Season 1 | Episode 8

Chitra: Welcome to yet another amazing episode of The Tech Icon. Hi, my name is Chitra.

 

Aditya: Hello, my name is Aditya, and we're going to be your hosts for the show.

 

Chitra: Our guest today is Kishore Gopalakrishna, a technology entrepreneur and the co-creator of Apache Pinot. He is currently the CEO and co-founder of StarTree, a real-time enterprise-grade analytics engine powered by Pinot. The company has raised a total of $75 million in venture capital. Kishore loves solving hard problems, and he's authored numerous projects in distributed systems, including Apache Helix, Espresso, and Third Eye.

 

Kishore holds a bachelor's in electronics from the National Institute of Technology in India, and outside of work, he enjoys biking, cricket, and spending time with his family. He lives in Los Altos with his wife, Shilpa, who works as a senior director at Google, his 13-year-old [daughter], Sanvi, who's passionate about robotics, and his nine-year-old son, Saahas, who likes to play chess.

 

We are delighted to have him on the show. Kishore, you are a technology icon. Welcome.

 

Kishore: Thank you, Chitra.

 

Aditya: Welcome to The Tech Icon, a podcast that celebrates technology leaders.

 

Kishore: Thanks, Aditya. Very excited to be here and looking forward to the conversation.

 

Chitra: Awesome. So Kishore, while we focus on your journey, for the most part, let's take a moment to learn about your current venture. So what's your vision for StarTree?

 

Kishore: That's a great question. Our vision is really simple. It's to truly democratize real-time analytics and unlock the power of data for everyone. I like to stress on the word truly democratize, because a lot of folks talk about democratization of data, but only a few folks within the technology company actually leverage data for their day-to-day decisions. Our vision is to change that, such that every interaction that we have, every decision that we make, we are actually leveraging the power of data to improve that experience. So that's the whole vision of StarTree, and that's kind of why we started Apache Pinot as well, and StarTree is really a continuation of that vision to bring it to the entire world beyond LinkedIn.

 

Chitra: That's great. So true democratization it really is. You co-created Apache Pinot back at LinkedIn, the world's largest professional network, that averages more than 250K queries per second. That's huge. Now, how did the idea come about and what impact did it have?

 

Kishore: One of the things, if you go back to LinkedIn in 2010-2011, it was very different. It was really a resume site in a way. So you would just go to LinkedIn to change your profile when you changed companies. And that had to change. You might have used this — this is the 'who viewed my profile' application on LinkedIn, right? It simply shows like who are all the people that looked at your profile.

 

It was a very simple, cool idea, but it just blew up. And that kind of resulted in a lot of challenges on the back end side in terms of the technology, because there were hundreds of thousands of people looking at this dashboard. That's kind of what led to creation of Apache Pinot, because the existing tech couldn't really handle this workload.

 

Even now, when I actually started the company, I was not using this that way earlier. But now when I look at someone who has looked at the profile, I actually try to research more about their company. What do they do? What is their analytical stack? So it's actually a pretty big tool that we use in our sales and marketing as well. So there are a lot of these things that you can actually do on a day-to-day basis. And that's kind of what really motivated us to build something like Apache Pinot. This was one use case, but once we saw the success of that, it was apparent that every other application in LinkedIn needed something like this.

 

Chitra: That's amazing, and LinkedIn's scale, like you said, is massive. Now for this next section, let's take a walk down the memory lane to celebrate you, your journey, and really inspire the world. Adi, take it away.

 

Aditya: Yes. So the childhood experiences really shape one into their future self. With that being said, let's get to know a bit about your early years. Where did you grow up?

 

Kishore: In Bangalore.

 

Aditya: And what did your parents do?

 

Kishore: My dad is a doctor and my mom is a housewife.

 

Aditya: So how would you describe your childhood?

 

Kishore: It's a lot of fun. I was big time into sports. I wasn't too much excited about studies; I always wanted to play. That's kind of everything that I remember. And any hour of daylight that we got, because there was no extra light that you would get after sunset, every hour and every minute of the day time, I would find ways to play. So if I think about my childhood memories, that's the thing that comes to my mind. [I was] always finding ways to play some or the other game. Rain or shine, it didn't matter. If the grounds are not available or if there is not enough space to play cricket, you make up another game. Whatever is available, we kind of came up with our own sports and our own rules to always play.

 

Aditya: Yes, sounds really fun. What did you want to become growing up? Did you have a dream?

