Mansi has worked across 3 countries at companies big and small across sales, operations, product management, and marketing. Some of the companies she has worked for include Google, Uber, Rakuten, and MyFitnessPal.
In your own words, what’s your role in the app business right now?
I am responsible for MyFitnessPal’s brand, user acquisition, and lifecycle marketing.
How did you end up working in apps? / get started?
After working at Uber for driver acquisition (which was primarily a web play), I went on to work for Rakuten Viki, a streaming app for East Asian entertainment. I worked there for 3 years before joining MyFitnessPal, the #1 nutrition tracking app in the US.
What are you most excited about in apps right now? (tech, trends, people, verticals)
Great health and fitness apps that are literally changing lives. At MyFitnessPal, we get multiple notes from our users daily about how they were able to overcome debilitating issues arising from bad eating habits. That an app can do that is phenomenal!
What other companies in the app space do you rate/ inspire you and why?
Uber – they are doing very interesting things around different types of rides, pricing, and upselling UberEats orders when taking Rides. TikTok – it’s just so fun!
What do you like most about working in apps?
Being able to make a positive impact on our users’ lives at scale. A full-funnel marketing program from brand and awareness to in-app messages is quite fun to run.
What one thing would you change about the app industry / market?
Too much focus on privacy, ad tech, and ROI at the expense of things that really matter – 1) good messaging delivered timely and 2) category expansion.
Where do you think there’s an opportunity for apps / or unmet needs?
I think a lot of apps exist for a whole host of user needs, but we barely know about them. It’d be great for good apps to invest in good old awareness and brand building so it is easy for people to discover them.
If you weren’t working in apps what would you be doing?
Marketing something else. Or maybe teaching somewhere. One of my retirement aspirations is to teach and be of use to the next generation.
What app(s) have been most useful to you over the last year?
MyFitnessPal, YouTube, Yelp, TikTok and, of course, AstrologyZone.
What’s on your Spotify / Music party playlist?
Bollywood all the way!
Any Netflix/ TV show recommendations?
I love watching Indra Nooyi’s (ex-CEO of PepsiCo) interviews on YouTube.
Is there anything else we should know about you?
I once quit my corporate career to become a Research Assistant at Stanford University’s Psychology Department. I worked on a project that found that imagining how your life would be when you are old leads to people exercising more often when they are young.
Do you know someone driving change and growth in the app industry? Nominate an app leader here.
