HIGH INCOME SKILLS For Students to Learn in 2024 | Ishan Sharma

Summary

In this insightful discussion, Bavik Mehta, former Uber executive and founder of DIY, shares his journey and lessons learned in launching Uber in India. He delves into the challenges of market entry, the importance of deep problem understanding, and the skills needed for success in tech. Bavik also discusses his vision for transforming engineering education through Scalar School of Technology, emphasizing practical learning and industry relevance.

Takeaways

• 🚀 The importance of learning relevant skills for the tech industry is emphasized, as traditional education often lacks practical, industry-relevant subjects like data science and software development.
• 🌐 Bavik, having worked at Uber, shares his experience of launching Uber in India, highlighting the challenges of introducing a new concept like on-demand, cashless rides through an app in a market dominated by traditional taxi services.
• 💡 The significance of problem-solving skills is underlined, as Bavik explains how understanding and breaking down a problem statement is crucial for success in the tech industry.
• 🛠️ The necessity for a strong foundation in data analytics and algorithms is highlighted, as these are key skills in building and improving tech products.
• 🏫 Bavik discusses the gap in the Indian education system, where outdated curricula do not align with the skills required by modern tech companies, leading to a low employability rate among graduates.
• 🌟 He shares his vision for Scala School of Technology, aiming to reshape engineering education by focusing on practical learning and industry-relevant skills.
• 💼 The interviewee's entrepreneurial journey with his startup DIY is discussed, showcasing the skills required to build a product from scratch and the importance of understanding consumer behavior.
• 🎓 Insights into the curriculum at Scala School of Technology are provided, including the focus on web development, data science, and real-world projects from the first year of study.
• 🏆 The achievements of Scala School of Technology's students in their first year, such as winning hackathons and securing internships at top tech companies, demonstrate the effectiveness of the school's practical approach to education.
• 💰 The discussion touches on the financial aspects of education at Scala School of Technology, including the total tuition fee and the availability of scholarships and financial assistance for deserving students.
• 🌍 Finally, Bavik's perspective on India's potential to become a global tech powerhouse is shared, with an emphasis on nurturing talent and the importance of skills over traditional degrees.

Q & A

What was the initial challenge faced by Uber when it launched in India?

The initial challenge was to change the consumer behavior that was accustomed to traditional pre-booking and cash payments for taxis. Uber introduced an on-demand, cashless, app-based service, which was a significant shift for the Indian market at that time.

How did Uber India approach the problem of having no marketing budget?

Uber India started with a unique marketing strategy by launching Uber Black first, which used luxury cars like Mercedes, Jaguars, and BMWs. This created a buzz in the city without spending any money on marketing, as people started talking about the new luxury ride option.

What was the significance of launching Uber Black first in India?

Launching Uber Black first was a strategic move to create awareness and generate excitement about the Uber brand. Although it was not sustainable due to the limited number of luxury cars available, it served its purpose in capturing the public's attention.

How did Uber tackle the issue of consumer preferences and the newness of the app-based taxi service?

Uber conducted consumer studies to understand the use cases where their service could be most appealing. They identified Friday and Saturday nights, post-bars, as a prime time when people struggled to get taxis, and offered free rides to people leaving bars to try the Uber app.

What was the role of data analytics at Uber?

Data analytics played a crucial role at Uber, as it was used to drive decisions related to operations, pricing strategies, and understanding consumer behavior. It helped in optimizing the supply-demand balance and in making real-time decisions for dispatch and dynamic pricing.

How did Uber India adapt its product for the local market?

Uber India adapted its product by introducing an Uber light app for the local market, which had a lower bandwidth requirement due to the prevalent 3G network and a higher number of Android phones. They also introduced cash payments, as the credit card penetration in India was only around 2%.

What skill sets did Bavik Brar identify as crucial for success in the tech industry?

Bavik identified deep understanding of problem statements, strong data analytics skills, and understanding of algorithms as crucial skill sets. He emphasized the importance of practical learning and the ability to apply theoretical knowledge in real-world scenarios.

What is the mission of Scala School of Technology?

Scala School of Technology aims to reshape engineering education in India by focusing on practical learning, industry-relevant curriculum, and nurturing skills over just academic degrees. The mission is to produce employable engineers who can contribute significantly to the tech industry.

How does Scala School of Technology ensure students are industry-ready?

Scala School of Technology ensures students are industry-ready by providing a curriculum deeply rooted in practical learning, offering company-sourced projects, organizing hackathons and coding competitions, and offering mentorship from industry leaders.

What was Bavik Brar's experience like when he transitioned from Uber to building his own startup, DIY?

Bavik found the transition to be an eye-opening experience. At DIY, he had to make engineering decisions himself, including choosing the tech stack, designing the product, and understanding consumer behavior. This hands-on approach gave him a comprehensive understanding of building and scaling a product.

Why did Uber Eats not continue in India?

Uber Eats' discontinuation in India was due to the timing and global outlook post-IPO. The pressure to offload businesses that required significant investments led to a partnership with Zomato, which eventually acquired Uber Eats India, rather than investing further in a market with strong local competitors.

What is the vision for India's growth to a $10 trillion economy?

The vision for India's growth to a $10 trillion economy hinges on nurturing talent across all segments, with a focus on skills over degrees. The aim is to produce a large number of high-quality engineers and professionals who can drive technological advancements and business growth.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Education System Gaps and Real-World Skills

The paragraph discusses the disconnect between traditional engineering education and the practical skills needed in top companies like Zepto and Blink. It highlights the speaker's experience at Uber and the challenges faced in launching the service in India, emphasizing the importance of skills like data science, marketing, and product development that are often overlooked in academia.

05:00

🚀 Launching Uber in India: Strategy and Execution

This section details the strategic steps taken to launch Uber in India, focusing on consumer behavior, competitive analysis, and the importance of understanding local market needs. The narrative describes the use of guerrilla marketing, pricing strategies, and the introduction of the Uber light app to cater to the Indian market's unique conditions.

10:01

🛠️ Skill Sets for Success in the Tech Industry

The speaker identifies key skills required for success in the tech industry, including a deep understanding of problem statements, data analytics, and algorithm knowledge. The paragraph also reflects on the speaker's experience building DIY and the importance of consumer preference understanding and technical stack decisions in product development.

15:01

🏫 Rethinking Engineering Education at Scala School of Technology

The paragraph outlines the vision behind Scala School of Technology, which aims to bridge the gap between traditional engineering education and industry requirements. It discusses the school's focus on practical learning, mentorship from industry leaders, and the importance of data science and software development skills in the curriculum.

20:02

💡 Emphasizing Practical Learning and Industry Relevance

This section underscores the importance of practical learning in engineering education, with a focus on computer science. It discusses the elimination of irrelevant subjects and the introduction of web development, data science, and real-world projects from the first year of study, ensuring students are industry-ready upon graduation.

25:02

🌟 Student Achievements and Industry Exposure

The paragraph showcases the achievements of students at Scala School of Technology, including participation in coding competitions, hackathons, and internships with top tech companies. It highlights the school's approach to providing students with industry exposure and the opportunity to work on real-world projects and startups.

