Purna “Chandoo” Duggirila
Chandoo is the CEO, Chief Excel Officer, of Chandoo.org where they try to make people AWESOME in Excel. Chandoo has an MBA and a Computer Science Degree. Hence, he is adept at both Requirement/Project Management as well as development. Which is in line with his blogs alias, the Pointy Haired Dilbert. Both functional and technical. The boss and the developer.
Chandoo Interview
This guy is living the dream. Doing what he loves. Giving back to the community. What struck me the most about the interview with Chandoo was his approach to his business and his Zen-like demeanor. There are certain people, that when you meet them, you feel that the conversation is just somehow DIFFERENT. Like there is less clutter between their thoughts. More clarity when they speak. They are insightful without trying to be. Chandoo fits into that category for me. Plus, I am likely smitten by the fact that he likes us…
“I was so EXCITED when I heard about Excel TV” -Chandoo
as long as we are doing quotes… (I get that I’m the only one doing them… whatever…)
“It’s better to have gaps in your knowledge all the time because that is what makes us curious. ” -Chandoo
or this one…
“I don’t view the blog as a source of income. I view it more like a giving of my knowledge” -Chandoo
Chandoo discusses the growth of his business
Chandoo chronicles his business growth on StartUpDesi. I love this. So we talked a lot about his business growth and the struggles that many “purists” or altruistic people have with creating a product and asking for money. It is a struggle that many bloggers must overcome if they ever want to make a living via their contributions. Business has been a growth process for Chandoo. His first e-book he charged $5. Sales were low because people equated the price of the book with the quality of the book. So he increased the price. And not only did the profits go up… but the count of units went up as well. Chandoo discusses many of the mental limitations that he had to overcome to grow his business…. including charging more than $100 (more than the price of Excel). As he expanded his belief in what was possible (or acceptable), his business increased as well. Any time that Chandoo has a temptation to start a new aspect of his business he asks himself…
“The reason I am doing this is because I want to live a very comfortable and FREE life. I want to be with my family. I want to be able to visit different countries. I want o spend a lot of time watching my kids grow… Its better to do something where I can be completely absent”
Where to find Chandoo…
Start by doing a google search for almost anything Excel related. If that’s too taxing for ya’, then here are some more straight forward alternatives.
- Website: http://chandoo.org/
- Start Up Desi: http://startupdesi.com/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/r1c1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Chandoo.org
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ExcelTutorials
Your turn
Have any comments about the episode or questions for Chandoo? Chandoo knows about the page, so leave your questions below. Also, did you like this? If so hit one of those social sharing thing-a-ma-jigs and tell the world about this Chandoo page. If you sign up for our Newsletter, you will never miss an episode. Check it out.
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Hi Rick, interesting trick on NPV. Could you share the file for review the formulas and the context of the trick? Thanks for the attention!
Hey Carlos-
I don’t believe I have the file anymore. But we did turn this portion of the video into a blog post where you can see more details/text. You can find it here https://excel.tv/npv-calculator-and-irr-formula-in-excel/
Thanks for watching -Rick
Thanks Rick! I really apreciate the attention. Great part on Chandoo talking about the requirement process for building excel aplications!