Google CEO's Secret to Success: Relax and Have Fun

Sundar Pichai gave some life and career advice to students at a University in India.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently spoke at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. Students asked him how they could be as successful as he was by following their dreams, taking risks, and innovating.

His answer is in stark contrast to a country where parents often put a lot of pressure on their children to study hard in order to find a good job. “Education is important, but not as much as people think,” Pichai said. He stressed that when he was studying engineering at university more than 20 years ago, he stayed up late, slept in class and even got a C in one subject.

Sundar Pichai at a talk yesterday. Photo: AFP

“I study pretty hard, but I also have to have fun,” he said. Pichai advises students to “find a balance,” pursuing their interests and gaining experience. “It’s a long journey, and a few setbacks are nothing,” he said.

Pichai graduated from college in India and then went to the US to study at Stanford University and the Wharton School of Business. He joined the search giant in 2004 and was appointed CEO in 2015.

Also this week, he announced in New Delhi that he would step up efforts to help small businesses connect to the internet and increase the number of users in the country to more than 1.2 billion. He said India has the potential to become a “global player in the digital economy” as more people gain access to the internet, especially through high-end smartphones. However, a small portion of the population still lacks access to the internet, especially women in rural areas.

Near the end of the talk, when a student asked Pichai for advice on how to make the most of his four years of college, he simply replied: "I don't think too much about it."

According to VNE