 

Kishore: Oh boy. Funny enough, I mean, again, this is not something that I remember, but my parents say that I always wanted to become a truck driver. I don't know why, but I think just the sheer size of the trucks definitely motivated me. But again, a lot of people talk about having dreams and other things, but I think I had a very simple one to become a truck driver.

 

Aditya: Did you have any role models?

 

Kishore: Not really. It's something that I was never saw someone and said like, oh, I want to become exactly like this person. I think my thing was I always respected a lot of really good people, but I would always figure out like one or two dimensions. It's not like a complete overall replica of that person. But there were definitely a lot of good role models, and especially in sports. All the sports people definitely inspire me a lot because of the hard work that they put in. So going all the way back from Sachin Tendulkar to all the other sports people, [and more] recently Nadal.

 

Aditya: And that hard work and perseverance, that kind of carries into work life as well, right?

 

Kishore: Absolutely.

 

Aditya: Very cool. Were there certain values that you all believed in as a family that you still hold dear?

 

Kishore: Yes, I think this value of figuring things out or solving problems. I think that's something that came right from the childhood because we were not allowed to complain about anything. It's like, if you complain about XYZ, the answer would be like, go figure it out. Why are you complaining and what's stopping you from figuring it out? So it's kind of annoying when you're a kid and no one is actually helping you.

 

Over a period of time, I realized that actually was a blessing in disguise, because in general, it helps a lot in your career later on, because there are not many people who are coming to help you solve your problem. But just having that mindset and the confidence that, hey, I figured out so many things that I didn't know the answer, and this is just another thing to figure out. So that is something that was there in my family, and I continue to embrace it and also enjoy it.

 

Aditya: Yes, that's a great quality to have. Problem solving, which you received in childhood, having to be independent, and now it's paying off, right?

 

Kishore: Yes, absolutely.

 

Aditya: That's really cool. Next, let's dive into your educational journey and get some advice for students. Which high school did you attend?

 

Kishore: I was in MES Kishore Kendra. This is in Malleshwaram in Bangalore, if anyone is from that place.

 

Aditya: Then you went to the National Institute of Technology in India for your bachelor's in electronics. How was that experience?

 

Kishore: Oh, that was really fun. I think that was my first time outside of house, outside of all the other comforts that you get at house. And then you get to see, meet all your friends, and then there are a lot of differences — you get to learn a lot. And again, one of my best four years of my life, I would say, were in NITK. We learned a lot.

 

I think I still remember the best thing that one of my professor basically mentioned there is always about thinking what is education and all these things. It's really about learning to learn. I think that's kind of the lesson that I came out with. It kind of motivates me to continue to keep learning throughout my life. And that's what really education is teaching you. It's not necessarily that, okay, I've learned electronics or electrical, and then that's the end of it. What you're really using the education is to get the ability to learn. That is important for the rest of your life.

 

Aditya: Yes, I think the learning to learn phrase is really strong, right? It's not just about, oh, I can memorize a world map. It's like, hey, these are some strategies which I can use to problem solve [that can] then help me in my future.

 

Kishore: Absolutely. Yes, it's very interesting, and it also simplifies the definition of education, right? Because a lot of times we get hung up on, hey, we are doing this, so what's the future? I'm studying XYZ. Today, you're studying computer science or you're doing mechanical. There are a lot of people in colleges who get stressed out because, hey, we are doing some specialization that really doesn't have a lot of jobs outside, or what is the future?

 

But instead of getting hung up on that, you just focus on like, I'm just learning to learn, and then tomorrow there might be something else that's needed. Today, the whole world is changing into AI. Now, you've got to learn that new thing. You cannot just live with what you have learned so far. It's a great concept. It relieves a lot of stress as well in terms of thinking too far in the future and worrying about like, what will happen if this whole world changes, and I'm studying XYZ.

 

Aditya: Exactly. I think that's a really strong perspective to have. You talked a little bit about how being at the National Institute of Technology was your first time away from home. Did that bring about any new challenges? And perhaps, did that work to your benefit in the future?

 

Kishore: Definitely a lot of challenges. I think it's almost like turning from an IC to a team model, right? Because until then, you're studying for your exams, and all those things are really based on how much effort you put in. There's no value for the teamwork or working with others. I think once you get into the college, and especially if you're in the hostel, away from home, then a lot of things are about influencing others and also accommodating, compromising.

