 We went through a number of names, blaze mail, fast mail, super mail, hyper mail, Hotmail stood out because it had HTML in it. Today here with me is what I would like to refer to as internet royalty. His name is Sabeet Bhatia. I think he needs no introduction, but for the sake of formality, he is the person who founded Hotmail.com. For kids like me, growing up in the 80s and 90s, some of our first email accounts were on Hotmail.com. Mr Bhatia, welcome to the show. Thank you. And what time is it there exactly right now? It's 10.32 in the morning. Okay, so I'll get right to it. The one thing which people would actually like to know, even though of course we read about it years ago, but just to refresh our memory, how did you really finalize on the name Hotmail.com? Oh, good question. So we were contemplating creating email available on the web through a browser. Browser was the access point for the email. And so obviously the delivery mechanism for the content, the final page was HTML. So we went through a number of names, Blazemail, Fastmail, Supermail, Hypermail. Hotmail stood out because it had HTML in it. So HTML, email, and that's why we called it Hotmail. Even though when the marketing folks came and said, ah, nobody will know HTML, email, just stick to Hotmail. And we would initially, you know, we would capitalize the H, the T, the M and the L, but that was not necessary later on. Right, but you know, I mean, when you actually launched Hotmail, of course, it was a revolutionary idea at that time. Did you actually know how big it's going to become? Did you have an idea about that? Or it just blew up and went into expectations that you didn't really imagine. You know, coming from, you know, having worked at Apple Computer and then having worked at another startup called Firepower Systems, I knew how difficult it was for us to access information on different screens. So when the web browser came around and we were able to access our email accounts through the browser, instinctively, I knew the internet was going to be big. And because it tied these disparate computer systems into a uniform, with a uniform interface. And using the interface to access email obviously made it easy for us to access. Instinctively, I knew that we would grow with the internet. And that's exactly what happened, you know, in the early days when the internet user population was only 20 million, you know, very quickly in the first one year we reached 5 million users. So we were growing with the internet. And so because we were one of the early companies to be founded on the net, something inside me said that if the net would grow, we would grow with it. And that's exactly what happened. Sort of moving on to, you're also the founder of more recently a platform called Shoril. Now for the ones who don't know what exactly, tell us about Shoril and what exactly is it and how did you, you know, come up with the idea and sort of go ahead. So Shoril is a platform that helps you basically record your video resume, if you will, or a video interaction, if you will. And the content can be varied. It can be a resume. It can be startup pitch. It can be a personal Shoril that you create. And so the whole idea is that video is going to be center stage in the future if it isn't already. And the best way for us to communicate would be through you seeing my video and me seeing your video. I mean, it's richer in content when you can see the person in a video format rather than look at that individual's resume in a text-based kind of format. So the genesis of the idea was because there are a few million people that are, or whatever, almost a billion people that have been left unemployed because of the pandemic, this becomes an easier, faster way for them to land a job. So that was the original in Paris. But since then, it's kind of modified. My thinking has been modified. I have changed my thinking, I should say, making it an entrepreneurship platform in which entrepreneurs of all kinds can pitch their ideas through the platform itself. And if their ideas are good, we will fund them. Okay. And the funding also will take place through blockchain-based contracts. So really completely open network. And to add to all of the excitement of this, so what I'm trying to do is export the Silicon Valley way of thinking to the whole world. So that's seven billion people out there, they need not be in Silicon Valley. Anybody has a good idea. They just download the app. They record their pitch and in the pitch, I asked them eight or nine very basic, simple questions, which I use to flush out any good idea. The questions being, obviously, tell me your name and a little bit about yourself. What is your educational background? What is your idea? Describe your idea in your own words. What problem are you solving? Right? How big is the market for your idea? Do you have a team that can help you take this to the next level? Or is it just an idea? Do you have the resources or what kind of resources do you need to take this? And why are you suited to bringing this idea to the world? Very simple questions that really flush out the original ideas so that there aren't copycat kind of, I don't want to fund copycat ideas, but if there are genuinely good ideas and they can come from anywhere, we'll fund them directly just by having people watch their videos, vote on it and say, okay, here is it, here's your blockchain contract, here is this thing. And to market it and advertise it, we are creating a show, a television-based show of the same concept, which we will, so it'll be more like a shock tank like show, but so the app and the television show will work together. And my goal is eventually in the next 10 years to fund a million startups using this platform. So that's what I'm working on right now. Okay, so I was going to ask you two other questions, but suddenly you mentioned the TV show and I want to ask about that. When do we see the TV show and are you sort of the main judge, jury and executioner? What is it going to be like? Probably, but we're just working through three or four producers slash directors, we're getting great interest. You see, I want to do this the right way with an experienced kind of team that knows how to market to the Netflixes and the Amazons of the world and of course, possibly also maybe make it available on Facebook or on Snapchat. So I'm thinking the first episodes, we will be able to record before the end of the year. Okay, okay. We've got to see whether they're going to be shock tanks or alligators or chop up blades or whatever that, I mean. So this is different. So this is different. So I know everybody's very familiar with the shock tank concept. Of course. So we don't want to be sharks. We are like these mentors to say, we are going to invest in you to help you grow. And we don't want to take portions of your company and see how much we can take and that tension is not the one that is being captured. So it's different. It's more a mentoring show. So if you think about it, it's kind of a KBC meets shock tank meets the voice where, you know, the Amitabh Bachchan is seen as the father figure, he gives away one crore rupees and a car or whatever the case may be. But that's a one time like gift. That's not what we want. We want to make a slumdog billionaire like a kid from nowhere who's got a good idea will fund that kid and say, you know what, we'll teach you, we'll mentor you and hopefully your company will become worth billions. And we don't want a whole lot of it either. We'll just take a small day four or five, five percent of it. That's it. You keep majority. It's your company. It's your baby. We are here to help you grow big. So that's the thinking. So it's very different from shark. We're not here to take portions of people's companies and no, no, no, that's not the intent. So that's why it's different. That's why it's exciting. Right. I think, I mean, of course, you've thought of some names or you might be having some ideas, but slumdog billionaire would not be a bad idea. Bad name for the show, but sort of sort of moving on from there. You know, according to you, what has changed in the attitude of Indians towards the attitude and thinking towards entrepreneurship when the time when you founded Hotmail to the current era, what has sort of changed with the way people sort of view and entrepreneurship in India is? I think the big change has been that every young kid today wants to be an entrepreneur. They don't want a nine to five job. They don't want to work for a company for 30, 40 years and, you know, move slowly up the ladder. Kind of everybody wants to be an entrepreneur. I think that is one big change. I think the other thing is they are seeing success stories within India itself. So you don't have to come to Silicon Valley to become successful. You can be successful in India as well. And I think the third big change that is occurring is this millennial generation is globally connected, whether it is through Facebook or Instagram or Snapchat or WhatsApp or whatever else. It has really brought the whole world closer. Email was the first form of connectivity that we use to bring people, but this is even better. I mean, so much richer in content in exchange. I mean, I now automatically know what's going on in 20 different people's lives just by looking at the Facebook feed. It's unbelievable who is running, who's having a party, who's attending a wedding, who's seeing his kid off to first day of school. I mean, it's just all through photos and videos and amazingly rich. And as a result of that globally, millennials are thinking similarly. So that is the big change that has occurred in India that young kids in India are also thinking like millennials anywhere else because they're so connected. They're seeing what other millennials are doing elsewhere. And there is just a global push towards entrepreneurship. And that is why what we are doing, I think, will have global appeal. And we are even exploring ideas of tying up with a university to launch the first pitch competition and film it at a university and then take it from university to university to university, then have a global multi-university pitch competition where the best entrepreneurs from around connect. And so it could become really, really engaging for the whole world to see because we are causing real world social change, not just making one show for entertainment. We're doing it and using all the modern technologies, blockchain, Web 3, that kind of stuff. Interesting stuff and interesting times. And thank you. Thank you so much for talking to us, Abir. And obviously, I think when everybody hears about it, they're going to be excited about the upcoming show and seeing you in the hot seat and what's going to be the name and the different things and characters which you're going to see over there. But yeah, all the best for the future. Thank you. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Take care. Take care.