Rajat Suri was supposed to be a doctor. That was the plan. The Indian dream, as he puts it. And he was on track.

Then he walked into a three-hour lecture by a professor named Larry Smith at the University of Waterloo — and everything changed.

One idea cracked him open: that a single individual could change the sweep of history. Not just help one person at a time, but reshape how millions of people live their daily lives. That realization sent him down a path that led to co-founding Zimride (which became Lyft), building Presto — the AI-powered drive-thru technology used in major restaurant chains — and now Tribe, a group chat platform built to bring back the intimacy of real human connection in the age of AI.

In this episode, Rajat shares:

• The one lecture that redirected his entire life path

• Why he applied to MIT knowing he was going to drop out

• How Drew Houston of Dropbox pushed him toward Silicon Valley

• The problem with WhatsApp, Reddit, Discord, and every other platform — and why Tribe is different

• What it actually takes to build a community that lasts

• Why human conversation skills are going to be the most valuable skills in the AI age

• How he thinks about impact, wealth, and giving it all back

If you've ever felt like you were built for something bigger — this one's for you.

Guest: Rajat Suri, Founder of Tribe & Presto, Co-founder of Lyft