 

There are so many different values that it actually teaches you. And that's the thing that helps you later on in your career. That's a big change. A lot of people, when they finish their education and get into their career, it's a big change, because it's no longer individual contribution that matters. You have to work with everyone else in there. That's one of the challenges we all face. I was very happy that I faced that in college and it was really nice to crack that. You see the benefits of that. You want to go fast, you go alone. But if you want to go far, you want a lot more people to go with you. The team is super important later on.

 

Aditya: Yes, that is very true. Now, would you call yourself a good student?

 

Kishore: I don't want to lie in this. No, I am not, unfortunately. I don't know if I should be telling this to you. I think it is just probably to do something about education back in India. There was not too much of scope for questioning in India. This is the syllabus, stay within that. I think that's kind of something that frustrated me internally, because I was always about figuring things out, asking more and more questions. As a child, you are always asking why. And then suddenly, the society stops you from asking why. So internally, I always had that fight. Why am I not supposed to ask why? And unfortunately, the education in India was very different at that time. It's improved a lot, but that's kind of what made me kind of a bad student as well, because I didn't really like sticking to the syllabus.

 

Aditya: Yes, that's very interesting. Cool. What do you call yourself — an introvert or an extrovert?

 

Kishore: Definitely an introvert.

 

Aditya: Okay. And finally, what is your advice to students and parents struggling with the pressure of school?

 

Kishore: Oh, I don't want to downplay that there is no stress. I do want to call out that a lot of times, this is really something that people have in their mind, and then they artificially think of it as a lot of stress. I think, for me, the best mantra is always to take the next best action. I think stress is generally a result of inaction, and if you take any action, you are always making progress towards overcoming that stress. If I have to give an advice, it would be just take the next best action.

 

Aditya: So more like don't think too much about the future, just where you are right now, forward steps.

 

Kishore: Exactly. Take an action, right? I mean, because you cannot just solve a problem by thinking about it. You need to act on something. It's fine if the action that you're taking is wrong, but at least you took an action, you learned something from that. You have a much better idea of doing something else.

 

If you're constantly getting into a loop and just stuck in this thinking about the problem, thinking about all the symptoms of that problem or all the other effects that happen, then you're not making any progress. Often it's just taking that one step. You can call it inertia, you can call it a lot of different terms, but it's really about taking that next simple action. And it may not be the final solution, but at least you're one step closer to that solution.

 

Aditya: Yes, that is amazing advice. All right, now I'll pass it over to my co-host to cover the next segment — Work and Entrepreneurship.

 

Chitra: Thanks, Aditya. Kishore, I loved what you said about learning to learn, going far versus going fast, and really the importance of teamwork. Before I dive into entrepreneurship, I have a quick follow up on your hobbies. You said, rain or shine, you were always playing, cricket it was, for most part, you idolized Sachin Tendulkar. So would you call yourself a batsman, a bowler, or an all-rounder?

 

Kishore: I was a bowler. I used to play a lot of cricket even in here. There was a cricket league that happens. I was a bowler, and then I had a surgery. Unfortunately, I bowled a lot, and then I had a shoulder surgery, so then I had to switch to being a batsman again. I wanted to play cricket so badly, so I thought I will switch to being a batsman. So I do both, but mostly consider myself as a bowler.

 

Chitra: What kind of a bowler were you? Would you call yourself a spin bowler?

 

Kishore: I was a medium pace, I was a swing bowler. I had a very natural out swing without having to try too much. I have a very interesting bowling motion, and a lot of people would actually get confused with my bowling action, and they would get surprised.

 

Chitra: Very interesting. Okay, let's segue into work in entrepreneurship next. So what was your first job out of college?

 

Kishore: This was at Oracle, just out of college.

 

Chitra: Got it. And then you spent nearly a decade at LinkedIn before venturing out on your own. Now, at what point did you decide to make that switch?

 

Kishore: I always look at my life in decades. I think one of the things that I looked at in 2009 before I joined LinkedIn was, I used to see all these distributed systems, and especially I got exposed to Hadoop and MapReduce and all these technologies. What I really wanted to do was learn how to build these systems from scratch. You are always a user of these systems [so] building these things from scratch always excited me and also intrigued me, like, what does it take to actually build something from scratch? And that was what I spent for the entire decade in LinkedIn, building a lot of these distributed systems.

 

Then I think for me, the next decade was actually taking an idea to a business. When I left LinkedIn, I was not really looking to start a company around Apache Pinot or what we are actually doing. For me, it was really about, if you have an idea, what does it take to actually turn that into a concrete product and have a business around that?

