Kunal Shah on starting-up, compounding learning, extreme curiosity, identifying & growing talent [#1]

Best in Class with Harish Narayanan

In this episode, I am privileged to have with us India's most popular startup guru and serial founder, Kunal Shah. I call Kunal the 'Philosopher founder' for his ability to think deeply about any problem statement under the sun and for his breadth of knowledge about various topics and the underlying human insights. He is a rockstar thinker and I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation. Hope you enjoy it too. If you like this conversation, don't forget to subscribe, and please rate the podcast on Google podcasts, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to it. Thank you and let's get started.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 Intro
• 03:40 Starting up - Purpose, Opportunity, Reason to start-up ("Success is a journey of one hundred slaps". A great way to know who you are).
• 07:40 Identifying the right opportunity, identifying the market.
• 12:58 Build a culture of entrepreneurship.
• 14:58 Wealth = entropy.
• 18:00 Working in a big company vs starting up.
• 21:47 There is no 'method'.
• 24:56 Avoiding rigidity, seeking variety, becoming 'explorers'.
• 26:53 Games of skill vs games of luck. ("The only thing worth envying about someone is their skill").
• 29:34 Learning as a skill. ("We should learn how to think"). Appreciate extreme curiosity.
• 32:35 Building curiosity (especially in children).
• 39:40 Managing time, finding time for curiosity.
• 44:56 Finding / hiring great talent.
• 48:05 A message to students / new jobbers.

Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the series are solely personal and do not necessarily represent those of my company / employers.