We often think of a business only in terms of whether it “succeeded” or not. But some of the best ideas, companies, and concepts have all been built from a culture of setting giant “moonshot” goals — and frequent failures along the way.
Someone who knows all about the concept of “moonshot thinking” is our latest guest, Varun Puri. Varun is co-founder of Yoodli, an AI-powered speech coach. Varun is on a mission to empower people to improve their lives with more effective speaking. You will love this podcast and hearing from this extraordinary leader’s drive to positively impact people.
Prior to Yoodli, Varun was a Product Manager at GoogleX, where he worked on a project to bring internet to rural areas using invisible lasers. He also ran special projects for Sergey Brin, one of Google’s founders.
Tune into the full episode for more on why thinking big (almost *too* big) is so important for innovation (and building a successful business), what he learned from his time at GoogleX, and why failure is so important for ideas and companies that eventually succeed.
Here’s a Glimpse of What You’ll Learn:
- The story behind the founding of Yoodli, including how Varun’s background informed his desire to start the company
- Some of the biggest business lessons Varun took away from his time working at GoogleX, and how he’s taken “moonshot thinking” into his new ventures
- The power of celebrating failure and why it’s important to set “absurd” goals
- Why acquisition and retention are the concepts Varun measures at Yoodli
- What’s possible with Yoodli in the near future
- How much Varun works per week and the habits he’s integrated to maintain his performance
- Why sleep is so vital to Varun’s work and the role that wearable technology plays in his life
- How Varun measures success in his personal life and why it’s important for him to go back and read his previous journal entries
Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
- Yoodli.ai
- Yoodli on LinkedIn
- “Shantaram: A Novel” by Gregory David Roberts
- “Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones” by James Clear
- 40 Strategy
- Contact 40 Strategy
- Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn
