I had a lesson in my English conversation class where I had my students partner up with someone and teach them about something they were good at. The other student then had to tell the class what they learned. The lesson was a hit, and it showed the students that everyone has something to teach or learn from someone else.
This is the concept behind New Zealand-based Share Knowledge, the site that allows to learn or teach anything, from anywhere. We caught up with founder Ankit Sehgal to find out what inspired Shareknowledge, how he handles frustration and what he would do with $500,000.
What’s the very first thing you do at work everyday?
I’m still working full time. My shareknowledge work starts at 6pm till 1-1.30am in the morning, and its never the same – Replying to emails, social media/post/comments or talking to people locally/overseas about the platform.
How many people did you start the company with and how many people work for you now?
Basically it’s me and 2 more people (overseas) working on the platform.
Remember the early days starting up? Maybe you can share one anecdote that describe the struggle you went through?
I believe we’re still in early stages. However one thing that I can see is lot of resistance from people locally. People just bundle shareknowledge with Khan Academy or YouTube. So I guess educating people is the hardest part.
How do you handle frustration? When/how was the last time you dealt with frustration?
Watching comedy TV series (how I met your mother/two and half men). I try to distract myself (during any frustrations – watching comedy or going for a walk to beach). This helps me think it through, and come up with better solutions.
What’s your office environment like?
It’s just me at the moment. But I believe it will be more of a fun place when I set up office locally.
How do you picture your company in 5 years?
We’ve a long way to go, disruption is never easy. But I think in 5 years time shareknowledge will become go to place for skills/education seekers.
Who or what inspires YOU? Role models? Quotes? Running? Video games? Snack food? Give us the deets, dude!
“Startup is a marathon not sprint” – not sure who said it.
I think the quote is actually, “Life is a marathon, not a sprint,” but I’m also not sure who said it. But back to role models…
Role model – Mark Zuckerberg- not only because he changed our life’s with Facebook and started a multi-billion dollar company. But also as he changed the focus of many other young people to inspire for the big things in life.
Running – I used to hate running. Over past few month I have started to love running (for some reason). I try to go for a run at least twice a week.
Love snack food…I know not good.
How’d you fund this venture? VC? Self-funding? Crowd-funded? Where’d you get the money, man?
So far it’s completely self funded. …(full time job paying for it)
Got any great bootstrapping tips for the lean startups out there?
Try Try Try, keep trying. Build your core audience who would use your product and keep your eyes open!
What would you be doing if you had one year off and $500,000 to spend
Tough one- I think I’ll invest half on my friends start-ups and keep half for my other projects.
Do you consider yourself a successful entrepreneur right now? If not, what’s it gonna take to make you feel successful?
No, I have a long way to go. Plus I don’t know how it feels to be successful. I think I will still be building new awesome products.
Website you couldn’t live without and why?
Google – I spend lot of time everyday on Google learning new things, finding more content and doing all sorts of things.
iOS or Android?
Big time Android fan (never owned any apple device – crazy, right?)
Number 1 country you’ve always wanted to visit but haven’t yet?
Switzerland. I’ll go one day!
What’s the greatest thing about Shareknowledge?
Shareknowledge is about re-discovering skills from other individuals (which we need in our day to today life). Plus it will help to create meaningful offline relationships.
Where can our readers reach out to you?
Twitter is the best place.
Thanks, Ankit! If you want to re-discover how you can share and acquire knowledge, definitely check out Share Knowledge. You know how the saying goes… you learn something new everyday.
