330: Always Reach Out To People and Remember Your Own Value with Sunir Shah

In this week’s show, Phil talks to Sunir Shah, the founder and CEO of AppBind as well as president of the Cloud Software Association. He has spent his career creating and selling software products to improve how the internet works. And he believes that nothing is more profitable than becoming a piece of the internet!

Sunir talks to Phil about why we should make use of the internet to reach out to those with knowledge and experience. He also discusses the value in reminding ourselves of our own capabilities when challenges arise.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

TOP CAREER TIP

The world is filled with fascinating people, each imbued with an arsenal of knowledge. Seek them out and talk to them. The internet has made this a much easier prospect as we are all connected.

WORST CAREER MOMENT

As well as suffering a crisis of self-doubt and pivoting in his career, Sunir was fired after a particularly disappointing business encounter. But this experience led him to the founding of his company.

CAREER HIGHLIGHT

Sunir had delivered a system designed to provide the foundation for a TV channel, Sunir took all the code he thought was useless and deleted it, despite many insisting that it was an extreme approach. The choice turned the code into something far more efficient and useable.

THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T

The fact that we can now reach out across the world and connect with people that may otherwise never have had their voices heard. Talent is now global.

THE REVEAL

What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – The family had a Vic 20, and Sunir’s passion for coding soon made itself known, especially when his sister was declared to be “cooler” than he was!

What’s the best career advice you received? – Always remember that people are different.

What’s the worst career advice you received? – To be strong – the implication is that we are naturally weak

What would you do if you started your career now? – Get started on Scratch much sooner

What are your current career objectives? Sunir is committed to solving the problem of subscriptions for companies.

What’s your number one non-technical skill? – Effective networking, and how to approach people.

How do you keep your own career energized? – Interacting with the community that he has helped to build.

What do you do away from technology? – Spending time with family

FINAL CAREER TIP

You only live once, so make sure you spend that time doing something you enjoy. If you don’t know what you are doing at a certain moment, remind yourself that are not stupid, and that you will figure it out.

BEST MOMENTS

(2:49) – Sunir - “When you think about what’s the purpose of life, what’s the rewarding part? For me it has been seeing other people’s lives improve through my work”

(5:19) – Sunir - “Reach out to people. Even people you don’t understand. Ask questions. Learn to see the world through their eyes. You’ll gain something from them, no matter what”

(12:18) – Sunir – “No one can run a business if they can’t even control their own time”

(15:55) – Sunir – “You can do anything if you have confidence. If there’s no risk, then what is stopping you?”

ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS

Phil Burgess is an independent IT consultant who has spent the last 20 years helping organizations to design, develop, and implement software solutions.  Phil has always had an interest in helping others to develop and advance their careers.  And in 2017 Phil started the I.T. Career Energizer podcast to try to help as many people as possible to learn from the career advice and experiences of those that have been, and still are, on that same career journey.

CONTACT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS

Phil can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/_PhilBurgess

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philburgess

Instagram: https://instagram.com/_philburgess

Website: https://itcareerenergizer.com/contact

Phil is also reachable by email at [email protected] and via the podcast’s website, https://itcareerenergizer.com

Join the I.T. Career Energizer Community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITCareerEnergizer

ABOUT THE GUEST – SUNIR SHAH

Sunir Shah is the founder and CEO of AppBind as well as president of the Cloud Software Association. He has spent his career creating and selling software products to improve how the internet works. And he believes that nothing is more profitable than becoming a piece of the internet!

CONTACT THE GUEST – SUNIR SHAH

Sunir Shah can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:

LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/sunirshah

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sunir

Website: https://www.appbind.com/