October 13, 2024 • 34 mins
In this episode, we sit down with Shiti Rastogi Manghani, the CEO of STEPN by Find Satoshi Labs (FSL). A true trailblazer , Shiti's journey from consultant to CEO is nothing short of remarkable.
Episode Highlights:
Shiti's impressive career trajectory, including her transition from consulting to leadership roles in the CPG industry
The founding of Breathe Happy during Covid-19, revolutionizing at-home fitness with ML and AI
Her decision to join forces with FSL(Find Satoshi Labs) and her rise to CEO
The groundbreaking success of STEPN and its impact on the fitness and Web3 markets Insights into starting a venture and overcoming blockchain skepticism
Shiti's approach to building great company culture
Valuable advice for founders and women in tech
A sneak peek into STEPN Go
About Shiti : Shiti Rastogi Manghani is a groundbreaker, recognized with awards such as: UK Government's Exceptional Talent 2021 WomenTech Network's "Women-Led Tech-Startup of the Year 2020" Finalist for Microsoft's "Entrepreneur of the Year 2021" She's been named a "Woman to Watch" in HealthTech, a "Trailblazer" in Digital Longevity, and a "Fem Foundry Leader" in digital technology. Her insights have been published in Hackernoon and featured across various health and tech platforms.
Don't miss this inspiring conversation. Tune in to hear Shiti's story of innovation, perseverance, and success in the ever-evolving world of Web3 and fitness technology.
Episode Highlights:
Shiti's impressive career trajectory, including her transition from consulting to leadership roles in the CPG industry
The founding of Breathe Happy during Covid-19, revolutionizing at-home fitness with ML and AI
Her decision to join forces with FSL(Find Satoshi Labs) and her rise to CEO
The groundbreaking success of STEPN and its impact on the fitness and Web3 markets Insights into starting a venture and overcoming blockchain skepticism
Shiti's approach to building great company culture
Valuable advice for founders and women in tech
A sneak peek into STEPN Go
About Shiti : Shiti Rastogi Manghani is a groundbreaker, recognized with awards such as: UK Government's Exceptional Talent 2021 WomenTech Network's "Women-Led Tech-Startup of the Year 2020" Finalist for Microsoft's "Entrepreneur of the Year 2021" She's been named a "Woman to Watch" in HealthTech, a "Trailblazer" in Digital Longevity, and a "Fem Foundry Leader" in digital technology. Her insights have been published in Hackernoon and featured across various health and tech platforms.
Don't miss this inspiring conversation. Tune in to hear Shiti's story of innovation, perseverance, and success in the ever-evolving world of Web3 and fitness technology.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is the Startups Still Say podcast. Thank you for
tuning in.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
You us a favor like subscribe on YouTube or LinkedIn
and be sure to give us your feedback.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
Hello everyone, this is Anthony Prakash. I'm the host of
Startups They'll say. I'm great to bring to you Shitty today,
CEO of Stephen by FSL. Shitty and I go back
quite a bit, I mean almost ten plus years ago
when ours our paths crossed rather but she's got moved
(00:34):
on to greener pastures, doing a lot of fun stuff
along the way. And I want to introduce Shitty to
you without me telling you much about Shitty. Why don't
I pass it on to Shitty to tell you a
little bit about herself for what she does today, and
then we'll do a deep dive audio City.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Welcome to the show, Thanks Anthony.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Hi everyone, Yes, so I in terms of my introduction.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
I did my engineering MBA and moved from started work
in marketing and tech cross section.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Just when I had started my career, sort of marketing
was moving more and more technology sites, so right from
digital scans of ice to study consumer behavior to even
tech products like three printed cakes, et cetera. And I
got really fascinated with working in small themes, bringing new products,
(01:30):
sampling with users and scaling and scaling them. So after
my stint in India, I then moved to Europe, worked
across the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, a little bit
in the US and then finally set it down here.
I started my startup journey with my own venture in
(01:52):
fitness and we did use computer vision to map posture
correction in workouts, so we did a project with Government
of UK and it is after that I got very
interested in what other technologies were available, and that's how
I discovered this Nisson project called step In, which was
(02:13):
really a revolutionizing fitness and reached out to founders to
do a bit more. We were a very very small
team of for the five people we haven't launched the
app and for Throttle and then rest essays history. We
went on to make the app on the biggest in
what three space on board and millions of users every day.
(02:34):
Was an explosive growth journey of a lifetime. Yeah, I
can tell a little bit more about SOL as we
go along.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Awesome, Thanks thanks City.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
So I think I'm sure we'll talk a lot more
about a FSL, but I mean let's start the way back, right,
I mean probably when we met, I mean you were
fresh out of college, maybe a couple of years into
then you were a consultant. I mean, if I'm not wrong,
For those of you who don't know, I mean, you know,
we both met and cognizant part of the cogniz consulting
team as part of the CpG team over.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
There, our parts crossed there.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
But since then, I mean you also went to the
CpG side of things, right, I mean I think I'm
not wrong, Seity, you worked in Britannia for a little bit,
and maybe another CpG company in the UK too, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
A psy and then a few other CpG in Europe.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
So I mean how did your you know, mindset evolve
in that? I mean, were you when you're moved from
CpG to another. I mean you spoke about three D
cakes and all that. I mean, what what made you
kind of pivot to saying Okay, I'm done with this
and I want to do something related to fitness. I
(03:49):
mean was it more a personal motivation or were you
inspired by somebody?
Speaker 1 (03:53):
I think when these drastic things happen in life. They
are a combination of a lot of things. Anthony f
I'm being honest for the purpose a good story. Yes,
I would love to say that I slept dreaming of
this in overnight, something happened in the morning when I
woke up. I just made the switch. But the actual
story is slightly different. It was very heavy on my
mind for a couple of years when I was working.
(04:16):
I was leading the European and the UK division for
world second largest pakery manufacturer, and we used to be
in a lot of meeting discussing, discussing about cakes and
transportation and logistics and bursque profitability and business d and ls.
And after a while you begin to wonder what is
the impact that I, in an individual capacity make to
(04:40):
the business, to the users, to consumers and to world
at large. And I know these are sort of metaphysical
existential questions, but they start a bide at you that
when you begin to wonder if the potential is being
fully tapped, and I think keeps gnawing at you for
months and months and months and months and months to
turn two years and after your year, not one day
(05:02):
over night, I took the step finally where I tendered
my resignation. But the story doesn't end there. I actually
I didn't know that the CEO of the company knew me,
but at the end of it, I got a call
from him and I was invited to talk to him.
(05:24):
And then anyway, one story, letter or the other, and
I got an amazing count off and I actually stayed back.
