I was ready to retire at the age of 22
however it turns out making fifty seven
thousand two hundred and fifty dollars
after one year doesn’t cut it that’s
what that salary felt like it felt like
true independence as you can tell from
my color and accent I’m from India I
grew up in a house of fourteen people
and don’t get me wrong
don’t get me wrong my childhood was
wonderful and I have lot to thank my
family every day for who I am today
but from the very early age I have been
moved by this idea of independence
that’s why I came
8,000 miles away the u.s. to study that
first job that first paycheck meant so
much the year was 2005 the job was at a
computer company I was really happy to
be there and those 14-hour days felt
like it was totally worth it and then
something changed my time my hours spent
in the aisles between the racks of
servers felt meaningless I wasn’t sure
why I was doing what I was doing and
then I realized work has two purposes
one to get paid and second is the deeper
purpose of actually connecting with what
what the work stands for and how does it
make a difference in other people’s
lives and as I left my employment world
to start my own company I realized that
the burden of purpose is not only on
those who seek it but it’s also on those
who provide it
our company based in Bay Area we are 270
people and what we do is we work with
brands design digital experiences like
apps websites recommendation engine and
as the CEO founder it’s my job to tell
my team what is the big lie and what is
the purpose behind every project and it
has to be beyond a paycheck and a set of
deadlines and it’s important for a few
reasons we are in the middle of high
tech high tech area and in a 15-mile
radius we have Google Facebook and Apple
I don’t know if you know they’ve got
money and I believe that our people can
get a job anywhere and we bootstrapped
the company since day one couple of us
have paid salaries through our own money
though we are on a much better footing
today but that that mentality never
leaves and and I feel that the if the
team understands what the bigger
relevance is they’ll go above and beyond
as Mark Twain said your two most
important days of your life the day when
you’re born and the same day when you
find out why why makes it important for
instance we work with a healthcare
provider they are they own more than 200
and 250 hospitals in the country and
shortage it’s our job to implement the
best feature and the best functionality
but there’s a deeper meaning to what we
are doing this client is responsible for
5% of newborn babies in America our work
truly impacts lives and this is our
opportunity to make a difference in in
in these babies lives and the first-time
experience of parents who will always
remember this moment all their lives as
a father of two I clearly
member when my two boys were born those
two moments are probably the most
important moments of my lifetime and
here’s the side here’s the other side of
purpose which is that as employers it’s
our job to give a bigger context to work
and a deeper meaning every day and
here’s the side of here’s the side of
purpose which gets missed all the time
which is consistency you know my friends
tell me that I the stuff the timing of
me starting the company was perfect and
I tell them yes it was perfectly bad
timing this is when I started my company
exactly nine years ago in Feb of 2009 we
tried to raise money we couldn’t in fact
we were two weeks away twice to run out
of cash and I can tell you with utmost
certainty that I am the guy in this room
who’s been fired the most number of
times by the clients especially those
first two years by that time life truly
sucked you know things changed gradually
and after four years of I have no idea
what the hell I’m doing the fifth year
was different the business tripled since
then we have grown the company to 270
people across five offices and it felt
like I’ve become an overnight success
which took five years and during this
journey something very special happened
you know we were you were designing this
app to teach kids ABCD one two three
four this was an iPad app very early
days and we push it out on the App Store
and in 48 hours we’d get this email I
love what you’re doing thank you
let me know if we can help Steve I swear
to God when we got this email we didn’t
we felt like someone is messing around
with us and this email was game-changing
and as I said consistency is a big
reason for my life’s work of building
this company love happens over time you
don’t earn the love of your wife or
husband because you had that one
touching moment you you you gave that
one expensive gift or that bouquet of
flowers it happens over time you work on
that relationship every single day same
with friendship same with trust once you
stop working on it it dies and you know
if you look at the top business leaders
in the world Steve Jobs Bill Gates Jeff
Bezos there’s one thing in common
they have been working on they’re
calling over 20 to 40 years consistently
their life’s work is accumulation of
small things over extended period of
time and here’s the best part you don’t
have to launch rocket or even car in the
orbit like Elon Musk you don’t have to
launch big businesses it can be done by
anybody in fact it can be done by each
one of us if we can connect with the
deeper purpose of how we are making a
difference in other people’s lives and
we have to do it or an extended period
of time
for instance a teacher is making a
massive difference in the lives of kids
and not just that the teacher is
influencing those kids but actually is
building the future of this world same
with a barista is the first point of
contact for hundreds of people
before they go to work and that that
moment can influence how the day unfolds
I believe today that when I walk into
work every day and I if I get this
feeling of this is my opportunity to
make a difference in other people’s
lives and I am lead to do its work
versus the feeling I used to get in my
first job which was I got to do this
work I had to earn a living because it’s
a requirement I hope you guys have found
your life’s work if not it’s time to
look thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
Oh
[Music]
however it turns out making fifty seven
thousand two hundred and fifty dollars
after one year doesn’t cut it that’s
what that salary felt like it felt like
true independence as you can tell from
my color and accent I’m from India I
grew up in a house of fourteen people
and don’t get me wrong
don’t get me wrong my childhood was
wonderful and I have lot to thank my
family every day for who I am today
but from the very early age I have been
moved by this idea of independence
that’s why I came
8,000 miles away the u.s. to study that
first job that first paycheck meant so
much the year was 2005 the job was at a
computer company I was really happy to
be there and those 14-hour days felt
like it was totally worth it and then
something changed my time my hours spent
in the aisles between the racks of
servers felt meaningless I wasn’t sure
why I was doing what I was doing and
then I realized work has two purposes
one to get paid and second is the deeper
purpose of actually connecting with what
what the work stands for and how does it
make a difference in other people’s
lives and as I left my employment world
to start my own company I realized that
the burden of purpose is not only on
those who seek it but it’s also on those
who provide it
our company based in Bay Area we are 270
people and what we do is we work with
brands design digital experiences like
apps websites recommendation engine and
as the CEO founder it’s my job to tell
my team what is the big lie and what is
the purpose behind every project and it
has to be beyond a paycheck and a set of
deadlines and it’s important for a few
reasons we are in the middle of high
tech high tech area and in a 15-mile
radius we have Google Facebook and Apple
I don’t know if you know they’ve got
money and I believe that our people can
get a job anywhere and we bootstrapped
the company since day one couple of us
have paid salaries through our own money
though we are on a much better footing
today but that that mentality never
leaves and and I feel that the if the
team understands what the bigger
relevance is they’ll go above and beyond
as Mark Twain said your two most
important days of your life the day when
you’re born and the same day when you
find out why why makes it important for
instance we work with a healthcare
provider they are they own more than 200
and 250 hospitals in the country and
shortage it’s our job to implement the
best feature and the best functionality
but there’s a deeper meaning to what we
are doing this client is responsible for
5% of newborn babies in America our work
truly impacts lives and this is our
opportunity to make a difference in in
in these babies lives and the first-time
experience of parents who will always
remember this moment all their lives as
a father of two I clearly
member when my two boys were born those
two moments are probably the most
important moments of my lifetime and
here’s the side here’s the other side of
purpose which is that as employers it’s
our job to give a bigger context to work
and a deeper meaning every day and
here’s the side of here’s the side of
purpose which gets missed all the time
which is consistency you know my friends
tell me that I the stuff the timing of
me starting the company was perfect and
I tell them yes it was perfectly bad
timing this is when I started my company
exactly nine years ago in Feb of 2009 we
tried to raise money we couldn’t in fact
we were two weeks away twice to run out
of cash and I can tell you with utmost
certainty that I am the guy in this room
who’s been fired the most number of
times by the clients especially those
first two years by that time life truly
sucked you know things changed gradually
and after four years of I have no idea
what the hell I’m doing the fifth year
was different the business tripled since
then we have grown the company to 270
people across five offices and it felt
like I’ve become an overnight success
which took five years and during this
journey something very special happened
you know we were you were designing this
app to teach kids ABCD one two three
four this was an iPad app very early
days and we push it out on the App Store
and in 48 hours we’d get this email I
love what you’re doing thank you
let me know if we can help Steve I swear
to God when we got this email we didn’t
we felt like someone is messing around
with us and this email was game-changing
and as I said consistency is a big
reason for my life’s work of building
this company love happens over time you
don’t earn the love of your wife or
husband because you had that one
touching moment you you you gave that
one expensive gift or that bouquet of
flowers it happens over time you work on
that relationship every single day same
with friendship same with trust once you
stop working on it it dies and you know
if you look at the top business leaders
in the world Steve Jobs Bill Gates Jeff
Bezos there’s one thing in common
they have been working on they’re
calling over 20 to 40 years consistently
their life’s work is accumulation of
small things over extended period of
time and here’s the best part you don’t
have to launch rocket or even car in the
orbit like Elon Musk you don’t have to
launch big businesses it can be done by
anybody in fact it can be done by each
one of us if we can connect with the
deeper purpose of how we are making a
difference in other people’s lives and
we have to do it or an extended period
of time
for instance a teacher is making a
massive difference in the lives of kids
and not just that the teacher is
influencing those kids but actually is
building the future of this world same
with a barista is the first point of
contact for hundreds of people
before they go to work and that that
moment can influence how the day unfolds
I believe today that when I walk into
work every day and I if I get this
feeling of this is my opportunity to
make a difference in other people’s
lives and I am lead to do its work
versus the feeling I used to get in my
first job which was I got to do this
work I had to earn a living because it’s
a requirement I hope you guys have found
your life’s work if not it’s time to
look thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
Oh
[Music]
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