Founding Story (Dataisgood)

Image caption: Team @dataisgood, scaling out first summit to start our journey of scaling multiple summits

Prologue

I have been doing startups since my first year in college.

I have enjoyed being a bootstrapper and successfully used whatever resources I had to the maximum.

For me, working hard, learning new things, exploring uncharted territory, and building my startup while pursuing my engineering degree was fun. I was also able to clear my exams with an average passing grade every year while running my startup alongside.

But everything changed in my third year of Engineering. The college was not happy with students skipping lectures. They made a rule that every student needs at least 75% minimum attendance to be eligible for appearing in the final exams.

This rule forced me to wind down my college startup, DesignCells and focus on getting the mandatory attendance to appear in the exams.

I struggled in most of the lectures that I attended. I found them to be dull, uninspiring, and boring.

I couldn’t concentrate.

My teachers used to tell me that they feared for my future.

My family was worried.

My friends were concerned.

My college made me feel guilty for skipping lectures. I thought that I was a lousy student.

And I believed that for many, many years.

Fast Forward

Later in my life, I founded multiple startups.

Some of the Startups, I have founded are, #Webatlas, #Contentcloud, #Instablogs(acquired by ValNet), #Betaout (acquired by #Bluecore ) etc.

Raised millions of dollars.

Led large teams of 100-150 people in various startups.

And then I had a realization - I was never afraid to learn new things, master foreign concepts, acquire new skills, or explore unknown vistas. I loved doing all these things.

So, I started questioning myself - how come I have always struggled to complete those small 50-minutes college lectures where our teachers were teaching us new things. At the same time, I could spend hours and hours watching TED videos, taking lengthy online courses, or attending week-long seminars easily.

It was then that it dawned on me that there was nothing wrong with me. The problem was my college’s traditional and authoritative teaching methodologies.

These so-called educational institutions have taken the learning out of education.

Most of the people here take courses only to pass an exam that only measures one’s ability to cram.

This type of education has no place in the modern world. It’s way past its expiry date.

Now the question arises, if not this type of education, then what?

They say - that the most unique and innovative solutions often come from realizing that your concept of the problem was wrong.

So, let’s take a step back and think.

What is the central promise of a college? Why do people spend so much money and so many years of their prime life just for a degree?

They do this because colleges promise them a great career and a lucrative job if they finish college with good grades.

But the truth is, tomorrow’s job requires much more than a set of crammed concepts. It demands creativity, problem-solving, and never-ending enthusiasm for a given subject.

After employing over 500 people from multiple geographies in my various startups, I learned a valuable trait about high performers.

They are not just knowledgeable on a given subject, but they have an undying passion for it. They never get tired of talking about their field. You can feel the love they have for their subjects.

And needless to say, they always excel in their careers, irrespective of their college degrees.

The curriculum and courses crafted by our age-old educational institutions are helpless with this modern-world requirement.

Let’s imagine for a moment.

What if a new type of curriculum goes beyond conventional teaching.

What if the outcome of the courses following this curriculum is to make students not just learn the subject but fall in love with that subject. And this outcome will not only make a student learn but will also become a lifelong passionate learner and explorer of that subject.

This is what we intend to do. This is what DataisGood stands for.

Our vision is to be world’s most student centric organisation, where students realise their true potential and become Industry leaders in Data Science.

And as John Doerr would ask - how do we know that we have reached there. Our mission is to enable 1 million students become Data Science Leaders by the end of 2027.

This is our vision.

This is our dream.

And this is our pledge.