The following interview is a conversation we had with Nishika de Rosairo, CEO of HumanQ, on our podcast Category Visionaries. You can view the full episode here: $3.5 Million Raised to Build the Future of Human Development.

Nishika de Rosairo
Thank you for having me here, Brett. Excited to chat.

Brett
We had lots of jokes there in the pre interview, but could you go ahead and just pronounce your name for our audience? So if they’re listening in, they know how to say your name and they know how to find you?

Nishika de Rosairo
Absolutely. It’s Nishika de Rozairo.

Brett
Such a cool name. Super excited to have you here. Thanks so much for joining. Now, to kick things off, could we just start with a quick summary of who you are and a bit more about your background?

Nishika de Rosairo
Yeah, absolutely. So who I am? Well, I’m a global citizen. I grew up around the world, spent my years almost equally divided into four continents between Africa, Asia, Australasia and the US. And my background has always been in human potential. Really, this notion of how do you unlock individuals so they can live their best lives? I worked in HR and human capital and spent a lot of time with people and their potential and really helping them get to that next best stage of their career and their life. And so I’ve built an entire career now on the notion of unlocking human potential, which is what my company, Human Q, is about.

Brett
Amazing. Now, a few questions that we like to ask, and the goal here is really just to better understand what makes you tick as a founder and as an entrepreneur. First one, what founder do you admire the most and what do you admire about them?

Nishika de Rosairo
Ooh, that’s a tricky one. There’s so many. But two that come to mind, which are both of whom are probably very different ends of the spectrum. One is Richard Branson. I love his approach to life. I love how he’s such a daredevil. I love how he challenges the breaks, you know, kind of paradigms, et cetera, which has always been such an inspiration to me. And even at his age now he’s just thriving and constantly looking to challenge himself, which is incredible. Another founder I admire, who on the opposite end of the spectrum is Elon Musk. I think he’s probably one of the most brilliant people we’ve ever encountered in our lifetime, just in terms of how many things, meaning companies he’s juggling at the moment. 

 
Nishika de Rosairo
Like most humans find it impossible or extremely difficult to juggle one company, leave alone four companies, probably five or six that we haven’t even heard of yet. So I think he’s just such a fascinating individual in terms of his intellectual capacity and power and just his strive for life and what he’s trying to do to better the human race in so many different areas. Some could be controversial, of course, but I just have so much admiration for his intellectual capacity.

Brett
I just don’t understand how he does it. I was joking with my fiance, and we’re preparing to have kids, and I was just telling her, I don’t have any time. Between doing all these podcast interviews, running my company, I do a lot of ultra running and long distance running. I just don’t have time for any of this stuff. And then I look at someone like Elon Musk, who’s running multiple, multibillion, billion dollar companies and has, what, like, twelve kids. It’s like, how does he do it? I just can’t comprehend it. My brain can’t comprehend it.

Nishika de Rosairo
Mine neither. So there you go. You have something in common there.

Brett
Now, another question we like to ask about our books. So how we like to frame this. And this comes from Ryan Holiday, who’s an author that I really like, and he calls these books quake books. So he defined a quickbook as a book that rocks you to your core. It really influences how you think about the world and how you approach life. Do any quickbooks come to mind?

Nishika de Rosairo
For, you know, one book that I really love is called relentless by Tim Grover. And what I love about that book is this notion of striving for more in life, but also this idea that you’re capable of anything and everything that you set your mind to. And I just think, as humans, we forget how incredible we are, how powerful we are, and how much we truly have in our favor, and we get caught up in the mind blocks that we have and the stories we tell ourselves. So I just love that book for the capacity that it gives each person and how it expands your view to realize that you’re so much more than you actually are today. Like tomorrow, you have even more you can become or even more you can strive for, whether that’s happiness or purpose or whatever it might be.

Nishika de Rosairo
It doesn’t have to be anything monetary related. But I love that book.

Brett
That’s such a great book. What were the three buckets of humans that he had? It was like cooler, closer, and cleaner or something like that.

Nishika de Rosairo
Yes, exactly. The cleaner is the one that you want to be, apparently. So anyways. But I mean, they’re kind of weird names, right? If you think about it. But yes.

Brett
Yeah, he’s fascinating. He had another book come out recently, and I just did the audiobook and was listening to it, and it’s pretty funny. He didn’t want to list out the rules. I think it was like twelve rules for blah blah. And he didn’t want to put numbers behind them because he said every rule is equally as important. So every rule was rule number one, which I thought was just a really funny way to frame the book.

