Sundar Pichai ceo discussion a story
One of the great things about India is this tremendous interest in education. You know, people talk about it all the time, you know, most parents have sp for this, for their, uh, children. And so I think it's a great foundation we have as a country. Uh, you know, in my experience growing up here, I think there's a lot of emphasis on, you know, spending time on the books and, you know, learning things academically.
I think education needs to evolve and, and change just like with everything else. Yeah. I think, you know, working the real world, I would say, you know, Important to be well-rounded. It's important to, uh, you know, try different things and, you know, take some risks. Uh, you know, I would encourage people to, uh, you know, follow their passions a little bit more.
All the great things about the Indian educational system. I think there's a lot of pressure. To follow set lanes, uh, throughout your, uh, carrier, You know, you're in high school, you're thinking about college. I, I, I get surprised people start preparing for IAT in their eighth grades and, you know, that's, that's a bit shocking to me.
You know, I hope, you know, as people are approaching things, they are really taking the time to doing things and understanding things deeper. Uh, learning by doing things and, uh, you know, I think it's important to remember it's a long road. Setbacks actually don't matter. Uh, you know, I think a lot of times when I was younger, you know, people would say, you know, this person didn't get into this college or something, and that's the end of the road.
I mean, life is so different from that. Uh, keep your hopes, keep your, keep your dreams and try to follow them. And, you know, I think, I think most of how life plays out is up to you, not up to. To what happens, uh, outside of you. And I think it's important to keep that in mind and take the long term view. You know, look, it's remarkable to be at, uh, I a, uh, there are many, many great people who don't make it in.
And you'll see this later in life. People do well from all walks of life. Uh, I think it's important to remember getting into an elite institution doesn't guarantee success. Uh, it matters a lot, but it doesn't guarantee success. And, uh, you know, I think, I think it's important to keep that perspective in life.
And, uh, you know, life's a long road. And, uh, you know, so you want to, you want to take it at the right pace and enjoy what you're doing. You know, I get very surprised people come to IATs and immediately they're thinking about iams and so on. Yeah. You know, I think, I think it's important to get real world experience.
And if you take, uh, the US for example, at a place like Stanford, most students don't choose their majors still. Uh, you know, final year. So people explore different things and, and find what they're really passionate about. So I think those are all, you know, good things to aspire to. Uh, I think, you know, I would like to see, uh, people, you know, people value, creativity, value, experience of doing things, uh, taking risks and, uh, you know, academics is, I.
But it is not as important as a results of made, made out to be had. I stayed the course in graduate school. I probably have a PhD today, which would've made my parents really proud, but I might have missed the opportunity to bring the benefits of technology to so many others, and I suddenly wouldn't be standing here speaking to you as school ceo.
Passion for success
The only thing that got me from there to here other than luck, was a deep passion for technology and an open mind. So take the time to find the thing that excites you more than anything else in the world, not the thing your parents want you to do, or the thing that all your friends are doing. Or that society expects of heat.
Yeah. I, I think that matters a lot. People should be encouraged to take risks a little bit more and, and try different things to find what they like doing. Something I've noticed over time is you will have many, many opportunities to reinvent yourself. And so, uh, you know, so I think. You know, it's worthwhile taking risks and trying to do something you're really, uh, you know, excited by.
And if the first attempt you don't do it, you know, you can try again. And, you know, things tend to work out in the long run. So that's the bar. So anything we try to do, we, we think of it that way. And so we aim high. And, you know, and you want to aim high enough that you fail, uh, you know, a few times. I think that's the natural part of the process.
Uh, in fact, you know, Larry used to say if you aim, if you work on really difficult things, you're better off because you have no competition. Others aren't working on, uh, that difficult problem. And even if you fail, you end up doing something great in the process. And so I think that's the philosophy which has guided us all through these years in Silicon Valley.
How to start a business
You know, uh, you know, part of the reason so many people start up a company is, you know, starting up a company and even having failed, you know, you can wear it like a badge of honor, right? And, uh, and I think that's important, you know, culturally, you know, uh, risk is reward. So it's a culture of optimism.It's a culture of risk taking, and I think that's really important. So this is such an important issue for our company, but also for our country and for a community of entrepreneurs around the world. At Google. Entrepreneurship is in our dna. Google was founded here at Stanford, and the company's first home was in a garage just a couple miles from.
Like many of you in the audience, our founders were two young people with a vision of a better future, a better way, and, and they decided to follow their. You know, when I see entrepreneurs here, uh, they seem no different to me, uh, than, uh, the kind of people I meet in the valley. So intrinsically, I think India can do the same kinds of things.
And the one good thing about India is I think, you know, um, there's always been, you know, whenever in India I used to walk around and go to some remote corner and find a tee stall. Always felt, uh, there, there is an entrepreneur there somewhere. Uh, who saw that opportunity? So I think that streak has always existed.
I think part of the problem is, uh, in India, you know, the, the potential is there and the market is developing. I think it'll take a few more years for it to fully realize the potential and some absolutely confident of it. I think there's a timing issue, but I think, you know, we are growing well as a country.
I ju I, I think we need to. Stay at it, continue doing all these things, and it'll take a few more years and we'll get there. The trendlines are strongly in the favor. I think every year I can see the, the rate of which things are changing. So in about three to four years, you know, I wouldn't be, you know, I'm pretty convinced, at least in a five to 10 year timeframe that there will be big, global, uh, you know, software companies coming out of India and we will be very used to it.
You're the ones building the next Google, the next Spotify, the next Tesla, The next, while we don't even know, but what I know is that someone in this room will bill it one revolutionary. One brilliant invention can unleash other entrepreneurs to revolutionize industries in ways you could never predict.
I remember reading about that and thinking it's the idea that matters. It didn't matter where you come from or what your background is. I felt welcomed and embraced. People didn't care where I came from. Only my ideas and hard work mattered. I'm not alone. I know how much hard work it takes to pursue a dream of building a business.
The long hours time away from family, the rejection, the. The ideas, you know, are brilliant that just don't seem to catch on. There is a great quote from Thomas Edison that does the best job of defining what it's like to be an entrepreneur. I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that don't work.
I see hubs growing all over the world. Germany, Brazil, uk, Israel, China. The latest figures say that 21% of hurdles across 60 countries intend to start a business in the next three years. I'm absolutely convinced that India will be a global player in the digital economy, and it'll be competitive with. Any country in the world.
Uh, so I've always felt that, and I think it's important to follow your dream and do something which you are, uh, you know, excited by. Uh, you know, So I think if you follow your heart and do what you like, you will always do much better. Uh, and so I don't think it matters if you're an engineer or, uh, you're a, you know, you're in science or it could be in any field.
Uh, there are many, many different ways, uh, you know, you can approach things and what matters most. You know, loving what you're doing and uh, and trying to do well at it. So we are all looking to you. The world is counting on you, and we can't wait to see what you build next. Thank you.
