the gap, and take responsibility for improving it next time. Shying away from owning a failure doesn’t yield.

Example 1 : A team at Pratilipi launches a new feature to improve user engagement, such as personalised story recommendations. If the feature doesn’t perform as expected or even leads to a decrease in engagement, the team takes full ownership of the outcome. Instead of blaming other factors like market trends or technical limitations, they analyze what went wrong, gather feedback from users, and iterate on the feature to improve it.

Example 2 : If the data team notices a drop in user engagement after a new update, they wouldn’t wait for user queries/reporting managers to address the issue. Instead, they’d proactively analyse the problem, offer solutions, and take accountability for getting user numbers back up.

Taking ownership in performance

If a particular team/individual in the company is missing deadlines or consistently underperforming, the team leader takes accountability. Instead of shifting the blame to team members, they evaluate how they can better support the team, whether it’s through clearer communication, adjusting workloads, or providing more resources and guidance and take a correct measure.?

If a cross-functional project (involving, for example, content, IP, and marketing) is delayed due to miscommunication between teams, leaders from all sides take responsibility. They work together to ensure smoother collaboration going forward, holding themselves accountable for breakdowns and actively finding ways to improve communication and process efficiency.

4. Operate With Openness, Transparency, And Curiosity

Open communication and transparency build trust and collaboration within a team. Leaders should encourage curiosity, ask questions, and seek diverse perspectives to make informed decisions. This principle ensures that information flows freely and that all voices are heard.

Example : If a team member from the content department has an idea for a new feature that could benefit authors, even though it's outside their immediate role, Pratilipi would encourage them to bring it up. This open culture allows cross-departmental contributions and fosters innovation.

5. Be Better Today Than You Were Yesterday

This principle is about continuous improvement, both on a personal and organizational level. Leaders should strive to improve themselves, their teams, and their processes daily, fostering a growth mindset and an environment of constant learning.

Example 1 : A project manager notices their team often misses deadlines because of unclear task prioritization. To improve, they start using project management tools more effectively, breaking down tasks into smaller, more actionable items, and setting daily goals. By iterating on this process and getting feedback from the team, they gradually improve project completion rates and reduce stress for the team.

Example 2 : An employee receives constructive feedback during their monthly review about their performance. Instead of feeling discouraged, you make a commitment to improve one aspect of the improvement each day. Asking for feedback more often, or making an effort to improvise. Asking the reporting manager for the opportunity of learning and making a plan of evaluation on the improvement.

Example 3 : A junior designer at Pratilipi receives feedback that their designs are visually appealing but lack strong user experience (UX) principles. They decide to dedicate time each day to learning more about UX and usability testing. By applying these insights to each new project, they gradually improve their designs, resulting in more user-friendly interfaces and higher

6. Have A Strong Bias Towards Action

In a dynamic company like Pratilipi, this value encourages quick decision-making and execution rather than waiting for perfection. It's about prioritizing doing over overanalyzing and learning from mistakes along the way.

Example 1 : If Pratilipi users report issues with the app’s loading time or glitches in the comment section, the tech team doesn’t wait for the perfect fix. They push out a temporary solution quickly, even if it’s not perfect, to improve user experience immediately. Later, they continue refining the fix based on user feedback and technical evaluations.

Example 2 : The product team has an idea for a new author dashboard that could improve writer engagement. Instead of perfecting every feature before launch, they release a minimal version with the most essential tools. This lets them gather real-time feedback from authors and prioritize which features to develop next based on actual needs rather than assumptions. This bias towards action helps them roll out solutions faster, improving both the platform and author experience more efficiently.

Example 3 : If a project is behind schedule because of unclear communication, instead of waiting for the next team meeting or detailed analysis, the project manager immediately arranges a quick sync-up with all stakeholders to clear any misunderstandings and set revised goals. This quick intervention helps the team get back on track faster, preventing unnecessary delays.

Example 4 : If Pratilipi's app experiences unexpected downtime, the operations team takes immediate action by communicating with users through social media and email about the outage, even before they fully understand the cause. They provide real-time updates and ensure that users feel informed and valued. This swift communication helps manage user frustration while the technical team works on a long-term fix.

Example 5 : If two strategies are being debated within the team, the team doesn't spend weeks analyzing every possible outcome. Instead, they decide to run A/B tests on both strategies. This allows them to gather data quickly and make a decision based on real-time results, rather than delaying action due to indecision.