The last month May'24 was a lot about self-reflection and asking for help and advice. I'm grateful for folks who have been generous enough to make time for us. Everytime I reflected back on my shortcomings I felt I could have done better. The answer was simple but not easy:

Execution. Execution. Execution. 

Execution is like seeking truth.

All these years I have learned that: taking action gives your reality check like nothing else 

Few days I back, I texted Swapnil sir to ask for feedback on our business model and how we have been doing things at Fueler. Swapnil sir has been one of those few folks I have known in our journey who has been constantly checking in with our progress on Fueler. It's very rare to find personalities like them.

In the end of our call, he left with a message to work on our "Why". What is our "WHY" of building Fueler, what is the motivation, and purpose behind it?. As these are thing that will act as a pillar for us in the long run and when the times are tough.

Inspired by the above visual, we created our Golden Circle coined by Simon Sinek:

Why: Fueler exists because we believe everyone deserves an equal chance to showcase their true potential, regardless of background or traditional credentials.

How: Fueler helps new-age knowledge workers by providing a platform that is both user-friendly and designed to bring out the best in their work, making their skills visible to their employers

What: Fueler is the all-in-one portfolio platform designed to democratize opportunity (WHY) by making it simple and inspiring (HOW) for new-age knowledge workers to showcase their skills and land their dream opportunities.

At a personal level, the things we have been doing at Fueler have to do a lot with the place I come from. You will be surprised to know I had no idea about IITs until I was in my 12th Standard. The reason was: the exposure to the other side of the world living in tier 3, 4 towns and cities of India.

What made us start Fueler?

To be honest, we really hated the process of getting hired and the process of selection to work at at a company or a startup. You are good at X but instead of improving your game at “X”, we are preparing from aptitude and some random interviews which a lot of times, don't add any value.

The existing interview process does so injustice to the talents, to the creatives who wants to be judged based on what they can do instead of how much they can score in the exams. The real test of knowledge for an individual is their creation (whatever they have created) and how they are able to put it in front of the world.

We started out as a small team, had no pedigree education background, and no experience working with big-shot startups, but had a passion for education, career, and the intent to help other individuals like us.

Scoop: Here's a deck on "Can Proof of Work Solve Poverty Trap?" It was based on a Tweet I had on my mind for a long time.

A simple example of what proof of work can do:

Shashank sitting miles away from Bengaluru was able to contribute to a project hosted by a startup called "GrowthX". GrowthX is one of the aspiring places to work for a lot of working professionals across India.

He was able to contribute to a project hosted by GrowthX on Fueler, approved by GrowthX team.

Even though he couldn't crack the role GrowthX was hiring for but he at least got a brand-recognized project on his portfolio. Because of this proof of work created by him, he will be able to attract other opportunities in his career throughout

• Link to the project hosted by GrowthX - Click here
• Link to the submission created by Shashank - Click here

The way we see is, Proof of Work can solve a lot of problems both in education and the future of work.

We also know that as we make progress in our journey, we will gain further clarity on our "WHY". Or in Patrick Bet David's words, there will be an evolution of why.

Thanks for reading. I will see you on the next one.

About Fueler:

Fueler is a career portfolio platform that helps companies find the best talents for their organization based on their proof of work

You can create your portfolio on Fueler, thousands of freelancers around the use Fueler to create their professional-looking portfolios and become financially independent. Discover inspiration for your portfolio

Sign up for free on Fueler or get in touch to learn more