Nishika de Rosairo
I love that. 

 
Brett
Nice. So let’s switch gears here now and let’s dive into the company. So how we like to begin this part of the interview is really just talk about the problem. So could you just tell us what problem does humanq solve?

Nishika de Rosairo
Yeah, really great question. So, essentially, given my background in the human capital HR space and also the fact that I’ve been an avid learner and someone who’s always been interested in kind of developing full brained individuals, I just love mentoring. I love coaching. I love anything that helps someone get to a better place. The problem we’re really solving for stems from the education system, which is that when we develop humans, we develop them to be either left or right brain. You need to pick, do I want to be an engineer? Do I want to be a scientist? Do I want to be an accountant? Do I want to be a musician? Why can’t you be many things at once? And why aren’t we developing humans that have a full brain functionality and can live incredible lives where their purpose and potential is completely unlocked? 

 
Nishika de Rosairo
And I think that’s why, as humans, we get to this place where at some point in our life, many of us have midlife crisis. Right. We wonder why we’re doing the job that we’ve been doing for 20 years. We wonder what our purpose is. We wonder why we don’t have a job that creates more impact because we never really have taken the time, nor have our education systems given us a chance to understand who we are, what makes us tick, what makes us passionate, what makes us inspire ourselves and other people. And so at human q, it’s really about unlocking human potential and the way we do that is through group coaching. So we have now delivered to 72 countries. We have a net promoter score of 92. And slowly, little by little, we’re impacting the world one human at a time.

Brett
Wow. So walk us through what it looks like. So if we become a customer, imagine I’m part of a big enterprise, I become a customer. What does it look like? What does the solution look like?

Nishika de Rosairo
Yeah. So I think what makes us really unique and differentiated from anyone else in the market is the fact that we are really a change management or a transformation tool. So think about an individual or an organization, or rather a group of individuals, because everything we do is centered around the notion of the group, a group of individuals moving from a to b. And what does it take to move them from a to b? How do we challenge their paradigms? How do we reshape their triggers? How do we get them to think about things differently? How do we get them to apply themselves differently and take different actions so they can have different impact? So essentially, organizations come to us because they’re looking to solve their top priorities. And one of those top priorities might be instilling a culture of transformation.

Nishika de Rosairo
Another top priority might be basically embracing AI in this new world and helping people, or people, being their employees, build digital mindsets. It could be building a culture of inclusion and diversity and belonging. It could be jigging the way you go to market in terms of your drug development process and thinking about patient care. So companies come to us with very large problem statements, if you will, or opportunity statements, depending on how you want to look at it and how they phrase it. And we help them get from a to b.

Brett
And who are you typically working with then? Is it like the head of digital transformation, or is it the head of HR, like the chief people officer? Who does that ideal Persona, or what does that ideal Persona look like?

Nishika de Rosairo
Actually, it’s everybody. And what’s amazing is every leader has a charter, right? Like, you can’t be a leader and not have a charter. You’ve got your top five priorities. And so we work with any leader who is looking for help in terms of accelerating their priorities and getting to their outcomes faster. So one of the things that makes us super unique, not only the fact that we’re a change management transformation tool, but also that we kind of arc ourselves around ROI and impact. And so everything we do has to translate into results and outcomes.

Nishika de Rosairo
So because of that, literally, it could be the chief digital officer, it could be the CHRO, it could be the head of engineering, it’s literally anybody who has a strategic priority or two or three or four or five, and they’re looking to get there in a much more accelerated fashion.

Brett
From a messaging perspective, is the message different for each of those different groups, or is it the same type of messaging? 

 
Nishika de Rosairo
Such a good question. It’s actually, ironically, the same type of messaging. And you wouldn’t think so, considering that priorities are so different. But at the crux of it all, we see these key themes, right? The key themes are usually around human adoption. I have a massive digital transformation going on. I need my people to cross the chasm and get to the other side and actually be successful when we finish the digital transformation, whatever that technology implementation looks like. I need to build a culture of DEi, which is diversity, equity, and inclusion. I need people to think differently. I need them to behave differently. I need them to be more inclusive in their actions, whatever that might be. Ultimately, it comes down to human adoption. And human adoption is really the center focus of everything that we do. 

 
Brett
This show is brought to you by Front Lines Media, a podcast production studio that helps B2B founders launch, manage, and grow their own podcast. Now, if you’re a founder, you may be thinking, I don’t have time to host a podcast. I’ve got a company to build. Well, that’s exactly what we built our service to do. You show up and host, and we handle literally everything else. To set up a call to discuss launching your own podcast, visit Frontlines.io slash podcast. Now, back today’s episode. You mentioned Roi. There. Has Roi always been a big focus of your messaging and value prop?

