YouSaid · the spoken record

Taha Bawa

lines on the record: 17
first: 2020-07-30
most recent: 2020-07-30
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“I think for us, it's always been about really helping as many youth as possible be as inclusive as we can. And so we're already serving youth in 150 countries. We'd like to go deeper in certain areas through our partnerships or alone, serve more youth in a more significant way, provide more opportunities, just really the best experience. That's probably what's most important. I think that's where we can have, where we can make our contribution towards society. That's what we're good at. And now it's just about going to that next level. Yes, it's a challenging period, but we're going to be okay. We're going to get out of this. And then it's about, okay, really taking this opportunity and doing the best we can because we are in a privileged situation. If we were unlucky, which has been the case for many other startups, I have friends who had term sheets for massive rounds of financing just evaporate. We hear the stories. And then they're just unlucky. So we're in this lucky position to be able to operate and to be able to do what we're doing. Let's make the most out of it. And I think that's kind of our duty. And I think that's...”
2020-07-30 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“But there's some people that might still be okay with it. But generally speaking, that's especially for youth with a lot of potential. That's just not conducive for maximizing their potential.”
2020-07-30 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“No, it's a really good question. There are basics of management that have been the same for every demographic and every niche within that demographic. Look at maximizing the potential of the particular individual, right? So different people react differently to different forms of management. Within this, we can talk about trends, but the ability to give them that chance to express themselves. The need for trust, it's always been there, now definitely so. I mean, even more so, because they know what they're capable of. But then also must not forget, they are still with very few years of experience. And being able to be there to give feedback, to tell them what they're doing right, tell them what they're doing wrong. Both sides is critical. So just leaving someone out there in the wilderness is not going to necessarily lead to great results either, but giving that safe space, giving that trust and creating an environment of being, okay, I'm here to maximize your potential. And the order, the direct order may have worked or they may have been able to get away with it in the past.”
2020-07-30 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, it's something that comes up quite often. The expectations are huge. I think even if we look at the generation before, part of it is there needs to be and there always has been this need for grit, for determination. I think post-COVID.”
2020-07-30 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Startups definitely volunteer is an opportunity. There are a lot of NGOs, there are a lot of nonprofits that need help or need support right now. Build up your work experience, gain some experience like concrete, tangible work experience that differentiates you further, rather than just having eight, 12 months in your resume, which are empty. Unfortunately, it might not help on the financial side. And that's where one has to be creative. And it's just really tough. And that's where what is a government intervention on that front need to be because there's some that just can't afford to do what I just said, which is volunteer or build your own company because they don't have that safety net. They don't have that opportunity. And unfortunately there, you know, we're almost out of ideas because, okay, you go back to college, you just talked about extra debt, but for some, unfortunately, they're going to have to do it. And that leads to a more philosophical discussion on why is there so much debt attached to a college education where in Switzerland, for example, I paid for my undergraduate, I paid around $1,000 a year.”
2020-07-30 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, I think definitely trying is important, but this might just be an opportunity to start your own thing. A lot of great companies came out of the last crisis because they just couldn't find jobs or that opportunity just wasn't there for a year. So maybe start one's own thing. It's never been easier to start a business. It's never been easier to try something new. So even if it doesn't work, that's incredible work experience. When we talk to CHROs of some of the leading companies in the world, what are they looking for or what were they looking for before the crisis and definitely after is that ability to be entrepreneurial even if you're working for a Fortune 500. So it can't hurt. Best case scenario, you build something amazing. Worst case scenario, you fail and you take those skills and you leverage those skills and you keep your mind active. It's so important from a mental health perspective. Keep your mind active and then apply them when the market comes back, which it will at one point. Another opportunity if maybe starting yourself isn't it? Join some friends or join or reach out to small”
2020-07-30 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“More in a stronger way because I'm going to have to do that. And some of the skills that need to be developed, in my opinion, are entrepreneurial thinking, that ability to be flexible and resilient. We need to do more, though, beyond just these massive stimulus packages and the government is trying to do whatever they can for sure this generation needs, the government needs to intervene to be able to, or organizations need to be able to intervene to support them to the best of their abilities in terms of developing these skills and being able to be resilient.”
2020-07-30 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I think whether or not we go through a deep recession with mass unemployment, particularly for the youth over the next three, four, five years, it's very probable that youth, at least in the short run, are to suffer. They're normally the last to be hired, the first to be fired. And that's justified for various reasons, including ethical, to be like, oh, they have less commitments than, for example, someone with a few kids. But it is incredibly difficult. And the mental toil of, let's say, an 18-year-old who doesn't know what's coming up next, we need to be able to be resilient. and we need to be able to learn how to learn and adapt because we just don't know what's going to happen. So there could be a second downturn. There could be a third downturn. It could be sustained downturns. And us across society, but in particular for the youth, we have an opportunity, they have an opportunity to take this and say, okay, it doesn't kill me, it might make me stronger, and I can learn from this and develop that resilience that five, six, ten years from now, I'm able to deal with the next crisis in a moment.”
