The Exchanges

Q Got it. And um, uh, how, how did you figure out that this is the right problem to solve when you have since launched in India instead of US? Uh, uh, this is the right market. Uh, India is the right market for sure to begin with.

A You know, if you look at, uh, what the, uh, pandemic did, it was, it rendered a billion people unemployed. And I think, uh, given India's size, the largest percentage of the unemployed people happen to be in India. Uh, probably like two to three hundred million. And, uh, it made sense that, you know, the problem is more acute over there. Luckily for us in the United States, um, the government came in with a massive stimulus package. So the unemployed people are also living on government, uh, you know, uh, provided aid. Uh, so the, the, the pandemic hasn't hit People as badly over here as it has people in India. Uh, so it just made sense that, uh, and you know, India is also a very interesting market because it has more smartphones. It has, uh, you know, than the entire U S population. So, you know, the best bang for your buck to launch something of this sort is really India.

AI assessment note: “it made sense that, you know, the problem is more acute over there.”

Q And, uh, Sabir, if you have to go back in time, right, what are your biggest five key learnings that you have to summarize for entrepreneurs who are listening to our podcast from your hot meal journey and post hot meal journey?

A Okay, so number one is very important is, uh, find out what problem you're solving. If you don't have a problem, uh, then you don't have a company. Make sure that you do enough tests and you are in instinctively know that the problem you are solving is a large enough problem for a lot of people. It's not a local problem, localized one company, two company problem, or one person, two person problem. It's a problem that can make a difference to a billion people or so, or at least tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of people. Three, very, very important. Make sure you find the right team to work with. You know, you, you have to have a team of individuals who believe in what they're doing. That is more important rather than a team of individuals who join you because they want to get rich. You know, that, that would, that's a recipe for disaster. Uh, and what I have seen is great entrepreneurs have a long-term vision. And they are patient. They, they are not there to make a quick, uh, you know, quick dollar, uh, tomorrow or day after, or, you know, quickly. I mean, a great example is Jeff Bezos, you know, for 17 years, he kept, uh, you know, uh, Amazon unprofitable, but had a vision that lets, the harder the problem, the better off we are. You know, if it needs building massive warehouses for distribution, let's do it. You know, let's solve the problem because we're not s…

AI assessment note: “number one is very important is, uh, find out what problem you're solving.”

Q biggest contributor to hotmail success along with the innovation that you build was, you know, the timing, uh, being at the right place at the right time with, with a cutting edge technology for that time. Uh, right. Uh, how do entrepreneurs, uh, get, get a sense of timing in their life? Because, uh, sometimes they're ahead, sometimes they are behind, right? Just the right timing in the right market.

A Um, so that's a very difficult question, obviously, because, um, it is a combination of, uh, you know, where the technology is, how much it has evolved, uh, and a little bit of, uh, you know, gut instinct about what the future can be, uh, coupled with, you know, uh, luck, plain old luck. Uh, you know, I've seen so many companies that were kind of ahead of their time. And five years later, or 10 years later, you know, uh, not those companies, but other companies that were doing exactly the same thing, just because bandwidth became more available, uh, you know, just blossomed and became massive companies that are in the billions of dollars. And sometimes it's even the market has to mature, uh, you know, Uh, for example, I would not have predicted the growth of Flipkart and Amazon in India because like every other naysayer, uh, you know, I also felt that, uh, the last mile delivery problem was a very difficult one in India where, you know, you could not trust people with packages and, you know, those things could get lost. But, uh, look how Flipkart and Amazon have solved that problem. And, uh, you know, gone on to create a multi-billion dollar companies in India. So I think timing, uh, the state of, uh, infrastructure, uh, internet bandwidth, all these, you know, play a role in, in, in, uh, determining the success of a startup.

AI assessment note: “it is a combination of... where the technology is... gut instinct... coupled with... luck”

Q As an entrepreneur, you would have also made some mistakes, right? During hotmail and post hotmail. If you could just win this, what are some of the mistakes, right, which could help other entrepreneurs?

