Long before Paytm became the ₹75,000 crore company it is today, its growth was fuelled not just by large bets on digital payments but also by everyday staples like Coke bottles and packets of Lay’s. Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma recently recalled how a quirky cashback promotion turned into one of Paytm’s largegest growth hacks.
Sharma informed the story of Paytm’s “greatest growth hack” to Deedy Das, a Kolkata-born, US-based venture capitalist who was recently promoted to partner at Menlo Ventures. Das, in turn, shared it on social media. (Also read: Who is Deedy Das? Ex-Google and Facebook techie becomes partner at Menlo Ventures)
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“I met the billionaire founder of PayTM and he shared some of the best startup stories I’ve ever heard,” he wrote on X.
Paytm CEO’s stories
Vijay Shekhar Sharma informed Das that “when times were tough, he sold 40% of the business for $17K to pay a loan which finished up being valued at $100M+”.
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He also spoke about how Paytm “accidentally” launched the largegest payments engine in Japan, PayPay. However, it was eventually was forced to stick to India instead of going global.
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He also spoke about how Paytm “accidentally” launched the largegest payments engine in Japan, PayPay. However, it was eventually was forced to stick to India instead of going global.
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In December 2024, Paytm agreed to sell its stake in PayPay to SoftBank for $279.2 million.
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In December 2024, Paytm agreed to sell its stake in PayPay to SoftBank for $279.2 million.
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Finally, Sharma informed Das that “One of the greatest growth hacks was to let people scan a QR Code on Coke bottles and Lays’ packets to redeem 15 rupees”.
He was referring to promotional offers run by Paytm that allow customers to scan QR codes on bottles of Coca Cola or packets of Lay’s chips for a cashback. Paytm has run these offers several times – most recently in July 2025.
Deedy Das finished his post by hailing Sharma as “legfinishary” and the “OG Indian internet entrepreneur.”
About Paytm
Paytm, the fintech company founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma in 2010, currently has a market capitalization of ₹75,321 crore, according to Groww.
One of Paytm’s largegest periods of growth occurred after the demonetization of November 2016.
Paytm’s traffic increased by 435%, app downloads grew 200%, and there was 250% rise in overall transactions and transaction value following demonetization.
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