30:02

🎓 Curriculum Design and Degree Structure at SST

This section explains the rationale behind offering a BSc degree instead of a BTech at Scala School of Technology. It discusses the flexibility and industry relevance of the curriculum, the focus on computer science, and the various skills and experiences students gain throughout their education.

35:03

🏆 Creating a Legacy in Engineering Education

The speaker shares his vision for Scala School of Technology as a leader in transforming engineering education in India. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of nurturing talent, the potential for India to become a global powerhouse, and the school's role in producing skilled engineers who can contribute to the country's economic growth.

40:03

🤝 Building a Strong Ecosystem for Student Opportunities

This section discusses the ecosystem at Scala School of Technology, which includes access to industry leaders, mentorship programs, and partnerships with over 1,200 employment partners. It highlights the school's commitment to providing students with the best opportunities for internships and future employment.

45:05

💼 Financial Accessibility and Scholarships at SST

The paragraph addresses the affordability of education at Scala School of Technology, detailing the total tuition fee and the inclusion of accommodation and mess fees. It also explains the scholarship framework based on academic performance, extracurricular achievements, and financial background, ensuring that talented students have access to quality education regardless of their financial situation.

50:06

🌐 India's Potential as a Global Talent Powerhouse

The speaker reflects on India's potential to become a global talent powerhouse, emphasizing the importance of nurturing talent across various fields. The paragraph discusses the role of institutions like Scala School of Technology in producing skilled engineers and the impact of skilled talent on the country's economic growth and global standing.

🚌 Market Dynamics and the Convergence of Major Players

This section explores the market dynamics of major companies in sectors like ride-sharing and food delivery, discussing why these markets often consolidate around a few dominant players. The speaker shares insights from his experience at Uber and the challenges of managing supply and demand in marketplace businesses.

Keywords

💡Fore Engineering

Fore Engineering typically refers to the initial or early stages of engineering education. In the context of the video, it highlights the broad and sometimes irrelevant curriculum students face in their first year, which includes subjects like biology, physics, and chemistry that may not be directly related to computer science or their future careers in tech companies.

💡Relevance

Relevance, in this video, pertains to the connection between the subjects studied in college and their applicability to future job roles. The speaker emphasizes the lack of relevance in traditional engineering education, particularly in the first year, to the skills required by modern tech companies like Zepto and Blink.

💡Zepto

Zepto is a start-up mentioned in the script, likely representing a new-age tech company. The term is used to illustrate the kind of companies where graduates may want to work but might not be adequately prepared by traditional education systems.

💡Marketing Budget

A marketing budget refers to the financial allocation for promoting a product or service. In the video, the lack of a marketing budget for Uber in India is highlighted as a challenge that the team had to overcome creatively, emphasizing the importance of innovative thinking in business strategy.

💡Product-Based Company

A product-based company focuses on creating and selling products, often technology or software solutions. The script discusses the difficulty traditional college graduates may face in getting shortlisted for such companies like Facebook, Google, or Microsoft due to a skills gap.

💡Scalar School of Technology

Scalar School of Technology is an institution mentioned in the video that aims to bridge the gap between traditional education and industry requirements. It represents a new approach to tech education, focusing on practical learning and industry-relevant skills.

💡Data Science

Data Science is a field that involves data analysis and the extraction of insights from data. The video underscores the importance of data science skills in the modern tech industry, noting its value in companies like Uber for making data-driven decisions.

💡Algorithms

Algorithms are step-by-step procedures to solve problems or perform tasks. In the context of the video, understanding algorithms is crucial for engineering roles, especially in dispatch systems and dynamic pricing models used by companies like Uber.

💡Skill Gap

The skill gap refers to the difference between the skills possessed by individuals and those required by employers. The video discusses the significant skill gap in the Indian education system, where graduates often lack the practical skills needed for employment in top tech companies.

💡Innovation

Innovation in the video is portrayed as a critical skill, especially in start-ups and tech companies. It is highlighted as a key component of the education and mindset that Scalar School of Technology aims to instill in students to prepare them for the industry.

💡Employability

Employability refers to the qualities and skills that make a person suitable for employment. The script points out the stark contrast between the number of engineering graduates and the smaller percentage who are actually employable in the tech industry due to outdated education systems.

Highlights

25% of fore engineering program time is spent learning subjects irrelevant to computer science, such as biology, physics, and chemistry.

Lack of marketing budget at startups like Zepto and Blinkit requires innovative strategies for gaining attention without spending.

Traditional colleges often fail to teach the skills needed for modern tech companies, creating a gap in employability.

The importance of understanding consumer preferences and market needs when launching a new product or service.

Bik's experience with Uber's launch in India and the unique challenges faced due to cultural and infrastructural differences.

The significance of data analytics and engineering in building and scaling tech products like Uber.

Innovative strategies for launching Uber in India, such as targeting bar nights for initial user acquisition.

The necessity for a deep understanding of the problem statement and the importance of passion for solving it in the tech industry.

How traditional education often overlooks the importance of practical skills and real-world application.

The gap between the skills taught in college and the skills required by top tech companies like Google and Facebook.

Bik's journey from working at Uber to building his own startup, DIY, and the lessons learned about product development.

The vision behind Scala School of Technology and its focus on reshaping engineering education to meet industry needs.

The importance of mentorship from industry leaders and real-world projects in Scala School of Technology's curriculum.

How Scala School of Technology prepares students for top tech companies by focusing on practical learning and industry-relevant skills.

The challenges of competing with traditional colleges that have a legacy, and the unique approach of Scala School of Technology.

Scala School of Technology's commitment to providing financial assistance and scholarships to make education accessible.

Bik's perspective on India's potential to become a global tech powerhouse by nurturing talent and focusing on skills over degrees.

