Episode 15: Ayush Jaiswal- Building Pesto Tech “Absolutely, nothing is impossible”
About Ayush Jaiswal:
My next guest on The One Percent Project is the young and dynamic founder of Pesto Tech- Ayush Jaiswal. This is an intriguing conversation with Ayush who is on a mission to give everyone equal access to opportunity. In this chat, we explore how his personal background of coming from a 2 tier city and early professional hustle helped him find purpose, value time and build a business with impact.
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In this conversation, he talked about:
His background and early life in a tier 2 city and how that has shaped him
What do Time and Purpose mean to Ayush?
Growth and Future of Pesto Tech.
His three learnings from building Pesto Tech and observing other start-ups.
Building a company culture.
How should someone from tier 2 or 3 city be thinking of starting a business today?
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Transcript:
*The transcripts are not 100% accurate.
Pritish: Welcome, Ayush, to The One Percent Project.
Ayush: Yeah, thanks for... thanks for hosting me. Glad to be here.
Pritish: I was going through your career path and you started young, and you're still young. The 2 people who came to my mind when I was thinking about your trajectory who have actually started from second third tier cities and started really young, one is Ritesh Agarwal, went on to build Oyo Rooms. A second one is the legendary cricketer who recently retired, M.S. Dhoni. Ritesh comes from an unknown town in one of the States from India. And M.S. Dhoni comes to Ranchi. And when I see their trajectory and what empowerment they have brought to second third tier cities youth, where they don't have to restrain themselves in the constraints of thinking they don't have the resources to be world leaders or games changers, they definitely have helped and empowered those youth. And I think your story, which we would like to know, is definitely a similar path. So, how did you start off and... and where you are now?
Ayush: Got it. Yeah, I mean, as much as I would like to accept this... this point, I agree with you. I'm just kidding. But I think it's just sort of your bias because you're from Lucknow, and I'm from Varanasi, just putting it out there for the listeners. You're hyping me up. But I think they've done phenomenal job. I think I'm absolutely nowhere near the nor do I compare from them. What I do is that I seek inspiration from them. I think there are a lot of things to learn from these people and many more. So, definitely excited about the journey. I think the small-town thing we were just talking about before the sort of recording that there are... there are certain problems you face, challenges you face in the initial years. And I think the grind was quite beautiful when I look back at it. I know that many other people face it and I try my best to support as many people as I can in my own sort of small capacity. But it's exciting.
Pritish: When you started off in Varanasi, this is not your first business. You started off with a consulting service, there was something called as DealFlow as well. And when were you... when you were doing that, how was that experience? You failed at them or were not as successful, how did you go from that... those kind of setbacks to Pesto.
Ayush: Got it. I wouldn't say that I failed at them sort of, and calling it that they were not successful is just a (unclear) [02:43]. I think the reason I'm saying that the reason I feel I did not... it was a very terrible failure and... and terrible failure in the sense that the business failed in a very bad way. But if you ask me, did you fail or not? I would not say that I failed. Reason being that I think that those years trying to build some something in Varanasi or... or trying to build DealFlow, which was like a sort of exchange for secondary equity in companies. I felt some regulatory challenges and things I was not aware of, I was just ambitious and I want to do something in this space.
I think the journey is the biggest teacher, which you can have. I was very fortunate to have really good mentors. And I think the process of building it and the process of failing over and over again teaches you certain... certain things which... which stays with you in long term. And then there's a very sort of straightforward process of learning from others in what you have learned helping those out with that knowledge. So, I think I look at it that way that it was a failure, yes. And I had a very rough time in those days and all that. I would not... highly not recommend people to take the same approach to the journey. There are better ways of doing it. There are ways in which you need to struggle less. Just because the struggle is inspiring doesn't mean you have to struggle. I see that a lot of people do it because it sounds nice. But it's very tough to live through it. I think the alternate ways are much preferred.
Pritish: I think that's a very good insight. Do you think struggle is a mindset? Do you think that we think that we need to struggle to get to a point in our lives?
Ayush: Yes. So, I think I'll put it this way. The other day, I was chatting with one of my very good friends and we were chatting about struggles. And I was also sitting with somebody, his name is Manish and we were talking about our lives. And it is very interesting that every person's struggle was a real struggle, but in their own ways.