So I stayed back for another year, achieved very many
things there, became one of the youngest employees to present
a board leader Tech division there, pretty much felt the
impact and kind of the direction that I wanted to
(05:48):
go in. And what happened was that that year further
convinced me of my capabilities as well as what I
wanted to do was in the right direction. So I
was able to be entrepreneurial in that job self, and
that gave me actually a lot of confidence that I
could do this. And after yet another year, I went
back and talked to the Sea directly, and this time
(06:09):
this time he actually didn't try and make him control
for him, and he said that I think you're ready
and then you should move on. That's the right thing,
and I did move on. I had been doing a
little bit of research on the side. The plan was
sort of half developed, half bait. And yeah, just like
that we got into product and.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
And yeah that is the first company correct to breathe happy?
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Was it be happy?
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (06:36):
So when you started that off, I mean, first of all,
I must say congratulations. I mean, you know, a lot
of us had that little inkling or rich saying, you know, hey,
we should do something on our own.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I want to solve that. But I mean very few
of us break.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Those shackles and actually step out and do it. I mean,
including myself. Right, we're worried about so many things, whether
it's secure, already, family, whatnot. I mean, so many things
were so kudos to you for actually doing that. But
after you actually did it, right, I mean, did you
second guess yourself at any point or were you like
(07:14):
all the time all the time?
Speaker 1 (07:15):
And today, I mean you see you say that I
was brave enough to be honest, there's a lot of
luck involved. For the lack of better word, there are
lots of worries, of course, I mean financial being the
first and foremost. I must say what however, like I said,
(07:35):
what happened was that that year that I stayed back,
I was still very clear that this is going to
be my final destination at some point. So whether it
is from a financial perspective, whether it is from a
resource perspective, whether it is from an idea or my
mindset was already in my head that one year was
still me being entrepreneurial. What whether I was doing or
(07:58):
building a team inside the company, doing DNLS, building the project,
getting funding, or whether I'd do it outside. One thing
was that And like I said, it gave me tremendous confidence.
That year gave me tremendous confidence that I could do it. Yes,
because I pretty much did that a in a sheltered environment.
Of course, once I stepped out. And what you're saying,
(08:20):
second guessing that's pretty much the major of any entrepreneur.
Now now that I've worked in this field for so
long and in the US, in the UK and founder
circles in both USUK and Bangalore which are like thriving
ecosystems or stuff, and yet to meet a really talented
or skilled founder who does not second guess himself or herself.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Yeah yeah, I mean, I mean being the founder is
one thing. I mean, if you're doing it by yourself
is one thing. But when you start building a team,
I mean, so many lives that dependent on you and
decisions you make as well. Right, So I mean you
need to be doubly sure, triply sure rather about what
you're trying to do. So there's so much on your shoulders, right,
(09:06):
I mean, so I often ask founders on the podcast,
you know what keeps you up at night? And I
stopped asking that question because they say everything about the
keep company keeps up at night is the most common answer. So,
I mean, since I brought up the question, I mean,
so at that point in time, when you say, six
(09:28):
months into the company, one year into the company, how
many times did you have to pivot from your original idea?
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Any times? Actually?
Speaker 2 (09:37):
So?
Speaker 1 (09:38):
And what happened was that once in a lifetime event
which is COVID. Yeah, he banging the middle of us
started journey right. Nobody in the world could have prepared
us for that, to be honest. So there was a
pivot obviously due on that account. There was a pivot
on you on account of funding. There was a pivot
(09:59):
you when we started working with the government, because they
work in an entirely different way, whether it is financial
reporting or whether it is with the mission or the
purpose of your product. In fact, I remember when we
were doing our concluding presentation for the government auditors they
(10:21):
had they said in the end that we had only
budgeted for sixty percent of the deliverables that were brief
because it was such a mammoth undertaking we were doing.
I mean, today I seem so a commonplace, but we
were actually building machine learning models for posture correction on
our own back then, and they were just remarkably impressed
(10:44):
by what we had done, and that itself was a
big pivot that we did during the program.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
That is incredible.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I still remember the days you supposed about the early
days of your company, and you know, like you said,
you know, timing is super important as well, right, But
I also when I think about timing being in the
right place at the right time, I also think about
fortune favors the brave.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
As well, right.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
I mean, so in this case, but you kind of
took a risk, I mean, and world events happened. Like
you said, again, none of us would have predicted that.
So that is great. But what made you think that? Okay,
I mean, you have something going for yourself right in
breathe happy, but you saw fsl and they were doing
something revolutionary. What kind of gave you that sort of
(11:32):
nudge to say, Okay, I mean we have A and
B here, but A and B or you wanted to
join that sort of revolution, to say I want to
be part of this.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
It pretty much builds on the question that you're asking,
which is pivots. When you become a founder, you are
very hyper aware about what the users want and where
the market is moving. I think that's pretty much the
only two things that you need to worry about. And
done my current team right, because when you're managing a business,
there's so much, too, so much to worry about. But
(12:07):
to clear the noise, it all boils down to product
and community. That's it, and everything else's noise. So in
those times when we were working with people for this
posture correction, I started realizing two things. One was the
data security, because when you're working in the confines of
(12:29):
your home, especially in workout, sometimes people find themselves in
positions that they work out, positions that they don't want
their data to be broadcast again and once again, I
know it seems like recent, but in this world, like
one year is equal to ten years, right, So with
chat quit it's very normalized to use AI models and
(12:52):
be open about data, but back then it wasn't. In fact,
you know, when I was talking to some of the investors,
people like what workout and laptops.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Like.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Can't happen? Just can't happen? And and six months later,
like everybody was doing workout and laptops. So there was
such a mega trend shift. And this data privacy thing
is something that I started to pick on. In addition
to that, the processing right, so of course n video
is that top down now, but that that gave me
(13:25):
some idea that we would need different kinds of and
and GPU was not so hot back then outside gaming circles,
it's still pretty much relied on CPUs. Correct. So these
are the two things that started making me wonder that
we need a completely new paradigm of technology, not a format.
It's not about video or audio or you know, it's
(13:47):
not that we need a different network. And that's when
I started exploring blockchains.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Okay, so that's a that's a great seglee. So I
was going to ask you to explain a little bit
about stepping right. I hope I'm not butchering the name.
Can you can you tell tell us about what Stepan does.
I mean, I know, you incentivize people for working out,
you have those different types of it's an app. It's
(14:14):
almost a fun gamified sort of fitness app where you
connect your crypto wallet and all of that. So instead
of me killing the idea city, why don't you tell
us a little bit about what the company does. I mean,
who are your you know, client tele sort of speak
and how can people listening to this dride out.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Yes, I'll start with step In and then I'll also
talk about the latest app that we've launched, which is
called step In Go. Essentially, it's an app that you
download from an Apple app Store, so I use App
Store or Android app Store. Once you've downloaded step In,
you purchase an NFT sneaker, so we have sneakers in
form of NFTs, which are basically virtual sneakers. And then
(14:59):
you but then in the app, and then you walk,
run or jog, and you earn something called the scryptocurrency,
which you can cash out to normal fiat which is
USD or pounds or whatever, or you can just keep
playing the game. In a sense, in a very simple language,
that's what it is about. With step and go. We
have now even removed the need to buy the NFT.