Transcripts

25% of your entire fore engineering

program the first year you're learning

things that are not even relevant to

computer science you're still learning

biology physics chemistry engineering

drawing mechanical filing things that

have no relevance to what you're going

to be doing when you join companies like

zepto and blink you have zero marketing

budget do you not have a single dollar

to spend I was able to cut the

this does not make any sense yeah one of

the most underestimated skills that we

don't teach in traditional colleges is

but was I qualified to even get

shortlisted for a product based company

like Facebook Google Microsoft

absolutely not I don't foresee a

scenario where like hey no one should

leave the country just come and build in

the country no that's okay go out in the

world we are producing the Sund p and

the Satya Nas of the world the biggest

Delta between where we are today to

becoming a $10 trillion economy is going

to

be if you're someone in 12th grade or

starting out your career this episode is

super insightful because here we learn

about the skills needed in the industry

and how can you stand out from the

majority of the people out there

bik is someone who's building scalar

School of Technology and has previously

built products like uber and Uber Eats

and he will give you a lot of

information about what is really

important for you to succeed in your

career out there in India bavik thank

you so much for joining me here how are

you doing there I'm doing really well

thank you so much for having me here how

are you doing aan I am doing perfectly

fine it's a it's a morning here in

Bangalore super excited to meet you and

talk about your journey so tell me tell

me about your experience of working at

Uber and then getting to launch it I

think I watched the super pumped TV

series which is about the Journey of

uber and Travis kinck launching it in us

all the challenges he faced and then

launching it in India we would love to

learn about your experience of that and

then what were the challenges you faced

and what did the whole experience teach

you sure um let's go back to 2013 and

this is when my conversation first

struck with with Travis uh this is

around May of 2013 when Travis and team

were contemplating taking Uber Global at

that point of time Uber was only live in

United States and a couple of foreign

countries one was Paris uh in France and

another one was Singapore in Asia and

there were conversations that were going

on of launching Uber in India um through

serendipitous discovery on LinkedIn I

happen to get in touch with Travis and

and team and learned about what they're

trying to build with Uber and then

Travis comes to me and saying hey we're

looking to hire the first leader that's

going to launch Uber in India and then

run the operations here on the ground

around and I was like okay that sounds

great what is Uber and he explained to

me what Uber was at that point of time

and he's like hey so Uber is going to

have these three things that are going

to be different than a typical taxi

that's going to work in India and that's

going to be that it's going to be only

on demand it's going to be completely

cashless and it's going to be only

through an app and I'm like hold on a

second all the taxi companies that work

in India right now at that point time

there was Mega there was meu caps there

was Ola caps also but the only way for

you to book them was you had to pre-book

them which means you you could not book

them on demand you have to book them at

least a day in advance or a few hours in

advance you could have to call a number

typically these easy numbers to call

right like 0 22444 something like that

and you have to pay back cash only I'm

like the three things that every

consumer is used to you're saying you're

not going to be able to do that you have

to download an application very few at

that point of time actually had uh

smartphones feature phones were still

being used in India at that point of

time you're talking about being cashless

MH and on demand as well so I'm like

how's this going to work in the first

place right but when we started going to

the vision of what Uber was supposed to

do and what was already doing in the

United States and how that could

fundamentally change the fabric of the

city and every single city in India and

how it's going to literally make

Transportation as reliable as running

water that was the motto back then um it

just opened my eyes like this is

something that is a deep problem to

solve and really exciting for us to

solve in India as well and that's how my

journey started engaging with Travis and

team of building Uber in the country and

the first product I was given at that

point in time was the Uber 1.0 software

with the the application back then which

was all you had to do was press a button

and the car would show up but you had to

have a credit card linked on it it had

to be on demand had to be on a mobile

app as well uh really tough problem to

solve and we had to really go down to

understanding what the consumer

preferences at that point in time were

and what we were trying to offer was

fundamentally different than what the

consumer was actually used to at that

point of time but that's not a journey

started it's complex we'll talk a little

bit more about how you happen to crack

that but uh very excited about the way

the journey pned out out and this was

you know 2013 so talking about almost 11

years ago that Uber launched uh I still

remember the date we launched Uber in

the country it was August 29th wow in

2013 right here in Bangalore actually

was our first city that we launched in

magical no I remember uh when I was in I

think 10th or 11th grade 2016 I was

living in Mumbai and that's when my

father used the Uber app to actually get

a cab and he was like come I'll drop you

on the way to my office and that was

magical like the idea of a cab coming up

to you instantly that was insane that

was how I first encountered this this

app but I want to know more about what

goes on in the behind the scenes of

launching a product like what are like

the steps that go in place and what type

of skill set is required for the people

who are watching this for them to be

doing all of this executing this right

right see what was very evident was that

the problem that we were trying to solve

for was very deep already I mean if you

just look at everything that was

happening in most cities in India right

what are the typical consumer Behavior

either I'm walking towards my door when

I'm on my way to leave for office I walk

towards my door and have an option of

actually picking up a car key or a key

of my my bike if I ride a bike to work

or I'm going to go down stretch my hand

out on the road and hope for an autoa or

a taxi to stop and take me that was the

typical negotiate and negotiate then

right and some cities negotiate if

you're fortunate enough to live in

Bombay at least Bombay they come on on

on meters uh but City like Bangalore you

have to negotiate right uh and you have

to be disappointed because you're going

to have 20 Auto shars that are going to

just pass by and they will not stop or

imag being a woman and imagine being a

woman right so all those problems

already very real so when we kind of

went on the road to doing some research

problem stat are quite evident the

second thing we have to understand was

okay if I to solve the problem statement

what is really our competitor is a true

competitor another cap company but

that's actually a very shallow

competitor right if you think about it

even today 2024 when uh mobile apps like

blue smart olabs Uber and many other

that are exist today Rapido all of them

are currently in the ecosystem all of

them combined put together still account

for less than 1% of all trips in the

city insane right just imagine the

number of people commuting every single

day they're either going by buses

they're going by trains they're going by

their own cars or their own bikes and

taking Uber olola rapid Etc all these

mobile apps combined still account for

less than 1% of all trips in the day

right that happen in every city so the

problem was very large very deep um and

the consumer was looking for a solution

always there just wasn't any so what we

did was we did a lot of consumer study

understanding exactly the point of time

they're going to be using it we said

what's the first use case we have to

solve for what can be the use case that

can just make it really easy for someone

to try Uber for the first time and we

realized the first time that cannot be

actually going to work the reason for

that was because you're already running

Against Time right and at that point in

time introducing a new product in your

head was going to be hard so we said hey

what's another use case we can look at

and we realized when we were traveling

around Bangalore and we were doing this

you know for the entire week looking at

consumers all across the city we like

hey Friday night and Saturday night when

people are just leaving bars is when

they're scrambling to get an autoa and

they were not getting any it's late

night already there's dir of Auto Ras on

the road you're negotiating the charging

really high prices and at that point

time you don't have a car to drive so we

said why don't we attack that use case

first where we go after a bar night and

we address that first so what we did was

we actually went out to all the bars in

the city and we told all the people out

there at the bar saying hey you're going

back home today just try this new app

download the app called Uber here's a

free ride on us and try to go back home

this was Gorilla Marketing like going to

people EXA right so we went to uh all

the popular bars in the city and we told

them hey free ride on us go take it home

and what that did was they're like w

this is magical MH I download an app I

press a button the car just shows up and

