There are as many ways to help another human being as there are people in need of help. For some, the urgent need is as basic as food and water. For others, it is an opportunity to develop a talent, realize an idea, and reach one’s full potential.
I believe that incentivized prizing is the best solution to help unlock the answers to the some of the profound problems that plague our planet.
Every day you spend becoming an expert in a field, you become more useless in that field.
If there is one thing I have learned on this incredible journey we call life, it is this: the sign of a truly successful individual is humility.
My parents didn’t believe in luck. They believed in hard work and in preparing me to take advantage of opportunity. Like many parents, they taught me to be generous but never to depend on the generosity of others.
Think so big, so audacious that people will think you are crazy.
Each one of us has the power to be the change we want to see in the world, making the world a better place.
It’s a simple fact: no individual can be good at everything. Everyone needs people around them who have complimentary sets of skills.
I understand human needs. I grew up where far too many people lived day to day without elemental needs like food and shelter.
I worked for Microsoft until 1996, till I had a different angle to view life. I wanted to be an entrepreneur and control my own destiny.
Philanthropy without scale and sustainability is like any other bad business that will simply wither and die on the vine.
Trust your gut instinct over spreadsheets. There are too many variables in the real world that you simply can’t put into a spreadsheet. Spreadsheets spit out results from your inexact assumptions and give you a false sense of security. In most cases, your heart and gut are still your best guide.
The United States of America became the envy of the world because we welcomed the best and brightest minds from anywhere on the planet and gave them the opportunity to succeed.
I came to the United States in the early ’80s and was welcomed with open arms and given the opportunity to pursue my dreams. God has been very kind to us. My family and I are fortunate enough to be successful and we feel a tremendous responsibility and obligation to give back to our great country.
Governments take too long to get things done and there are far too many varied interests at stake. If you were starting a business today and needed a partner, you would never choose a large bureaucratic institution like the government.
Because I was poor I had one special advantage. When you are poor, and basic survival is your concern, you have no alternative but to be an entrepreneur. You must take action to survive just as you must take action to seize an opportunity.
I have seen humility in many of the finest leaders I have met the world over. And indeed, it is embodied in the warm, engaging and quintessentially successful spirit of Sir Richard Branson.
Athletes at all ages are bigger and stronger than ever before. And they are being encouraged – sometimes even incentivized, as we recently learned was the case on at least one National Football League team – to play to injure.
Growing up in India, I knew all I needed to change the world was one good opportunity, and I prepared myself for it. When that opportunity came – in the form of the chance to earn an engineering degree – I was ready.
Humans have always used our intelligence and creativity to improve our existence. After all, we invented the wheel, discovered how to make fire, invented the printing press and found a vaccine for polio.