(15:22):
So if you're completely scrypture native, for example, I just
onboarded my mum, all I need to do because in
crypto and blockchain, what we've seen is the technology is
still very optuse and complex. Not to mention all the
scams and all of the good stuff that happens, it
gives a lot of bad name. So it is quite
(15:43):
risky to onboard people just via marketing, and we don't
want any of that happening to our community. So, like
I said, it all goes back to what users want.
So we have a very core audience of crypto users
or web three native people who we saw with Step
on board other users. I mean, we became one of
the first apps where you had people not just like
(16:07):
you know, typical middle aged white crypto bros, but we
also had their spouses, their families, push people with pushcrans, babies, dogs,
It was a wholesome activity. It was for the first
time that actually there was a use case of a
crypto app beyond DeFi yields and you know, exchanges, all
(16:27):
those financial driven apps, and this is leveraging this itself
where that we have a cryptonative person who then onboards
a person who may not be a cryptonative. So today
I can have the app which will have all the
jing bangs and the fancy things. But to on board
my mom, I just need to share a code or
(16:48):
a QR code and she just scans it and on
boards the app. She doesn't need to buy the inner station.
We need to create a crypto wallet. All she needs
to do is get the code from me and run
and that's.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
It or it In that case, you made it super simple.
But my question is how do you how do you
make money? How does step and make money through the process.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Stepan also operates the marketplace, which means that people wanted
to trade these NFTs and one people trade. We charge
a fee on the trading, which is just a marketplace.
So there is a game and then there is a marketplace. Right.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
So I mean, I haven't downloaded it yet, but after
I saw it, I mean, and how you've explained it,
I mean that that's I mean, I do have a
crypto wallet and stuff, so I am going to try
it after the after this podcast, so I'll give you
some feedback. So, uh, the next one I wanted to
ask you, is you mentioned about what do you call
(17:50):
the your move from trying to do something?
Speaker 2 (17:57):
How do I put it?
Speaker 3 (17:58):
I mean, let's say greater good or you wanted to
solve for certain things when you were in your previous company,
you you you but in this particular role as a CEO,
I mean you were a CMO earlier you moved to
the CEO. I mean when you look at it from
a vision perspective, right, I mean, how are you trying
(18:19):
to I mean a vision is essentially what the common
man does not see ourselves. But I mean you see okay.
I mean I think you mentioned it earlier as well.
There's a major technology shift that is coming or is
going to happen, and you prepare for that. I mean
as a CEO, I mean I mean you're obviously challenged.
I mean, like we spoke earlier, you're obviously second guessing
(18:40):
here as well.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
I mean, what is.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Your source of, say, first of all, getting inspiration? Second
you know to say, okay, this is where me shitty
as a CEO, thinks we should do. And how do
you rally your people around it in your current That's
a great.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Question, Anthony, And this is something you actually learned to
be honest. Building a company was never my dream. This
just became became a side effect. Building a great community
or a great product or a legacy around something that
you created and people use it in the wire. That's
that's the that's the joyous moment, you know. I was.
(19:17):
I still remember with breath happy. I was on Instagram
once since and somebody like messaged me saying, have you
tried greed happy? It's amazing. I did know that person.
She was a German, she was part of the group
there was in and I was just like, that's the
moment you live for, to be honest. That the moment
you have make your first sale, the moment you make
(19:37):
your first contract. Those are the feeling of accomplishments that
you set out to do. Now moving on to you know,
the mission vision. But once you start rallying people around,
once you already are at a stage where you've accomplished
things and now what's next. Like I said, being hyper
aware of consumers gives you all the answers in the
(19:57):
world to be honest, Like, that's the north star if
I'm interested in building fitness. That has led me to
the path that I am on today. And I'm very
convinced that it is the path that will lead me
on tomorrow. That coupled with where market is, where our
competencies are with complete focus. For example, when we were
(20:18):
doing step in, lots of people wanted us to build
apps for swimming, for jogging. I would always say that
you know, there are seven billion people running. We haven't
even scrapped the surface of the running market. So there's
just no impetus for us to go to swimming market,
not to mention it in the tech in the product
side of it, which is pretty difficult to achieve. So
(20:43):
our mission right now is to onboard everybody to step
In Go, and for that we build an ecosystem and
suite of products that we need to by which I
mean SSL is the parent company, and we have step in,
which is the front end app, meaning the onboarding of
the user. We have step in Go. Now we have
(21:04):
two other games. One is called gas Hero, one is
called Motory. So we keep building these games which are fun, entertaining,
lifestyle oriented, fitness oriented. And then these people have need
to swap NFTs or currencies or tokens, so we build
marketplaces as infrastructure to support that. We build our DEXes,
decentralized exchanges to support that. We've just built our wallet,
(21:27):
our own wallet, and decentralized identity protocol, the any protocol
to support it. So we're building a very solid, robust
infrastructure side of our business combined with these fun, entertaining
user facing apps side of the business, and that is
what has led to this ecosystem. I mean, they say
that three years in crypto is like thirty and I
(21:47):
actually feel it because it's such a fast moving industry
and within these three years we've launched like six to
eight top leading charts products. Everybody says like, what's your playbook,
And honestly, the player book is that we just study
the users, study the market and it's great.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
So speaking of crypto, and you know, I'm assuming there's
a lot of underlying blockchain as well, right, I mean
in the technology use. I mean people talk about the
fact that saying, you know, early on when blockchain was there,
blockchain is like a technology looking for a problem to solve.
Right even today, I mean there's not a lot of
(22:28):
people saying, oh, I mean, you know, gung ho about blockchain.
There are their own skeptics out there. What do you
have to say to people like that.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
They are skeptic for absolutely the right reasons, Anthony, there
is a lot to be skeptical about blockchain, just like
it there was a lot to be skeptical about Internet,
about mood ends, about encryption. All of these technologies at
one point or the other have been banned by governments,
have been blacklisted of being used for all kinds of
(22:56):
various purposes, from born to even even more worse stuff.
Skepticism is right in its place when especially you read
scams about like fdates and this and that, does that
mean that technology itself is bad or does that mean
that there is no use case of technology? Definitely not,
and we've seen those use cases. So for example, right now,
(23:19):
the stable coin settlements, so stable coin is like USDC
or USDT, where basically it's a cryptodoken that respect to
the value of US dollar. Yes, and those settlements have
crossed the volumes of the largest cardholder companies put together.