I safely get back home no negotiating

with an autoa driver and now what

happens the next day I wake up in the

morning and it's since Monday morning

after to go to work I think about hey

this is what I did on Saturday night let

me try this again and then use starts

multiplying and now I start using that

to go for grocery shopping I go that for

other use cases I go to work and I go to

meet a friend I go for bar nights and

the number of frequency that he use the

app for increases substantially so we

did that which is the consumer study the

other thing that we did was pricing

right we had to make sure that our

pricing was not substantially higher

right otherwise obviously you have

consumers who are very price sensitive

in the country but we also had to make

sure that both sides of the marketplace

the drivers also make enough money and

the Riders also paying a fair price for

it so we worked a lot on pricing

strategies as well and we introduced

something which was very new at that

point of time we introduced something

that was pricing based on both per

kilometer and by time because you also

had an instance in the city where 2 kilm

can take you two hours especially in

Bangalore especially in Bangalore right

so we introduced both price and uh sorry

time and distance based pricing as well

that was new for consumers but made the

pricing very fair as well uh so we did a

lot of pricing study and of course we

tested the app thoroughly as well so a

lot of product testing happened our

Engineers had to be on the ground really

understand the network that will be

required the bandw that be required for

the application in fact in India was the

first time we also launched the Uber

light app uh this is very early back

then uh there was still a very large

number of Android phones the Apple

ecosystem had not exactly and the old OS

uh the OS and and network was still 3G

for most many had not migrated to 4G at

that point of time so you also had to

build an Uber light app which wasn't the

case in the United States right they

already had 4G and advanced phones and

in fact the Apple ecosystem was much

larger in the US and India was more

Android so we also had to introduce the

Uber light app the other Innovation we

had to do was in the US completely

cashless while we started cash lless out

here we soon realized that consumers

need to pay cash as well so we also

credit C people who have because the

credit card population the country is

only 2% only 2% of an entire country

actually owns a credit card so we could

not rely only on credit cards a payment

instrument if we had to go bigger and

the last thing we did was so this is all

the thing that went behind the scenes of

launching the product the last thing we

did was what's the first product we're

going to go live with that can create

buzz in the city and the director that

we had from Travis himself was you have

zero marketing budget right figure out a

way that everyone in the city is going

to talk about Uber but you not have a

single dollar to spend and we like how

are we going to do that and what we did

was we like hey we have uh competitors

like Mega meu Ola at that point in time

all work providing Swift desires and

eos's and hatchbacks and you had the

auto Reas we said why don't we actually

offer luxury cars instead the black the

black right so we launched Uber black

first and we actually had Mercedes

Jaguars and BMWs on the road uh and the

reason for that was not because that was

a great product to have it's actually

not sustainable at all I mean the entire

city of Bangalore has about 50 yellow

plated luxury cars so you're not going

to serve the city with 50 cars anyways

you need thousands and thousands in fact

today when I last left Uber uh I'm not

sure the numbers today are but back in

2019 we had over 30,000 Uber cabs in

Bangalore alone MH so 50 we not going to

cut it but it just created the marketing

Buzz that we required initially by

launching with with Mercedes and and and

BMWs and everyone's in the city start

talking about Uber and then we launched

the sedans and the hatchbacks after that

very interesting now when you were

working at Uber this is a worldclass

product so you must be having some

amazing people working on it what type

of skill sets Did You observe that these

people have you just mentioned Skilling

and Engineering was required what other

skill sets did you notice these people

had which separated them and made them

the top 1% of the country sure um I

think I would say break into three parts

I think first part was a very very deep

understanding of the problem statement

right uh deep passion to solve the

problem and a deep understanding of the

problem statement itself that was really

important so understanding exactly how

rides happen how they initiate from

point A to point B what are all the

different things that happen from a user

opening the app looking for a car how

the dispatch has to happen from the

point the rider is to the nearest driver

the pickup has to happen the ride has to

happen theop has to happen and the

payment has to happen that was number

one number two really strong data

analytics skill right data science was

absolutely the most valued skill at Uber

at that point of time right everything

that we did was driven by metrics and if

you just think about the number of

databases that you hit with every single

trip that happens you hit the driver

database for every driver that gets a

ride the rider database that has to be

hit a trip database that has to be H

about the trip that happened cuz there

are trip rated metrics the distance the

time it took the price you know how many

times it's stopped in the on the way and

so and so forth right you have to look

at Maps right you have to look at the

transactions that happen uh and the

frequency that happen so number of

databases that get hit and the amount of

data that you get of every single trip

now multiply that by the millions of

users thousands of drivers and the

number of combination of trips that are

happening in the city across all

different products whether it's Uber go

or Uber premium or Uber green and Uber

commute and Uber Auto you just combine

all those the complexity of dat data

that's going behind the scenes you're

capturing millions and millions of data

sets per second so you have to have

really really strong data engineering

right that was really really valued uh

and the third thing that was really

important was understanding um

algorithms and that was not just for the

engineers even the people who join the

business team have to understand how the

algorithms work what is the most optimal

way for a dispatch to work in your city

is the most optimal dispatch is the

nearest driver or is the driver that's

on a particular of the road or is it

that if you're in a particular area give

the dispatch to multiple drivers and see

which one picks there was so many real

time decisions that have to be made

along with Dynamic pricing you must have

heard of search pricing or dynamic

pricing as well right so you have to

also understand the economics of how it

works in the city as well so you're

constantly working with algorithms and

every single person that joined the Uber

team whether you're an engineer or a

business leader had to go through an

analytical exercise that you had to

crack before you join the team as well

very cool so so while you just mentioned

all these skills I just was looking at

back my college time realized that I

wasn't really learning any of these I

was learning about what how how does the

brain really work biology in the first

year of college and then I went on to

learn about electrical engineering but

then never really focused on this

segment data engineering and then

understanding about how data yeah

exactly so I was never really taught

about this why do you think this happens

and how can a fresher who's watching

this video right now now prepare

themselves for this because I think this

is the biggest opportunity today all the

products that are being launched be it

blinket zto and and so many other

products this is where they can make the

most amount of money and have a great

impact in India so how can they prepare

themselves for this role particular sure

isan that's the reason why I'm here

today at scal of schow Technology right

we're shooting this podcast on campus

today and the reason why I'm here as

well is exactly this I'm an engineer

myself I spent four years doing

engineering uh in Mumbai and there's a

fundamental Gap in the education system

quite honestly right our educ education

system has not transformed itself for

decades unfortunately the curriculum

that we teach even the top tier

engineering colleges in the country I'm

talking about in the I and triple it for

that matter the curriculum still happens

to be very traditional and outdated and

what we're teaching our students versus

what the industry requires when we spoke

about these apps like zepto blinket uber

Etc the New Age Technology apps that are

fundamentally transforming businesses

across all segments there's a massive

Gap right imagine 25% of your entire

fore engineering program which means the

first year you learning things that are

not even relevant to computer science

now if computer science is a field that

you're interested in as a first year as

a student that wants to do engineering

and rightly so because computer science

is the fastest growing field today um

where the opportunities that uh students

have when they graduate are probably the

largest uh and most rewarding as well

you have a curriculum where the first

year your still learning biology physics

chemistry engineering drawing mechanical

filing things that actually have no

relevance AutoCAD AutoCAD right things

that have no relevance to what you're

going to be doing when you join

companies like zepto and blinket and

your aspiration is to build a zepto

yourself build a blinket yourself or

work in such fastpaced growing companies