A You see, everybody, every entrepreneur makes different mistakes. You know, they're not all the same. For me, the mistakes were I, I, you know, I didn't find the right people to work with. That was my number one mistake. I'm too trusting. I think everybody has the same reason for being with you. That anybody else, uh, you know, that you have that is to improve the, you know, lives of a lot of other people. And then you figure out how to make money later on. Uh, so that was one huge mistake. Second is, uh, you know, test an idea out quickly to see if it will succeed or not. And you've got to keep making changes. Don't be wedded to one way of doing things. You know, you're going to keep making modifications as you go because you're trying to, uh, strike oil, but you don't know where oil is. So if you're digging in one row and you don't find oil, it doesn't matter. Try something else. You know, I think that ability to be flexible, which is there in startups, uh, Is the reason why startups succeed and always be listening, you know, don't just be wedded to your way of doing things. I think the greatest experience is that startup entrepreneurs have to be great listeners, you know, rather than finding a market for a solution, they have to go and ask the market and find a solution for the market.

AI assessment note: “For me, the mistakes were I, I, you know, I didn't find the right people”

Q You had a massive, massive success at that point in time. And, and, Since then, has it been a pressure for you of external expectations or even internal expectations to create that kind of an outcome since Hotmail?

A So I don't look at, uh, um, my life as like pressure, but I love the journey of the first, uh, you know, it was a Cinderella story, the whole Hotmail journey. And so now it's for me, it's the journey, uh, that is more important than the outcome, you know? Uh, so I, I am still looking for, you know, and, and part of the showreel experience has been, I'm kind of in a way living that same journey again, you know, in the very early phases. And that's what is, is interesting. It's not so much the outcome that I'm worried about. Whatever the outcome may be, uh, but the journey is very, very important and makes, uh, you know, uh, is very interesting to me.

AI assessment note: “I don't look at, uh, um, my life as like pressure”

Q And Sabhi, how has your journey been, you know, uh, in the, in the last, uh, uh, two and a half decades post the acquisition of Hotmail?

A Uh, it's been, um, interesting ups and downs. I've, uh, you know, tried my hand at a few things. I've invested in a number of companies. I've seen some, you know, companies do very well. Uh, and what fascinates me is that, uh, the beauty of the internet is it's like a moving train. Uh, you know, you can get on any time and, you know, no, of course, uh, when you want to get on to this moving train again, You have to be aware of what the state of art at that point in time is. And, uh, that's what I found with, uh, uh, you know, with, of course, Hotmail and now Showreel. At the end of the day, you know, you've got to solve some problem. And, uh, first, the problem that we solved with, uh, Hotmail was ubiquitous access, uh, You know, uh, to your personal email. Uh, and with showreel, you know, what I'm really saying is video is going to be the future of communication and use of video for more socially, uh, you know, useful, I should say purposes, uh, rather than use of video for entertainment, which itself is a whole category, but that's been very well taken care of. The YouTubes and, uh, uh, TikToks of the world.

AI assessment note: “it's been, um, interesting ups and downs. I've, uh, you know, tried my hand”

Q one shot, right? They can take one bet and coming back to the question of, you know, timing and being in the right market, but companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, you know, they can take multiple bets. So for example, uh, you know, they do multiple acquisitions and few of Which work out, right? So how can entrepreneur become better at, you know, choosing the right bet to take?

A It's, like I said, it's, um, something inside of you, uh, has to click and you have to see a vision, you know. I mean, the greatest companies are not the ones that kind of Follow somebody else. Oh, it's been done in the US before. Well, let's just do it over here. You know, those are like copycat models. The greatest companies are the ones that, I don't know, come from within, from your, in, from your core, from your subconscious self, where you think you believe that, you know, this is where the world is headed and you can predict it, uh, to go there even before it gets there. I mean, example is Tesla. You know, he saw a market. I mean, every, can you imagine if somebody, uh, came out and said, you know, that, uh, I'm going to change the way we drive cars, a completely new car, and there will be these electric charging stations. And you're like, there's so much infrastructure already in place. You know, you, you think that there was, that it, uh, we will not kind of, it has no chance to succeed. But, uh, and you know, he spent fifty million dollars and didn't have a car. Doesn't matter. He kept going, you know. So, uh, the greatest companies come from, like, at least one person having a phenomenal vision and believing in it.

AI assessment note: “something inside of you, uh, has to click and you have to see a vision”