Some people think that the key to success lies within their daily routines. Do you agree with this, and if so, what is your daily routine?
I think we sometimes treat other people’s routines as though they might be some kind of magical silver-bullet solution. If I just wake up at the same time and eat/read/listen to what she does, I’ll accomplish more. There are magazine columns and podcasts, and entire books devoted to the AM routines of successful people. And while that stuff is interesting (and fun and voyeuristic) to read and hear about, it’s not going to change anyone’s life. What does help is discipline. And assigning and protecting time for the work that really matters in our days. So instead of being reactive and spending my entire day in meetings and answering emails and Slack messages and texts, I carve out time for deep work every day—for the projects that are really going to move the needle in my life and work. I put those things with the details included (ex: Strat Thinking: Start 2023 Planning) in my calendar and make those events public, so anyone working with me knows what I’m working on—it creates a more respectful and transparent working relationship and keeps teams more closely aligned, in my experience.
Is there a specific time of day when you feel most productive?
I feel like I can go deepest into thinking exercises between 10a and noon and again between 3p and 6p, so I structure my day accordingly, trying to prioritize keeping meetings in the noon-3p window. That’s not always possible, but it’s a noble goal.
Do you think there is one character trait/skill that is important to have in order to become a successful entrepreneur in today’s world?
Focus. It’s so easy to fall victim to Shiny Object Syndrome. And part of a founder’s job is to see the future and to set a vision—and to pivot in order to take advantage of big opportunities in real-time. That said, if you’re always chasing that shiny new shortcut or trend, you’re going to burn your team out trying to do everything and be everything to everyone—and most of it isn’t going to pay off. Instead, set a strategy based on research, a deep understanding of the marketplace, and an intimate relationship with your customer. If you have those things, you can trust that your strategy is strong and rooted in something real when the next shiny thing comes up. And you can stay on the path and keep working with a focus on the big, important things that are actually going to push your business forward.
That said, it’s still your job to keep your eyes open for the game-changing pivots that could truly transform your business. But if you have a strategy and goals and priorities in place (this is why I love a good OKR process), then you can evaluate anything that comes up through a clear lens and rubric to figure out if it’s really worth pursuing.
Has being a woman in the business world affected you positively or negatively, and how so?
Yes, of course, it has. Our identities shape the way we are perceived every single time we walk into a room. Female-identifying. Indian. Cis-gendered. Soft-spoken. Those are just some of the things you can identify about me when I walk into a room, and immediately, those characteristics form another person’s opinion of who I am and what I’m capable of—for better or worse, depending on their own biases. And the thing about the business world is that until 50 years ago, less than half of U.S. women were working outside the home. The American workplace is a space that’s been traditionally male and traditionally white for so long—the rules are written for the people who have always been there. The expectations are based on the experiences and circumstances of white men, for the most part. And that’s changing—slowly—but it would be absurd to suggest that we’re at parity. That a person of color or a woman walks onto a level playing field in corporate America on any given day. That can manifest as someone saying your management style is “too mothering” to be successful. It can manifest as the extreme disparity in venture capital allocated to women and men. It can manifest as the benchmarks for a Series A looking and feeling wildly different for male founders and female founders (I dare you to point me to an example of a female founder who raised $1.8B while playing video games during VC pitch meetings).
What is one major goal that you wish to achieve by 2030?
I want to be running a $100M+ company with a mission I really and truly believe in. I have a few things in the works right now, but everything is too early to talk about!
If you could pick one female entrepreneur, who would you say is your biggest inspiration?
My friend Shivani Siroya is such an inspiration to me. She’s built and led Tala with such a clear vision and purpose, and she has so much discipline and focuses when it comes to the way she builds and scales and the way she spends her time. She knows she has a clear purpose on this planet: Bringing access to credit to billions of people around the world using mobile technology. And she’s never wavered from that mission or from what she clearly sees as her calling. It’s really inspiring to spend time with her—I always walk away feeling more capable and less alone, no matter what it is I’m tackling at the time.
What has been the most formative advice you have received and why?
Never share your “conservative projections” when you’re out there raising investment or even updating your board. Those words are like poison in a conversation where people are investing in you so you can be ambitious and take big swings. That’s not to say you should be unrealistic or lie—never lie, seriously. And it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t always model a low/medium/high case for yourself. But when you’re telling the story of what your business can achieve and where it’s going, lead with the confidence that you can do the big ambitious thing. Because—and this is the advice a female board member gave me a long time ago—I can guarantee you male founders and operators never utter the words, “here’s our conservative model for…”. So don’t walk into a room putting yourself at a disadvantage against them.
What has been the most impressive/memorable question anyone has ever asked you?
I love when people ask what I don’t spend my time doing. Deciding to cut something out of your day or your work is such a difficult choice, and it speaks volumes about what you prioritize and how you make decisions. Usually, that question gets you more insight into where a person is in any given moment than anything else you could ask.
If you have siblings, are they also entrepreneurs?
I have a brother and a sister and they both have a financial service background. My brother works in private equity, and my sister works in M&A, so they work with small businesses or businesses that started as start-ups but from the funding and acquisition side. My dad runs a small business as well and has always been a vocal champion of the merits of working for yourself.
Do you think the drive to become an entrepreneur is born with or is learned?
I think there are personality traits in all of us that are innate, but beyond that, everything is learned. We’re shaped by the opportunities we’ve given, by the possibility we’re shown, by the values we absorb from our communities, and probably most importantly, by our privileges. To put a finer point on it: Entrepreneurship requires a willingness to take risks with your own finances in a way that working full-time for someone else doesn’t. And usually, if you’ve grown up feeling financially insecure in any way, that’s an extremely difficult leap to take!
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