Ayush: I've also heard stories about people in which they struggled because they could not get to... get to a certain checkpoint, because they did not have money for a toll, and they had to request people that you sort of didn't have money and let them in and things like that. And... and it's a very genuine struggle, like but we've had it. But if you look at it from somebody else's perspective, that person was driving a car. So, they were... had a car, I think many times, when I... when I look at somebody else's journey, so that is somebody else's story, I'm not allowed to name them. But I think it's a cool story to know. And at the same time, when... when I look at my story, I feel that the struggles which... which I had, I really don't want to call it struggle, because it's embarrassing. Because when you look at people who have... who have had much bigger struggles in their lives, you just feel how small you are, right? So, I think we should just take this as a journey. We should not glorify it. We should not be proud of it. It's just a journey, right? Everybody has a very different journey. They will have their own... their own set of challenges. And on the other side, they will have their goods. So, it's as simple as that.
Pritish: And what did Varanasi give you that key city at that point of time would not have been able to?
Ayush: Values. I think... I think when you're trying to get to something, like I remember in 2007 and 8, I was like, a crazy person. I would read each edition of all the magazines which used to come in at that point of time. I used to find my ways to get internet. But it was hard to get internet. It was hard to get access to a computer. And you don't really find a community of people in which you can sort of spend your time with where you can learn things from, like angles and all that and all that. So, I feel that those limitations is something which I cherish because those limitations really taught me things, which... which I wouldn't have learned otherwise. They taught me creative ways of learning. I spent almost all my time on the internet after a point and just learning from books and whatever resources I could get my hands on. But I think once you go through those barriers, the newer challenges look smaller to you. So, I think that mindset gets built when you are from a small town.
And then the second thing which... which is there, my dad has taught me a lot of things. One of the biggest things he taught me is that... is that money is relative. I think he always keeps me humble and always tries to point me in a direction where I have clarity of my mission that what is it which I'm really looking for. And there's a very beautiful thing he taught me early on that... that 5000 is... is very expensive, and 50 lakhs is very cheap, because money is relative to what you have. So, no matter where you are in the journey, money will remain relative. What you should focus on is... is doing things ethically by being true to your values. And by being focused on the goals which you're trying to achieve. So, few things is... that comes to mind.
Pritish: I think that is good advice as everything is relative. Yeah, absolutely, 5000 can be very, very, I think grander and 50 lakhs could be nothing. That actually brings me to a very other interesting thing, and because now you're in a very fast growth, and your perception of time and purpose, I think, evolves and you mature. So, how do you see time now?
Ayush: Oh, as the most valuable asset. I think... I think it's... it's very underrated. I've learned it in a very hard way that I think I used to undervalue time versus money a lot, just... just undervalued. And I think we all do it in our own different ways. But I just think that valuing your own time is... is one of the most important things. Because unless you value it, nobody else will. And... and I think if you just optimize it, the compounding value of that is immense. Like, for example, I would focus on reading one of the things habits is focus on reading a book 30, 40 minutes a day. There is no immediate impact which will happen in a day or 2. But if you’re disciplined, then that means that you're allocating 30 minutes of your life to reading books. But if you look at the compounding value, that 30 minutes over the next 300 days will be a lot. So, I think I look at time from that investment perspective now that what is that you're investing your time in? And what is the goal which we're trying to achieve with that?
Pritish: At the same time, even your purpose evolves. At one point when potentially you didn't have a very good bank account, survival was one purpose. And then at some point, you actually come to an understanding that purpose is greater than yourself. It is potentially doing more, and for others as well. So, how is that evolved for you?
Ayush: I think it's, it's beautiful. So, one of the things I'm a big fan of is, is that whenever you're trying to build something in a sustainable way, whatever business you're trying to build, while... while building that business, there are that... there are actually ways out there in which you can create a win-win situation for all parties involved, because of which the business scales, and the impact scales with it. And those are the favorite kind of businesses, which I love, which I love getting involved in, that it's... it's aligned with all the values which are the impact skills and the business skills. So, yeah, I think love working on those. I try my best to sort of include those values in the way we are building Pesto, and I’ll continue to do so in times to come.
