How to Get Lucky in Career? (ft. Kunal Shah)

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Kunal Shah is one of the most well-known and admired product leaders and audacious founders in India. He is the CEO and founder of CRED, an Indian-based fintech startup valued at over $6 billion. Prior to CRED, he founded three other startups, including Freecharge, which he sold for over $400 million to Snapdeal. He has also been an advisor to India’s most influential organizations. In our conversation, we discussed:

• How to seek truth and opportunities.

• Hard truths about our insecurities.

• Potential curve of your career & life.

• Why struggling is important for you.

• Fallacy of Work-Life Balance.

• Why success is not a result of inheritance.

• Powerful lessons from the third-largest economy.

• Investing in startups and products.

• Indian CEOs in Tech.

• Is the world progressing for better or worse?

• Why money and being rich, isn’t what you think it is.

• Advice for young people.

Some key takeaways:

1. How to find life-changing opportunities—Invest in curiosity, understand human behavior, identify inefficiencies, have a betting mindset, be open-minded, and focus on creating value in various forms as a founder and product builder. Approach things with a betting mindset, be open to being proven wrong and focus on creating value in various forms, not just money.

2. Success vs. Inheritance—Success is not inherited but a result of individual struggle. Everyone has a different path to success, with extreme success often coming from a lower starting point and life events playing a significant role in determining the direction and degree of success.

3. Role of Luck—Luck is real. Luck plays a role in success, but it's not the only factor. Hard work, talent, and support from others also contribute to achieving success. You can change this by fighting against your comfort zones and familiarity. “When was the last interesting thing you did?”

4. Truth-seeking—Leaders should actively work to challenge their assumptions. Keeping an open mind and demonstrating the ability to change your beliefs broadens your perspective, leading to faster and better decision-making.

5. Relationship with Money—It is a function of what you’ve not had in life. Money seems important when you don't have it, but it becomes less important as you realize there are other things that matter more in life.

Listen now to the YouTube video today.

Where to find Kunal Shah:

• Kunal Shah’s X: https://twitter.com/kunalb11

• Kunal Shah’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kunalb11/

Where to find more resources:

• ADPList’s Website: https://adplist.org/

• Subscribe to our channel: https://youtube.com/adplist

In this episode, we cover:

(0:00) - Introduction

(1:55) - Kunal's Story to CRED

(7:12) - Seeking truth

(10:03) - "Why"

(11:19) - Inefficiencies

(13:13) - Bet on things

(15:17) - Connecting dots

(19:07) - Power of shame

(21:03) - Luck

(25:49) - Truth about insecurities

(30:07) - Public validation

(32:38) - Love, hate relationship

(33:58) - Success vs. privilege

(38:18) - Curve of potential

(39:36) - Gift of suffering

(41:19) - Parenting

(43:25) - Ambitions vs. work-life balance

(47:08) - Indian CEOs

(49:32) - Important Lessons from India

(52:27) - Curse of capital

(53:36) - How Kunal invests in startups

(56:07) - Hard work

(57:30) - Is the world getting better or worse?

(59:50) - Money

(1:00:56) - Advice to young people

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