2020-07-30 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And then I don't know if this is despite COVID or because of COVID, other opportunities came about. We've now partnered over the course of COVID with market leaders in markets that we are not present in or we're very marginally present in and is actually allowing us to take up extra market share and grow in a more significant way September onwards. Yeah.”
2020-07-30 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, I mean, when it happened, I think the first week where we started to notice it was getting really serious. I remember it. The first thing we did was we had a board meeting and we talked about, okay, what's our cash situation? And let's make sure we get through this, however long that may be. While maintaining the team for two reasons. One is like you don't want to be on that downward death spiral, but also because we have the opportunity to have real impact in this time if we make the changes and adapt effectively. But we won't be able to do so if we don't have the team to do it. So we've actually hired over the past few months and we've actually grown over the past few months and we've adapted to do so. But the first week was really...”
2020-07-30 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So education is one thing, or traditional education is one thing, but particularly experience is to millions of youth around the world. What would happen? How could we change things? And that's where we thought, okay, it has to be mobile first, or it has to be a digital solution, and it has to be able to tackle millions. And we wanted to go a step further. We said it's good to maximize one's potential, but hopefully we can do that in a way. And we're very idealistic in that sense, in a way that it maximizes or improves society as well, or impacts society positively, which is our mission statement. That if we have enough people that are exposed to not only improving themselves, but so often it's a form of education, knowing what's out there. If I hadn't gone to those refugee camps or if I didn't have the background where my parents are richly from Sri Lanka, would I really be so inclined to have this positive impact? Who knows? But I did have that chance, and I view that as an opportunity. So if we can give those opportunities and showcase through volunteering, through being aware, through connecting to people from different backgrounds, hopefully we can move the world forward.”
2020-07-30 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So it was my brother's idea. Both of us were born in Switzerland. We lived in Pakistan, Iran, the US came back to Switzerland. Our parents used to work in the humanitarian sector. So my father worked or served refugees for around 30 years. And we experienced a lot growing up. It was like quite a contradiction going skiing on the weekend in a very affluent or privileged little bubble in Switzerland, whereas at the same time, we'd go on summer vacation and give candy out to refugee kids who were our age, you know, 10, 11. And that really did shake us quite a bit. And throughout our upbringing, we realized that we are where we are. I'm here not because I'm smart, but because I was lucky. I was born. I could have been born two doors down. My life would have been very different. And I'm confident because of the experiences I had rather than because I'm innately able to do so. And that's really what pushed us to say, you know, we were lucky in this sense. What would happen if we were able to give those opportunities in terms of particularly experiences?”
2020-07-30 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Youth in Africa who, in certain African countries, that just don't have any exposure, don't have opportunity, don't have that guidance, but do have access to a phone and can as a result go through it. So we're really trying to do more there in particular.”
2020-07-30 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, definitely. I think a lot of our early adopters were privileged in the sense that they had a lot of ambition and maybe they went to good schools. But over time, especially over the last year, we've really put a lot of effort and a lot of energy towards helping youth who are maybe a little underprivileged. And that privilege is actually not necessarily a hundred percent linked to financial situation, but it can be. For example, what we're doing now with UNICEF and other organizations in Africa, for example, is we're running programs there and we're really helping youth bring out their ideas, build up their confidence, show who they are and connect to opportunities. And it's been really, really fulfilling and we expect to do more underrepresented communities in the US, for example. We're doing more and more there. And that's where the biggest room for impact is. At the end of the day, we are a social enterprise. And it's very fulfilling to help youth who go to elite schools and connect them to elite universities and colleges, but it's even more fulfilling and even more important for us to step in where the, let's say, the impact delta is the biggest, for example.”
2020-07-30 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, you go on to Goodwall, you create a profile for yourself. Our initial early adopters were mostly international school students who maybe didn't have as much guidance as others or students based out of the US who maybe didn't have as much guidance from their parents or from college counselors. They'd come on here, see what other people are doing. They would be mashed with colleges and universities and also with scholarships based on their data and their profiles. And then they'd be able to connect with like-minded youth. So for example, we had this girl based out of Jordan who was really into robotics and science. And unfortunately, there's no one really around her who had those similar interests. And she was able to find others like her in the US, connected internet NASA, did incredible things afterwards, actually many of our students have gone and found exclusive opportunities at universities like Oxford and others that we've partnered with. It's super fulfilling from that perspective.”
2020-07-30 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“There are similarities. However, we're really focused on our part, which is this next generation starting as early as 16 and guiding them through, almost sherping them through the future of earning and learning and those opportunities. I think there are various features that we have that they don't. And we're really focused from a user experience perspective. And then from a community perspective, it's very different. Post that you would see on LinkedIn just don't work here. You wouldn't find students talking about being on the chess team, being on the robotics team, being on et cetera, et cetera, on Goodwall.”
2020-07-30 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It's essentially a mobile first platform that's designed for the next generation. We started off with high school students, helping them build up their first profile, showcase themselves in a way that accentuates their extracurricular activities in particular, connect them to opportunities, mostly scholarships and colleges. And then all of this happens within a positive and supportive community. And over time, we've grown with our members into the college and young professional space. Our whole goal is to level the playing field and maximize the potential of as many people as possible.”
2020-07-30 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Taha Bawa of Goodwall · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT