697: Ankur Jain | How to Solve Real World Problems

Can you see a world that exists without your product or service in it? If the answer is no, then nothing should stop you from building it. Ankur Jain is the founder and CEO of Kairos HQ, a startup studio aimed at building businesses that make life better and more affordable.

Growing up in an entrepreneurial family in the tech space, Ankur went on to be called the best-connected 21-year old in the world by Inc! Ankur found his calling while working on a project for VIP customers at Tinder, when he became excited about how normal people used the platform and about the potential of tech solutions to majorly impact their lives. Tired of watching Silicon Valley venture capitalists blow money into $700 juicers and moon shots instead of solving the actual, real-world problems; Ankur has dedicated his life to solving them himself.

Do yourself a huge favor - dive into the episode and find out what Ankur’s real world experience has taught him how to solve real world problems. 

Things you will learn in this episode:

[00:01 - 05:21] Opening Segment 

• I introduce today’s guest, Ankur Jain
• Bio
• Ankur give us a bit of his background 
• Family immigrated in search of the American dream
• Growing up entrepreneurial parents starting from nothing
• Son to multi-billionaire tech CEO Naveen Jain

[05:22 - 18:47] How to Solve Real World Problems

• How watching his dad grind led Ankur to creating businesses
• The key is having relentless persistence 
• Inspired Ankur to start in business at age 11
• Encouraged to find creative ways to make money
• Building up creativity to make money from a young age
• Creating business opportunities by solving problems 
• The biggest problems are the biggest opportunities
• You should care about the problem you are solving
• Can you live in a world without your service or product?
• Navigating the world of startups - it’s not easy 
• Your real relationships are your contacts 
• You need to make sure you chase the goals that matter 
• The story behind Alibaba - ‘we don’t pay attention to other people’
• Every great disruption starts from incremental evolutions\
• A word from our sponsor

[19:48 - 31:20] Relentless Persistence is the Path to Success

• Ankur talks about struggling through his startup ventures
• Everything starts out not going according to plan
• The venture into making life more affordable
• Trying to get reward points regulated to become legal for home ownership
• How Ankur’s persistence paid off
• The power that relationships had in Ankur’s success
• You can’t be shy to talk about your idea
• Networking is about real relationships and real value
• Partner with the people that share your passion
• What do you stand for? 

[31:21 - 35:41] Closing Segment 

• Ankur’s advice around time management
• “Most great companies die from indigestion not starvation”
• How to connect with Ankur - links below
• Final words 

Tweetable Quotes: 

“That’s the key to building startups, to building companies. It’s having a vision, but it's relentless persistence… Never accepting no for an answer is what led me to create my first company at 11.” - Ankur Jain

“Love, money and happiness are the three things that if you chase directly, you never find.” - Ankur Jain

“Now that you see in the world with this vision, a world with your product in existence, can you live in a world without it? If the answer is yes, stop wasting your time; and if the answer is no, then nothing should stop you from going out