Pritish: And let's talk about Pesto itself. So, firstly, how did the name come about?
Ayush: It's just a friend of mine was eating pasta, that's... that’s...
Pritish: That's it.
Ayush: Pasta, that’s it, yeah. There's no science behind it. There is no thought. I think one of the biggest things which... which will... I've learned over the last few years personally is that speed of decision-making and... and execution is extremely important when it comes to startups. And at Pesto also, we have made mistakes. We have... we have had phases in which we were slower in making decisions, and that did not really help us. So, I think from that perspective, I was... I had a moment in that year where I was like that we need to do something about this industry. And I just wanted to start. And I sat down that date itself, discussed a bunch of names, and decided the name and went away with it.
Pritish: You came to Delhi almost 4 years ago, and I'm assuming then Pesto was a very small company. Now, it's something which potentially the tech world knows of. So, how has that growth been? And where are you today? And where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
Ayush: I think we have... I feel we’re not even on the surface. I think there is... there is a massive amount of impact which is to be made. I feel 5 million developers out there in India alone. I feel that the biggest competitor I always say for Pesto is unemployment. There are more than, you know, million jobs in the Western countries and... and there are just not enough developers to fulfill those positions. And... and on the contrary, there are... there some 4 million developers in Europe. There are 5 million developers plus in India, and more coming in every year. And... and I think that opportunities are very local in nature historically, because of which, this problem was not solved. And in last few years, technology has evolved in a much, much faster way. 3 years ago, I saw GitLab, CPOE and a bunch of other companies who were really doing amazing stuff when it comes to remote work. I looked at their handbook and all the all the blog posts they wrote, and it was... it logically made sense to me.
Like, most of my life has been based on decisions which I took based on pure logic. Like, I went to college, I looked at the curriculum, it was not benefiting me. So, it wasn't an emotional decision that I'm going to do something (unclear) [14:00] because it was that... that okay, whatever Steve Jobs or these guys jobs, so you will also. This is how a lot of emails I get are on those lines. I think it’s the wrong way to think about it. I feel purely from a logic perspective, I thought remote work is the way to go. And I could see the path to that change happening, that transition period. The transition period was probably longer than... than what we have now. It's like what I was expecting to happen in... in, let's say, 3 to 5 years’ time happen in 3 to 5 months, which is pretty massive.
But I think remote work is something which is pretty amazing. All of those job positions which are not closed earlier now have the potential to get closed. And I think that is good for everybody. It is good for talent because they get access to those opportunities. It is good for companies because finally, they will have more people to... to do things. And... and the world only needs more developers with the world going remote. So, I think the next 2 to 3 years, I'm really, really excited about the growth in short term. And from a long-term perspective over the next couple of decades as well, the future of software development is pretty everything is... everything which hasn't been disrupted by tech will probably get disrupted by tech in next decade or so. So, yeah, I’m excited.
Pritish: Sure. So, an engineering course is 4 years, and your program is 3 months. So, how does all the 4 years come in that 3 months? What is the secret sauce there?
Ayush: No, I think again, like I would... I would have loved to take credit there. But I think it's... it's the wrong way to think about it. I think the value proposition is very different. You know, I do think that there are things which you can do in a much more efficient way than engineering colleges. But at Pesto, we haven't built anything yet to replace that. In future, maybe. What we do in those 3 months is that we take developers who have gone through that engineering and probably have basics laid, and they have done some really good work at Indian companies. We try to take that talent, we try to give that sort of last-mile sort of knowledge which... which was the need to sort of culturally align them with... with global standards or of good companies which are out there, and then we help them get jobs. So, I think 3 months is not going to be a replacement for your 4 years. I wish it was good. But, yeah, it's just different value proposition.
Pritish: I'm very intrigued to understand, how do you convince employers to employ people who graduate from your school and pay them industry salary, when they know that they can actually potentially hire somebody equally qualified at a lesser salary?
