CallumConnects Podcast – Gurpreet Padda

What is Dr. Padda’s biggest hurdle as an entrepreneur?

On the CallumConnects micro-podcast, Dr. Padda says his biggest hurdle as an entrepreneur, ADD and shiny object syndrome, is also his greatest strength, and that a trusted business partner keeps it in check.

Welcome to “CallumConnects.” Five-minute entrepreneurial inspiration for your day. Joining us today on “CallumConnects” micro-podcast is Gurpreet Padda. Dr. Padda is a serial entrepreneur who started rehabbing houses and repairing diesel engines while in high school, before entering medical school at the age of 17. His secret power is his ADD and curiosity about how things work.

– A hurdle I’ve faced as an entrepreneur is also my greatest strength. I have horrendous ADD and I have shiny object syndrome, and I’ve had that ever since I can remember. I started a company when I was probably 14 years old while I was in high school. And I loved science but I loved taking things apart and I loved construction as well. So I ended up doing a construction company and then starting a company that fixed diesel engines, and I did this all while I was in high school. But I was so curious about anatomy and physiology that I went to medical school. I got into medical school when I was 17 and then I ended up graduating when I was, it was a six-year program, so I graduated when I was 22 or 23 years old. I’ve got an incredible curiosity about how things work and that often leads to a lot of nonsensical learning or appearingly nonsensical learning. So I end up getting curious about something and doing a deep dive and learning everything that there is to know about it and then I get distracted by my ADD, which says, hey, this is something interesting over here. And what that does is it allows me to learn and deep dive on things that appear non-related and then my ADD interrupts me and I end up jumping to another topic eventually. And often I’m able to reconnect a variety of different topics. So what I ended up learning from this is essentially use that superhero strength of ADD to learn and to move from topic to topic, but then use the overarching entrepreneurial mindset to give it application, to come up with a cohesive theory and a business model of how to get things done. One of the coolest books that I’ve ever read is “Who Not How.” And so I’ve been able to use some of those concepts more and more, which is not necessarily doing a deep dive into every single aspect of every single thing, but finding experts that already know that and engaging them, learning from them. And that way I’m not spending forever learning about a topic that I had no interest in. I ended up starting an entire restaurant company because I was curious about the food production system. I ended up with five restaurants before I knew it. And I was interested in fermentation and ended up starting a brewery. So this can really get out of control. And I’ve found that in order to channel that correctly and do it the right way, I have to be able to bring other people on board who will keep me in check. I have an amazing business partner that helps keep me in check. And I think that the ability to rely on others to kind of self-monitor our own behavior, that you trust these others, is really valuable. The ADD permits rapid reiteration of concepts. And it also allows you to abandon concepts that are less than ideal, but only within the context of getting assistance from other people. I don’t think that if I didn’t have other great people around me, I would be as successful.

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Frequently asked questions

Is ADD a strength or a weakness for an entrepreneur?

Dr. Padda says it is both. His ADD and shiny object syndrome are his biggest hurdle and his greatest strength. They drive him to deep dive into a topic, jump to the next one, and later reconnect ideas that looked unrelated. That permits rapid reiteration of concepts and quick abandonment of weak ones, but only with help from other people.

How does an entrepreneur with ADD keep shiny object syndrome in check?

Dr. Padda brings other people on board who will keep him in check, starting with a trusted business partner. He also uses ideas from the book “Who Not How”: instead of learning every aspect of everything, he finds experts who already know it and learns from them. He says he would not be as successful without great people around him.

What businesses has Dr. Padda started?

He started a construction company at about 14, then a company that fixed diesel engines, all while in high school. He entered a six-year medical program at 17 and graduated at 22 or 23. Curiosity about the food production system led him to five restaurants, and an interest in fermentation led to a brewery.