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The Vivek Wadhwa Interview:

On Standing Up After a Heart Attack and Critics Take Him Down

 

Vivek Wadhwa looks familiar because you’ve likely seen him giving commentary on CNN or CNBC, and his name sounds familiar because he’s written three provocative, culture-changing books in the past few years: Innovating Women, The Immigrant Exodus and most recently The Driver in the Driverless Car.

 

A former CTO and entrepreneur, Vivek is now a world-renowned researcher, academic, and keynote speaker. He’s a Distinguished Fellow at Carnegie Mellon’s College of Engineering and has held appointments at Duke, Stanford, and Harvard.

 

But while he was standing up for others, critics were trying to take him down. After work stress prompted a near-death health scare and he lost his job, he felt at the bottom of the world. In this soul-enriching interview, you’ll learn how he kept fighting and re-set with new values focused on others. Using his guidance and first-hand experience, you can become “rich” without running on the hamster wheel chasing success.

 

“I was a CEO at the top of the tech world, the next day I’m dying of a heart attack, and the next day I’m unemployed. No ambition, no nothing...the bottom of the world. But I realized I had nothing to lose. That’s when I decided the greatest thing I could do for the world is give back, teach, motivate, and inspire.”

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Notable Revelations in the Interview

 

“I’ve been experiencing threats for many years. Whenever I’ve written about the importance of immigrants, I’ve had people attacking me in anger, saying I’m taking their jobs away. I’ve been arguing that we’re creating jobs. The death threats are from extreme groups and we’re seeing them at the national level now. We’re seeing the ugly side of America. What used to lie beneath is now above the surface.”

 

“When I came here to Silicon Valley, I was thinking it was the most inclusive place on the planet. Then I realized how ignorant I was, and not noticing the gender difference.”

 

“Some of my friends — venture capitalists and investors — pulled me aside and said, ‘You won’t be popular. Why are you bringing up these gender issues? Stay out of it.’ This triggered alarms that very respectable people were now telling me to shut up about the lack of diversity on Silicon Valley.”

 

“When I see injustice, I believe I have a moral responsibility to speak up and fight for it. My wife said, ‘If you don’t speak up for these women, who will?’”

 

“When I was speaking about the lack of diversity in 2009, I was one of the few men. I had a platform so I was able to get more of the attention than some of the women would. I had no agenda, and I wasn’t benefiting from it personally. I truly believed we had to fix this problem.”

 

“I was accused of profiting from this and taking oxygen out of the room. I handled it very badly: I went on Twitter and responded to them. It made them more angry.”

 

“Some venture capitalists and power brokers in Silicon Valley who were trying to discredit me jumped on the bandwagon. They pretended to care for women. It was a way for them to bring down the most vocal critic of the boys’ club to his knees.”

 

“For my book, Innovating Women, many women told me their stories of discrimination. There were people, the power brokers, who wanted to expose them. I became worried these women would lose their jobs.”

 

“Later I realized that the women could fight their own battles and they were doing a better job than I could do. I said I was exiting the debate and I’m not needed anymore.”

“I used to be a tech executive and founded two companies. I was arrogant, foolish, and overconfident. After the bubble burst, I turned the company around. Then I had a massive heart attack. I was sitting in critical care, thinking, ‘What have I done for the world? Would the world remember me for taking a company public and becoming a billionaire? No.’ This was my wake up call.”

 

“I chose to become an academic. I had to reinvent myself. I was at the top of the tech world, the next day I’m dying, and the next day I’m unemployed, no ambition, no nothing. The bottom of the world. But I realized I had nothing to lose.”

 

“The greatest thing I could do for the world is give back, teach, motivate, and inspire.”

 

“I became rich in terms of knowledge and doing good for the world.”

 

“Just when you’re not focusing on making money, that’s when you do the best. You gain by giving.”

 

“My wife makes me fight these battles. After being in critical care, she said I needed to fight the venture capitalists trying to take my company. When I wanted to become a teacher, she pushed me to do it. She motivates and pushes me to speak my mind.”

 

“You have to figure out why you want to achieve success. For me, it’s about inspiring and motivating others. I write very often, to share my knowledge with the world. If you try too hard to be successful, you’ll fail. If you do things for the right reason, success will come to you on its own.”

 

“I’ve realized you have to be honest and open about everything. People can judge me and consider my failures. They can say, ‘He had a heart attack, his company almost went bankrupt, he was in lawsuits, and he battled for women. Yes, I’ve made mistakes, but I’ve also had many successes. Judge me on what I do for you and what I do for the world.”

 

“If you want to consider me a failure, that’s fine. If you want to consider me a success, that’s fine also. But I am the same person. I’m highly imperfect.”

“When I see injustice, I believe I have a moral responsibility to speak up and fight for it. My wife said, ‘If you don’t speak up for these women, who will?’”

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“I was a CEO at the top of the tech world, the next day I’m dying of a heart attack, and the next day I’m unemployed. No ambition, no nothing...the bottom of the world. But I realized I had nothing to lose. That’s when I decided the greatest thing I could do for the world is give back, teach, motivate, and inspire.”