So I think I can't remember the figures the top
(23:41):
of my head, but they are more than MasterCard and Visa.
So that's a brilliant use case. Because obviously stable coin
settlement doesn't work in all countries, not all the people
are banned. And that's the technology that is decentralized happens
in seconds, works in countries from Africa to Latin America.
So use cases are there are the innovations in tech
that are happening. Absolutely. I can go on talking infinitely
(24:04):
about zero knowledge to L zoos to L threes. So
as long as the innovation is happening, as long as
we keep on boarding users, as long as we innovate
on the use cases, we will keep progressing and hopefully
that negative side keeps drinking.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Yeah, that is well said. I mean you know, obviously
where every new tech, there are going to be skeptics.
I mean even with AI. I mean you know people
say it's been around for forty years, right, I mean
it's had its ups and downs. But I mean right
now is when everybody is jumping in and technology GPUs
everything is available, So this is this is the time
(24:42):
probably clicks.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Right.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
So the other part I wanted to ask you about
is a little bit about leadership, right. I mean you've
gone through the ranks in Stepan as well, but after
becoming the CEO, was there something that you try to
do differently to say, Okay, here's the culture I want
to build because I mean a lot of times, whether
(25:06):
it's a startup or a big company, culture is super important.
Right would you say, Stephen, you still operate with a
startup culture or I mean you've matured to a point
where you tell people saying, I mean, you know, we
need to think differently. Can you talk a little bit about,
you know, what, what do you do to build the
(25:28):
team around you hiring the right people, because I mean
that is super important as well when it comes to culture.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Can you speak a little bit of that.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Yes, very good question again, Anthony. I think I think
at beyond a one point, it's all about hiring the
right people. And that's definitely my number one issue. I'm
paranoid about culture because I think these are the rules
that don't need writing down, and beyond a point you
can't need you can't write rules down. I mean, voluntary
audition at our company is zero and that says something
(25:59):
for three years encrypto. So yeah, we think very seriously
about that. If I wanted to distill it down to
three things, it would be one a Daisyero mindset. Yes,
so we challenge all our assumptions, all our notions, we
don't presume, assume, we experiment. We don't shy away from
(26:20):
taking bold, risky bets. Number two, hiretop people. There is
just no equivalent of talent and then give them all
the freedom. I think this is the most cliche one
but the most difficult to execute because it does mean
that getting great people to work together, fostering a culture
where they will work together, fostering a culture where their
(26:41):
verses will be heard. That and number three, I think
it is about being led by your users and by products.
So it all comes down to shipping velocity, I think,
especially in this dynamic environment. So whether it is marketing,
whether it is product shipping, there's just no equivalent intership
in venosity.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
That is again very well said.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
I mean, you know, one of the founders on one
of the episodes, maybe three or four, said, I asked
him about what is what is your advice to want
to be founder? He said, focus on the problem, not
on the solution. You know, I mean, I think your
advisors on the similar lines, I mean, always keep your
(27:23):
ears and eyes open to your community on what your
users want or what your customers want, and if you're
tackling that and taking you know, care of it on
a daily basis and not ignoring that. I mean, then
the company is in good shape. Right, So slight slight
(27:43):
pivots should I mean, so you said you knew when
you wanted to be a founder in today's world, you know,
very probably unlike us, I mean where I mean, you know,
both of us come from India. Our parents either wanted
us to be a doctor or an engineer, or in
some cases a lawyer or a chartered accountant.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
I mean, there were very.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Minimal options that we had to pick. I come across
a lot of students, not just in India, anywhere else
in the world. I mean, they want to be founders,
and they want to start their own company, even without
first finishing their first year. And one of the things
I mean being a girl dad myself. I mean, I
wish a lot more women and girls took up technology
(28:27):
as well. So I'm here at a conference called Flatacon,
and this morning I attended the keynote, and probably three
out of three hundred and four hundred people that were
I could easily count five women in the group.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Right.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
So I mean, if you can't speak about speak about
a couple of things, you know, I mean number one
what is your advice to you know, want to be founders?
You said earlier as well, if you have that inkling,
go ahead and do it right. And especially to women
in technology. Are people who walk who are worried about, Hey,
(29:04):
I'm a woman, I don't want to get into technology
is for men, which seems to be the case just
based on numbers at least today.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Any word of advice should you.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
I mean, there's no such thing as want to be founder.
Once you've decided that you're going to do something, you're
already a founder. You're already a winner. It takes a lot,
in this age of abundance, as we know, to refuse
the luxury of a constant salary, a paid job and
say no, I'm going to take the hard path, being
(29:36):
the hard mood and become founded. Once you've taken that leap,
you sorted you know, nessine talents is there are only
three things that are addictive. One is carbohydrates, second is cokay,
and third is a regular salary. So the question is,
(29:58):
once you've decided to take that leap, what must you do?
And that's pretty much what we've talked about. It varies
from the mindset, which is overcoming self doubts, listening to users,
changing pivoting, still having high conviction, and being decisive. So
there's a lot of contrasting forces at place. But then
(30:20):
how do you how do you chart your roadmap? And
you know, once again, Anthony, there are very few examples
where people have gotten the first Often those first successes
are the ones that become famous, but there's a lot
of ground behind that.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
You know.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Luck is just a name to give in to a
lot of attempts, a lot of tries. So my advice
would be just be obsessed with the market.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Right.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
If you pick the right market and the right problem
to attack, eventually you will find a solution. That's the
easier part. You've decided to be the founder. That's the
tougher part. The second part, which to do with girls
and women. I think I'm not going to be I
don't want to sound pretentious or blind to the issue.
I completely know what you're saying, right, So if you
(31:11):
think there are five women in California for a tech conference,
imagine the situation for a blockchain conference.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Right.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
So, sometimes I genuinely struggle to see women. But I'm
I'm crossing my heart just when I say this. It's
only now that I've started to actively look out for
women when people have told me that they're on their women.
I have not specifically faced any bias against or for
(31:38):
as far as that issue is concerned, and I consider
myself lucky. But is it not good to have role
models who would be women? Absolutely? Yes, right, we definitely
must have a role model. Do I personally have a
solution in mind for that? Not yet. I have been
started to get invited to a lot of women in
(32:00):
Web three and women in this and women in that,
and I try and do my bit. But the only
thing that I tell people is that if you're interested
in passionate about a thing, that thing could be tech
or non tech, and just say just do it. Yeah,
and it doesn't even have to be coding. If you're
good at marketing. If you think that is what you
can do, just pick a project, do it, write a blog,
(32:20):
ride it which your post, develop a plan, reach out
to the founders, reach out to the team. If you're good,
you'll eventually make it. If you're good with bb try
and get some leaves, try and be helpful, try and
approach always with what you can add, what you can
do to the teams and does no matter whether you're
a girl or your boy, if you add value, you'll
(32:42):
make it as simple as that.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
That is great advice.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
I mean, I agree with him, and I also think
you need to start at a much more grassroots level
as well, right, whether at schools or colleges, a little
more exposure an interest, rather than just focusing on a
few jobs here and there and saying oh, these I mean,
to your point, the three things, and the third thing
being salary, saying oh, these are the highest paid jobs.