in the in the world uh but here you're

stuck doing things which are not

irrelevant even as you graduate to the

next year or the second year of college

I've seen unfortunately traditional

colleges still conduct coding exams on a

piece of paper I mean and but that's the

dark reality of the education system

today yeah right you have over 5,000

engineering colleges in the country and

you have a uh ratio of only one out of

10 engineering graduates actually being

employable not employed employable right

right which means they don't have the

skill sets nine out of 10 don't have the

skill sets required to actually work in

companies like zepto blinket Flipkart

zomato and so and so forth uh there's a

massive Gap out there which is why

reason I'm here as well so when when I

see what I did at Uber and the skill

sets people had when they joined Uber

and I compare that to what I was taught

or comparing that to freshers today or

even fouryear graduates today from top

colleges they lack that they're not

taught that in school which is why we

actually went ahead and ideated on

creating this beautiful University that

we are at right now which is Scala

School of Technology to incorporate all

our learnings of what it takes to work

in a top tech product company like uber

zomato Etc Microsoft of Google for that

matter and apply all those into a

program that maintains the rigor of a

traditional program but brings in a lot

of practical learning that is really

important in this day and age if you

want to work with these companies so you

left 2019 Uber and then you built what

you're building right now so after 2019

Uber I did work in an ettech company um

I built my own startup called DIY how

was that experience like uh it was eye

opening quite honestly you know but at

Uber I was on the business side of the

pro of of the um you know of uber and I

had an engineering team working out of

San Francisco and also out of Hyderabad

and Bangalore that was building this

beautiful product and my job was to make

sure I get a lot of drivers a lot of

riders that use the application every

single day and we grew our Revenue so I

was in the revenue side of the business

um when I went to DIY I had to build the

product myself right so I had to start

engineering the product myself uh think

through product design think through the

softwares that we going to be using the

layers that we going to have the

database that we going to use as well

are we going to build some react are we

going to build this on uh you know on

flutter or which Tech stack we're going

to be using to to build this lot of

engine decisions had been made for

myself so it was it was amazing learning

for me to build the product and also

then look at the user and how they're

using it as well um DIY did pretty well

we did have a library of over 5,000

videos uh 170 plus skills that kids

across the world were using we had users

from over 170 countries uh we won

multiple Awards like for example we won

the kid screen award for the best

website and the best learning app for

kids in that category um but we did

struggle a little bit with product

Market fit at different parts of the

world but we did do really well in

United States and Canada specifically

and what type of skills were required

for you to build something like this I

think a really strong combination of

again consumer preferences understanding

how consumer Behavior works the business

part of it understanding Tech stack and

making those decisions on what stack to

use and what are the uh pros and cons

and implication of each as a product

skills was important data one of the

most underestimated skills I think that

we don't teach in tradtional colleges is

data engineering and data science and I

think data analytics and uh is is just

extremely extremely important and some

something that we teach right in the

first year of our program at SST is is

DSA uh just because of how critical that

program is and that that course is uh

for every single job you're going to do

in a product based company um so so that

was DIY and then when I was building DIY

I got in touch with our amazing folks

that are building Scala which is anuman

and ABI Manu um and we spoke about

building this offline university called

scal SC technology and we said hey we're

going to fundamentally reshape

engineering education in the country

yeah I got to meet him last year you did

okay great amazing folks and I sat down

with them and I learned about their

vision of building this institution and

I'm like I've been there I've been there

where I've gone through four years where

those four years were not the most

productive I did my be or equal to a

btech all I got College uh I did from

University of Mumbai oh and uh I'm like

all I got is a piece of paper but the

piece of paper meant I degree but no

skills and was I employable no right uh

I learned a job with atos origin at that

point of time which was an IT services

company but was I qualified to even get

shortlisted for a product based company

like a Facebook Google Microsoft

absolutely not so you had like a typical

projectory like of someone who through

the IAT didn't even get into an I then

went to the typical degree and to

absolutely typical typical one and when

I got in touch with these guys and

they're like we're going to fundament

reshape the education system in the

country especially when it comes to

computer science I'm like let's talk

more this this is absolutely required in

the country and we need to work on this

together to do this so I have observed

that in the traditional education for

computer science right they only teach

the science part of it a lot more and

less the software development part of it

right so for example I had the senior at

my college called mayh MH if you're

watching this video in based in

Bangalore he's building his own startup

so he was very hellbent on building

websites that's all that he knew he

probably probably did not get the best

scores in like algorithms and like data

structures and like commerative coding

but he was very good at building

websites and launching those so I feel

like and that skill helped him build his

own startup as well why do you think

this happens like the traditional

education system the they only teach you

the science part of computer science but

not the applied part of it in which

you're actually building you're

launching you looking at all the user

retention and then working towards

building it into a worldcast product I

think it's a problem with the attitude

um they're stuck in this idea of theory

and cracking exams and if I crack exams

that I score well I get my degree so

that's all they're going for right what

they're not solving for is the skills

itself and what is actually going to be

applied in the industry um this thought

process that if I belong to a top tier

college and if I just get through my

four years I could be bunking college

for four four months of the six month uh

semester that I have I just study and I

crack my exams and I make it to next

semester and so and so forth and I

graduate I get my piece of paper in my

hand I'm

done that thought process itself is the

biggest problem right and this is why

the stats are so terrible right if I

just talk about again 1 out of 10

employable not even employed that should

be alarming for us as a country and

again we're a country that takes pride

in our engineers and the fact that we

export so much talent to around the

world we ourselves are producing Talent

which is not employable in the first

place uh fundamentally changing that and

that's what we do at SST also from day

one you're taught webdev you have to

start building your own websites and

which is why if I just look at some of

the accomplishments of our students just

in the first year of their college mind

you this is 202 24 July that we are at

right now our program started July last

year for our first batch of 2023 within

the first year of the program we have

students who learned web dev already

they learned data science already

they've already have competed in coding

competitions like the ICPC which is the

Olympics of coding they' cracked ICPC

and qualified for regionals typically

done in third or fourth year of

engineering colleges in top tier

colleges within the first year they

already qualified for regionals we have

students who contributed to projects

with the government of India if you

heard the bhashani project which is

using artificial intelligence for

language translation languages and all

right our students have contributed

which is life and being used by users

today right uh to the to the project of

bashini as well we worked on projects

with Urban company and Zolo we actually

used for for example Urban company we

used the Vision Pro where you can

actually visualize the wallpaper on the

wall I just got to try it in Singapore

exactly right our drone Club on campus

has actually built a drone

right from scratch that can actually fly

around the campus and detect fires and

then go and address the fire and uh

diffuse it right so these are

firefighting drones that are first

students have already um worked upon our

students are already competing in

hackathons and winning hackathons in

fact one of our teams parts from the

space hackathon and came first wow again

they're competing with students who

belong to second year third year fourth

year colleges right and these are first

year students that are cracking such

competitions uh we have students within

the first year of the engineering have

already cracked internships with top

tech companies we can talk a little bit

more about that as we go forward in the

segment but they already cracking

internships tell me which college will

you crack an internship in the first

year in a top tech company that's insane

right and this is no rocket science all

we've done is fundamentally changed the

curriculum to how it's required to be

for the modern times give me examples of

