[Music]
[Music]
this means that between all the Madras
stereotypes and the filter coffee I was
sort of in a Tambaram family that wanted
me to do one thing and one thing really
well excel with that report card so that
they can rub it inside their neighbors
face practically what we wanted to start
off with so conveniently then my life
around school to engineering undergrad
between Chennai and Bangalore really
revolved around three things classes
creative ways to bunk these classes and
then the samosas in the candy so it’s
sort of surprising how yours can fly by
only this way it took me a while to
realize that the first time that I did
have that sort of a quick reality check
was the first time I was strutting into
my internship it sort of that exciting
phases in it when you come into
engineering which is oh these are the
four weeks of holidays I get let me go
and work it off again right so I got
started during my undergrad at a Silicon
Valley giant of a chip design firm
because they conveniently decided
Bangalore is cheaper for talent and
hence set up an R&D centre here
basically right so that was day one I
decided to wear my dad’s oversized
formal shoes because for some reason I
thought it’s a good idea then strutted
into this office I sort of walked in and
in my mind I’m so very Singh I’m like
put a week ago you were struggling to
answer a four marker on inductors and
now you’re potentially going to be
designing something which is going to be
used in millions of devices like who you
kidding right so and it’s always at
moments like these when you have a
typical reality check that happens it’s
almost like a storybook sucker-punch
that comes to you I didn’t design any
chips I didn’t make any silicon to begin
with I was fetching cups of tea for my
manager from the vending machine
this is how I got started now it taught
me a valuable lesson
it actually left me with something which
was I was hungry I was I’m actually
ambitious to be more meaningful to have
better impact then 30 yards between that
fat guy and the vending machine right I
wanted to be more so I went back home
and like any sane person will do I binge
watch the social network like you we all
need that little bit of motivation now
no I binge watch it thrice I think right
so I used that and that was sort of
motivation enough for me to walk through
the rest of my internship where I began
to moonlight on something what do I mean
by moonlighting moonlighting is sort of
this nice way of putting it out saying
you have a 9:00 to 5:00 and then from
5:00 to say another X number of hours in
the day I decided to work on something
more so when I began to moonlight on
something it was sort of really a
culmination of curiosity which was hey
what can I do to sort of impact or have
an impact on the system of education
because once a fat kid in who’s 18 years
old can apparently solve the entire
system problems that we have no but this
naivety that we have when we get started
right the lack of knowns or the lack of
knowledge about these variables is a
blessing in disguise because it allows
us to answer some of these larger
questions that we always want to go out
there and do so I put together a small
team two other guys and I build out this
product it was in a field called
adaptive learning so I take this product
and I walk in straight to my first
business meeting right so I’m sitting
across the table to this 70 year old
school administrator and he’s sort of
looking with squinty eyes right back at
me almost with disbelief and he says son
you’re almost as old as a kid who comes
in to take an admission form and 2,000
of these drop in to my institution every
year you’re telling me that you and that
piece of software that you’ve written is
going to do my job better than me
overnight I was like yeah that’s the
purpose but so he he really didn’t bite
eventually we went on to part more than
12,000 of those kids who came into that
institution so it sort of leaves you
thinking doesn’t it it really needs you
thinking about
they profound things that happen through
this journey that we take the one thing
which I realized was constantly I found
the difference between learning and
education right it’s it almost seemed as
if all the learning happened outside
these four walls my classrooms could
never prepare me for these meetings I
took the products I built the things
that I changed so the learning happened
outside but seemingly the education
happens to be inside these four walls
and that disconnect was pressing like
and that sort of kept me going right it
kept the curiosity or the drive or these
passion to go about doing something
further and further and this sort of
school for making mistakes back in
through the entire system of learning is
I don’t mean I remember the days when I
used to be at electronics labs and I
used to by mistake burn this tent by
soccer resistor and that will habit and
you if looks can kill right he’s even
give me that one death stare that will
possibly like like pass me out but
unlikely Habs and controlled
environments the real-world
entrepreneurship life and anything that
you do relies on the fact that you will
make mistakes you will not be good at it
