Venkat's motivation

Venkat Subramaniam: I'm pretty loyal to user groups and on average, I speak at 15 user groups every single year, even today. I feel that this is part of me giving back to the community and my loyalty to the user groups is because that's where I started.

I am here because so many people inspired me when I was young, and after that as well. If I can inspire just one other person, I think my purpose in this industry will be fulfilled. I think that it's important for students to know that as a child, I had learning disabilities. I was a failure in school. A lot of people, when I say this, laugh and think I'm kidding. Students should know that your education and your ability to do well in school is something that you can turn around.

It took me a while to realize that I really hated studying, but I loved learning. This was a remarkable realization on my part because studying is boring. You have to sit there and read stuff...