Rajesh Kandaswamy is the founder of Nurish, an AI-based start-up that aims to revolutionize nutritional habits through advanced technology. Before starting his entrepreneurial journey, Rajesh was a Chief of Research and Fellow at Gartner, the leading research firm. He lives in the USA and enjoys spending time with his family, reading, and thinking about new ideas.
What were your initial years of growing up like? Tell us about your life before starting your Entrepreneur journey/venture/initiative.
I grew up before the Internet, but my life was richly filled with books. Books helped me travel mentally into many worlds, taught me what is possible, and inspired me. As I grew up, I got into computers, led people, and finally found my calling at Gartner, where it was all about reading, thinking, writing, and communicating ideas.
What was that idea or motivation that made you start your business/initiative? What motivated you to say YES, go for it?”
A few things came together:
- Nutrition, weight, and fitness are ongoing issues that I see every day. I tried to start a light WhatsApp group for my own family to track and improve weight. The group has been active for over 5 years but has not made a big impact. New technology can!
- We track so many things well in life – money, energy, and even steps. But, not nutrition, though if we measure something, we can manage it better.
- We believe that AI is well-suited to solve nutrition problems compared to prior technologies. Why? AI can mix multiple domains like food, science, nutrition, and habits that today’s deterministic computers cannot.
- Lastly, the interest of me and my cofounder to do something that really helps people.
Tell us something about your initiative or current role. What is it about, and what impact are you trying to make?
While the world has been kind to me, I have not done enough to create value and Nurish is my attempt to do so. When AI came along, I felt it was the right time to do that, through a venture – in an area that helps most people.
Are there any achievements or accomplishments you would like to mention?
We have a 5-star rated app and testimonials of people losing weight and improving their health.
What change would you like to see in the world if given an opportunity?
Bringing a more complete perspective to new products and services. The world will be a better place with more women entrepreneurs. An important thing that I would encourage is to ‘Be Who You Want to Be!’ Understand others well and how the world works, but Be Yourself including all your good traits and quirkiness. This includes even the image of yourself for the future. This is beyond how we speak, dress, degrees, or style – it is about what we spend time on, how we process ideas, what we learn, what we will do and won’t do!
What are your thoughts about women leadership today?
Through Gartner, I have seen that women are under-represented in technology all over the world – the higher you go, the less you see. This is the same in entrepreneurship. I think we all need to play a part to enable this and support this – both at the workplace, the market, and at home!
What would you want to say to our young leaders/audience reading this?
See the Japanese concept of Ikigai, the concept of living life with a purpose. The popular version takes 4 key questions to find your calling. I wish I had thought about it this way when I was young. Find something that is a yes to all these questions (And it is very possible):
- are you good at it?
- do you enjoy it?
- does the world need it (only good things)?
- will it pay you enough?
