On Episode 87 of the #LearningStories podcast we chat with Harsh Snehanshu. He is a technology entrepreneur and community builder. He built Your Quote which was India's largest writing platform that is home to over 7 millions writers and 200 million posts. He also built the Bookmark Dating App. Apart from startups he co-founded, Cubbon Reads and steered the silent reading movement across the globe with 120+ chapters in 70+ cities. Of late he is scaling his newest community, Pint of View - a lecture series movement in bars and pubs across the world. You can find him on YourQuote, Instagram and Linkedin.

Show Chapters

(00:05 ) - Podcast Introduction

(00:30 ) - Guest Background

(02:00 ) - "My father worked in SBI and we moved around a lot"

(02:20 ) - "Eventually we settled in Dhanbad (Jharkhand)"

(03:30 ) - What was your favourite subject at school?

(05:00 ) - When did you decide to become an engineer?

(06:05 ) - "A lot of the learning in high school was curiosity driven"

(08:20 ) - What was the influence of your father (banker) on your journey?

(12:20 ) - What was the influence of your mother (academic) on your journey?

(13:50 ) - "When you merge creativity with enterprise it is magical"

(16:30 ) - How did you crack the IIT JEE entrance exam?

(21:00 ) - How to critique your ideas?

(23:00 ) - What was your experience studying at IIT Delhi?

(28:50 ) - How did you publish your first book in college?

(29:50 ) - "In my third year I was making 3-4 lakhs as royalties from book sales"

(30:40 ) - "I studied Engineering Physics for 4 years at IIT Delhi

(31:00 ) - Why did you love reading biographies of scientists?

(32:00 ) - Why did you love reading biographies and books by saints?

(36:40 ) - What was your relationship to books as a student

(38:55 ) - The importance of believing in yourself as a creator

(39:45 ) - The letter feature on Bookmark Dating App

(41:10 ) - Why Cubbon Reads got such a positive response?

(41:40 ) - "I want to solve for myself and then others"

(42:00 ) - The benefits of reading literary fiction

(43:00 ) - Why I believe my core skillset is writing?

(45:00 ) - "Startups and Publishing were on the rise in the 2010's"

(46:00 ) - How did you write and publish four books right out of college?

(48:00 ) - How do I make money from my one-liners and #WittyShit?

(49:30 ) - The story behind the T-Shirt Startup I co-founded in college

(51:00 ) - How did books shape your thinking?

(54:00 ) - Why you wanted to study the arts after engineering?

(57:00 ) - How did you fund your plan to travel around India for a year?

(59:45 ) - What places did you visit when you travelled around India for a year?

(1:02:00 ) - Dealing with a health crisis as a young adult

(1:04:00 ) - What was your experience as a student at Young India Fellowship?

(1:08:30 ) - What was your experience working as a full time journalist?

(1:12:30 ) - "Your Quote was not my first startup idea"

(1:14:00 ) - How did you deal with startup failures?

(1:14:30 ) - How did you create and build YourQuote?

(1:19:25 ) - What were your struggles with YourQuote?

(1:21:40 ) - Why entrepreneurs and creators have to be critical by default?

(1:28:00 ) - The story behind Cubbon Reads

(1:34:00 ) - The problem with Engineering Graduates

(1:36:00 ) - Love for bird watching

(1:38:00 ) - How you think about startups and communities?

(1:45:00 ) - Love for old cars

(1:49:00 ) - Closing Notes

Show Links

Harsh on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/harshsnehanshu/

Harsh on Linkedin -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/harshsnehanshu/

Harsh on Goodreads -https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3404537.Harsh_Snehanshu

Pint of View Club - https://www.instagram.com/pintofview.club/

Cubbon Reads - https://www.instagram.com/cubbonreads/

Your Quote - https://www.yourquote.in/

Bookmark App - https://www.instagram.com/bookmarkappco/

Pretty Old Cars - https://www.instagram.com/prettyoldcars/

Show Description

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