 

Chitra: That's really interesting. So a lot of people would actually leave once their idea is more baked, and once they have some sort of an MVP or some interest from customers, right? But in your case, it was quite the opposite, where you thought, let me go figure and really decide what I want to do and then you ventured into it. Is that about fair?

 

Kishore: That's right. Yes, again, there are so many different ways to start a company, so many different ways to get here. But I wanted to give my 100 percent. And generally, when you are in a company, it's very hard to give that 100 percent to an idea. I think for me, just getting out and then focusing on that was really important than just continuing to be at LinkedIn and then trying to do this on the side. You're not really doing justice.

 

Chitra: And that takes a lot of courage, a lot more courage, I would say. So after LinkedIn, did you take some time off where you were going over these ideas in your head, brainstorming, meeting folks, whether they were friends or investors or VCs? What did that transition look like?

 

Kishore: Yes, I was doing all those things, but it was always important for me to understand the outside world as well because one of my feeling was that I was in Oracle, then Yahoo, and then LinkedIn, and all these are really, really big, massive companies. My worry was that I was too far detached from the reality of what it takes to do a startup. So I actually joined another startup in between to learn what it takes. That was something that I wanted to learn and then make sure that I'm actually not making all the mistakes or even learning the best things that are actually possible. So I joined a startup along with that. I was doing all the things that you mentioned in terms of talking to customers, talking to different investors, learning about what's happening in the world, and what are all the different things that we can do.

 

Chitra: Got it. And what did the initial years of your entrepreneurial journey look like?

 

Kishore: The initial part was the hardest because it's a pretty big step function, because you have not done this before. For me, the hardest thing was really about putting together the team. It's one thing to hire folks when you're working at LinkedIn, because it has the brand, it has the recognition, it has everything that you need. But when you're starting a company, you need really, really strong people with the same passion and the drive that you have. And I think that was the hardest part. I've been very fortunate to have really strong early founding engineers who had the same drive and passion for the technology and the problem that we were actually solving. So that was the biggest one.

 

But then there were also a lot of different challenges that I never anticipated when I started. Immigration was a big challenge. I think there were a lot of folks with H-1B and the transfers were all not happening.

 

And then the other challenge that I had or never anticipated was as soon as I started the company, it was COVID. So I had no idea on how to build a company. First of all, I didn't have an idea of how to build a company. And on top of that, starting a company and then COVID happening and then the entire market crashing, and then you're not allowed to meet the team, you cannot meet the customers. It was like, where do we go from here kind of a situation. So I think those were all a lot of unexpected things that happened. Overcoming those things, again, having a strong team to help us there was crucial.

 

Chitra: Yes, that was clearly a lot to deal with. Were you on a H-1B visa, Kishore, when you started StarTree?

 

Kishore: No, I was not. I did get my Green Card. But that was definitely one of the things that held me back from starting a company for a long time. Getting the Green Card was an important one. So I think I probably got it a couple of years before I started.

 

Chitra: That's such a real challenge. I recently learned that the founder of Perplexity, which is an upcoming AI company, is still on H-1B.

 

Kishore: That's true, that's true. I mean, the good thing is I think that it's really nice to see examples like that, because if I had seen someone who had done this, then it would have given us a little bit more courage to actually do it. But I think recently I have seen a lot of my friends as well, and other co-founders that I know of, they have actually started a company on H-1B. So it's becoming easier and easier, so which is actually a really good sign, because I think that's the last thing that should be stopping someone from starting a company.

 

Chitra: For sure. Talk to us a little bit about your very first customer and your very first investor. How did that happen? Any interesting stories there?

 

Kishore: The first customer is always special. I think the biggest thing for us was that we were an open source company. So we had an open source project, Apache Pinot. And this customer was actually using the product, the open source project. But there was this other services company that was actually offering services to them, providing support and other things. So it was really hard for us to get involved in that relationship.

 

For me, one of the first things that hit me hard was like, hey, just building a good product is not enough. When you're building a business, you've got to be able to solve all these other problems as well. So product is just part of the solution. I think this is where the first investor also came into picture. So they helped me a lot figure this out in terms of how do you get in touch with the person who is actually using the product. But at the same time, you don't get into trouble with the people that are actually providing the services or the support model. So I think a lot of these were challenging.

