Perplexity's Aravind on being an underdog, avoiding enshittification, playing cricket..
You can scale up your users without enshittification if you maintain quality.
Perplexity founder, Aravind was recently interviewed by Stanford Graduate school of business and here are the big ideas from almost an hour-long conversation.
"If the core value of the product is preserved, monetization can find its sweet spot."
Building a Culture of Excellence and Knowledge
Aravind credits his Chennai roots for fostering a culture of valuing knowledge over wealth, emphasizing deep learning and excellence.
Cricket taught us basic statistics before we formally learned them
He highlights how growing up in a city where respect came from being well-read shaped his intellectual and professional ethos. The influence of cricket, with its obsession over statistics and consistency, added another layer of analytical thinking to his approach.
“Being scholarly and well-read was valued even more than being rich.”
The Academic Roots of Perplexity
Aravind’s academic journey at UC Berkeley deeply influenced Perplexity’s foundation. Inspired by academic practices, Perplexity was built to emulate the rigorous citation culture of research papers.
This ensures every response is backed by credible sources, distinguishing it from competitors.
Leveraging academic principles in product design can create trust and credibility in a saturated market.
Hiring for Multiplicative Impact
"You don’t have to be good at everything to be a founder or CEO."
Aravind’s approach to building his team was unique—he sought individuals with complementary skills and untapped potential.
From hiring prodigies in competitive programming to creative designers with no AI background, his focus was on creating a team where skills multiply rather than simply add.
“Find the people who multiplicate you.”
