Derek Sivers

Soundarya Balasubramani

Met 2023-02-13 15:00 at Taj Connemara, Binny Road, Anna Salai, Chennai, Chennai, India.

Her brother called her Pooja as a girl, and it stuck, so everyone calls her Pooja.

Emailed 2500 immigrants to say she’s writing a book on immigration, so what are your top three questions? Open rate was 80% and she got hundreds of responses in the first two days. People are frustrated with the system. Book is called Unshackled.

Brad Feld at Techstars suggested she do a crowdfunding campaign. She raised $50K. Emergent Ventures granted another $50K.

Got her masters at Columbia in NYC. Living in California but came back to Chennai to finish the book. Not sure where she’ll live next.

People don’t realize how much discrimination a place has until they leave it and discover new freedoms. Even little things like wearing a dress.

To truly help someone, you need to be invested. It takes a lot of time. Can’t happen in a rushed manner.

Soundarya Balasubramani URLs