how is it different what does it look

like really I mean you firstly Focus

only and only on computer science you

only teach subjects that are relevant to

the program of computer science and what

you need to learn from the industry

number one is that right so we take away

all the jogon that's not required you

don't learn chemistry you don't learn

physics you don't do biology you don't

do engineering drawing or mechanical

filing AutoCAD none of this required so

when you take away all that noise you're

focusing on subjects that matter we

teach you web dev and you know data

science from the first year itself as an

example um we make you participate in

hackathons and coding competitions we

Source projects from from real companies

real projects that you work on so you

also get practical experience of what

you learn in classroom and applying that

to the real world so when you actually

graduate you're not surprised what

happens typically for an engineering

graduate today when they graduate the

massive gap between them graduating and

joining a company and when they reach a

company they just lost like where am I

what am I supposed to do now and that's

why companies have to invest 6 months

and now training this graduate again on

the job so they're ready for the job in

the first place huge liability imagine

that you already went through a

four-year course where you've learned

nothing at all now 6 months the

company's resource are being spent to

teach you so you can actually be

productive on the job itself uh so we do

company Source projects we have this

amazing place that we are at right now

called The Innovation lab where students

get to work on their own ideas in fact

two students on our program on in our

first year program have already launched

their own startup the app is live on

Play Store and the App Store and it's

already generating Revenue oh wow right

um so we also encourage entrepreneurship

and then what we do is all our students

how do you do that so in the Innovation

lab what we do is our students who have

ideas they pitch the ideas to us we help

them refine the ideas then they get to

work in the Innovation lab whether they

want to work in the Drone lab if it's a

drone based idea robotics lab it's a

robotics B idea they can work on the a

ml lab if it's something to do with that

or if they want to just incubate

building a new application or a software

or a mobile app and our team we have

people like Naman Bala X Google right we

have Sai we have of course anuman and

ABI Manu whove built Facebook Messenger

working directly with Mark Zak at

Facebook AB Manu who worked at fab.com

very prolific engineers and Business

Leaders guide you Mentor you every

single day every single student also has

a mentor from the industry so they can

get mentorship from people who are

currently working at Google Microsoft

Amazon Etc that guide them every single

day as well and we also bring in

Industry leaders that come on campus and

do fir side chats or provide mentorship

to our students on an ongoing basis for

example we had the co-founder of Duan

subash Chri come down

talk to our students we had AJ Gore who

is the CT ex CTO of goek the largest

tech company in Indonesia and Southeast

Asia come down and talk to our students

Rajan anandan right who was earlier the

the person the man behind the scenes for

Google and Microsoft in India and

currently the Venture Capital leader at

Serge Ventures uh seoa or now Peak 15 uh

these are just some names among the many

amod malva sir amod Mala sir he's the

co-founder of Udan he was the ex CTO of

Flipkart he conducted lectures year on

campus and this just first year imagine

I mean imagine getting a chance to learn

from a tech co-founder of a unicorn

company who's coming giving lectures to

you in the first year itself so when you

have such amount of exposure right and

so much of mentorship being provided on

real world application building students

are bound to do amazing work and that's

when in the first itself you see

students who are doing absolutely

incredible work that you can't even

imagine sometime in some colleges even

happened the fourth year or the fifth

year of the of the college yeah what

does the whole degree look like give me

a more light about that yeah so we know

we get this question a lot that uh why

are you offering a BSC and not a btech

um you know that's a stigma I want to

talk about it Sean honestly I got a be I

know many people have spoken to have got

a bch in the past as well I was about to

get a be then I dropped out okay right

um and honestly that's a stigma because

if you're just solving for a piece of

paper like I mentioned earlier and no

skills um go for a bch but you're likely

not going to land up anything

extraordinary at a product based company

right um we also had a choice to offer

btech as a institution when we were

working on this uh a couple of years ago

we had this proposals in front of us

saying hey what degree should we offer

bch also was an option for us but

problem is with bch there are

fundamental regulatory block blocks that

restrict you from providing the kind of

curriculum that we provide here and the

skills that we can impart here and the

flexibility that we can provide to our

students to specialize in different

areas they want to work on industry

projects get the kind of mentorship

allow for a one-ear paid internship as

part of the program as well all of that

can't happen so when we looked at the

degree structures our fundamental thesis

was we have to solve for two things one

was make sure that our students when

they graduate have the option for all

the possibilities in the future for

example if they want to take the gate

and do the mtech they can go ahead with

the BC with honors and still take the

gate if they want to take a cat do an

MBA they can do that as well they want

to take another master's degree in the

future they can they want to go abroad

and apply for a Visa they can do that as

well they want to go for a PhD abroad

they can do that as well they want to

immigrate abroad for a job they should

do that as well or get jobs here in the

top tech companies they should do that

as well we looked at all the websites

and spoke to leaders at companies like

uber Google Microsoft IBM Amazon just

look at all the job descriptions from

all these companies on LinkedIn on the

website none of them mention that I need

a btech degree only so when we like okay

if all the possibilities are open which

means they can graduate and do whatever

they want to do in further studies or

work with any company that we desire for

them to work at or they desire to work

at as well and the second thing is

allowing us the flexibility to create a

curriculum that is deeply rooted in

Practical learning which allows them to

learn the skills really really well that

lands them the best outcome possible

with some of these top tech companies

that was actually a BC degree can you

name like three to five skills which are

really important for a fresher who

watching to get to succeed sure um I

would say there soft skills in their

hard skills right I think when it comes

to hard skills I think data science um

and and algorithm I think is really

really important so DS is really

important webd is really important of

course so full stack learning backend

front end systems engineering is really

important I would say those are the hard

skills which are very critical when it

comes to computer science I think comes

to soft skills really really important

to have the attitude that you're

learning to build right you're not

learning to crack exams if your attitude

is only that I'm going to pass an exam

going to get a cgpa score and I'm done

that's not going to cut it right um so

attitude of of learning to build really

important the other one is understanding

how problem statements work in the first

place in fact this part of problem

statements the reason I emphasize so

much upon this is because this was my

experience interviewing graduates also

when I was at Uber I to interview a lot

of engineering graduates and my biggest

issue with them was they not understand

the problem statement itself so if I

present a problem to them and say give

me an answer the biggest issue was not

the fact that they could not reach the

answer they were just stuck in the loop

of what this problem really means they

could not decod the problem statement

itself they couldn't break it down into

pie they could not break it down into

pieces because that's not taught in

college right you're not taught that at

all uh so I think just understanding how

to break a problem statement down how to

solve for that is really important and

and last Innovation like constantly

thinking of creative ideas being

creative questioning being curious is

really important as well so one thing I

wanted to know more about is it must be

really challenging right you are

competing with colleges which have tens

and tens of Years of Legacy and how do

the parents react when when they come

across the idea of scaler School of

Technology and how do you compete with

that well to begin with honestly I I

don't see so much as competition um I

see us as hopefully being the Front

Runners and bringing a

revolution um India Today requires

thousands and thousands of engineering

colleges it's not a winner takes all

market right I'm not building an Uber

again I'm building institution that has

to last decades it's going to outlive me

right and it's going to become a

institution that people are going to

call as a new age Stanford of India

that's what we're trying to build out

here uh so it's a legacy that we're

building and it's going to outlive you

and I when I think of that perspective

and the fact that you have 16 lakh

Engineers graduating every single year

they can't all graduate from just one

Institution so you need thousands what

you need is institutions that constantly

innovate bring in more forward-looking

curriculum that's more in line with the

