Yesterday Podcast Dwarkesh Patel | The $10,000 Email Behind Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella and Marc Andreessen
Aug 15, 2025
Dwarkesh Patel, host of The Dwarkesh Podcast, shares his journey from India to the U.S., highlighting cultural challenges and the impact of family expectations on his career choices. He details how a pivotal cold email saved his podcast, connecting him with influential figures like Jeff Bezos. Patel discusses the evolution of his intellectual interests and the power of networking, along with humorous ice cream anecdotes. He also reflects on navigating podcast monetization and the importance of meaningful content over popularity.
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A Peripatetic Childhood Across Continents
- Dwarkesh grew up in India until eight then moved across Canada and multiple US states as his father pursued medical residency.
- Childhood included memorizing abacus techniques, temple visits, and frequent minor injuries.
Early Projects Were Cringe but Helpful
- In college Dwarkesh built projects like Popper Play and hosted events before launching the podcast, often with limited traction.
- He felt early efforts were naive but learned that initial cringiness is part of growth.
$10,000 Cold Email That Saved The Podcast
- Anil Varanasi emailed Dwarkesh offering money to keep the podcast alive for six months and asked how much he needed to live.
- Dwarkesh asked for $10,000 and that funding plus a Jeff Bezos comment convinced him to continue full-time.