Brett
And the reason I ask is I had a founder on last week, and he was telling me that, Brett, no matter who you sell to, at the end of the day, right now in this market, you’re selling to the CFO, and you need to be able to make a very clear ROI case to the CFO or to the finance team. So was this something recent that you did to make it a big focus on ROI, or have you been doing that since day one?

Nishika de Rosairo
Actually, since day one. And part of the reason is, in my background, working in human capital HR kind of transformation work. What I noticed constantly, day in and day out, was the piece that was lacking was always the inability to communicate ROI. And often when you can’t communicate ROI to the business isn’t able to really validate the approach you’ve taken or the tool that you’ve used or whatever that might be in terms of methodology that you’ve actually put in place. And so much of helping people understand why they’ve invested, why they’re doing the thing they’re doing is actually being able to communicate ROI. So I wanted to make sure that whoever we serve as a customer, be it hr, be it the head of engineering, that they were always able to center and kind of arc the entire program around ROI.

Nishika de Rosairo
So it’s been a massive focus of ours since day one, actually.

Brett
And let’s talk a little bit about growth. So I know you mentioned some numbers there. I think it was 72 countries, which is incredible. What other numbers can you share that highlight the growth and traction that you’re seeing today?

Nishika de Rosairo
Yeah. So I would say, well, yeah, that one is one that we feel really proud of. It’s probably over 80 by now, haven’t counted since. And then the NPS of 92 is another one we feel incredibly proud of. It’s a score that we’ve had since the beginning, actually, and it hasn’t dropped, which I know is really hard to maintain. So we feel really proud about the fact that we provide white glove service to our customers and that we get these, what we call love notes around people telling us that we’ve changed their life. Even though the buyer is actually a company, individuals feel that what we’ve constructed and delivered is actually specifically for them.

Nishika de Rosairo
And so they feel so privileged and honored to have had an experience through their company and grateful to actually have had an opportunity to go through a unique type of group coaching program. So essentially, the numbers for us are really around kind of where we deliver to our NPS. And then I would say the ROI factors. Right? Like, we know that 94% of people who go through our programs are more engaged. We know that 95% are more equipped to add value in their jobs and in the workplace. We know that we create 100% psychological safety in our group coaching sessions. So we stick to the numbers a fair bit then, Bret.

Brett
And what do you attribute to that growth? Any founder listening in is probably nodding their head thinking, yeah, I want that. I want to see growth like that. What have you gotten? Right, do you think?

Nishika de Rosairo
I think what really set us apart from the beginning, days and even now is the fact that we’re actually doing something organizations desperately need. And it’s been a missing gap for years, if not decades. I won’t go as far as to say centuries, but definitely decades. It’s been a missing gap. And were able to close that gap in a way that really took into account the pain points of the customer, but also took into account delivery at a level which is quite exceptional. And when we say white glove service, I really mean that we do white glove service for our customers. Like, we go all in and all out, regardless of how small or big the customer is. And it helps us renew our contracts, it helps us maintain really long relationships, it helps us build multimillion dollar accounts, et cetera.

Nishika de Rosairo
And so I would say that the focus on that gap, the focus on the ROI, the focus on service has been kind of our selling contributing factors. And it’s kind of incredible how many mediocre solutions are out in the market at any one given point in time. And I think the reason for that is people don’t often understand what they’re solving for or why they’re even doing what they’re doing. So I would say to any founder who is stuck or maybe rethinking their purpose or what they’re doing, the key is find your passion, right? Find the thing that you love. Make sure it’s something that not only you love, but others are, like, looking for. They’re hunting it down. They wanted it yesterday, and then I think the rest of it kind of falls into place.

Brett
What about market category? So is the market category group coaching or how do you think about the market category that you’re in?

Nishika de Rosairo
Yeah. So we think of ourselves as a technology solution for the future of work. And the reason why we affiliate so well with the future of work is all about AI. It’s about machine learning, it’s about new ways of thinking. It’s about realizing that your job isn’t necessarily going to go away because technology has gotten smarter and it’s getting smarter and smarter. Your role just becomes a lot more important in that it has to be more intelligent, more insightful, more resourceful. And so for us, it’s about getting humans to a place where they can play in the future of work, continue to add value, add even more value. And then we’re a tech solution in that we are a platform, and we’re a group coaching marketplace.