Ayush: That is actually not true. So, I'll explain how. So, I think... I think process involves certain stages. There is, there is discovery, there is sourcing, there is a sort of shortlisting by elimination, then there is interview process, and then there is cultural fitment, which... which a company goes through. I disagree that you can find the same or better talent of without otherwise they should not exist ideally. And... and I also agree that if companies want, they can potentially do that. It will just involve a lot of time and... and the efficiency is lower there. So, I think what we are trying to focus on is... is increasing the efficiency of that entire process. And I'll tell you the problem statement in a very, very simple way that, as companies go global with respect to time acquisition, the amount of applications you will receive on a particular job post, because a job post was earlier open to only people in Delhi. Now, it's open to people in Delhi, Bangalore, LA, Africa, maybe all over the world. When that happens, what is going to change is that the cost of interviewing is to get much more high. The amount of time you will need your engineering team to dedicate to hiring will be very tough because engineers don't like interviewing people day long. So, that is a big problem. So, what... what the change in recruitment universe which will come in will be that recruitment will have to evolve. People will look at pre-filtered candidates who are fit. And all the job which... which is done by a company in that recruitment process except cultural fitment test will have to be done by somebody else externally. And that is something which we are trying to sort of eliminate, automate, and into all of those things.
Pritish: What are your learnings from your micro VC fund?
Ayush: Micro... so, it's not my fund, by the way. But I feel it appears that it’s mine, but it's not mine. All the credit goes to Ritesh. It's all his angel investments which he took and he converted into a fund. He's just a very dear friend like a brother to me, and he is also very humble person and he’s awesome basically. So, he tries to give credit.
Pritish: For the listeners, who's Ritesh?
Ayush: So, Ritesh is the founder of Innov8. And he also invests in a lot of startups. So, yeah, so that out of the way, it's not my fund. But in the meantime, when I was sort of working out of Innov8 and then I started working with Ritesh and I moved into his house. It was a... it was a phenomenal experience. I think he was very kind to... I was just hungry to learn a lot more, and he was very kind to give me those opportunities. I think the experience of working with the portfolio, helping them out fundraise, helping them out with talent acquisition, etc., other things which... which really taught me a lot of things, it was... because my goal being at Innov8 in the coworking space was that I wanted to work with a lot more startups and help them. And I did that for more than a couple of years. And I did that selflessly. I used to work with most of them for free. And... and working with the fund was... was just my hack to get to work with more startups and help more startups. So, I think it was just a means to feed my passion and hunger. And... and it was pretty awesome. I think some of the really good friends which I have today are actually the portfolio of (unclear) [20:31].
Pritish: And now that you've seen so many startups grow, you have helped them, you’ve built your own very successful startup, what are the 3 elements do you see when you look at a business today?
Ayush: So, bunch of irregularity, let’s just clarify that. A, we are not successful yet. I think we haven't done 0.1% of what we want to. B, I'll share my views, but I would say that I have still a lot to learn. And my views will be strictly based on my experiences with Pesto rather than judging other... other companies. I think a few really good things which we learned in the journey was... was that building the culture is important. This is what I had heard and I... and I read almost all possible books I could on culture. And I read a lot of good things, right? But I think it's very hard to find material which... which actually teaches you real execution. And... and when you explore that being discovered that, then you realize, “Oh, this is what we were talking about when... when that book said X.” I think the culture of high performance and accountability is something which I've learned in the past that, no matter what you want to optimize for, building that culture of high performance and accountability and having the people in the team is extremely important. I've read a lot of places that, “People are the most important asset of the organization,” I believe it's strong. I feel.... I feel that people are the most important assets for an organization. So, making sure that you have the people is.... is one of the biggest learnings so far.
Then I learned that speed, identifying the markets, like identifying the niche market, which is niche enough so that it does not get attention of the other players in the market at that point of time is important. And as you're basically betting on that market to grow and become larger in size. So, I think identifying that when starting up is something very interesting which I had learning of that. Identifying that niche market, growing your startup with the growth of the market is a beautiful experience, a good way to build the startup. And I think apart from that, I would... if given a chance, what I would love to have at Pesto, I think... or things which we did, there are a lot of wrong things which we did. But one of the things which we did was... was customer obsession. I think, with respect to execution, there will always be gaps in terms of whenever you scale, you will always want to scale with quality, you will always want to serve all your customers well. But having that as a part of your DNA in which you are prioritizing people over journey, over destination, I think that in DNA is something which... which I agree for. I try to push it at Pesto. And I think I cherish that a lot, just focusing a lot on customers and making sure that you're obsessed with their experience.