 

It's something that you don't anticipate when you start the company, because you think you'd build a product. You get someone to like it, and then they just pay for it. So in a way, it's good that you don't think about all these things, because if you think about all these things, I think no one will start the company. So it's okay to be naïve, and it kind of turns out a blessing in disguise, because otherwise you end up thinking too much. And again, it's not an impossible problem to solve, but it's something that is also needed along with building a product.

 

Chitra: That's great. Are you able to share the name of that customer and your first investor who helped you navigate the situation?

 

Kishore: CRV was the first investor, and then 7-Eleven was the first customer.

 

Chitra: Oh, nice. Cool. You also talked about transitioning from bigger companies like Oracle and LinkedIn to startups, right? And there's a whole zero to one involved there like you talked about. Now, do you have tips for people who are transitioning from bigger companies to startups?

 

Kishore: One thing that I realized was, even though I was in bigger companies, I always operated in some set of values and principles that actually matter a lot in startups. I think it's really the problem-solving mindset. That's super important because startups are a place where you will come up with problems that you had never thought about. And again, you wouldn't have thought about it just yesterday, and then you wake up the next day, there is a problem. For me, I think it's more about the mindset that you are operating with, whether it's small company or big company. And what is your reaction to that when you see a problem?

 

The only tip that I would give is like, if you are confident in terms of your value that you are bringing to the table, and you have the grit and perseverance to actually face these problems and ask for help. I think that's another thing that I would definitely say, which I was very, very surprised by. I'm also very fortunate to be in the Bay Area, where you get a lot of help. And I think I was always hesitant to ask for help. I always thought that it was a sign of weakness when you ask for help. I think that's something that I learned, and the amount of help that you get in the Bay Area is just amazing. So I think that's another one. Just ask for help. I think a lot of people helped me when I got started, so I would like to pay it forward. And I think that's the nice culture that we see in the Silicon Valley, and also the rest of the world.

 

Chitra: Yes, that's really good advice. And Kishore, what you said about asking for help [in how] it's still perceived as a weakness, but it's not a weakness so putting that out there is very important.

 

Kishore: Yes, just some of these preconceived notions that we have, based on whatever upbringing we have, or based on whatever we see in the society, it's totally fine to ask for help.

 

Chitra: Yes, that is so true. It's like really whatever it takes, it is. And on that note, let's talk about some fun stuff. I will hand it back to Aditya.

 

Aditya: Yes, let us talk about some fun stuff indeed. What are your hobbies?

 

Kishore: It keeps evolving, I mean, I try to keep doing newer and newer things. So obviously, cricket was until 2015. I used to play a lot of cricket. And after that, I got into biking. I also play chess with my son, and then robotics with my daughter. So that's another thing that I really enjoy, trying to find common connections with [my children]. Whatever they like, I try to make that my hobby as well. And now, I'm trying to get back into table tennis, I just got a ping pong table for my son at home. That's my new hobby as well. Also, trying to learn some golf.

 

Aditya: Yes, that's very cool. I guess we have a connecting hobby in table tennis.

 

Kishore: I see that board behind you. It looks like you are a champion. I think once my son gets better, I will definitely ask him to meet you and get some tips from you.

 

Aditya: Yes, sounds good. Is there anything that keeps you up at night?

 

Kishore: It's a good question. I think not really. I think for me, it's just that trust that I have, that, okay, we will figure out. I mean, yes, there are problems, but it's just that trust that you have the team that will actually help you figure that out. That's a great place to be in, and I've been very fortunate to have a fantastic team at StarTree that can allow me to sleep peacefully at night.

 

Aditya: So what do you think are some of the necessities to have this trust that everything will work out in the end?

 

Kishore: It's not magic. I mean, obviously, you have to work very, very hard to get to that state. It again comes down to how hard you work when you're hiring a person. Are you willing to just hire the first person that wants to join the company? Or are you setting a very, very high bar, and then you're willing to wait for that right person? And that was one of the challenges that I had as well very early on. For almost six to seven months, we couldn't hire anyone apart from the initial set of people that we had. You have to work really hard to learn a lot of skills at the same time, and get the best people out there.

 

Aditya: Yes, it's all about the people around you. What do you like to share something that very few people know about?

 

Kishore: I think I generally don't come across as highly emotional, but I am emotional, I cry in movies. So I can get pretty emotional as well, but something that most people don't think of it that way, because you also have this other view that any problem can actually be solved. You have this side effect of people thinking that, okay, nothing will affect you. That's the one thing that I think most people don't know about me.

