IIT Bombay Valedictory Function Talk

I was invited by IIT Bombay to give a Valedictory talk to the graduating batch of 2024. Here is a lightly edited version of what I spoke.

As 50-somethings, we are never short of handing out advice! The night before I was dropping my son for his undergrad at Columbia Engineering in NY last August, I sat him down in our hotel room and said, “Abhishek, I have made a list of 75 points to talk to you.” His reply: “Papa, you have 10 minutes. Cover whatever want in this time.”

You are a more captive audience than my son was! I will try and keep it useful and short. 4 decision stories, and some short takes. It is perhaps advice which I would give to my 20-something self.

I will start by focusing on life’s big decisions that you will be making in the coming years. Decisions which are consequential and irreversible. The other 3 quadrants don’t matter as much. And I will take you through a few stories from my life.

Decision 1: What do you do next? Job, further education, a career in research and deep tech, or startup.

As I was finishing my undergrad in EE at IIT in 1988, I was clear about three things: do my MS in the US and finish it as quickly as possible: work in the US for 2 years, return to India to become an entrepreneur.

The first 2 came from my father because that’s what he had done in the mid-60s.

And the entrepreneur decision was because I had seen my father as an entrepreneur. He had some ups and many downs as an entrepreneur. Eventually, it was a life of his making. I was clear that I wanted to do something on my own.

Which is exactly what I did. MS from Columbia engineering in 9 months, and then work at NYNEX for 2 years (it took me 4 months of searching to get a job – and I accepted the offer without even listening to the salary). I then returned to India in May 1992 on schedule to become an entrepreneur.

Whatever path you take, try and map out the next few years. If you were older, I would have said write your obituary and reverse-engineer life. (You could still do the same!)

It’s a world that is seeing exponential change across many fields – spend some time imagining the future, because that’s the world you are preparing for, researching for, and creating for. From AI to biotech, from robotics to quantum computing, from new materials to space exploration – it is humanity’s best time!

Explore and experiment, do things you haven’t done. Be open to every opportunity and take up the hardest tasks. Embrace the growth mindset, and stay away from the fixed mindset.

When working at NYNEX, I got opportunities to get out of a cubicle writing code to do customer meetings, speak to potential partners, and attend conferences – that’s what helped open me and my mind.

Don’t go too narrow and deep too quickly. Even if in research, go interdisciplinary – that’s where the best ideas come from. If working, don’t just code or sit behind a desk – go out, meet customers, and understand their problems that you can solve. Do things which get you out of your comfort zone.

No matter what path you choose, continue to be a student always… reinvent, re-innovate and stay current with changing times.

Decision 2: Which country/city do you make home?

Most of you will have two country choices: US or India. And these are the best choices. The US still remains the best country in terms of technological innovation, and India is where the best future growth opportunities are.

I made the decision to come back. The first few years were a struggle as an entrepreneur because I kept failing at everything I tried. But I did not give up, and did not go back to the US. India was home. Still is. And always will be.

In the country you choose, pick the big cities. That’s where the greatest opportunities are. Even if you don’t have an initial choice, pick either of the US coasts or the top 5-6 Indian cities. The flow of ideas, the connections and networking, the customers – all are in the big cities.

If you have a choice, make India your home. An India of the current size is going to get created in the next 7 years – there will be no shortage of opportunities.

India will emerge as a big market for products and a centre for research. We now have national missions, and research talent can help fuel the much needed deep-tech growth.

Decision 3: To be an entrepreneur or not

Some of you will want to do a startup at some point of time. And there is no right or wrong time. Don’t do a startup because others are doing it or you have some cool tech. Fall in love with is the problem, not the solution.

Focus on what problem / customer pain points you are going to solve. That is the only criteria which should guide the startup decision. At times you will be right, most often you will be wrong. And pick big problems – the probability of any startup failing is high, so might as well aim big!

After multiple failures, I started IndiaWorld in early 1995 – just when the Internet was gaining prominence in the US. It was even before commercial Internet was launched in India. I had a sense that this was a disruptive opportunity, where the old ways would give way to new, a time when industries would be reset.

The problem I focused on came from my lived experiences in the US: how to get information on Indian to Indians (NRIs) globally. News, cricket scores, stock quotes, recipes, stories, Laxman cartoons, Amar Chitra Katha comics, and more.

I was the first to launch an India portal, stayed the course, and got a $100+ million exit after 5 years in 1999.

But I have also failed 30+ times! When failures happen, remember that it’s the ideas which have failed, not you. Let no failure keep you down, and let no success take you to the clouds. They are two sides of the same coin.

My book, “Startup to Proficorn”, has my experiences as an entrepreneur in building 2 proficorns – IndiaWorld and my current company, Netcore. Both proficorns – bootstrapped, profitable, and scaled.

Even if you don’t become an entrepreneur, make sure you bring the entrepreneurial mindset to whatever it is that you do – work or research. Solve problems, find the blue ocean (the uncontested marketspaces) in the red ocean of competition, learn to work not with a map (where you are handed turn-by-turn directions) but with a compass (where you know the general direction and have to chart your own course), and conquer the fear of failure.

Decision 4: Family

On the last day of school, our Vice Principal called some of us to give advice. We were 15-year-olds then in an all-boys school). One of the things he said: “When it comes to deciding who to marry, don’t just go by first impressions or outer beauty. Think of the person you will marry as the mother of your children.”

It may seem a bit out-of-place in today’s world, but it is good advice to keep in mind.

I have been married to Bhavana for the past 30+ years, and we have worked together for most of this period. And we are two very different people.

Ours was an arranged marriage. I half-jokingly told her that I said Yes to her because (a) I could not say No (b) I liked her Mom very much and figured that if the Mom is so nice, the daughter should work out fine!

Well – please remember this was the early 1990s.

But on a more serious note, think of marriage as a consequential and irreversible decision – and then make your choice.

Post-marriage there will likely be kids, and the push-pull of work and family. How do you think of work and life not as a trade-off but as work-life integration? I will read out a passage from my book to illustrate this point.

Finally, some short takes.

In a world awash with interruptions, create contiguous time for yourself daily. Me-time to reflect, and perhaps do mind-wandering. Time away from devices. Time where you can be with yourself, think on today gone by and the tomorrow yet to come, time to connect the dots and craft the bigger picture.

Do deep-reading and thinking, not just skimming, scanning, and scrolling. I buy a lot of books; for just Rs 700 you get a person’s lifetime of wisdom. The harder part is for us to invest the time and understanding the author’s world. This is where I get my best ideas and connections from.

Write. Not for the world and vanity metrics, but for yourself. This is what will create the ideas flywheel for you – read-think-write. Write long-form, not short made-for-X/FB/Insta/Linkedin posts which are for others. I write daily on my blog at rajeshjain.com. I have been blogging since 2000, except for the time I spent working on the periphery of politics from 2012-2019. I write for myself. No worries about likes or comments. This daily discipline is how I get my best ideas.

And finally, don’t wait too long to give back. You may not realise it right now, but these years you have spent in IIT will be the ones which you will always remember. More than the classes and what you learnt, you will always remember the friends, those evenings in the hostel playing, the dinners and weekends out, the carefree years, the “cack” sessions till early morning. These are the years you really grew up. The memories you take away will stay with you for life. So, don’t do what I did. I waited too long to give back. IIT has made you.

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It’s a wonderful world out there, where innovation and new technologies are resetting industries. There will be many ups and downs in your journey, there will be mountains beyond mountains. In life’s journey, through happy times and sad ones, never forget Kareena Kapoor’s line in Jab We Met, “I am my favourite.”

Thanks, and All the Best.