when you begin you will slip up that is
the necessary design of learning
something and it takes a while
[Applause]
so whatever you do unlike a three are
graded paper keeps it real right it is
very different from what you go through
in that moment I did go into Stanford
Graduate School of Business not because
I can do my integrals and differentials
well but because I was curious right I
was curious to go out there and build
something curiosity is a funny term
because curiosity fuels ambition what do
I mean by ambition then and we should
sort of a very selfish thing here let me
be honest about that which is it is
these small set of goals things that we
want to do we are the heroes of our own
stories and the things that we want to
achieve as we move forward now these
bits of ambition can be short-term like
getting out of this talk or can be
slightly more long-term if you are an
engineering undergrad which is getting
out of the institution right so ambition
inherently fuels us it inherently drives
us and this ambition over a period of
time when you’re chasing something that
you really like is what you’re
passionate about inherently right so
cool she is that piece that you’re
curious you then drive and develop an
ambition for and then you’re passionate
about so again big fancy words like what
does this really look like in the field
of entrepreneurship you might be
imagining there’s this white male
stereotype with pinup codes who walks
into a conference room with big wide
wooden tables and signs seemingly
important papers but what does it really
look like in all honesty it looks way
more to be multiple cups of coffee a day
a shabby desk that you call as your
office slash workspace and perhaps
80-hour workweeks and if you are lucky a
team of more people to share this misery
with you so in reality things are
different you go through the grind you
go through the necessary motions of
getting better at something now when
that begins off with it’s sort of
important to keep in mind what got you
started the piece of curiosity that
helps drive and take things forward
now having said that where does
entrepreneurship really fit into this
ecosystem and that’s where I’m very
passionate or I believe strongly in
technology technology literally is
eating this world and making it a better
place this is for the first time the FB
center of power in the whole world is
not at one street
it’s a Silicon Valley right then each
one of you have a big part to play in
that as we move forward in our times and
that got me curious right which was
sitting in front of a computer I am able
to generate something which can possibly
change the world and that’s an
empowering feeling so what can we do to
sort of contribute to this sphere of
technology and that’s really where my
curiosity began which was yeah I want to
own the shiniest gadgets out there and
what do I need to do to get started and
this curiosity then fueled what I was
ambitious about which was a one-way
flight ticket to San Francisco right
let’s keep it simple that that’s that’s
really what was the short-term ambition
that we were looking for and then you
sort of go forward and forward where
this ambition develops into a passion
which was if what can I do in this in
this behemoth that I look at and where
can I put a dent in the field of
technology and where can I involve
myself in this process and that’s a
question that I’m still trying to answer
today that’s that’s a question that I’m
still trying to look at as a tech guy an
entrepreneur and someone who cares a
damn about building stuff that’s it
so in my current format the what I work
on is something that I want to help you
visualize so close your eyes for a
moment and think of the most interesting
things that you’ve done say probably go
on a hike recently go to an entirely new
country a meaningful moment that you
perhaps shared with family etc what do
you feel it’s all about the sights
sounds the things you saw felt heard
touched it’s all sensory things aren’t
they now this is a big part of what
makes us human it’s a big part of what
institute sus now what if we can relive
or go through each one of these sights
and sounds just the way they were
sitting right here that’s the promise of
two technologies that we call as virtual
and augmented reality right the ability
to strap you right here where you just
put on nothing more than hokey looking
goggles at the moment and we sort of
transported into these entirely new
worlds worlds that help bring anything
to you in an Augmented sense or take you
into entirely new spaces in the virtual
reality sense but very often we talk
about technology almost like it’s a
black box right which is difficult to
get into and get started now more often
than not Tech is intimidating beyond the
local authors and foreign authors that
we tend to look at right and it doesn’t
have to be that way and that’s really
where we got started with scaping what
we’re really building out is a simple
way for each one of you here to build
what you want in virtual and augmented
reality to showcase out to everyone else
and it took me a while to really even
push to this front it took us about a
year’s worth of work in order to raise
