Building With Soul

there’s simply no way around the fact that we’re pretty fed up with a certain philosophical framework in Silicon Valley. It has many names: the growth mindset. OKRs. KPIs. Even Minimalism — the predominant aesthetic of our era. But at its core, it all comes down to one thing: the relentless optimization of everything in our world.

this mindset has... See more

My father, the late, great Rashmi Thakrar, who passed away too, too soon, believed that “for something to truly succeed, it must have a little poetry at the heart of it.” This idea steers us in perhaps every single one of our endeavours.

We went public, and we have more than 50 percent American investors as shareholders. Before going public, I said to them, “Are you looking for a company that grows very fast, that makes profits that are too high, in our view, quick profits? Do not invest in our company. Do you want a company that grows in a gracious way? That allows suppliers to... See more

We lost our soul and growth was slow and I failed to raise a Series A investment round and Ebay.

We can build software to eat the world, or software to feed it. And if we are going to feed it, it will require a different approach to design, one which optimizes for a different type of growth, and one that draws upon—and rewards—the humility of the designers who participate within it.

Core Ideology = Core Values + Purpose

Core Values = The organization’s essential and enduring tenets – a small set of general guiding principles; not to be confused with specific cultural or operating practices; not to be compromised for financial or short-term expediency.

Purpose = The organization’s fundamental reasons for existence beyond just

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