Suneel Gupta on Becoming Backable

Suneel Gupta teaches at Harvard University and is the author of BACKABLE – exploring how to get people to believe in your ideas. The book is rooted in Suneel’s journey from first-time entrepreneur to being named “The New Face of Innovation” by the New York Stock Exchange. Suneel’s ideas have been backed by firms like Greylock and Google Ventures, and he served as an Entrepreneur in Residence inside Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He has personally backed startups including Impossible Foods, AirBnB, 23&Me, Calm, and SpaceX. In 2019, Suneel established the Gross National Happiness Center of America in partnership with the Kingdom of Bhutan.

In this episode, we discuss Suneel’s mom and his family story (5:59), what the communication was like between Suneel and his parents when he was a kid as it related to dreams (8:33), where he and his brother got their performance skills from (10:48), what his relationship was like with his brother growing up when factoring in the age gap they have (12:28), how he has evolved in thinking about fame and being recognizable (15:17), why every great speech should include “I,” “you,” and “we” (20:19), what he would do if his ideas were getting shut down and what makes a backable circle of people (27:21), when he feels most alive and when he has needed to shift from a place of boredom to a place of being alive (34:20), how he balances being in a niche while also focusing on trying to be alive (39:48), who he wrote “BACKABLE” for (43:36), what inspired him to run for office (45:48), his future political aspirations (50:09), curiosity and conviction (52:59), and what’s inevitable for Suneel right now (1:03:38).

You can follow him on Twitter @suneel, on Facebook and Instagram @suneelgupta, and on LinkedIn @suneelkgupta.

Additionally, make sure to order and check out the website for Suneel’s new book “BACKABLE” at backable.com.

Thanks so much to Suneel for coming on the podcast!

I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.

Thanks for listening.

-Brian