Recently, I was interacting with a few friends when the topic changed to an age-tech assignment that we are evaluating with one of our clients at Neebal. One of my friends asked me how we got the project; the question got me thinking and I asked myself why do we do what we do at Neebal?

If I’m being honest, there is no straight answer but at the same time, why we do what we do is no accident. I Googled it out of curiosity to know if there was any science behind this. Turns out that there is - it is called the desire for personal autonomy.

I started looking back at what made me join my friends at Vaave, an alumni networking solutions platform. The answer was “personal autonomy”. The ability to make choices, contribute, add meaning to an otherwise empty space, and get recognized and appreciated for creating is exciting.

This is true across all areas of our lives - be it wanting to sing on weekends, contribute to open source, work on a side project, make ends meet at home, buy a new house and take care of family, build relationships, work on air bending projects, run the nation, or spin humble charkha; the inherent desire to contribute and create meaning drives everyone without exception.

So, while everyone has this desire to make meaning and create history, why do we do what we do at Neebal? I reflected upon it and the answer is in our making.

Neebal's Agri Tech Capability

Why did a multi-national agrochem company choose us to build their Agri tech platform?

While we didn’t have a lot of experience in the Agri business, supply chain, surveying, or mapping; we were the best at APIs, building platforms and apps, data modelling, and analysis. And this is what we told the client. We were honest about our strengths and weaknesses and worked across shifts for days while collaborating with three different teams to present our MVP. We had the right intention and the burning desire to create something out of nothing.

Our customer chose us and we worked, learnt, and built the Agri tech platform together. While we had our ups and downs, the intention to stay put and the humility to learn and grow kept us going and still keeps us going.

Agriculture Value chain (Source: Nasscom Report)

Neebal's Health Tech Capability

Why did a global pharma company chose us to drive their CoE (Center of Excellence) initiative for a strategic healthcare initiative in the country?

We didn’t have a lot of experience with Pharma, FDA regulations, or clinical trials. In fact, we didn’t fully understand HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) until we started working on it. 

So, how did we get the project? Your first guess could be that we quoted them a low price to win the evaluation. Well, the answer is no. What made us win was our persistence, our curiosity, and our willingness to learn. Our team was young, full of excitement, and wasn’t going to stop until we learnt as much as we could. It was our inherent desire for personal autonomy that bagged us the deal! 

Digital India Health-care Landscape (Source: Mckinsey Report)

There are so many more examples that I can share. A lot of things have changed from when we started but the one thing that has remained constant is why we do what we do. I am certain that we will continue to make choices that will stir our curiosity in the future too. We will always return to our true intentions; our desire for personal autonomy in thoughts, actions, and words.

This blog post is a part of a series that Ravi Balgi, Chief Evangelist at Neebal, will be writing that will showcase the culture at Neebal and the factors that influence them. It first appeared on Ravi's Medium account. Ravi enjoys solving problems with small teams and working with people who are passionate about education, energy, and healthcare. Reach out to Ravi at ravi.balgi@neebal.com.