Aravind Srinivas , desi co-founder and CEO of AI search engine startup Perplexity , has revealed that one “motivational cliche” that he draws significant inspiration from. While talking to students at Harvard Business Summit (HBS) Entrepreneurship Summit 2025, he shared one line that Elon Musk said in an interview after three failed attempts at a rocket.
When asked about a motivational cliché that “you secretly say to yourself in your head to keep you going?”, Srinivas recalled a 60-minute interview wherein Musk was asked, “why didn't you give up when the third rocket failed?”
“And he said, I don't ever give up. I would have to be dead or incapacitated,” Srinivas added.
Srinivas has one advice for all entrepreneurs
He then counted himself among all other entrepreneurs, advising them that it’s over when you think it’s over.
“And I think there's something very powerful there that all entrepreneurs should learn, which is, it's only over when you think it's over,” he noted.
Srinivas also emphasised the challenges of building a tech startup, especially in a competitive field dominated by giants like Google and OpenAI. Despite these hurdles, Perplexity has experienced growth, now valued at over $9 billion. He attributed his ability to persevere to a firm belief in self-reliance and resilience, even when facing skepticism.
“And until then, you can always figure out a way. No matter how hard it feels at that moment, it's really only over when you give up. So that's what I personally use to motivate myself,” he added.
Srinivas grew up in Chennai and went to IIT Madras . He shared his roots during the interview and said his parents use Google.
“I mean, the cultural roots for me was to always seek knowledge even more than wealth. That's how we grew up back in Chennai, in India. And even now, I would say my parents are even more proud of my PhD than Perplexity. They still use Google quite a lot, so that tells you what they truly care about,” he said.
“And so a lot of people kind [of] think academia and business are like two separate things. There's a lot of things you can learn from academia and apply it in business. And so in IIT, I did my electrical engineering degree, which now I'm feeling good about it. But back then, I always felt like, oh, I should be in computer science. Like, all the cool kids are in computer science,” he added.
When asked about a motivational cliché that “you secretly say to yourself in your head to keep you going?”, Srinivas recalled a 60-minute interview wherein Musk was asked, “why didn't you give up when the third rocket failed?”
“And he said, I don't ever give up. I would have to be dead or incapacitated,” Srinivas added.
Srinivas has one advice for all entrepreneurs
He then counted himself among all other entrepreneurs, advising them that it’s over when you think it’s over.
“And I think there's something very powerful there that all entrepreneurs should learn, which is, it's only over when you think it's over,” he noted.
Srinivas also emphasised the challenges of building a tech startup, especially in a competitive field dominated by giants like Google and OpenAI. Despite these hurdles, Perplexity has experienced growth, now valued at over $9 billion. He attributed his ability to persevere to a firm belief in self-reliance and resilience, even when facing skepticism.
“And until then, you can always figure out a way. No matter how hard it feels at that moment, it's really only over when you give up. So that's what I personally use to motivate myself,” he added.
Srinivas grew up in Chennai and went to IIT Madras . He shared his roots during the interview and said his parents use Google.
“I mean, the cultural roots for me was to always seek knowledge even more than wealth. That's how we grew up back in Chennai, in India. And even now, I would say my parents are even more proud of my PhD than Perplexity. They still use Google quite a lot, so that tells you what they truly care about,” he said.
“And so a lot of people kind [of] think academia and business are like two separate things. There's a lot of things you can learn from academia and apply it in business. And so in IIT, I did my electrical engineering degree, which now I'm feeling good about it. But back then, I always felt like, oh, I should be in computer science. Like, all the cool kids are in computer science,” he added.
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