The Tamil Creator Podcast (Ep.38): Sathish Bala - CEO of EdTech Startup Schoolio + Founder of desiFEST (largest South Asian Music Festival in North America)

Sathish Bala (@sats.b) is a serial entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in tech; he has sold over 50M+ and had three tech exits to date. He's current the CEO of edtech startup Schoolio (@schooliolearning) & founder of desiFEST (@desifestmusic), the largest South Asian music festival in North America.

Podcasts

Nov 22, 2021

Ara Ehamparam

Business Owner

Toronto, Canada

Sathish joins Ara on this week’s episode of The Tamil Creator to discuss getting beat for getting Cs on his report card at the age of 10, investing in cryptocurrency, parenting in the Tamil community, dealing with the fear of death after getting cancer, and much more.

"The Tamil Creator" is a podcast started by me (Ara Ehamparam). As someone who is extremely inquisitive by nature, I created the podcast to chat with, spotlight, and learn about brilliance among creators in the Tamil community - and among creators in general from all over the world.

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Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Sathish Bala
01:11 - Born in India and then moving to Singapore and then Scarborough, having no choice but the path of entrepreneurship
04:22 - His father being the only person he has never forgiven in his life
06:49 - Why immigrant men have strained relationships with their dads, and how we can change that moving forward
14:06 - Studying computer science at Ryerson and his journey towards starting BlueBand Digital
20:22 - How the acquisition of BlueBand Digital came to be; Sathish realized he had cancer and a benign tumour in his kidneys
23:35 - Being in a mixed marriage (Sathish being Muslim and his wife being Hindu), having 28,000 people at the first year of DESIFEST and averaging 150,000 people per day in 2013
27:51 - Plans to broaden the festival outside of Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal
30:32 - Paying $1200 / month for his daughter’s tuition and starting Schoolio Learning Inc. to provide affordable education
41:39 - Is teaching kids math, science, etc. better than catering to their curiosity?
45:36 - Will Sathish continue bootstrapping for Schoolio?
47:34 - Sathish’s vision for himself in the next 3-5 years, both personally and professionally
52:12 - The personal legacy Sathish wants to leave behind; how he wants to be remembered by friends / family
54:02 - Sathish’s thought process when he discovered he had cancer
56:38 - How Sathish views money (saving / investment strategy), having a VPN company that was bringing in USD$120,000 / month
58:59 - Why Sathish gave up the VPN company, selling a tonne of money making bowties
1:01:31 - Cryptocurrency; investing in BTC and ETH
1:02:31 - Lifelong learning; books / podcast Sathish recommends
1:04:43 - Advice Sathish has for fellow aspiring Tamil creators
1:07:21 - Creator Confessions
1:08:49 - The Wrap Up