venture capital but when we did we were
one of the youngest in the country to do
so it took me more than about two to
three years to even get started with I
it took me about about two to three
years to learn from mistakes do now do
my first two ventures and really really
grow out of these experiences but then
that taught me how to build good teams
what it takes in order to appreciate the
people around you who share the same
passion for what you go ahead and do so
they’re necessary design of growing
through something is by a process of
evolution like you will learn you will
go through this motion and I sort of
want to pause here and sort of reflect
back which was out of the entire journey
that I took here right from where I
started to now there was one thing that
really didn’t matter at all that was
that shiny report card back in the day
what I got started
okay so I want to quickly focus on
something a bit more important lines
what do I mean by that right but what do
you mean lines are more important and
that’s sort of something that I want to
dwell on which is lines are a very
fascinating concept they are all around
us right some lines put you behind bars
some lines make you wait some lines can
be erased some lines you can’t I had a
very visual way to run you through this
but perhaps not but what’s important to
understand is that the only lines that
really matter are the boundaries you set
yourself in your minds and the ones you
leave behind right so I’m more curious
than ever to see how technology shapes
the world around us but I’m actually
really even more curious than that to
see the lines that each one of you get
to make in the years to come so go out
there to learn build
have your trends but by design it’s a
very different way to learn than to be
educated so I’m going to leave you with
a function of what it takes in order to
get started it really takes nothing more
than a paper piece of paper the ideas
that you have and the passion that
really drives in I’m five years into
this journey I still seek answers
I still hope to get better and I’ve
learned more through each of my
experiences than perhaps I have to offer
I’m sure that when you guys go out and
have your treads there are multiple
things that you perhaps learn from and
grow out of so as we walk out of these
rooms
it is perhaps some of the most exciting
times that we live in
across the spheres of tech and whatever
it be it can be a piece of art that you
want to do a composition that you want
to complete with but go out there do it
on your marks screw your marks
[Applause]
[Music]
this means that between all the Madras
stereotypes and the filter coffee I was
sort of in a Tambaram family that wanted
me to do one thing and one thing really
well excel with that report card so that
they can rub it inside their neighbors
face practically what we wanted to start
off with so conveniently then my life
around school to engineering undergrad
between Chennai and Bangalore really
revolved around three things classes
creative ways to bunk these classes and
then the samosas in the candy so it’s
sort of surprising how yours can fly by
only this way it took me a while to
realize that the first time that I did
have that sort of a quick reality check
was the first time I was strutting into
my internship it sort of that exciting
phases in it when you come into
engineering which is oh these are the
four weeks of holidays I get let me go
and work it off again right so I got
started during my undergrad at a Silicon
Valley giant of a chip design firm
because they conveniently decided
Bangalore is cheaper for talent and
hence set up an R&D centre here
basically right so that was day one I
decided to wear my dad’s oversized
formal shoes because for some reason I
thought it’s a good idea then strutted
into this office I sort of walked in and
in my mind I’m so very Singh I’m like
put a week ago you were struggling to
answer a four marker on inductors and
now you’re potentially going to be
designing something which is going to be
used in millions of devices like who you
kidding right so and it’s always at
moments like these when you have a
typical reality check that happens it’s
almost like a storybook sucker-punch
that comes to you I didn’t design any
chips I didn’t make any silicon to begin
with I was fetching cups of tea for my
manager from the vending machine
this is how I got started now it taught
me a valuable lesson
it actually left me with something which
was I was hungry I was I’m actually
ambitious to be more meaningful to have
better impact then 30 yards between that
fat guy and the vending machine right I
wanted to be more so I went back home
and like any sane person will do I binge
watch the social network like you we all
need that little bit of motivation now
no I binge watch it thrice I think right
so I used that and that was sort of
motivation enough for me to walk through
the rest of my internship where I began
to moonlight on something what do I mean
by moonlighting moonlighting is sort of
this nice way of putting it out saying
you have a 9:00 to 5:00 and then from
5:00 to say another X number of hours in
the day I decided to work on something
