Gagan Sandhu

And as I was growing in my career, I realized that I needed that knowledge. in my toolbox to be able to have a coherent conversation with some of my business partners at work. Even if I'm the tech person, I'm still expected to know a little bit more about how accounting works, how the basic unit economics of certain product work, how the cost accounting work.

And as I was growing in my career, I realized that I needed that knowledge. in my toolbox to be able to have a coherent conversation with some of my business partners at work. Even if I'm the tech person, I'm still expected to know a little bit more about how accounting works, how the basic unit economics of certain product work, how the cost accounting work.

And for that, I went to business school. So that has been my constant journey and even starting Zillion. One of the reasons was I learned a ton while working at different companies and I'm like, my learning has slowed down and plateaued. One of the best ways to learn more is to start something from scratch.

And for that, I went to business school. So that has been my constant journey and even starting Zillion. One of the reasons was I learned a ton while working at different companies and I'm like, my learning has slowed down and plateaued. One of the best ways to learn more is to start something from scratch.

And so I would argue that even starting Zillion was a step in that direction, which is to actually increase knowledge at a rapid pace.

And so I would argue that even starting Zillion was a step in that direction, which is to actually increase knowledge at a rapid pace.

Yeah, absolutely. And I agree with you that there is a lot of noise around this term. Financial freedom, financial independence, financially independent, retired early. There's a whole fire movement. And also, especially ever since social media became a dominant force in the society, there are just too many people out there trying to almost... Some of them sound like snake oil salesmen.

Yeah, absolutely. And I agree with you that there is a lot of noise around this term. Financial freedom, financial independence, financially independent, retired early. There's a whole fire movement. And also, especially ever since social media became a dominant force in the society, there are just too many people out there trying to almost... Some of them sound like snake oil salesmen.

They're like, oh yeah, I'm financially independent. I just have this social media, or I do X, Y, Z, and I make enough money, blah, blah, blah. I'll tell you what my criteria was. It was fairly straightforward. And I will actually contextualize, right? I'm careful to use the word financial independence and not retirement.

They're like, oh yeah, I'm financially independent. I just have this social media, or I do X, Y, Z, and I make enough money, blah, blah, blah. I'll tell you what my criteria was. It was fairly straightforward. And I will actually contextualize, right? I'm careful to use the word financial independence and not retirement.

Because those two are different terms, very different contexts, and very different overall outcomes. For me, financial independence meant I could leave my corporate job and go work on my own and build something from scratch. When I was able to do that, I said, I am financially independent because I can do what I want with my time.

Because those two are different terms, very different contexts, and very different overall outcomes. For me, financial independence meant I could leave my corporate job and go work on my own and build something from scratch. When I was able to do that, I said, I am financially independent because I can do what I want with my time.

So I earned that independence and I don't have to be beholden to a paycheck to do that or to something else, right? In this case, it was paycheck. And for me it actually, I'm an engineer after all, and I actually did a very mathematical thing. I figured out how much money I would need to sustain for at least five years so that I can build something on the side while not starving my family.

So I earned that independence and I don't have to be beholden to a paycheck to do that or to something else, right? In this case, it was paycheck. And for me it actually, I'm an engineer after all, and I actually did a very mathematical thing. I figured out how much money I would need to sustain for at least five years so that I can build something on the side while not starving my family.

And I did some math, and not super rigorous. We are all pretty good at doing basic math. And I did that. I'm like, OK, five years, our yearly spend is about this much. My kids, one of my kids is going to go to college in this much amount of time, so here's that. And also, while I build, I will not have an income.

And I did some math, and not super rigorous. We are all pretty good at doing basic math. And I did that. I'm like, OK, five years, our yearly spend is about this much. My kids, one of my kids is going to go to college in this much amount of time, so here's that. And also, while I build, I will not have an income.

So my retirement account has to be in a certain shape or form so that I'm not insecure about that. So that's going to be another amount, let's say X and Y is going to be the amount that is going to be needed for just maintaining and sustaining for five years while I build something. And Z is the amount that is needed to send let's say one or two kids to college during that time.

So my retirement account has to be in a certain shape or form so that I'm not insecure about that. So that's going to be another amount, let's say X and Y is going to be the amount that is going to be needed for just maintaining and sustaining for five years while I build something. And Z is the amount that is needed to send let's say one or two kids to college during that time.

So X plus Y plus Z, I felt that once I reached that number, that would be my financial independence. And what I realized was that it was a number, right? I think the specifics are not super important. I think everybody's circumstances are different. And what I realized was that it was easy for me to do this almost like a mental math. But for a lot of people, it was a much hard calculation.

So X plus Y plus Z, I felt that once I reached that number, that would be my financial independence. And what I realized was that it was a number, right? I think the specifics are not super important. I think everybody's circumstances are different. And what I realized was that it was easy for me to do this almost like a mental math. But for a lot of people, it was a much hard calculation.