Mashing Together A Job Search Engine: SimplyHired CEO Gautam Godhwani (Part 4)

SM: When did you return to the US?

GG: I returned in the middle of 2001. My brother and I wanted to take on another project, but there was a distinct sense that we did not want to do another Internet startup or anything technology related. We started looking into all kinds of other projects. It did not matter if they were businesses or non-profits as long as it was something we could be passionate about. We wanted something we could look back on and feel good about being involved with.

One of the ideas we always had was to be able to have a hand in doing something within the community. We talked about creating a small space to bring together the Indian community. The more we looked into that project the more compelled we were by it. After a lot of research my brother and I decided we could really help bring our community closer together. We were compelled by the fact that there were other communities such as the Jewish, Chinese, and Latino communities that had put up similar infrastructures.

SM: This all took place in 2001?

GG: We started doing our research in the middle of 2001. We got a small office and we signed up some volunteers; we were full time volunteers ourselves. Over the next six months we talked to over 100 advisors from other communities. We visited the leaders who built the community in the Chinese community as well as the key figures in the Latino and Jewish communities.

We concluded that there was a huge need for an Indian community building project. As is often the case with community building the need is not evident on the surface but you see the impact of a project like ours within the households. In our community when parents of a family visit they are often confined at the house. The need is evident when you see kids who are out of touch with the country where their parents are from. We saw that that outside of the house, families did not have a single place to go where they can be together outside of a religious context. We felt the concept would be particularly important for the émigré population when they first arrive.

SM: What were the observations that really convinced you of the need?

GG: In the Indian community 15% of the families are living below the poverty line. That is not well known. Those are the specialized needs that have a real impact on the fabric of the community. They are not evident because they take place on an individual level. Collectively it impacts the community heavily.

SM: What was the end result? What project did you do?

GG: After about 17 or 18 months of research and planning we created the India Community Center. We operated it out of a 20,000 square foot facility. It was intended to be a place where kids could learn about their heritage, where seniors could find a home away from home, and the family could come together. Our goal was to serve the specialized needs of these populations.

This segment is part 4 in the series : Mashing Together A Job Search Engine: SimplyHired CEO Gautam Godhwani
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