 

Aditya: Yes. Okay. What's your favorite part about being a robotics dad to your daughter and a chess dad to your son?

 

Kishore: Oh, I like both of them. They both are very different. I think that's one thing that I really enjoy, to see that they both have different strengths. And I think for me also, it has been a great learning, because I kind of relate more to my son naturally based on the qualities. But then I see the qualities in my daughter, and then I start appreciating that a lot more as well, because it's something that I miss. It's amazing to see her abilities in terms of how much effort she's willing to put into something, even if it's not natural to her, and then how she can actually change.

 

So for example, in robotics, she's actually the builder of the robot as well as the driver. But then driving robot was not natural for my daughter. And she was not really great at driving. We still have videos that we go and look at. But now she is like completely transformed. She's one of the best drivers out there. She had to go through a lot of embarrassment there because she wouldn't even know how to make the robot move left or right. But then she didn't give up. She had that grit to actually put in the effort to become the best driver. So I'm very happy about that.

 

My son, on the other hand, is natural in a lot of different things, and he can focus a lot very quickly, just nonstop. No one needs to tell him anything. He likes ping pong, and now he's playing every day, every hour, every minute. So he's very different in his own. Once he loves something, he's like, don't disturb me, just leave me alone. I just want to continue. Very different, but I enjoy both the qualities.

 

Aditya: Yes, that's very special. And I feel like that thing you talked about with your son, he just like hyper focuses. And if you think about chess, that's like perfect, right?

 

Kishore: Yes, yes, absolutely. Again, he can play chess for hours, which I'm actually very surprised at, given his age, and he's able to do that.

 

Aditya: It's cool that you're able to carve out time for your kids' activities while doing your CEO job. Any tips for other CEO dads and moms out there?

 

Kishore: I think you can look at it in two ways. It's like, hey, what could you have done instead of playing with your kids? But to me, it's actually a break from the work, so you're not thinking about it all the time. At the same time, it's very hard to get back this time, especially when they're at this age. And even if you have time later on, they probably don't want to play with you. But at least now, I can; the quality time that we spend, whether it is an hour or two, is very rewarding. It's also gets me different perspectives, and I get to learn a lot from them.

 

Aditya: Yes, that's really great. Seems like both you and your wife have pretty demanding careers. What does that work-life balance look like for you?

 

Kishore: I'm very fortunate, my wife is very understanding. In fact, she was the one who pushed me a lot to actually start, because I was also contemplating a lot whether I should start the company or not, because it's a big decision, and she's been very, very supportive. So I think it's really about understanding each other, figuring out when who needs help. I think that's kind of what matters.

 

Aditya: Thank you for sharing your personal side. It clearly takes a lot on the part of the family. We're now nearing the end of this fabulous episode of The Tech Icon, and we would love to get your final thoughts in this final segment. So back at you, co-host.

 

Chitra: Awesome. Let's end on a note of celebration. Now, Kishore, startups are hard and journeys are long. Do you ever take a moment to pause, reflect, and perhaps even celebrate? And if so, how do you like to celebrate your wins?

 

Kishore: With the team, always love to just do any activity. Again, we don't think too much. I mean, even if we're just in the office and we get to celebrate a customer signing a deal, we just go out, take some pictures, and then even if it is a simple coffee. I'm not big into like, okay, let's plan how to celebrate this. I think it's in the moment, you live that moment.

 

Chitra: That's great. So really living in the moment, creating memories, and going back to them.

 

Kishore: Yes, you summarized it very well. Yes, absolutely.

 

Chitra: Awesome. So finally, what would you say to someone who wants to become like you?

 

Kishore: I don't really believe in role models myself, so I don't want anyone to think about becoming like me. But I think the same thing applies. It's really just try to be the best that you can at the moment and then try to keep improving every day. I think there is so much to learn, there is so much joy in learning. Once you get used to that, all learning can actually be fun, it keeps making you better and better in whatever dimension that you choose to learn.

 

Chitra: Very good. So keep learning it is. And on that note, thank you very much for joining us and really inspiring students and entrepreneurs across the globe. We wish you the best.

 

Kishore: Thank you so much for having me here. It was a really pleasure talking to both of you. And Aditya, I will definitely sign up to play ping pong with you.

 

Aditya: Yes, I would love to.Thank you for your time.And I think, yes, we got some really nice insights.