"In this digitally-driven decade, apps are set to become the backbone of every business across the globe, especially those in India. Therefore, a budget that is easier on the pockets of individuals and small-to-medium businesses will allow for more investment in digitalisation, ergo leading to higher consumer spends in terms of sales, subscriptions, ad-free versions and so on. By large, this should make the entire Indian ecosystem generate more revenue and jobs in the technology sector"
Written by Co-Founder & CEO of Engineer.ai Sachin Dev Duggal
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Sachin Dev Duggal's entrepreneurial achievements are known around the world, and not just in light of the fact that he works from three urban communities spread the globe. His phones field notifications constantly whether he's working from London, Los Angeles, or Delhi. That happens when you've been building businesses since the age of 15. Indeed, even before beginning his first business, Sachin Duggal was determined to make change. At 12 years old, he went in front of an audience before 1200 people and the world media to demand something be done about the condition of the earth. He worked for the United Nations and composed the Declaration of Youth Rights before he finished his first degree. He developed a problem-solving mindset early on at the age of 14 when he broke his mother’s computer. Following her ominous warning — “Fix it, or else,” — Sachin Duggal quickly learned to tinker with basic programming. He restored her computer, built his own the following year, then built and sold them to family and friends soon after. Today Sachin Duggal's brilliant mind is far from unappreciated. Over the years since first fixing his mother’s computer, he’s carved the way in the world of software and cloud computing. His insistence on finding the most efficient solution to a problem, one problem at a time, secures his success. To put it simply, Sachin Dev Duggal is an innovative serial entrepreneur. His wide range of experience, though, equips him with a unique insight on life that many entrepreneurs lack. He believes in projects that allow him the opportunity to benefit the world at large. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Sachin Duggal and asked him for a few insights that define his work process. Our conversation helped me uncover the ways he looks at life to keep him motivated and moving forward. Haven’t Heard of Sachin Dev Duggal? Following his computer-building business, he shifted into software development and investment banking during his late teenage years. Sachin Duggal then co-founded nivio in August of 2004, which became a disruptor in the computing industry. His work with nivio resulted in his being named a technology pioneer in January 2009 at the World Economic Forum. Sachin Duggal left nivio in 2012 to pursue his next idea in the cloud computing industry. He spent the interim years on intensive development and bootstrapping with some fellow founders. Then, in June of 2018, Engineer.ai launched. The software feeds into his vision of providing people the seemingly out of reach tools they need to bring their ideas to life by using human-assisted AI to build apps and custom software. (The Builder team at Cannes Film Festival 2019. Aramanya, the son of Sachin Dev Duggal, claimed the title of the youngest person to ever walk the red carpet). In addition to his incredible business ventures, Sachin Duggal is decorated with numerous accolades from around the world. He was named Indian Innovator of the Year by MIT TR35, the Leader of Tomorrow by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and Entrepreneur of the Year finalist by EY, just to name a few. Even if you already know of Sachin Duggal’s story, the businesses he’s built, the awards he’s won, his resume is nothing short of inspirational. But what is the mindset that propels him around the world from day-to-day? How does his view on business, and life in general, keep him ahead of the curve year after year? 1. Life is like a function. Since Sachin Duggal started out by programming his mother’s computer, it makes sense that he sees life as a function. Functions are mathematical equations that have only one output; there is only one solution. And life, as Sachin Duggal explains, all sums to zero. Your life is the sum of all that ever happens to and around you. It’s the result of everything that you do to other people and everything that other people do to you. All the things you do well and all the things you do badly. It’s the total of the times you were nice and the times you were not nice. You can’t control the things that happen to and around you, but you can control the way you respond to them. And when you look back at the end of your life all the variables that took place return the value of you. What do you want that return value to look like? When your life comes to an end it all sums to zero. Everything that ever took place. This gives you enormous freedom in the way you approach life. What are you going to do with that freedom? 2. Short-term pain for long-term gain. The best things in life never come easy. It takes time, consistency, dedication, and patience to bring a dream to life. You have two options during every single moment in your life: the easy way or the hard way. Sachin Duggal had a simple but beautiful way he looks at these choices: “Short-term gain for long-term pain.” You can eat a box of donuts for short-term gain because, let’s face it, donuts are delicious. But eating the entire box of donuts results in long-term pain, both in a stomach ache and an impact on your health. Or you can go lift weights at the gym, especially with it being the time for New Year’s resolutions, and experience short-term pain. But the long-term gain you receive when you stick with an exercise regimen is worth it. The majority of people settle for the easy way out in life. Successful entrepreneurs take the exact opposite of the easy way. They spend their days pursuing short-term pain after short-term pain in order to experience that long-term gain of success. 3. The most important lesson in life is tunnel vision. Sometimes you hear people talk about tunnel vision like it’s a bad thing. Sachin Duggal, on the other hand, believes it’s one of life’s most important lessons. It isn’t hard to find yourself distracted when building a business. There are countless factors to consider at the beginning of any new endeavor. This is where tunnel vision comes into play. Sachin Duggal suggests you bypass every single obstacle standing in your way and visualize yourself at the end. Speed past the naysayers and through the difficult periods by looking past them. Then focus only on that. Ask yourself, “What is the problem I’m solving and what is the smallest solution that gets me to the resolution?” One way to figure this out is to take yourself to the point in time where your problem is solved. Turn back around 180 degrees and look at the shortest distance to the result where you’re standing. Then follow that path. This exercise offers you a sense of confidence and surety that can keep you moving through the challenges. Once you’ve visualized the path that will help you solve your problem, you can follow through then look toward your next problem. 4. Wisdom exists with experience. Too many people believe that wisdom resides in those with intellect. In reality, wisdom exists with experience. You can spend years in school and still not receive the in-depth education that a year in your field will provide. The difference between speculation during education and proof of real-life experience is vast. Perhaps you look to those who seem to know the most about a particular subject. They might have a degree or certification in that realm that makes them seem qualified. But how often have you heard of successful entrepreneurs who bypassed a college education? Although there is nothing wrong with learning, experience is oftentimes the best teacher of all. Sachin Duggal pointed out that as he gets older, he spends less time questioning himself. Each of his experiences taught him to trust his gut rather than the people who always have something to say. There is nothing more educational than trying to do something yourself. There are things you will never learn until you face those problems and unknown answers head-on. But the more time you spend solving problems, the more you’ll trust your own instincts and less you’ll rely on the input of others. 5. Ruthlessly edit your life. You are the sum of the people you keep closest to you. If you surround yourself with people who are lazy and directionless, you’ll soon find yourself lounging around with no direction. It’s much easier to find yourself dragged down by your peers than to bring them up to your level with you. Surround yourself with successful people if you want to be successful. Take stock of the people you spend the most time with. What do they do with their time? Do they have the same goals, passions, or hobbies that you do? Are they lifting you up or bringing you down? If you see there are people bringing you down, it’s time to realize they aren’t a fit in your life. Sachin Duggal suggests the importance of ruthlessly editing your life. There might be situations that will bite you but the payoff is worth it. Don’t keep negativity in your wheelhouse. Cut out the things that dismantle your vision for your life. 6. Show people the art of the possible. Sachin Duggal looks up to Richard Branson as a positive role model. He holds close the idea of making the world a better place whilst making our lives a better place. There is a need to help others who lack the same opportunities we have. It’s incredible to see what someone can do when you give them the opportunity to do it. It’s difficult for people who lack resources to keep up with those who have them. One of Sachin Duggal’s ambitions is to show people the art of the possible. He aims to build software that equips people with the ability to bring their ideas to life. When they feel like their idea is in the palm of their hands, there isn’t anything they can’t do. 7. Failure is feedback. There still seem to be people who avoid failure at all costs. They create stories, cover their tracks, and do everything they can to keep from making a mistake. If they make everything look perfect on the outside then it means all their ventures will succeed. Sachin Dev Duggal finds the exact opposite to be true. In his experience, failure is feedback. The vulnerability in being willing to fail provides insight on how to succeed the next time. It’s impossible not to fail and it’s a disservice to yourself when you don’t allow yourself the freedom to do so. You will fail at least once during your entrepreneurial journey. You’ll most likely fail more than once. It’s what you do with those failures that define you as an entrepreneur and as a person. Do you try to hide your shortcomings or do you capitalize on them as learning experiences? Build upon the times you fail and construct an even greater outcome in the future. Set your sights ahead to the results you dream of and don’t let any step in your way. There is nothing but experience at your fingertips, ready for you to reach out and take it. Sachin Dev Duggal is a London-born serial entrepreneur who has experience of building businesses in the US, UK and India. Currently CEO and founder of Engineer.ai also known as Builder.ai, he has also previously founded companies such as Nivio and Shoto. What was the most valuable piece of career advice that you received? Just recently, I learned about the realities of rapidly scaling a company. When you go from 10 people to 200 people, you go from having an answer, to having the process to have the answer, to having the people that know the process to having an answer. Now, when you go through that double quick, you have zero time to acclimatise to that shift and that’s challenging. Because when you, as the co-founder, know it so well that the process and the answer is all in one split second, it gets frustrating why problems don’t get solved in bigger teams as quickly. It is also why young companies work so much faster…because the process and the answer there is the same thing. But to scale up is to grow through this process. What was the worst piece of