#60 - Mohit Lad, Co-Founder & CEO of ThousandEyes (Part of Cisco)
Co-Founder of the ‘Google Maps of the internet’, Mohit Lad joins Gareth on this week’s episode of The Tech Leaders Podcast to discuss his rise to success; from taking his first ever career-defining aeroplane ride at the age of 22, to co-founding the award-winning internet surveillance company, ThousandEyes. In describing what good leadership means to him, Mohit discusses why empathy is a skill that is crucial in achieving a successful, people-orientated business, and how ‘focusing on the fundamentals’ can make all the difference. Accessibility is a theme that permeates through Gareth and Mohit’s conversation, as we learn how it’s vital in both a technical and personal sense. ThousandEye’s capability to access and display previously unknown information to companies regarding their web traffic is key to its incredible success, but also, Mohit Lad regards the importance of accessibility in another sense: by ensuring that we stay accessible to those around us. What makes a ‘good leader’ – 01:35 Mohit’s humble beginnings- 03:50 The road to entrepreneurial success never did run smoothly…- 07:30 Lessons learned on Mohit’s journey- 16:30 What is ThousandEyes?- 18:30 The exciting accessibility of the internet- 20:49 The key to keeping your product current- 24:53 Connected cars and the technological advancement of transport – 30:31 Cisco’s acquisition of ThousandEyes- 31:48 ‘This journey doesn’t come without a tax’- The importance of maintaining familial relationships- 35:11 Advice to young entrepreneurs- 38:11 Mohit’s advice to his ‘twenty-something’ year-old self- 40:28 Mohit’s top productivity advice- 43:38 ‘Get yourself out of meetings that you don’t need to be in’- 44:30 Mohit’s book recommendation- The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building A Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz- 45:24