Pritish: True. And you talked about culture, and your company has a 4 H and a D culture. There are 4 H's and a D in your culture. So, tell us about that. And what does that mean?
Ayush: I talked about that, but I'll also say that I would not encourage people to seek inspiration from this and start going after 4 H and D. Because it also might be one of our mistakes. But I'll tell you the good parts, the bad parts. 4 H and D, we decided that we used to filter people basis cultural aspects. And 4 H's are being happy, humble, honest, and hungry. And D is having the discipline to execute towards a particular goal. Sounds fancy, and I would have loved to say this without correcting myself, but I think I would not do justice to anyone who's listening to this. I think, along with that, it's your culture is basically a reflection of what you actually practice day in, day out and nothing that you talk about. When you talk about something it reflects into your practice. So, I think focusing on high performance and accountability, apart from the fancy parts, which is 4 H and D, is extremely important as well. And I think that has been a learning over the last couple of years that... that we have changed in that.
Pritish: So I'm assuming that there are a number of, and this is a great example, Where you have initially implemented something learned from it and refined it. And every time that principal that taught has actually become better. and one of the secret sauce for your success is that you have been very upfront in saying that we learned this and this was the part. So let's combine it and make it and go to the next level. So somebody let's say there is an IUD in a second, third tier city today, and thinking of starting a business.
What would be your framework for them?
Ayush: Interesting. So, as I said earlier, that I actually am not onboard with the whole hustle part. there is no, there is no,, shortcut, you will have to hustle in any journey which you be on, and, and you just kind of skip it, but you can make that hustle more efficient. And, and to make that hustle more efficient, I would actually very highly recommend people to learn from the mistakes of others.. And,, I've been very open on this podcast also about sharing the mistakes we have made Like it may sound a little less fancy, but correct. Unless I say that people won't learn from it,, the learnings is we have, and I'm sure that a lot of things, which we believe are the ways of doing things will turn out to be the wrong ways and future.
It's like, I keep doubting everything for people who are in tier two, three cities, I actually help two to three people time every weekend to just, help guide them. I interact with people who are thinking of doing an MBA. They dropped out for a couple of years or, or people like that who are having no idea what to do next.
And as much as they are trying to learn from me, I also got know you learned from them that what are the things which are most important? So the few bullet points, then if I have to share around how they can actually, sort of get started, be on a decent part, success depends on their, their hustle in execution.
I would say that point number one is that, absolutely nothing is impossible. Like, always like doubting yourself is correct, but, looking at. Those doubts in an objective is. Looking at those doubts as identifying the, when fixing it is. But having the confidence that you can actually do whatever you think of doing is extremely important.
people lack on lack the confidence I used to shake when I, to then conferences in daily and I just wanted the coordinator to myself and that happens, but having that con confidence is important the second part is that. making yourself aware. Like I have a, I have a thesis guy earlier.
People learn things from their guru. Like I had certain teachers in my hometown who used to teach me a lot of values in life. Like my English teacher, Maneesh and my computer teacher. We need servers there. both of them taught me English and computer science. But apart from that, they taught me many other things,.
there was no internet that now, if you look at a few of them earlier, there was absolutely no internet and knowledge transfer happened from a teacher to a student. And a lot of times that was that to a soundtrack. That is why certain professions were currently given. that has changed.
Access to information has changed. Now you have access to all the information on the internet. All you need is the guidance and sincerity. So my theory is that if you're from a small town, you need two things. One is confidence to having confidence in yourself that you can actually achieve the goals that you want to and to, having sincerity and hunger.
That's it? Believe me, it doesn't matter where you are. You have access to all the information in the world and thanks to geo. Now everybody has access to it., this, this show is not sponsored by geo by the way. Yes, it does not. But, everybody had access to internet. the third thing, if I would.
One to prioritize. If I can, is, is finding a mentor who has been there in that. that makes the process a lot more efficient and people who are listening from small towns, I they always thing that they're not in Delhi, so they can't find a mentor. I would say that make this assumption, but make this assumption after you send 500 emails and reach out to 5 million people.
If you get 500 nos then accepted, but if you haven't tried, then, then be aware of the assumptions you make because it's not true.