industry bring in transformation I'm

hoping that we become the Front Runners

in that and that as a result Legacy

institutions that unfortunately not

adapting to The Changing Times take

inspiration from us and also make

changes to their curriculum I would be

really happy tomorrow if an IIT

replicated a curriculum of SST and and

offered that to the students out there

as well which would be great cuz we

doing this for the country right India

needs this and our future Engineers need

this we are just playing a small role in

that I can graduate today a few hundred

maybe tomorrow a few thousand but we

need millions of high quality Stanford

quality engineers in the country because

software is all around us and the future

business every single business a tech

business so you're going to require

millions of software Engineers to work

on that which means collectively as an

ecosystem we have to work on

transforming the education we just want

to be the Front Runners and I think

today we are this this is the problem

why India doesn't have a Google or a

Facebook absolutely so it's only infosis

and V yeah and if I start looking them

as competition honestly then I'm going

to be very myopic in just constantly

keeping this information to myself and

hopefully get a few hundred students

that graduate but that's not going to

cut it for the country either mhh how do

you allow for opportunities for for

students because uh when I was in second

year right so there's this program that

happens in my college in which you have

to pay the college to get access to a

unpaid internship no ways yeah and uh

they call it practice school and uh

because of that everyone pays for that

two-month internship and they do a free

internship they don't get paid for that

I was able to cut the I was

like this does not make any sense and I

was like I'm not going to sign up for

this and and the way they build it is

that if you do not say yes to that

unpaid internship you don't get the

actual internship after fourth in the

fourth year for months long so there's a

huge problem with people in which they

either get like shitty internships or

the one that they want to get into they

are not able to access so how do you

make sure that people who are studying

in this program at school scaler School

of Technology they get the best

opportunities yeah sure I actually break

this into two parts right what do a what

does someone require when they coming to

an institution to actually get the best

outcome they need to build their profile

and they need to have access what is

required to build a profile you need a

very good curriculum which is what we

offer here at SST you need to make sure

you're working on Innovative projects

either you work in the Innovation lab on

your own projects or you work on company

Source projects right you work on

practical projects as part of the

curriculum itself all that helps you

build a profile you're obviously

learning the latest skills in the

classroom as well um your profile

becomes stronger and stronger so what's

happening is that your resume is now

standing up right and it's it's cutting

the crowd among thousands of rumes my

resume stands out because I've among all

the other first year students I've got

the latest skills I've got projects I've

worked on which no one else has I've

worked on Project the government or the

companies like Urban companies Zolo Etc

that no one has worked at I've got

mentorship from people from the industry

and exposure to people like subash Chri

and you know Ajay Gore and Rajan and

many others that no one else has so my

profile stands out what do I need now

access I either need access to Industry

leaders which basically means I have

access to people like subash Chri from

dukkan and many other

who are building top tech companies or

whether it's dender from zamato or

you know bny bunel from flip cart this

is what the ecosystem at SST looks like

we have people like these who are coming

on campus and talking to our students

you have access to Industry leaders or

you have access to companies name one

college in the country that has access

to over 1,200 employment Partners in

India and globally a typical placement

cell in any college will work with about

100 200 companies that's a typically

three four member placement cell and why

are they able to get get to this number

well one because they don't have the

share volume of students they work with

we have when we combine all our programs

of scaler Academy where we have 40,000

Learners that have been graduating from

the academy program we have scaler

School of Technology as well we have

scaler data science and machine learning

program we basically have already worked

with over

1,200 employment Partners along with

that because these employment Partners

have already laid their trust on scaler

because of the kind of curriculum and

the graduates we've given them right so

they're like hey all graduates come out

of scaler are performing really well

they didn't really a company want to

hire more from there in fact if you look

at 2022 Amazon hired more scaler

graduates from Academy program then all

the IIT is combined right so they're not

only hiring from scaler they're hiring

from scal in bulk so now a student has a

great profile and access to Industry

leaders and 1200 plus employment

Partners I mean that ecosystem doesn't

exist in any college today yeah and this

is why our first year

students um I'm talking about just a

very recent start 19 students of our

first year students and we have about

200 students in our first year program

so far who've joined in 2023 about 10%

of them have already been hired by Duan

for internship within the first year of

the program this is for what role uh

this computer science right this is

always software engineering so this is a

uh internship program for for Duan um

the fact that Duan even agreed to come

on campus they typically don't go to

anyone who's not in third year fourth

year they are interviewing of first year

students

and then they made offers and 19 of our

students secured internships within the

first year we have six of our students

who qualified for interviews at Google

Now mind you I mean the interviews are

still going on and I'm pretty confident

that a couple of our students will end

up getting a Google internship as well

but in first year imagine in first year

six of our students already been

shortlisted for an interview at Google

that by itself is a big milestone and

I'm pretty confident one or two of them

are actually going to qualify and make

the internship as well results will come

out soon but within first year their

profile has become so strong and there

have such strong access that they're

already cracking amazing internships

across the country very interesting how

does the the tuition fee look like and

how do you make sure that access is for

everyone yeah yeah so our total tuition

fee is approximately 22 lakhs over a

4-year period this includes everything

this includes your tuition fee as well

as your accommodation and your mess fee

as well all included together

approximately 22 laks is what you end up

paying depending on the uh accommodation

type that you go after whether you go

after Double sharing which means two in

one room or triple sharing or three in

one room so you provide hostels as well

yeah we have an hostel as well which is

not too far from the campus it's walking

distance from our main campus which is

where we are right now uh main campus is

where all the classrooms happen The

Innovation lab is the cafeteria is we

have a Turf outside where students can

play Etc and the micro campus is where

the hostel is where there's also reading

Loom Library the mess uh and also spaces

for them to study as well as stay as

well uh so all combined between 2 22 and

23 lakhs depending on the kind of

accommodation they go after however we

understand that for some students this

could be a pretty large number uh while

we believe this is important for us to

charge as a fee because we want to

provide the highest qu of Education

remember even our teachers our

professors our instructors who come our

mentors who come on campus are people

who are from the industry right these

are director of engineerings or VP of

engineerings or senior Engineers from

Top tech companies that come and teach

here so these are instructors also from

industry they're coming and teach

teaching here so very high quality

instructors that obviously demand us to

also charge a fee that's providing us

you know this high quality experience

for our students as well Mak sense that

Vision Pro don't come cheap Vision Pro

don't come cheap this Innovation lab

don't go cheap right so you to make sure

we provide experience which is

unparalled we have to charge a fee that

also is to some extent manageable for us

as well uh but what we do is we provide

scholarships so if students come from

worthy backgrounds uh we do provide

scholarships that range anywhere between

10% to 100% of the entire tution fee uh

we look at several parameters for these

scholarships we look at their academics

of what they scored in their 10th and

12th we look at if they've actually won

any olympiads um or participated in any

big you know coding competitions uh we

look at their score in our Entrance Test

which is the endet uh or any other

competitive exams they may have taken

across the country we look at that as

well we look at any other

extracurricular achievements they may

have uh and we also look at their family

income and their financial background

all put together we have a objective

scoring that we look at for our

scholarship framework and basis that we

also award scholarships that like I said

range from between 10% to 100% the

scholarship also comes from our impact

foundation so we actually have something

called scaler impact Foundation where we

are contributors also from the industry

so for example one of the contributors

