Meet Gagan Biyani (CEO of Maven, co-founder of Udemy)

About Gagan:Gagan Biyani is the co-founder and CEO of Maven, and before that he helped start Udemy and Sprig. He grew up in Fremont, CA and now lives in Oakland, just like me. He's super into education, community stuff (like Empower Oakland), and also just chilling with his friends, cooking, and hiking with his wife. His parents are Indian immigrants, and even though he's lived here his whole life, he's really honest about what it's like to grow up feeling like you're between two worlds.

What I learned from this conversation:I didn’t know that Gagan started out just like a regular kid trying to pay for debate travel by running a summer camp. That’s wild. I always thought founders of big companies had this super clear plan, but his story made it feel way more relatable—like he was figuring it out as he went. Also, I never thought about how the Indian immigrant population in the U.S. is kind of a filtered version of India because of how the immigration system works. That explains a lot of the stereotypes and why they don't match the reality in India.

What I was inspired by:Gagan’s honesty about feeling like he had to “edit” himself at work hit hard. It made me realize that even super successful people deal with that “code switching” stuff or feeling too Indian in some spaces and too American in others. Also, I liked how he didn’t act like people should walk on eggshells around culture. He was like—it’s okay if people mispronounce names or don’t totally understand everything. We should all just give each other a little grace. That attitude really stuck with me.

More food for thought:I’ve always felt like I have to pick between my Indian side and my American side, but maybe I don’t. Gagan made me think it’s less about picking and more about blending, even if it’s messy sometimes. Also, his point about not expecting perfection from people when it comes to being inclusive really made sense. Like, instead of being mad when someone gets something wrong, just help them get it right. That’s kind of the whole vibe of this podcast—telling Indian American stories not to preach, but to share, and let people connect however they want.

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