CEO of multibillion-dollar software company Nutanix Dheeraj Pandey presented a talk this evening from 6 to 7 p.m. for the third and final TILE event of this year.

Founded in 2009, Nutanix is a cloud computing software company that sells what it calls “hyper-converged infrastructure appliances” and “software-defined storage.” Pandey spoke about how he overcame his challenges of emigrating from India to the United States with little money in his pocket and almost zero experience working in the software industry.

“I moved from India with less than $700 in my pocket. I had little experience from working small technology jobs there, but my eyes truly opened when I had access to all these different and innovative jobs in the U.S. market,” he said.

Pandey worked for a plethora of companies for about nine years before establishing his own company, Nutanix, with two other partners. He worked for Trilogy Software when he moved and in 2003 joined Oracle, a multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Redwood Shores, California.

After discussing his experiences and the obstacles he overcame, Pandey also explained his personal point of view on how to think logically through certain problems faced everyday by companies.

“One thing for sure—you have to have irrational optimism. It may sound contradictory, but seriously, being audacious and unrealistic is what helps you the best,” he said. “The easy answer is obviously ‘No’ when faced with some dilemma. That’s why 99 percent of people fail when starting their own company. To get in that 1 percent, the secret is asking yourself, ‘How is this going to fail?’ You have to ask that question early on so that once you know your answer, you know exactly how to tackle your problem and take that risk.”

Pandey ended his discussion with a series of questions and his last remarks.

“I’m a dreamer,” he said. “There’s no one way to invest your time in being a smart and logical entrepreneur. For me, I think of solutions to everyday problems, and I attack them right away. I take risks to achieve what is best for my company. Finally, I always stay focused, attentive and respectful.”

Jacob Kim (11), one of the co-founders of the northwest San Jose TILE chapter, introduced Pandey’s work before his discussion and enjoyed his talk.

“He’s probably one of the best speakers we’ve had up to date,” Jacob sad. “With him talking about his experience and then also sharing his advice on how to approach starting a company or just how to do small things in life that can lead to a bigger idea later on, that was really interesting to listen to. I really hope we can continue this trend as next year’s events get rolling, and I really hope we get more people to come and listen to these enlightening talks.”

Earlier this year, TILE co-founders Jacob and Keval Shah (11) launched the newest chapter of TILE in northwest San Jose, hoping to educate students in the area. TILE stands for Talks on Innovation, Leadership and Entrepreneurship and was founded on the idea that every student should have unobstructed access to conversations with leaders and founders of companies.

Typically, a TILE event is organized monthly, with student-led discussions between the audience and the invited guest. TILE operates entirely under voluntary work and the dedication of student work around the world. Earlier in the year, TILE held two talks on Sept. 29 and Oct. 13 featuring personal finance company SoFi co-founder Daniel Macklin and CEOs and co-founders of summer business camps organizer Camp BizSmart Mike and Peggy Gibbs.

“It’s now been three events, and we can all just see how each one’s improved so far,” TILE team member Anu Selvaraj (10) said. “It’s pretty cool listening to all these people speak and for us to ask questions on how they have arrived to this very spot, being very successful.”

Today event was TILE’s final talk for the 2017 year. The next TILE event will be held after winter break in January; however, there is no confirmed date yet.