Transcriber: Jim Wang Reviewer: David DeRuwe
All schools have a topper.
There are roughly five million schools across the globe,
and that makes five million of us.
So does topping your school or college really put you in the top 0.1%?
No. This is the same across all fields.
What do people do differently to be at the apex of the competition?
How can I, a 15-year-old stuck between school and tuition,
or a man working a nine-to-five with a monotonous schedule,
look beyond the boundaries and achieve great heights?
I unknowingly discovered the answers to these questions over the last few years.
My journey in technology has been a wild ride,
where I ended up interacting with several unicorn founders,
young achievers, and people who have done extraordinary things all across the globe,
whether it be technology, public speaking, entrepreneurship,
or virtually any other discipline.
There are a few common trends and patterns among all these people.
As a fifth grader, I was always inspired by YouTubers
who would confidently look at the camera and deliver tech reviews.
I decided to start my own YouTube channel where I reviewed numerous gadgets,
all the way from headphones to smartwatches.
Here is where my journey started.
I was always curious about what went inside these gadgets
and how I could make an ideal one myself.
This curiosity and thirst for learning
led me to learn the basics of engineering and IoD.
Then, as the pandemic came around,
I made one of India’s first automatic hand sanitizer dispensers at a nominal price.
For rapid prototyping of projects like these,
I needed a 3D printer but didn’t have the budget to buy one.
so a classmate and me started brainstorming
on ways we could make one under $100.
We realized that a lot of scrap was being generated in the form of waste DVD drives.
Who uses DVDs anymore?
We put this scrap to good use
and made one of India’s most economical 3-D printers.
All of these innovations taught me the process of “ideation”.
Let me explain the word “ideation” with an example:
While parking a car, you need to get super-close
to the sidewalk bump or wall in many situations.
Many of us end up scratching or banging our cars in the process.
This is a point of frustration in your life.
Have you ever thought of trying to solve it?
If I had to solve this, I would have used my lucky charm. Any guesses?
An Arduino.
This is the brain of operations used in many of my projects.
So I would use this along with an ultrasonic sensor and buzzer
to make a small, little device that beeps when the car is too close to the wall.
This has now solved my problem, but if I had this point of frustration,
millions of users around the world would have it too.
You could probably hire a person to make these devices and sell them.
This could probably grow into a small business
and then a multinational company that makes millions.
All this just started from the simple idea
of a small device that relieves a point of frustration.
You can use the same principles of ideation
to look beyond the boundaries in virtually any field.
Let’s say you’re an amazing orator at college
and host all the fests, events, et cetera.
Most people would be content with this and stop here.
However, the ones who made it big in the field never stopped there.
You must build upon this.
A few ways I could think of
is maybe opening a YouTube channel and interviewing a certain kind of people,
or messaging radio jockeys about job openings.
I can assure you that you won’t be successful at first,
and that’s totally normal.
However, if you keep working and trying consistently,
you are bound to achieve what you desired for.
For the ones stuck in a job,
Sundar Pichai, for example.
He studied in metallurgy at IIT Kharagpur and material sciences at Stanford.
Wouldn’t you expect someone from a computer science background
to become the CEO of a company like Google,
rather than someone from material sciences?
Regardless of this, Sundar Pichai became the CEO of Google
as he had ideated Google Chrome
because he had foreseen that Microsoft
would replace the Google toolbar with its own browser.
At first, no one believed him, and he got no success.
Later, his vision came true as Microsoft replaced the Google toolbar.
Following this and a few more events,
Sundar Pichai was appointed the CEO of Google.
If he had just done the daily tasks he had to complete,
would he have been at this post today?
No.
He reached here because he looked beyond the boundaries and ideated.
At first, all these ideas, projects, and people might seem different,
but they are all the same.
Let me show you how.
Starting off with the school topper,
if he starts studying the next grade syllabus
or prepares for professional exams,
he will ace olympiad exams at an international level.
This is because he looks beyond the boundaries and doesn’t limit himself.
While all my friends were busy watching YouTube videos,
I started making them.
When the pandemic came around,
I ideated the automatic hand sanitizer dispenser
and saw the urgent need of it in the market.
I didn't accept the fact that 3D printers were expensive, but made one economically.
The car parking device, I saw a problem and turned it into an opportunity.
The one who was amazing at public speaking
did what most people wouldn’t even think of doing.
Sundar Pichai ideated Google Chrome.
Are you seeing the pattern? Yes.
The common thread between all of them that helped them reach great heights
was they looked beyond the boundaries we all set for ourselves.
They didn’t stop where everyone stops.
This is what sets them apart from the rest.
Everything they did could be done by you, too,
if you start ideating and thinking above the rest.
Today, it is much easier for anyone to get started
considering the entire maker revolution.
If you want to make projects like the car parking device,
I suggest you buy an Arduino and start tinkering with it.
There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube
to get you started with a fairly small investment.
As you keep advancing in the skill,
it will start serving as a tool for you to convert your ideas into a prototype.
After that, you could go on to learn skills like SolidWorks and PCB designing
to convert your prototype into a market-ready product.
Before releasing a product into a market,
make sure it’s solving a specific problem, and there is a market for it.
To ensure this, you can make a frugal version of your product
in a short timespan, and let it out into the market.
Based on the feedback, you will know whether the idea was good or not.
This will save you a lot of capital, energy, and time.
This is called a “lean startup model.”
Whenever working on something like this,
make sure you always have the right goals in mind.
Recently, I was replying to an email
which asked me how were we featured in so many newspapers and magazines
for building a 3D printer?
My reply was very simple.
I just said that our only aim was building the 3D printer itself.
Everything else just fell into place.
While building a startup or learning a skill,
make sure you set the right goals.
Now coming to upskilling.
There are plenty of high quality courses available from top universities for free.
Use these resources for the maximum and upskill.
During the process of learning,
you will most likely go through phases similar to the Dunning Kruger effect.
At first, the scale might seem intimidating,
and you might get disheartened.
As and when you spend more time on it,
you will get so confident that it will seem like a cakewalk.
Then, as and when you gain more experience,
you will realize that it has much more
and more depth to it than you initially thought.
With much more time and effort,
you will get a much deeper and better understanding of the subject
but will know that there’s more to it than you actually know.
This is when you’ve mastered the skill.
In all the skills I’ve learned and projects I’ve worked on,
the graph has proved itself true.
Always remember, time is an investment.
Start now because, as with any good investment,
you always wish that you had invested more.
As you progress in your field,
you will develop bonds and make connections with many people.
Master writing cold and crisp emails.
It may mean the difference between losing an opportunity and getting it.
Connections are one of the biggest assets and should never be undervalued.
It will pay you back time and again in many unexpected ways.
All in all, to do something par-breaking,
you need to look beyond the boundaries, ideate,
and think years ahead of your time.
Coupled with this vision, you need to use the right techniques
while upskilling throughout the process.
Take advantage of your network and soft skills,
and you have the perfect toolkit to take your game to another level.
Thank you.