Pritish: that's a response, and a framework. One thing that I will add to that is when you send out those 500 emails that I haven't done it myself
The, you should not be disappointed at four 99 nos, you should be superbly excited that somebody one has said yes. Because that is your gift to success. So I completely agree with that and, and if I, if I got a yes, after, on the five, one years in other 500 minutes, I would actually not feel a thing about four 99 rejections.
Ayush: I would create a framework in my mind that okay. For everyone. Yes. I need 500 more people. So let's reach out to people and get four opportunities. And it's just a numbers game. It's, it's a very logical,. Failure is not emotional. It's just an outcome. And the minute you detach your emotions from a failure, you keep progressing in life. it's emotional as well, by the way. I'm sure we all will cry for, you need to think it's not emotional, but it's okay. If you, if you feel emotional, it's okay. You just don't have to stop.Okay.
Pritish: My last question,. And this is, I might've, for me, it's interesting. when you told your parents that you're going to Delhi,What was, what was their reaction?
Ayush: every, every aunt, every grandmother in the house and every. So I was,, being from a small town, if you are, if you are, accidentally the only son in the extended family, everybody by default thinks that they need to protect you a lot. An, I'm fortunate to have that love.
but at the same time, everybody tried to make me be in pharmacy. and it was a very tough decision to get out of there. Like it just. I try to explain them the things which I'm chasing him, I needed to expose myself to a larger world.So it was tough convincing them. but I somehow joined the college and my, my parents have been very supportive of things which I think of doing, most of the times I, as, as fortunate to get here. But. You can imagine that if, if it took so much of hard work to join a college, uh, what it would look like to leave it in six months and especially from a Veranesi or a Latino, I'm sure it's a, it's much more tougher.
A hundred percent. But for me, I just, I just thought. We should leave it and not tell anyone. And that was one less problem to have. Again, I don't think those that decision, but it was one less problem for me to have.
Pritish: So now a rapid fire, three questions. What, one word or one sentence? Easy ones. So the hardest thing about your job, a
Ayush: delegation.
Pritish: One book or blog that has transformed you personally and professionally
Ayush: Paulgraham.com.
Pritish: If not Pesto, then?,
Ayush: that is a very hard one. Something, something on the lines of making opportunities more universal in nature, getting those opportunities to the youth, which are there in different parts of the world. But they don't necessarily get exposed to bridging that deficit is something is, is the same mission I would want to associate myself with. It may happen in the form of a job board. It may happen in the form of a education company. It may happen in, in many different forms, but this is this is a problem, which I very, very emotionally and logically, reflect with like, or relate with. that is the same problem statement that would like to work on. Are you,
Pritish: It was having you on the show. Thank you for your time.
Ayush: It was good being here. It was fun. Chatting. Thanks. Thanks for hosting.
Pritish: And that has been our learning over the last, couple of years that, that we have changed in that. So I'm assuming that there are a number of, and this is a great example, Where you have initially implemented something learned from it and refined it. And every time that principal that taught has actually become better.
, And one of the secret sauce for your success is that you have been very upfront in saying that we learned this and this was the part. So let's combine it and make it and go to the next level. So somebody let's say there is an IUD in a second, third-tier city today and thinking of starting a business.
What would be your framework for them?
Ayush: Interesting. So, as I said earlier, that I actually am not on board with the whole hustle part. There is no, there is no, shortcut, you will have to hustle in any journey which you be on, and, and you just kind of skip it, but you can make that hustle more efficient. And, and to make that hustle more efficient, I would actually very highly recommend people to learn from the mistakes of others. And, I've been very open on this podcast also about sharing the mistakes we have made Like it may sound a little less fancy, but correct. Unless I say that people won't learn from it, the learnings are we have, and I'm sure that a lot of things, which we believe are the ways of doing things will turn out to be the wrong ways and future.
It's like, I keep doubting everything for people who are in tier two, three cities, I actually help two to three people time every weekend to just, help guide them. I interact with people who are thinking of doing an MBA. They dropped out for a couple of years or, or people like that who are having no idea what to do next.
And as much as they are trying to learn from me, I also got know you learned from them that what are the things which are most important? So the few bullet points, then if I have to share around how they can actually, sort of getting started, be on a decent part, success depends on their, their hustle in execution.