(33:07):
You know, this is where you can make the most money.
And then naturally you're influenced by a family and anybody
else around you, your friend's circle as well, and that's
that's a big, big, grassroot level thing I think we
can all solve for. And to your point, I mean
it's not just tech, right, I mean, there are certain
(33:27):
industries where it's heavily dominated by one gender or the other,
and it could reply to any of those things. So
with actually, thanks so much for jumping on, great insights
for the community. I learned a lot and inspired by
your journey as well, so I sincerely appreciate your jumping
(33:48):
on and good luck with step and go and that
particular launch. Like I said, I'll download the app, try
it myself and give your feedback. And is there any
any closing words you want to say? My pleasure, Thanks
so much, and you take good care
This is the Startups Still Say podcast. Thank you for
tuning in.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
You us a favor like subscribe on YouTube or LinkedIn
and be sure to give us your feedback.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
Hello everyone, this is Anthony Prakash. I'm the host of
Startups They'll say. I'm great to bring to you Shitty today,
CEO of Stephen by FSL. Shitty and I go back
quite a bit, I mean almost ten plus years ago
when ours our paths crossed rather but she's got moved
(00:34):
on to greener pastures, doing a lot of fun stuff
along the way. And I want to introduce Shitty to
you without me telling you much about Shitty. Why don't
I pass it on to Shitty to tell you a
little bit about herself for what she does today, and
then we'll do a deep dive audio City.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Welcome to the show, Thanks Anthony.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Hi everyone, Yes, so I in terms of my introduction.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
I did my engineering MBA and moved from started work
in marketing and tech cross section.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Just when I had started my career, sort of marketing
was moving more and more technology sites, so right from
digital scans of ice to study consumer behavior to even
tech products like three printed cakes, et cetera. And I
got really fascinated with working in small themes, bringing new products,
(01:30):
sampling with users and scaling and scaling them. So after
my stint in India, I then moved to Europe, worked
across the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, a little bit
in the US and then finally set it down here.
I started my startup journey with my own venture in
(01:52):
fitness and we did use computer vision to map posture
correction in workouts, so we did a project with Government
of UK and it is after that I got very
interested in what other technologies were available, and that's how
I discovered this Nisson project called step In, which was
(02:13):
really a revolutionizing fitness and reached out to founders to
do a bit more. We were a very very small
team of for the five people we haven't launched the
app and for Throttle and then rest essays history. We
went on to make the app on the biggest in
what three space on board and millions of users every day.
(02:34):
Was an explosive growth journey of a lifetime. Yeah, I
can tell a little bit more about SOL as we
go along.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Awesome, Thanks thanks City.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
So I think I'm sure we'll talk a lot more
about a FSL, but I mean let's start the way back, right,
I mean probably when we met, I mean you were
fresh out of college, maybe a couple of years into
then you were a consultant. I mean, if I'm not wrong,
For those of you who don't know, I mean, you know,
we both met and cognizant part of the cogniz consulting
team as part of the CpG team over.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
There, our parts crossed there.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
But since then, I mean you also went to the
CpG side of things, right, I mean I think I'm
not wrong, Seity, you worked in Britannia for a little bit,
and maybe another CpG company in the UK too, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
A psy and then a few other CpG in Europe.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
So I mean how did your you know, mindset evolve
in that? I mean, were you when you're moved from
CpG to another. I mean you spoke about three D
cakes and all that. I mean, what what made you
kind of pivot to saying Okay, I'm done with this
and I want to do something related to fitness. I
(03:49):
mean was it more a personal motivation or were you
inspired by somebody?
Speaker 1 (03:53):
I think when these drastic things happen in life. They
are a combination of a lot of things. Anthony f
I'm being honest for the purpose a good story. Yes,
I would love to say that I slept dreaming of
this in overnight, something happened in the morning when I
woke up. I just made the switch. But the actual
story is slightly different. It was very heavy on my
mind for a couple of years when I was working.
(04:16):
I was leading the European and the UK division for
world second largest pakery manufacturer, and we used to be
in a lot of meeting discussing, discussing about cakes and
transportation and logistics and bursque profitability and business d and ls.
And after a while you begin to wonder what is
the impact that I, in an individual capacity make to
(04:40):
the business, to the users, to consumers and to world
at large. And I know these are sort of metaphysical
existential questions, but they start a bide at you that
when you begin to wonder if the potential is being
fully tapped, and I think keeps gnawing at you for
months and months and months and months and months to
turn two years and after your year, not one day
(05:02):
over night, I took the step finally where I tendered
my resignation. But the story doesn't end there. I actually
I didn't know that the CEO of the company knew me,
but at the end of it, I got a call
from him and I was invited to talk to him.
(05:24):
And then anyway, one story, letter or the other, and
I got an amazing count off and I actually stayed back.
So I stayed back for another year, achieved very many
things there, became one of the youngest employees to present
a board leader Tech division there, pretty much felt the
impact and kind of the direction that I wanted to
(05:48):
go in. And what happened was that that year further
convinced me of my capabilities as well as what I
wanted to do was in the right direction. So I
was able to be entrepreneurial in that job self, and
that gave me actually a lot of confidence that I
could do this. And after yet another year, I went
back and talked to the Sea directly, and this time
(06:09):
this time he actually didn't try and make him control
for him, and he said that I think you're ready
and then you should move on. That's the right thing,
and I did move on. I had been doing a
little bit of research on the side. The plan was
sort of half developed, half bait. And yeah, just like
that we got into product and.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
And yeah that is the first company correct to breathe happy?
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Was it be happy?
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (06:36):
So when you started that off, I mean, first of all,
I must say congratulations. I mean, you know, a lot
of us had that little inkling or rich saying, you know, hey,
we should do something on our own.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
I want to solve that. But I mean very few
of us break.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Those shackles and actually step out and do it. I mean,
including myself. Right, we're worried about so many things, whether
it's secure, already, family, whatnot. I mean, so many things
were so kudos to you for actually doing that. But
after you actually did it, right, I mean, did you
second guess yourself at any point or were you like
(07:14):
all the time all the time?