more so when I began to moonlight on
something it was sort of really a
culmination of curiosity which was hey
what can I do to sort of impact or have
an impact on the system of education
because once a fat kid in who’s 18 years
old can apparently solve the entire
system problems that we have no but this
naivety that we have when we get started
right the lack of knowns or the lack of
knowledge about these variables is a
blessing in disguise because it allows
us to answer some of these larger
questions that we always want to go out
there and do so I put together a small
team two other guys and I build out this
product it was in a field called
adaptive learning so I take this product
and I walk in straight to my first
business meeting right so I’m sitting
across the table to this 70 year old
school administrator and he’s sort of
looking with squinty eyes right back at
me almost with disbelief and he says son
you’re almost as old as a kid who comes
in to take an admission form and 2,000
of these drop in to my institution every
year you’re telling me that you and that
piece of software that you’ve written is
going to do my job better than me
overnight I was like yeah that’s the
purpose but so he he really didn’t bite
eventually we went on to part more than
12,000 of those kids who came into that
institution so it sort of leaves you
thinking doesn’t it it really needs you
thinking about
they profound things that happen through
this journey that we take the one thing
which I realized was constantly I found
the difference between learning and
education right it’s it almost seemed as
if all the learning happened outside
these four walls my classrooms could
never prepare me for these meetings I
took the products I built the things
that I changed so the learning happened
outside but seemingly the education
happens to be inside these four walls
and that disconnect was pressing like
and that sort of kept me going right it
kept the curiosity or the drive or these
passion to go about doing something
further and further and this sort of
school for making mistakes back in
through the entire system of learning is
I don’t mean I remember the days when I
used to be at electronics labs and I
used to by mistake burn this tent by
soccer resistor and that will habit and
you if looks can kill right he’s even
give me that one death stare that will
possibly like like pass me out but
unlikely Habs and controlled
environments the real-world
entrepreneurship life and anything that
you do relies on the fact that you will
make mistakes you will not be good at it
when you begin you will slip up that is
the necessary design of learning
something and it takes a while
[Applause]
so whatever you do unlike a three are
graded paper keeps it real right it is
very different from what you go through
in that moment I did go into Stanford
Graduate School of Business not because
I can do my integrals and differentials
well but because I was curious right I
was curious to go out there and build
something curiosity is a funny term
because curiosity fuels ambition what do
I mean by ambition then and we should
sort of a very selfish thing here let me
be honest about that which is it is
these small set of goals things that we
want to do we are the heroes of our own
stories and the things that we want to
achieve as we move forward now these
bits of ambition can be short-term like
getting out of this talk or can be
slightly more long-term if you are an
engineering undergrad which is getting
out of the institution right so ambition
inherently fuels us it inherently drives
us and this ambition over a period of
time when you’re chasing something that
you really like is what you’re
passionate about inherently right so
cool she is that piece that you’re
curious you then drive and develop an
ambition for and then you’re passionate
about so again big fancy words like what
does this really look like in the field
of entrepreneurship you might be
imagining there’s this white male
stereotype with pinup codes who walks
into a conference room with big wide
wooden tables and signs seemingly
important papers but what does it really
look like in all honesty it looks way
more to be multiple cups of coffee a day
a shabby desk that you call as your
office slash workspace and perhaps
80-hour workweeks and if you are lucky a
team of more people to share this misery
with you so in reality things are
different you go through the grind you
go through the necessary motions of
getting better at something now when
that begins off with it’s sort of
important to keep in mind what got you
started the piece of curiosity that
helps drive and take things forward
now having said that where does
entrepreneurship really fit into this
ecosystem and that’s where I’m very
passionate or I believe strongly in
technology technology literally is
eating this world and making it a better
place this is for the first time the FB
center of power in the whole world is
not at one street
it’s a Silicon Valley right then each
one of you have a big part to play in
that as we move forward in our times and
that got me curious right which was
sitting in front of a computer I am able
to generate something which can possibly