“When I see injustice, I believe I have a moral responsibility to speak up and fight for it. My wife said, ‘If you don’t speak up for these women, who will?’”

The Vivek Wadhwa Interview:

On Standing Up After a Heart Attack and Critics Take Him Down

 

Vivek Wadhwa looks familiar because you’ve likely seen him giving ommentary on CNN or CNBC, and his name sounds familiar because he’s written three provocative, culture-changing books in the past few years: Innovating Women, The Immigrant Exodus and most recently The Driver in the Driverless Car.

 

A former CTO and entrepreneur, Vivek is now a world-renowned researcher, academic, and keynote speaker. He’s a Distinguished Fellow at Carnegie Mellon’s College of Engineering and has held appointments at Duke, Stanford, and Harvard.

 

But while he was standing up for others, critics were trying to take him down. After work stress prompted a near-death health scare and he lost his job, he felt at the bottom of the world. In this soul-enriching interview, you’ll learn how he kept fighting and re-set with new values focused on others. Using his guidance and first-hand experience, you can become “rich” without running on the hamster wheel chasing success.

“I was a CEO at the top of the tech world, the next day I’m dying of a heart attack, and the next day I’m unemployed. No ambition, no nothing...the bottom of the world. But I realized I had nothing to lose. That’s when I decided the greatest thing I could do for the world is give back, teach, motivate, and inspire.”

Notable Revelations in the Interview

 

“I’ve been experiencing threats for many years. Whenever I’ve written about the importance of immigrants, I’ve had people attacking me in anger, saying I’m taking their jobs away. I’ve been arguing that we’re creating jobs. The death threats are from extreme groups and we’re seeing them at the national level now. We’re seeing the ugly side of America. What used to lie beneath is now above the surface.”

 

“When I came here to Silicon Valley, I was thinking it was the most inclusive place on the planet. Then I realized how ignorant I was, and not noticing the gender difference.”

 

“Some of my friends — venture capitalists and investors — pulled me aside and said, ‘You won’t be popular. Why are you bringing up these gender issues? Stay out of it.’ This triggered alarms that very respectable people were now telling me to shut up about the lack of diversity on Silicon Valley.”

 

“When I see injustice, I believe I have a moral responsibility to speak up and fight for it. My wife said, ‘If you don’t speak up for these women, who will?’”

 

“When I was speaking about the lack of diversity in 2009, I was one of the few men. I had a platform so I was able to get more of the attention than some of the women would. I had no agenda, and I wasn’t benefiting from it personally. I truly believed we had to fix this problem.”

 

“I was accused of profiting from this and taking oxygen out of the room. I handled it very badly: I went on Twitter and responded to them. It made them more angry.”

 

“Some venture capitalists and power brokers in Silicon Valley who were trying to discredit me jumped on the bandwagon. They pretended to care for women. It was a way for them to bring down the most vocal critic of the boys’ club to his knees.”

 

“For my book, Innovating Women, many women told me their stories of discrimination. There were people, the power brokers, who wanted to expose them. I became worried these women would lose their jobs.”

 

“Later I realized that the women could fight their own battles and they were doing a better job than I could do. I said I was exiting the debate and I’m not needed anymore.”

 

“I used to be a tech executive and founded two companies. I was arrogant, foolish, and overconfident. After the bubble burst, I turned the company around. Then I had a massive heart attack. I was sitting in critical care, thinking, ‘What have I done for the world? Would the world remember me for taking a company public and becoming a billionaire? No.’ This was my wake up call.”

 

“I chose to become an academic. I had to reinvent myself. I was at the top of the tech world, the next day I’m dying, and the next day I’m unemployed, no ambition, no nothing. The bottom of the world. But I realized I had nothing to lose.”

 

“The greatest thing I could do for the world is give back, teach, motivate, and inspire.”

 

“I became rich in terms of knowledge and doing good for the world.”

 

“Just when you’re not focusing on making money, that’s when you do the best. You gain by giving.”

 

“My wife makes me fight these battles. After being in critical care, she said I needed to fight the venture capitalists trying to take my company. When I wanted to become a teacher, she pushed me to do it. She motivates and pushes me to speak my mind.”

 

“You have to figure out why you want to achieve success. For me, it’s about inspiring and motivating others. I write very often, to share my knowledge with the world. If you try too hard to be successful, you’ll fail. If you do things for the right reason, success will come to you on its own.”

 

“I’ve realized you have to be honest and open about everything. People can judge me and consider my failures. They can say, ‘He had a heart attack, his company almost went bankrupt, he was in lawsuits, and he battled for women. Yes, I’ve made mistakes, but I’ve also had many successes. Judge me on what I do for you and what I do for the world.”

 

“If you want to consider me a failure, that’s fine. If you want to consider me a success, that’s fine also. But I am the same person. I’m highly imperfect.”

“When I see injustice, I believe I have a moral responsibility to speak up and fight for it. My wife said, ‘If you don’t speak up for these women, who will?’”

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