Speaker 1 (07:15):
And today, I mean you see you say that I
was brave enough to be honest, there's a lot of
luck involved. For the lack of better word, there are
lots of worries, of course, I mean financial being the
first and foremost. I must say what however, like I said,
(07:35):
what happened was that that year that I stayed back,
I was still very clear that this is going to
be my final destination at some point. So whether it
is from a financial perspective, whether it is from a
resource perspective, whether it is from an idea or my
mindset was already in my head that one year was
still me being entrepreneurial. What whether I was doing or
(07:58):
building a team inside the company, doing DNLS, building the project,
getting funding, or whether I'd do it outside. One thing
was that And like I said, it gave me tremendous confidence.
That year gave me tremendous confidence that I could do it. Yes,
because I pretty much did that a in a sheltered environment.
Of course, once I stepped out. And what you're saying,
(08:20):
second guessing that's pretty much the major of any entrepreneur.
Now now that I've worked in this field for so
long and in the US, in the UK and founder
circles in both USUK and Bangalore which are like thriving
ecosystems or stuff, and yet to meet a really talented
or skilled founder who does not second guess himself or herself.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Yeah yeah, I mean, I mean being the founder is
one thing. I mean, if you're doing it by yourself
is one thing. But when you start building a team,
I mean, so many lives that dependent on you and
decisions you make as well. Right, So I mean you
need to be doubly sure, triply sure rather about what
you're trying to do. So there's so much on your shoulders, right,
(09:06):
I mean, so I often ask founders on the podcast,
you know what keeps you up at night? And I
stopped asking that question because they say everything about the
keep company keeps up at night is the most common answer. So,
I mean, since I brought up the question, I mean,
so at that point in time, when you say, six
(09:28):
months into the company, one year into the company, how
many times did you have to pivot from your original idea?
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Any times? Actually?
Speaker 2 (09:37):
So?
Speaker 1 (09:38):
And what happened was that once in a lifetime event
which is COVID. Yeah, he banging the middle of us
started journey right. Nobody in the world could have prepared
us for that, to be honest. So there was a
pivot obviously due on that account. There was a pivot
on you on account of funding. There was a pivot
(09:59):
you when we started working with the government, because they
work in an entirely different way, whether it is financial
reporting or whether it is with the mission or the
purpose of your product. In fact, I remember when we
were doing our concluding presentation for the government auditors they
(10:21):
had they said in the end that we had only
budgeted for sixty percent of the deliverables that were brief
because it was such a mammoth undertaking we were doing.
I mean, today I seem so a commonplace, but we
were actually building machine learning models for posture correction on
our own back then, and they were just remarkably impressed
(10:44):
by what we had done, and that itself was a
big pivot that we did during the program.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
That is incredible.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I still remember the days you supposed about the early
days of your company, and you know, like you said,
you know, timing is super important as well, right, But
I also when I think about timing being in the
right place at the right time, I also think about
fortune favors the brave.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
As well, right.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
I mean, so in this case, but you kind of
took a risk, I mean, and world events happened. Like
you said, again, none of us would have predicted that.
So that is great. But what made you think that? Okay,
I mean, you have something going for yourself right in
breathe happy, but you saw fsl and they were doing
something revolutionary. What kind of gave you that sort of
(11:32):
nudge to say, Okay, I mean we have A and
B here, but A and B or you wanted to
join that sort of revolution, to say I want to
be part of this.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
It pretty much builds on the question that you're asking,
which is pivots. When you become a founder, you are
very hyper aware about what the users want and where
the market is moving. I think that's pretty much the
only two things that you need to worry about. And
done my current team right, because when you're managing a business,
there's so much, too, so much to worry about. But
(12:07):
to clear the noise, it all boils down to product
and community. That's it, and everything else's noise. So in
those times when we were working with people for this
posture correction, I started realizing two things. One was the
data security, because when you're working in the confines of
(12:29):
your home, especially in workout, sometimes people find themselves in
positions that they work out, positions that they don't want
their data to be broadcast again and once again, I
know it seems like recent, but in this world, like
one year is equal to ten years, right, So with
chat quit it's very normalized to use AI models and
(12:52):
be open about data, but back then it wasn't. In fact,
you know, when I was talking to some of the investors,
people like what workout and laptops.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Like.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Can't happen? Just can't happen? And and six months later,
like everybody was doing workout and laptops. So there was
such a mega trend shift. And this data privacy thing
is something that I started to pick on. In addition
to that, the processing right, so of course n video
is that top down now, but that that gave me
(13:25):
some idea that we would need different kinds of and
and GPU was not so hot back then outside gaming circles,
it's still pretty much relied on CPUs. Correct. So these
are the two things that started making me wonder that
we need a completely new paradigm of technology, not a format.
It's not about video or audio or you know, it's
(13:47):
not that we need a different network. And that's when
I started exploring blockchains.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Okay, so that's a that's a great seglee. So I
was going to ask you to explain a little bit
about stepping right. I hope I'm not butchering the name.
Can you can you tell tell us about what Stepan does.
I mean, I know, you incentivize people for working out,
you have those different types of it's an app. It's
(14:14):
almost a fun gamified sort of fitness app where you
connect your crypto wallet and all of that. So instead
of me killing the idea city, why don't you tell
us a little bit about what the company does. I mean,
who are your you know, client tele sort of speak
and how can people listening to this dride out.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Yes, I'll start with step In and then I'll also
talk about the latest app that we've launched, which is
called step In Go. Essentially, it's an app that you
download from an Apple app Store, so I use App
Store or Android app Store. Once you've downloaded step In,
you purchase an NFT sneaker, so we have sneakers in
form of NFTs, which are basically virtual sneakers. And then
(14:59):
you but then in the app, and then you walk,
run or jog, and you earn something called the scryptocurrency,
which you can cash out to normal fiat which is
USD or pounds or whatever, or you can just keep
playing the game. In a sense, in a very simple language,
that's what it is about. With step and go. We
have now even removed the need to buy the NFT.
(15:22):
So if you're completely scrypture native, for example, I just
onboarded my mum, all I need to do because in
crypto and blockchain, what we've seen is the technology is
still very optuse and complex. Not to mention all the
scams and all of the good stuff that happens, it
gives a lot of bad name. So it is quite
(15:43):
risky to onboard people just via marketing, and we don't
want any of that happening to our community. So, like
I said, it all goes back to what users want.
So we have a very core audience of crypto users
or web three native people who we saw with Step
on board other users. I mean, we became one of
the first apps where you had people not just like
(16:07):
you know, typical middle aged white crypto bros, but we
also had their spouses, their families, push people with pushcrans, babies, dogs,
It was a wholesome activity. It was for the first
time that actually there was a use case of a
crypto app beyond DeFi yields and you know, exchanges, all
(16:27):
those financial driven apps, and this is leveraging this itself
where that we have a cryptonative person who then onboards
a person who may not be a cryptonative. So today
I can have the app which will have all the
jing bangs and the fancy things. But to on board
my mom, I just need to share a code or
(16:48):
a QR code and she just scans it and on
boards the app. She doesn't need to buy the inner station.
