In a world obsessed with speed, success, and scaling, it’s easy to lose sight of the most human truths that quietly shape our teams, our culture, and our impact.
Over the years, I’ve found myself going back to two very simple rules—rules that have not only helped me grow as a professional but have shaped the way I build companies and lead people.
Rule 1: Never judge a person by where they come from, what language they speak, or what food they eat.
Rule 2: Never let the fear of failure stop you from trying.
These aren’t things I read in a book. They were forged in real moments—ones I’ll never forget.
The Boy with the Lemon Rice
Many years ago, in my early days of leading a team, we welcomed a young intern named Akhil. He had just moved from a small village in Tamil Nadu. His English was rough, he was shy, and every day during lunch, he quietly sat in a corner and ate lemon rice from a steel tiffin box.
He rarely joined team conversations—not because he wasn’t interested, but because he didn’t feel like he belonged.
Most of the team unintentionally overlooked him. He was polite, quiet, and never asked for help.
Then one evening, long after everyone had left, I noticed he was still at his desk. Curious, I walked over.
He was debugging a component we had given up on days ago.
“Why didn’t you reach out?” I asked.
“I didn’t want to trouble anyone,” he said softly. “I thought I’d try one more time.”
He had fixed it.
Perfectly.
In that moment, everything changed. For me. For him. For how I saw people.
If we had judged him by his accent, his clothes, or the food he ate—we would have missed a brilliant mind. A quiet leader. A problem-solver.
That’s the day Rule 1 became personal.
The Day I Almost Gave Up
A year later, I launched a product I was deeply passionate about. We had high hopes, strong pitches, and promising demos. But when it went live, it flopped.
Hard.
The early users didn’t get it. The UI had flaws. Performance was poor. And our investor pulled out.
I was devastated. I questioned myself. I almost shut it down.
But I remembered Akhil.
And that quiet sentence came back to me:
“I thought I’d try one more time.”
So I did.
We rebuilt. We simplified. We listened more.
Three months later, we relaunched—and this time, it clicked.
The same investor returned. The users loved it. And it became one of our best products.
That’s when Rule 2 became real.
Failure didn’t defeat me. Fear almost did.
Why These Two Rules Matter More Than Ever
Today, we work in global teams. We collaborate across cities, cultures, and time zones. But sometimes, we still carry invisible biases and silent fears.
People try to “fit in” instead of standing out.
Talented individuals hesitate to speak up.
Fear holds back innovation more than failure ever does.
At Expericia, we’re trying to build something different. A workplace where:
- It’s okay to speak broken English, as long as your ideas are bold.
- It’s okay to come from a small town, as long as your vision is big.
- It’s okay to fail—as long as you stand up and try again.
