Running A City – A General Manager At Urban Company

The General Manager role at Urban Company is probably the most demanding role in the company and that is a claim that cannot be made lightly. The role is ...

The General Manager role at Urban Company is probably the most demanding role in the company and that is a claim that cannot be made lightly. The role is a heady mix of marketing skills, people skills, negotiations skills, analytical skills, and most importantly – hustling skills. To sum it up, the role of a city GM at Urban Company is that of a mini-CEO for his/her cities and categories.

A normal day in the life of an Urban Company GM sees him/ her sifting through heaps of data to check anomalies on the demand or the supply side, discussions with central marketing teams on growth plans for the city, discussions with city marketing managers about ideation and execution of local marketing strategies, one on one meetings with category managers to understand pain points and growth plans in their categories, ideating new category launches, going on field to meet vendors, and handling all admin related issues of the city office.

There are bi-weekly interactions with the founders on problems being faced in the city, growth plans etc. There are multiple interactions with pan-India category owners on a daily basis about health and growth of core categories. The founders also ensure that distance between the city office and the head office is minimized by making fortnightly visits to city offices to discuss issues and meet the teams.

The best part about the job is the independence to ideate and execute. However, with the independence, comes a lot of responsibility to deliver and meet the targets. The high point of the job is when in a given month, you are able to meet your targets in terms of services being delivered in the city while keeping marketing spends minimal. The toughest part is the need to dedicate yourself to the cause, day in day out, 7 days a week. This is not a 9 to 5 or even a 9 to 7 job. It requires a lot of dedication, a lot of hustling, and a ‘get your hands dirty’ attitude. But through all the hard work, at the end of the day, you are rewarded with a sense of accomplishment, a team comprised of some of the smartest, most talented people in the country, and a platform where you are encouraged to move fast, break things, learn from your mistakes, and pave the way to a better future.