Interview with Mr Sunil Goel(Member of Paytm selection panel)

Q.How was your day today?

A.The day was great.I think it has been great interacting with all..It was a great experience coming here in terms of interacting with both the students and the faculty.I am looking forward to the years to come.

Q.Sir how was your interaction with the students and what are the improvements that can be made?

A.I think overall students have been  doing  a good job .That is why we have assigned good positions.They have been doing a lot of projects and are involved with the industry,be it a part of internship or their B.Tech projects.So I think the way knowledge is being imparted to the students is great as it is made a part of the curriculum.

Q.What are your experiences working in paytm?

A.I have been working with paytm from the last two years and it has been great.I always say Paytm is hundred startups within one startup.We have been growing both in terms of business as well as technology.There is this freedom associated with the engineers that you can go ahead and solve the problems of the common man and paytm is one company which is trying to solve problems from the very  primary level.

Q.In  what ways do you think technology is going to change India in the next few years?

A.We have to basically improve the common man in India.Today for example if we go to one tier villages the people there cannot even open their own bank accounts,as simple as that.This process seems to be so complex for them and I think Paytm is one company which has the vision that each and every person of india is a part of national economy.Paytm is doing a great job and in the next few years it will be serving five hundred million users and has already  covered a large part of India.

Q. Sir what are your views about Digital India?

A.That is a pretty good initiative by the government. It was a much awaited venture and if we go back to the common person there are a lot of people today who only need basic services,which can be provided to them with just the click of a button.These kind of ventures complement the Indian economy.It helps India moves one step further.

Q.Sir what are the qualities that you look for,in the candidates at the time of recruitment?

A.I would not say one thing but a few things together are to be taken care of.One of the things,besides speed and vigilance,is primarily aptitude.It means how much ‘self-initiative’ attitude a candidate has.People join Paytm.They have to take full ownership of things from Day 1.How much things they can do or what have they done by taking their own self initiative means a lot. We not only ask questions related to algorithms but we also ask questions how to code just to make sure that the knowledge they read or they learn in their curriculum is a lot more practical in nature and they can actually implement.

Q.Would you like to share any new concepts paytm is trying to introduce in the market?

A.One of the things that we are trying  is the payment bank.We came from recharges four five years back then we started Wallet two years back at marketplace and the next big thing that is on the agenda of paytm is the bank.It directs towards the same goal of financial equilibrium.We try to bring more people into this system.People will have a totally different banking experience.The team is working there.

Q.As our institute combines the study of IT and management,so how do you think this combination can be unique?

A.I think its pretty good.It has been always my perception that technology and business go hand in hand.Lets take an example.We have a lot of stress on startups right and people who really want to win that world need to understand not just technology, they also need to understand business challenges.Unless they don’t understand that,they would not be very successful.So at the end of the day you need to see how to use technology to solve a real need and make a business out of it.So this blend of IT and management is really a good combination and I think that people can really make good advantage by mixing all this with what exists in the real world.A lot of this knowledge is driven by books and curriculum.So once we go into the reality,we can actually see what really works and what does not.And if people can successfully combine that knowlwdge with lot of technical stuff that happens in the industry and the economy,we can really prosper then.

Q.Sir as a student of first year from where should we start and which computer language should be preferred to be opted for?

A.As far as anguage is concerned,I think it does not matter in today’s world.My perspective is you can choose any language as it is not a barrier.C++,Java,Python or any other programming language would work.At the end,your programming skills matter and they can be built up in any language.The question is if you can start from small things and be able to build research projects,which are long term initiatives and be able to convert them into large scale projects.So students can start with smaller ideas and with a period of time,with the collaboration of the institute and the faculty,they build stronger ideas,which will be an advantage both for the institute and the students.

Q.How do you manage yourself in difficult situation and what is your success mantra?

A.Moments come and go. Nothing is static.We always feel that we are in a worse situation but actually those would be very small. See today if I am having any problem I should not take it in a negative way because at the same moment,there will be hundreds of people suffering more than me.We need to keep a different perspective towards problems. Then slowly and gradually we would calm down and tackle the situation.Then we get strength to focus on our work.I believe on persistence.If you believe in something,always persist for it.Success does not come to you overnight.If you ask any successful entrepreneur,in the first few years he was not even recognised.So persistence for longer duration helps a lot.

Q.What message would you like to give to india youth?

A.When I was in my college fifteen years back at that time India was very different and today with the economy opening up,there are more and more opportunities.The Indian youth has the capability to make right choices.They are not less than anyone else in this world.India can establish a lot.

Q.Sir please share something about you career and field.

A.I graduated from IIT Delhi in 2002 with a dual degree course.After that I spent my first three years in Austria.It was primarily a research company.Somewhere in 2005,my startup worked.I left my job.In 2011 we sold our company to a US company.Two years later,I came back to India.I was always more of an India person.And then we started another company which focussed on e-commerce.It ran for almost one and a half year and then that company got acquired by Paytm.

Q.What tagline would you like to give to our institute?

A.As an institute you are doing a great work.We need more such institutes.We have really good students.When I see resume of students,I am literally surprised as in my time,there were no such competitions like coding competitions and now you see resumes,they have their names in top 100 in India or top 50 or top 10 showing their techtalent.You need to be a really good engineer at the core of it and that is what is really coming out.

INTERVIEW CREDITS-

REPORTERS:AYUSHI RASTOGI   &  VISHAKHA GUPTA

PHOTOGRAPHER:NIKITA SHARMA