I would say that point number one is that absolutely nothing is impossible. Like, always like doubting yourself is correct, but, looking at. Those doubts in an objective are. Looking at those doubts as identifying the, when fixing it is. But having the confidence that you can actually do whatever you think of doing is extremely important.
People lack on lack the confidence I used to shake when I, to then conferences in daily and I just wanted the coordinator to myself, and that happens, but having that con confidence is important the second part is that.making yourself aware. Like I have a, I have a thesis guy earlier.
People learn things from their guru. Like I had certain teachers in my hometown who used to teach me a lot of values in life. Like my English teacher, Maneesh and my computer teacher. We need servers there both of them taught me English and computer science. But apart from that, they taught me many other things.
There was no internet that now, if you look at a few of them earlier, there was absolutely no internet and knowledge transfer happened from a teacher to a student. And a lot of times that was that to a soundtrack. That is why certain professions were currently given. That has changed.
Access to information has changed. Now you have access to all the information on the internet. All you need is guidance and sincerity. So my theory is that if you're from a small town, you need two things. One is confidence in having confidence in yourself that you can actually achieve the goals that you want to and to, having sincerity and hunger.
That's it? Believe me; it doesn't matter where you are. You have access to all the information in the world and thanks to geo. Now everybody has access to it., this, this show is not sponsored by geo by the way. Yes, it does not. But, everybody had access to the internet. The third thing, if I would.
One to prioritize. If I can, is finding a mentor who has been there in that makes the process a lot more efficient and people who are listening from small towns, they always think that they're not in Delhi, so they can't find a mentor. I would say that make this assumption, but make this assumption after you send 500 emails and reach out to 5 million people.
If you get 500 nos then accepted, but if you haven't tried, then, then be aware of the assumptions you make because it's not true.
Ayush: I would create a framework in my mind that okay. For everyone. Yes. I need 500 more people. So let's reach out to people and get four opportunities. And it's just a numbers game. It's, it's very logical. Failure is not emotional. It's just an outcome. And the minute you detach your emotions from failure, you keep progressing in life. It's emotional as well, by the way. I'm sure we all will cry for, you need to think it's not emotional, but it's okay. If you, if you feel emotional, it's okay. You just don't have to stop. Okay.
Pritish: My last question. And this is, I might've, for me, it's interesting. When did you tell your parents that you're going to Delhi? What was, what was their reaction?
Ayush: every, every aunt, every grandmother in the house and every. So I was, being from a small town, if you are, if you are, accidentally the only son in the extended family, everybody by default thinks that they need to protect you a lot. An, I'm fortunate to have that love.
But at the same time, everybody tried to make me be in pharmacy. And it was a very tough decision to get out of there. Like it just. I try to explain to them the things which I'm chasing him; I needed to expose myself to a larger world. So it was tough convincing them. But I somehow joined the college, and my parents have been very supportive of things which I think of doing, most of the times I, as, as fortunate to get here. But. You can imagine that if, if it took so much of hard work to join a college, uh, what it would look like to leave it in six months and especially from a Veranesi or a Latino, I'm sure it's a, it's much tougher.
A hundred per cent. But for me, I just, I just thought. We should leave it and not tell anyone. And that was one less problem to have. Again, I don't think those that decision, but it was one less problem for me to have.
Pritish: So now a rapid-fire, three questions. What, one word or one sentence? Easy ones. So the hardest thing about your job, a
Ayush: delegation.
Pritish: One book or blog that has transformed you personally and professionally
Ayush: Paulgraham.com.
Pritish: If not Pesto, then?
Ayush: that is a very hard one. Something on the lines of making opportunities more universal in nature, getting those opportunities to the youth, which are there in different parts of the world. But they don't necessarily get exposed to bridging that deficit is something is, is the same mission I would want to associate myself with. It may happen in the form of a job board. It may happen in the form of an education company. It may happen in, in many different forms, but this is a problem, which I am very, very emotionally and logically relate with. That is the same problem statement that would like to work on. Are you,
Pritish: it was fun having you on the show. Thank you for your time.
Ayush: it was good being here. It was fun chatting. Thanks. Thanks for hosting.