We need to create a crypto wallet. All she needs
to do is get the code from me and run
and that's.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
It or it In that case, you made it super simple.
But my question is how do you how do you
make money? How does step and make money through the process.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Stepan also operates the marketplace, which means that people wanted
to trade these NFTs and one people trade. We charge
a fee on the trading, which is just a marketplace.
So there is a game and then there is a marketplace. Right.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
So I mean, I haven't downloaded it yet, but after
I saw it, I mean, and how you've explained it,
I mean that that's I mean, I do have a
crypto wallet and stuff, so I am going to try
it after the after this podcast, so I'll give you
some feedback. So, uh, the next one I wanted to
ask you, is you mentioned about what do you call
(17:50):
the your move from trying to do something?
Speaker 2 (17:57):
How do I put it?
Speaker 3 (17:58):
I mean, let's say greater good or you wanted to
solve for certain things when you were in your previous company,
you you you but in this particular role as a CEO,
I mean you were a CMO earlier you moved to
the CEO. I mean when you look at it from
a vision perspective, right, I mean, how are you trying
(18:19):
to I mean a vision is essentially what the common
man does not see ourselves. But I mean you see okay.
I mean I think you mentioned it earlier as well.
There's a major technology shift that is coming or is
going to happen, and you prepare for that. I mean
as a CEO, I mean I mean you're obviously challenged.
I mean, like we spoke earlier, you're obviously second guessing
(18:40):
here as well.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
I mean, what is.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Your source of, say, first of all, getting inspiration? Second
you know to say, okay, this is where me shitty
as a CEO, thinks we should do. And how do
you rally your people around it in your current That's
a great.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Question, Anthony, And this is something you actually learned to
be honest. Building a company was never my dream. This
just became became a side effect. Building a great community
or a great product or a legacy around something that
you created and people use it in the wire. That's
that's the that's the joyous moment, you know. I was.
(19:17):
I still remember with breath happy. I was on Instagram
once since and somebody like messaged me saying, have you
tried greed happy? It's amazing. I did know that person.
She was a German, she was part of the group
there was in and I was just like, that's the
moment you live for, to be honest. That the moment
you have make your first sale, the moment you make
(19:37):
your first contract. Those are the feeling of accomplishments that
you set out to do. Now moving on to you know,
the mission vision. But once you start rallying people around,
once you already are at a stage where you've accomplished
things and now what's next. Like I said, being hyper
aware of consumers gives you all the answers in the
(19:57):
world to be honest, Like, that's the north star if
I'm interested in building fitness. That has led me to
the path that I am on today. And I'm very
convinced that it is the path that will lead me
on tomorrow. That coupled with where market is, where our
competencies are with complete focus. For example, when we were
(20:18):
doing step in, lots of people wanted us to build
apps for swimming, for jogging. I would always say that
you know, there are seven billion people running. We haven't
even scrapped the surface of the running market. So there's
just no impetus for us to go to swimming market,
not to mention it in the tech in the product
side of it, which is pretty difficult to achieve. So
(20:43):
our mission right now is to onboard everybody to step
In Go, and for that we build an ecosystem and
suite of products that we need to by which I
mean SSL is the parent company, and we have step in,
which is the front end app, meaning the onboarding of
the user. We have step in Go. Now we have
(21:04):
two other games. One is called gas Hero, one is
called Motory. So we keep building these games which are fun, entertaining,
lifestyle oriented, fitness oriented. And then these people have need
to swap NFTs or currencies or tokens, so we build
marketplaces as infrastructure to support that. We build our DEXes,
decentralized exchanges to support that. We've just built our wallet,
(21:27):
our own wallet, and decentralized identity protocol, the any protocol
to support it. So we're building a very solid, robust
infrastructure side of our business combined with these fun, entertaining
user facing apps side of the business, and that is
what has led to this ecosystem. I mean, they say
that three years in crypto is like thirty and I
(21:47):
actually feel it because it's such a fast moving industry
and within these three years we've launched like six to
eight top leading charts products. Everybody says like, what's your playbook,
And honestly, the player book is that we just study
the users, study the market and it's great.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
So speaking of crypto, and you know, I'm assuming there's
a lot of underlying blockchain as well, right, I mean
in the technology use. I mean people talk about the
fact that saying, you know, early on when blockchain was there,
blockchain is like a technology looking for a problem to solve.
Right even today, I mean there's not a lot of
(22:28):
people saying, oh, I mean, you know, gung ho about blockchain.
There are their own skeptics out there. What do you
have to say to people like that.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
They are skeptic for absolutely the right reasons, Anthony, there
is a lot to be skeptical about blockchain, just like
it there was a lot to be skeptical about Internet,
about mood ends, about encryption. All of these technologies at
one point or the other have been banned by governments,
have been blacklisted of being used for all kinds of
(22:56):
various purposes, from born to even even more worse stuff.
Skepticism is right in its place when especially you read
scams about like fdates and this and that, does that
mean that technology itself is bad or does that mean
that there is no use case of technology? Definitely not,
and we've seen those use cases. So for example, right now,
(23:19):
the stable coin settlements, so stable coin is like USDC
or USDT, where basically it's a cryptodoken that respect to
the value of US dollar. Yes, and those settlements have
crossed the volumes of the largest cardholder companies put together.
So I think I can't remember the figures the top
(23:41):
of my head, but they are more than MasterCard and Visa.
So that's a brilliant use case. Because obviously stable coin
settlement doesn't work in all countries, not all the people
are banned. And that's the technology that is decentralized happens
in seconds, works in countries from Africa to Latin America.
So use cases are there are the innovations in tech
that are happening. Absolutely. I can go on talking infinitely
(24:04):
about zero knowledge to L zoos to L threes. So
as long as the innovation is happening, as long as
we keep on boarding users, as long as we innovate
on the use cases, we will keep progressing and hopefully
that negative side keeps drinking.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Yeah, that is well said. I mean you know, obviously
where every new tech, there are going to be skeptics.
I mean even with AI. I mean you know people
say it's been around for forty years, right, I mean
it's had its ups and downs. But I mean right
now is when everybody is jumping in and technology GPUs
everything is available, So this is this is the time
(24:42):
probably clicks.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Right.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
So the other part I wanted to ask you about
is a little bit about leadership, right. I mean you've
gone through the ranks in Stepan as well, but after
becoming the CEO, was there something that you try to
do differently to say, Okay, here's the culture I want
to build because I mean a lot of times, whether
(25:06):
it's a startup or a big company, culture is super important.