Nishika de Rosairo
We’re a managed marketplace, which means that we manage the different variables, which is the coach, the customer who buys from us, as well as the participant who actually goes through our programs. And so from that perspective, we think of ourselves as a technology platform in the future of workspace.

Brett
Now, let’s talk a little bit about funding. As I mentioned there in the intro, 3.5 million so far. What have you learned about fundraising throughout this journey?

Nishika de Rosairo
I would say that the investors you bring in at the beginning are so important. I mean, our first round, naturally, like all founders, was a friends and family round of funding. And then after that, we brought incredible investors who were early investors in Uber and tunnel and coinbase and postmates and blue bottle coffee and so on. And just bringing investors who understand how to grow and build billion dollar platforms, bringing investors who’ve seen market themes and trends before and they recognize those trends in you. That’s obviously great affirmation. But I think just bringing on the right investors in general, like people you trust who have incredible credibility, people who you take advice from, who are going to tell you when you’re thinking incorrectly or call you out when you might be heading down the wrong path, I think that becomes super important.

Nishika de Rosairo
So it’s not just about the money. It’s so much more than the money.

Brett
Now, let’s imagine you are starting the company again today from scratch. What would be the number one piece of advice you’d give to yourself?

Nishika de Rosairo
That’s a tough one. I would say maybe take faster bets and bigger bets sooner. It’s easy to go one of two routes as an entrepreneur. Either you take some really big bets and you hope it works out, or you’re going to fall flat on your face, or you kind of mosey along and you kind of organically grow. I think there’s a really fine medium ground where you take big bets soon and fast, but you also organically grow in some ways in that the wheels don’t come off the bus. So if I had to kind of redo it all over again, I would take some bigger bets faster, and then I would definitely try to find the right team from the get go. Being a sole founder is tricky. Everything falls on your shoulders.

Nishika de Rosairo
I look at some of these teams where they’re a group of founders and I’m like, wow, this has got to be incredible, on the one hand. On the other hand, if you have a disagreement, it’s got to be awful. But finding that right team is everything, and finding them at the get go is really difficult. When you’re not a brand, nobody knows who you are. They wonder why they need to take a bet on you. Why should they leave that really good job they had and come join you, right, that you’re not worth anything. Your company is not worth anything. And so it’s taking those bigger bets faster, I think is what I would probably do. 

Brett
Final question for you now, before we wrap up the interview, let’s zoom out 510 years into the future. What’s that big picture vision that you’re building? 

Nishika de Rosairo
The big picture vision is. So much of what is out there today in terms of platforms are platforms that are not necessarily good for you. I think we spend a lot of our time wasted actually on activities that may not fuel our lives forward. And they might be time suckers that actually take away rather than increase the potential of your best career and best life in ten years time, I certainly hope. And what we’re building is to be that platform that actually enhances your life tremendously. Any human’s life, whether you’re the human who works at a company like Salesforce or Microsoft, or whether you’re that human who works at the cash register at Walmart, right? 

Nishika de Rosairo
I would love to see everybody on our platform having equal opportunity to participate and really having the best ability to strive for what seems worthwhile in their life, to live their best life and to drive their best career. 

Brett
Amazing. Well, I love the vision. I love how you’re approaching building the company and just really enjoyed this conversation. Now, if there’s any founders listening in who want to follow along with your journey as you build and execute on this vision, where should they go?

Nishika de Rosairo
Well, they can email me personally if you like. Nishika@humanq.com we also have a website, humanq.com, and then we also have affiliated LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook pages as well. But we love hearing from others. So if anyone needs any advice or pick me up, because being a founder can also be lonely, I am here. Happy to help anytime.

Brett
You may regret saying that your inbox is going to get flooded with like a 500 sad, depressed founders at some point. 

Nishika de Rosairo
I would be so lucky, Brett. 

 
Brett
Amazing. Well, thank you once again for talking. This has been so much fun. We were joking there in the pre interview as well. Your accent is soothing, so I’m sure listeners are going to really appreciate that. And yeah, we learned a lot on this. This has been a blast. Thanks so much for taking the time.

Nishika de Rosairo
Thank you, Brett. Talk soon.

Brett
Keep in touch. This episode of Category Visionaries is brought to you by Front Lines Media, Silicon Valley’s leading podcast production studio. If you’re a B2B founder looking for help launching and growing your own podcast, it’s visit frontlines.io podcast. And for the latest episode, search for category visionaries on your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening and we’ll catch you on the next episode.