out there is uh patm Foundation vij

shakar Sharma I mean one of the largest

tech companies in the country PM is also

a contributor at the scale impact

Foundation we have people like prasana

Sankar Who is the co-founder of ripling

ripling is now a $15 billion company in

the Silicon Valley in fact prasna

Shankar came down last year to speak to

our students during a commencement day

he's a contributor um in the program as

well we also have bavan turaka who's the

co-founder of Zeta Titan radic a

billionaire himself also actively

working with us in improving the program

and a contributor in the impact

foundation so all our scholarships are

given from that additionally to ensure

that we are rewarding bright minds and

making it more affordable able for them

to join this program we also recently

committed 15 crores uh to anyone who is

in the top 100 of the Indian national

mathematics and informatics Olympiad uh

so if you're within that which means

you're a really bright mind in the

country we want to make sure that the

financial reasons doesn't block you from

joining a program so we do offer

scholarships that help and for those who

don't qualify for scholarships or Beyond

scholarship require more financial

assistance we also have Partnerships

with uh Banks and nbfcs uh where we

offer different kind of you know

financing products to help them pay off

for their loan CU what we're confident

of is that when they come here the

education they going to receive over the

four years and the skills they're going

to gain internship they're going to have

where they're going to get paid during

the internship like they did you know

example of these 19 students who going

to get paid from the con for about a

year of internship that they're going to

do and these are all paid internships

paid internships right and then they're

going to graduate and land outstanding

opportunities with product based

companies like the ones I mentioned

earlier uh um the

ROI for these students is going to be

really high right so when I multiply

that over a 5 10 year Journey right the

investment they're making over four

years actually pays off very handsomely

for them uh at this institution so we

make sure that we don't compromise on

the quality keeping the fee that we do

provide them with scholarship and

financing options and then an outcome

that easily pays off for the program as

well this all is very fascinating now I

want to close it off by talking about

your vision for India and the T

right like there was some stat which

said that the India's biggest export is

actually its Talent yes people who

actually go out provide all the talent

that they have right so what do you

think India can become and what are you

working

towards um see India is going to become

a Powerhouse I mean you're talking about

a country that's already on track uh to

become I mean we have laid our vision to

become A1 trillion economy right uh over

the coming decades and I think we're on

track to do that but to the biggest Del

between where we are today approximately

3 trillion in economy to becoming a $10

trillion economy is going to be Talent

right if we ensure that our education

system nurtures the right Talent across

all segments computer science is one of

them whether it's business or different

types of engineering programs or um you

know Commerce and any others for that

matter computer science is going to play

a significant role and the talent that

we create is going to play a significant

role in Delta between a $3 trillion

economy and a $1 trillion economy so for

India to become a global Powerhouse we

have to nurture Talent we will continue

being a talent exporter that will not

stop and that's something we should take

pride in right I don't foresee a

scenario where like hey no one should

leave the country just come and build in

the country no that's okay go out in the

world ultimately what you're doing is

you're making a nation proud right we

are producing the Sund p and the Satya

Nas of the world and we're hoping some

of them come from this institution also

let them go abroad let them you know do

amazing stuff uh for the world for that

matter but for India specifically it is

really important that the stat of 16 LH

Engineers graduating but only 10% of

them actually being employable has to

change dramatically our talent

Powerhouse has to be really really

strong for us to take this from the

economy that we are to the economy we

want to become um and I think we are on

track to do that if we have more and

more such institutions coming up in the

country uh that follow this General

ethos of skills over degree as long as

we do that as long as we break the

stigma that all I want is a piece of

paper but actually no I want actually

build the the right product I mean you

have engineering graduates in the US

that have done so well being dropouts

they don't have a piece of paper what

they had was the attitude and the skills

required to build that company that's

all I talk about on my channel skills

over degree yeah on a side note I want

to talk to you about Travis and what did

you observe about him like he is an

anomaly founder he builted and he got

oued yes what is different about him she

intensity of attacking a single problem

statement what what I've not seen with a

lot of Founders and what Travis did uh

is

focus uh lot of Founders get very easily

defocused on saying have reached a

certain level now I start doing many

things together right and they start

defocusing thinking that the problem

statement that they had has already been

solved and it's not big anymore right

this would happen the same with with

Uber as well if Uber felt that the

competition was only another right

sharing company if Uber fell the

comption only Ola and mean meu we could

have just been complacent by now and and

and and you know sitting and maybe

trying to do 10 different things Uber

continues to do only one thing and one

thing only in India right now which is

right sharing and his laser focused on

just becoming better and better at that

every single day the intensity of

solving one deep problem and what did I

tell you earlier all the apps combined

account for less than 1% of trips in the

country which means the problem

statement is just so large the depth of

the market so what he was really good at

is picking a problem statement that is

enormous right food delivery and right

sharing combined together are extremely

large problems I mean just but but why

didn't Uber Eats work in India um I

wouldn't say didn't work what what did

not work for us is the timing U mind you

in 2018 Uber was already preparing to go

IPO and in May 2019 we went IPO post IPO

you had tremendous pressure to offload

all those businesses that require

Investments right uh I would not say

non-performing assets that require quite

significant further Investments to keep

growing and you had local competitors

like swiy and zamato that were raising

large funding to grow the business here

locally as well now if we are to stay

competitive in the country and grow the

business along with them and create the

category along with them we have to

invest significant amount of money and

post IPO the pressure was too much from

investors to allocate those many dollars

and as a result it was more prudent for

us to partner with zomato and then zato

acquired uberit rather than investing

the billions of dollars required uh to

grow the business AIO so it was more to

do with our timing and our Global

Outlook rather than I think suggesting

that didn't work in India yeah why do

you think there's like a Dooly Market

everywhere like it's it's Ola and Uber

it's zato and swiggy it's yeah I mean

it's quicker and you know uh OLX and uh

Amazon and flip cart why why does this

happen it's just most Marketplace

businesses work on liquidity right you

have to constantly manage supply and

demand um and you know in case of food

deliver you have to manage three sides

of the marketplace you have delivery

Partners you have customers and

restaurant Partners comes to right

sharing your drivers and Riders you know

and so and so forth uh sellers and

buyers in case of uh Flipkart and Amazon

any Marketplace that requires um

balancing Supply demand constantly you

have to make sure that both grow

simultaneously which means you have to

keep investing in both to keep growing

it and hence the number of dollars

required to grow the business is very

large you can't have a lot of drivers

and very few Riders it won't grow the

vice versa also won't work right which

mean keep investing on both sides of the

marketplace for it to grow that's what

happens with Amazon and flip cart you

keep investing in sellers also and

consumers also when that happens very

few are able to build a product that can

sustain the amount of investment require

both of the marketplace to grow and

hence you eventually in almost all parts

of the world there's not just an India

thing look at every country and look at

any Marketplace business at best you

have three players mostly two players at

Best three players and eventually two

will succeed and they'll become really

large and have a distant third um and

that's true for every Marketplace

business simply because of dynamics of

how the supply demand matching has to

happen across all sides of the

marketplace fun thank you so much bavik

that was his experience at building

products like uber your experience

building DIY and his focus on building

scaler School of Technology if you want

to know more about scaler School of

Technology check out the link in the

description they have an entrance test

coming up which can also get you some

scholarships so check out the link in

description if you are interested I hope

this was insightful let me know if you

have any questions in the description

below in the com comments below thank

you so much bik my pleas thank talking

to you thank you have a good day thank

you so much for watching as well thanks