business advice that you received? I can think of two actually, and both contradict each other. One was — grow at any cost. The second was — when you’re growing, keep cutting costs. I think the truth is that you can do either well if you make a choice. You can either optimise or you can scale. And if you choose to do both, then you’ll have to alternate between optimising and scaling and play it by ear. What advice would you give to someone starting their career in tech? I can give you three candid facts about the tech business that will save a starter a lot of shocks. Firstly, unlike other businesses, tech companies have a very different pace. So, you have to look at each problem with a very different velocity in mind. Secondly, the entry cost is very high. You have to build a prototype, get the MVP ready and then have the final product in order to rope customers in. It’s not like a trading business where you can manufacture small batches of shampoo at the back of your garden and sell it on a Facebook page. So, specialise like hell. Thirdly, as you grow, you’ll need to hire expertise that will create processes to help solve problems. At some point, and I haven’t quite put a number to it yet, to be successful, you will have to stop solving problems yourself and delegate. But having said that, as someone in a leadership position, you are always prepared to look at everything in the macro and then suddenly go down straight to toilet seat detail when time calls. Did you always want to work in tech? I wanted to be an actor first, then a singer, and even a fighter pilot at a point in time. I got into tech by mistake, but the dream perpetually was to do something that would become the fons et origo of social change. I've actively undertaken several social initiatives before, but serendipitously, Builder.ai has amplified the opportunities I have to give back. With clients like Qure- that works to make healthcare accessible in rural India or Cup O'Sugar - that allows people to share leftovers and reduce wastage, I am able to contribute to the world on a larger scale by simply doing what we do best- helping make software development easier, faster, cheaper, and more transparent. Also, I like the fact that computers behave in a logical way and so, building skills in it is easy. For example, I would compare learning Python to how long it took me to get to the next grade in piano and the latter was harder! What was your first job in tech? I was a summer intern at Barclay's when I was 15. Later, I started my own PC business and it's quite a story. I managed to break my mother's computer (T86 I think or 1x86) and under the nervousness of her wrath, I read all day, all week to get it fixed. Eventually through early DOS programming, I managed to get this back up and actually, got my first "fix", something that would later become the key to anything tech I did. The next year I wanted my own computer and built my own after much persuasion (I managed to narrowly avoid blowing it up), realising that my PC cost about 400 pounds less. Long story short, I ended up building a PC business with my friends for the next couple of years and made more than enough money to pay for tennis lessons and candy and then went onwards to hosting. Then, my first "proper" job was at Deutsche Bank when I was 17, where I was building training platforms and software. What are some common misconceptions about working in tech? That it's a ton of people just writing into a black terminal. In truth, there's so much more that goes on. That if you build a platform, customers will come flocking in. In truth, tech business is like any business. There is a lot of marketing, sales and strategy involved in order to find success. So, a lot of people in tech are building projects and not businesses. They go funding cycle to funding cycle and not revenue to gross margin to profit. What tips would you give to someone aiming for a C-level position in a tech company? When I look for folks who are joining VP or C-level positions, the thing that puts me off the most is when I learn that they cannot roll their sleeves up in times of crisis and solve problems. As a C-level executive, you will need to solve problems, build processes to solve problems, and hire people to build processes to solve problems. Ultimately, you'll need to see a problem from afar and do whatever it takes to find a solution. What are your career ambitions and have you reached them yet? I actually don't consider what I do as a career. I often laugh, really, because I still think I'm 20. I have no concept of "work" and "not work". I really don't know what I'd do in a real job. It's not that I don't work hard; I work really hard, but I don't consider it work. It would feel like work to me when there's a stressful situation perhaps. But, overall, I don't think I have a career. I think I am solving problems that I like solving, and there isn't an end to it, really. The end point would perhaps be when I can create the most amount of impact- whether internally or externally. But the beauty of that is that there isn't really ever an end point. It's all directional. Do you have a good work life balance in your current role? I think I have a better work life balance than most. But, it depends as to what you call "work life balance". I get to spend more time with my kids, Aramnaya and Samanaya, and my wife, Pooja, than most office-going fathers spend. Probably the negative in it is that, for example, my wife gets irritated that one minute I could be discussing dinner plans with her and the other, I could be on the phone interviewing a candidate. But, for me, there is no real segregation. It is a trade off for sure, because I am giving away the routine, but I am also getting the flexibility to work 3 days without sleep and then 7 days remotely from an island. It's challenging because we run a global organisation, and so my mornings are often busy with India meetings and my evenings get taken up with the US ones. Then there's London meetings during the afternoons, so on the whole, you're working 20 hours, give or take. What, if anything, would you change about the route your career path has