We believe that the world we live in tomorrow should be the world you helped create. things are developed more quickly and the process accelerates. Something that took a long time to make a hundred years ago would only take a day to make today and we predict will take even less time in the future. Ideally, we want to be at the forefront of this, driving and fostering the culture of innovation through society. Realistically, to achieve that magnitude of impact, we need to have 3 resources: network, financial wealth, and experience. These are resources we strive to acquire in the short term, between now and the next eight years. If we get those in check, we can focus on larger projects that can leave a radical impact. We would strategically look at what industries could use such an impact, and focus our time and resources on those. But we are definitely looking forward to larger-scale projects in the future. There is no guarantee that they will be as successful as some of Musk’s ventures but Musk is an individual we look up to. LR: Aside from the larger-scale future projects you look at, is there any way your vision manifests itself in your current management of KRG? KRG: Certainly. KRG doesn’t have a so-called “plan.” It is a free entity and it can grow in every direction that it wants, so it has a lot of freedom in that respect. However, every venture within KRG, including Quench Design, KRC, and a lot of other exciting stuff that is happening, is strategically planned. Those could fail, as most of the startups do, and then we’ll shut them down and use those resources and our learning experience on another venture. We predict that in the near future, 20% of our ventures within
the group will be earning 80% of the revenue or more; it’s basically Pareto’s principle. We will use such insights and analytical tools as are available at the time to maximize our growth. We are planning on doing a review every couple of years; we are just looking at what companies are doing best and what ventures or initiatives are draining too many resources and are no longer worth it. We will reallocate to adjust and use our resources optimally. LR: Given your experience at KRG, what advice would you give to students, currently in college, who are interested in starting their own businesses? KRG: Learn as much as you can, in as many fields as you can. One of our core values at the firm is to always be learning. The ability to keep up a conversation in multiple fields is of immeasurable value at any given point in time. You also start to interconnect everything you learn from different fields and that is actually how we, personally, like to innovate. Internally we really promote this ‘alwaysbe-learning’ mantra. Upon joining us, the employees’ possibilities are endless. We also allow access to all our resources, which are language lessons, online courses, articles, interviews, media outlets, and books. Anything we think is cool is collected in folder and whenever somebody joins us we allow them access to that folder. This keeps everybody motivated, driven, and up to date with the latest tech.
insights. LR: What would be your parting words for a student currently in college, the major takeaway from your experiences? KRG: We believe that the world we live in tomorrow should be the world you helped create; that is one of the things we really live by. Maximize your opportunities as you do so. If you feel as though your education isn’t providing the requisite depth of knowledge that will help you mold the future, then you should be proactive about it. We are the first generation to carry the knowledge of the world in our phones and we need to take advantage of the limitless information and access it. As I said earlier, we ourselves love to read. But you should also follow online lectures or courses and learn new languages. Having a leading expert in your field just a few clicks away is a blessing that you shouldn’t take for granted. So always be learning and never stop creating.
LR: Could you name some examples of the sorts of books and articles and interviews you have? KRG: Within the firm, a lot of guys are fans of Nassim Nicholas Taleb; his book Antifragile is very popular among us. Futuristic and big-picture books like Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Superintelligence are also quite popular as well as biographies including Steve Jobs’ and Howard Hughes’ and self help books. We also have a lot of book summaries, so instead of reading an entire book, we can just get the core
“
We really promote this ‘always-belearning’ mantra.
“
should be. Our long-term vision of the future is an automated, abundant world, thanks to technologies like 3D printing and the Law of Accelerating Returns. Progress is accelerating at a rate that we seem to consistently underestimate. This is very hard for people to comprehend. But as we move forward, as the days go by,