Right would you say, Stephen, you still operate with a
startup culture or I mean you've matured to a point
where you tell people saying, I mean, you know, we
need to think differently. Can you talk a little bit about,
you know, what, what do you do to build the
(25:28):
team around you hiring the right people, because I mean
that is super important as well when it comes to culture.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Can you speak a little bit of that.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Yes, very good question again, Anthony. I think I think
at beyond a one point, it's all about hiring the
right people. And that's definitely my number one issue. I'm
paranoid about culture because I think these are the rules
that don't need writing down, and beyond a point you
can't need you can't write rules down. I mean, voluntary
audition at our company is zero and that says something
(25:59):
for three years encrypto. So yeah, we think very seriously
about that. If I wanted to distill it down to
three things, it would be one a Daisyero mindset. Yes,
so we challenge all our assumptions, all our notions, we
don't presume, assume, we experiment. We don't shy away from
(26:20):
taking bold, risky bets. Number two, hiretop people. There is
just no equivalent of talent and then give them all
the freedom. I think this is the most cliche one
but the most difficult to execute because it does mean
that getting great people to work together, fostering a culture
where they will work together, fostering a culture where their
(26:41):
verses will be heard. That and number three, I think
it is about being led by your users and by products.
So it all comes down to shipping velocity, I think,
especially in this dynamic environment. So whether it is marketing,
whether it is product shipping, there's just no equivalent intership
in venosity.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
That is again very well said.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
I mean, you know, one of the founders on one
of the episodes, maybe three or four, said, I asked
him about what is what is your advice to want
to be founder? He said, focus on the problem, not
on the solution. You know, I mean, I think your
advisors on the similar lines, I mean, always keep your
(27:23):
ears and eyes open to your community on what your
users want or what your customers want, and if you're
tackling that and taking you know, care of it on
a daily basis and not ignoring that. I mean, then
the company is in good shape. Right, So slight slight
(27:43):
pivots should I mean, so you said you knew when
you wanted to be a founder in today's world, you know,
very probably unlike us, I mean where I mean, you know,
both of us come from India. Our parents either wanted
us to be a doctor or an engineer, or in
some cases a lawyer or a chartered accountant.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
I mean, there were very.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Minimal options that we had to pick. I come across
a lot of students, not just in India, anywhere else
in the world. I mean, they want to be founders,
and they want to start their own company, even without
first finishing their first year. And one of the things
I mean being a girl dad myself. I mean, I
wish a lot more women and girls took up technology
(28:27):
as well. So I'm here at a conference called Flatacon,
and this morning I attended the keynote, and probably three
out of three hundred and four hundred people that were
I could easily count five women in the group.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Right.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
So I mean, if you can't speak about speak about
a couple of things, you know, I mean number one
what is your advice to you know, want to be founders?
You said earlier as well, if you have that inkling,
go ahead and do it right. And especially to women
in technology. Are people who walk who are worried about, Hey,
(29:04):
I'm a woman, I don't want to get into technology
is for men, which seems to be the case just
based on numbers at least today.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Any word of advice should you.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
I mean, there's no such thing as want to be founder.
Once you've decided that you're going to do something, you're
already a founder. You're already a winner. It takes a lot,
in this age of abundance, as we know, to refuse
the luxury of a constant salary, a paid job and
say no, I'm going to take the hard path, being
(29:36):
the hard mood and become founded. Once you've taken that leap,
you sorted you know, nessine talents is there are only
three things that are addictive. One is carbohydrates, second is cokay,
and third is a regular salary. So the question is,
(29:58):
once you've decided to take that leap, what must you do?
And that's pretty much what we've talked about. It varies
from the mindset, which is overcoming self doubts, listening to users,
changing pivoting, still having high conviction, and being decisive. So
there's a lot of contrasting forces at place. But then
(30:20):
how do you how do you chart your roadmap? And
you know, once again, Anthony, there are very few examples
where people have gotten the first Often those first successes
are the ones that become famous, but there's a lot
of ground behind that.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
You know.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Luck is just a name to give in to a
lot of attempts, a lot of tries. So my advice
would be just be obsessed with the market.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Right.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
If you pick the right market and the right problem
to attack, eventually you will find a solution. That's the
easier part. You've decided to be the founder. That's the
tougher part. The second part, which to do with girls
and women. I think I'm not going to be I
don't want to sound pretentious or blind to the issue.
I completely know what you're saying, right, So if you
(31:11):
think there are five women in California for a tech conference,
imagine the situation for a blockchain conference.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Right.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
So, sometimes I genuinely struggle to see women. But I'm
I'm crossing my heart just when I say this. It's
only now that I've started to actively look out for
women when people have told me that they're on their women.
I have not specifically faced any bias against or for
(31:38):
as far as that issue is concerned, and I consider
myself lucky. But is it not good to have role
models who would be women? Absolutely? Yes, right, we definitely
must have a role model. Do I personally have a
solution in mind for that? Not yet. I have been
started to get invited to a lot of women in
(32:00):
Web three and women in this and women in that,
and I try and do my bit. But the only
thing that I tell people is that if you're interested
in passionate about a thing, that thing could be tech
or non tech, and just say just do it. Yeah,
and it doesn't even have to be coding. If you're
good at marketing. If you think that is what you
can do, just pick a project, do it, write a blog,
(32:20):
ride it which your post, develop a plan, reach out
to the founders, reach out to the team. If you're good,
you'll eventually make it. If you're good with bb try
and get some leaves, try and be helpful, try and
approach always with what you can add, what you can
do to the teams and does no matter whether you're
a girl or your boy, if you add value, you'll
(32:42):
make it as simple as that.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
That is great advice.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
I mean, I agree with him, and I also think
you need to start at a much more grassroots level
as well, right, whether at schools or colleges, a little
more exposure an interest, rather than just focusing on a
few jobs here and there and saying oh, these I mean,
to your point, the three things, and the third thing
being salary, saying oh, these are the highest paid jobs.
(33:07):
You know, this is where you can make the most money.
And then naturally you're influenced by a family and anybody
else around you, your friend's circle as well, and that's
that's a big, big, grassroot level thing I think we
can all solve for. And to your point, I mean
it's not just tech, right, I mean, there are certain
(33:27):
industries where it's heavily dominated by one gender or the other,
and it could reply to any of those things. So
with actually, thanks so much for jumping on, great insights
for the community. I learned a lot and inspired by
your journey as well, so I sincerely appreciate your jumping
(33:48):
on and good luck with step and go and that
particular launch. Like I said, I'll download the app, try
it myself and give your feedback. And is there any
any closing words you want to say? My pleasure, Thanks
so much, and you take good care
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