taken? That's tricky because I believe that you are what you are because of the circumstances that brought you to your present. My mistakes brought learning that led to successes, so it would be impossible to nitpick. But one macro lesson for me has been to not take people at face value and let trust always be earnt. Which would you recommend: A coding bootcamp or a computer science degree? Neither, but if I have to pick, then a computer science degree. Whether you get get a degree or actually study the syllabus to earn the degree, the biggest takeaway from it should be the maturity to solve problems. When you start coding, it's like someone handed you a paintbrush. You cannot just become Rembrandt in a day. You need to be taught the discipline. How important are specific certifications? Not at all. I don't care for certifications, honestly. I care that you went out of your way, did courses and learnt things. What are the three skills or abilities you look for in prospective candidates? Perseverance, analytical thinking, and a good heart. What would put you off in a candidate? Bad energy, arrogance, and over-eagerness. Oh, and a lack of passion. It doesn't matter if you're a janitor; if you do it with passion, then you're working harder and living better and being true-r to yourself than most C-level executives out there. What are the most common mistakes made by candidates in an interview? How can those mistakes be avoided? I think sometimes people make a leap of faith when it comes to their own abilities - as in what they can and cannot do. Sometimes, this extension of the truth doesn't work for either parties because they realise they're not achieving what they set out to because they're not equipped with the right resources. Secondly, arrogance. I feel like it creates a mismatch between expectations and reality. Third mistake would be when they're not themselves. Honesty is the best policy for a reason. You are who you are and it will come out eventually. Personally, I disagree with the idea of an interview where you have to be your "best" self. You don't get married after dating someone for a day. You get married once you've seen a person at their best and worst. So, it feels odd to make a hiring decision when you know that someone is being their best version. It makes you wonder if it could get quite worse. Do you think it is better to have technical or business skills - or a mix of both? A mix of both for sure! A clear distinction has always existed between honing technical skills (hardware or software, engineering, website development) and business skills — a line drawn that's almost akin to the separation of church and state. But thanks to the advent of entrepreneurial era putting renewed importance on business savvy, many techies (whom I like to call the Builder Generation) and educators are seeing the wisdom of the combination of both skill sets. These are articles composed by experts for venture experts. They are commitments from outside topic specialists who don't work for CFA Institute, yet might be a CFA charterholder just as an individual from a CFA Society. All are specialists in their field and endeavor to convey valuable experiences that help speculation experts settle on better choices.
Much has been said about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning may change the speculation calling. Regardless of whether it is the headway of computerized exchanging, utilizing elective information to discover new venture signals, or robo-consultants getting progressively skilled, the primary spotlight to date has been on how these apparatuses will make the speculation supervisor's activity advance, or even vanish under increasingly outrageous situations. Some accept that insufficient consideration has been allowed to the subsequent request effect of AI on the business, and what I see to really be the a lot bigger and conceivably additionally fascinating result. By second request sway, I allude to the effect of AI on the businesses and organizations we examine and put resources into. Market basics, monetary examination and in some cases simply gut feel drives a ton of venture choices outside of quantitative store the board, however by what method will this conventional investigation change in the coming decade? While there are difficulties around ability and discovering high worth issues to explain with AI, businesses are well on their approach to actualizing models over their worth chains. Will organizations vie for speculations dependent on their degree of AI reception? On the off chance that AI displaying gets vital to accelerating key procedures all the more precisely, very before long organizations might be contending dependent on their information and demonstrating abilities, and this will get significant to their continuous business development. There are numerous such models beginning to create. In any case, as a speculator or expert, what amount do we think about an organization's AI exercises? There are a few related components that should be mulled over, when making speculation proposals. It's not really just about the exhibition and ability of information researchers in associations, yet additionally how the displaying in data based enterprises may be avoiding the lines of morals and suitable employments of individual data. Prominent issues are notable encompassing any semblance of Facebook and Google gathering individual data and utilizing it to produce income. All it may take is one information release, an instance of accidentally disadvantaging a solitary segment, or an adjustment in guideline to cause these kinds of plans of action to get hazardous. The test we have as an industry going ahead, at any rate for the individuals who will be working for the following 20-30 years, is understanding what we have to think about more extensive AI exercises, and in how much detail, to make educated speculation suggestions. Controllers and money related announcing bodies will likewise need to settle on the most proficient method to manage AI, and what organizations ought to openly unveil so as to support experts and investors better comprehend the scene and the hazard. |