change the world and that’s an
empowering feeling so what can we do to
sort of contribute to this sphere of
technology and that’s really where my
curiosity began which was yeah I want to
own the shiniest gadgets out there and
what do I need to do to get started and
this curiosity then fueled what I was
ambitious about which was a one-way
flight ticket to San Francisco right
let’s keep it simple that that’s that’s
really what was the short-term ambition
that we were looking for and then you
sort of go forward and forward where
this ambition develops into a passion
which was if what can I do in this in
this behemoth that I look at and where
can I put a dent in the field of
technology and where can I involve
myself in this process and that’s a
question that I’m still trying to answer
today that’s that’s a question that I’m
still trying to look at as a tech guy an
entrepreneur and someone who cares a
damn about building stuff that’s it
so in my current format the what I work
on is something that I want to help you
visualize so close your eyes for a
moment and think of the most interesting
things that you’ve done say probably go
on a hike recently go to an entirely new
country a meaningful moment that you
perhaps shared with family etc what do
you feel it’s all about the sights
sounds the things you saw felt heard
touched it’s all sensory things aren’t
they now this is a big part of what
makes us human it’s a big part of what
institute sus now what if we can relive
or go through each one of these sights
and sounds just the way they were
sitting right here that’s the promise of
two technologies that we call as virtual
and augmented reality right the ability
to strap you right here where you just
put on nothing more than hokey looking
goggles at the moment and we sort of
transported into these entirely new
worlds worlds that help bring anything
to you in an Augmented sense or take you
into entirely new spaces in the virtual
reality sense but very often we talk
about technology almost like it’s a
black box right which is difficult to
get into and get started now more often
than not Tech is intimidating beyond the
local authors and foreign authors that
we tend to look at right and it doesn’t
have to be that way and that’s really
where we got started with scaping what
we’re really building out is a simple
way for each one of you here to build
what you want in virtual and augmented
reality to showcase out to everyone else
and it took me a while to really even
push to this front it took us about a
year’s worth of work in order to raise
venture capital but when we did we were
one of the youngest in the country to do
so it took me more than about two to
three years to even get started with I
it took me about about two to three
years to learn from mistakes do now do
my first two ventures and really really
grow out of these experiences but then
that taught me how to build good teams
what it takes in order to appreciate the
people around you who share the same
passion for what you go ahead and do so
they’re necessary design of growing
through something is by a process of
evolution like you will learn you will
go through this motion and I sort of
want to pause here and sort of reflect
back which was out of the entire journey
that I took here right from where I
started to now there was one thing that
really didn’t matter at all that was
that shiny report card back in the day
what I got started
okay so I want to quickly focus on
something a bit more important lines
what do I mean by that right but what do
you mean lines are more important and
that’s sort of something that I want to
dwell on which is lines are a very
fascinating concept they are all around
us right some lines put you behind bars
some lines make you wait some lines can
be erased some lines you can’t I had a
very visual way to run you through this
but perhaps not but what’s important to
understand is that the only lines that
really matter are the boundaries you set
yourself in your minds and the ones you
leave behind right so I’m more curious
than ever to see how technology shapes
the world around us but I’m actually
really even more curious than that to
see the lines that each one of you get
to make in the years to come so go out
there to learn build
have your trends but by design it’s a
very different way to learn than to be
educated so I’m going to leave you with
a function of what it takes in order to
get started it really takes nothing more
than a paper piece of paper the ideas
that you have and the passion that
really drives in I’m five years into
this journey I still seek answers
I still hope to get better and I’ve
learned more through each of my
experiences than perhaps I have to offer
I’m sure that when you guys go out and
have your treads there are multiple
things that you perhaps learn from and
grow out of so as we walk out of these
rooms
it is perhaps some of the most exciting
times that we live in
across the spheres of tech and whatever
it be it can be a piece of art that you
want to do a composition that you want
to complete with but go out there do it
on your marks screw your marks
[Applause]
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