How A Nepali Woman Convinced Google to Write a $28,000,000 Check | Rupa Shah
From her early days as a Fair & Lovely ad model and a student at Army School Kathmandu earning ₹500 at a Bhrikuti Mandap book fair, to Senior Director at MIT RAISE raising $28 Million from Google, this is the unvarnished story of Rupa Laxmi Shah.
Over the last 13+ years at the world's premier technology institute (MIT Media Lab / MIT RAISE), Rupa has closed landmark multi-million-dollar partnerships with Google, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Schmidt Futures, and the Hong Kong Jockey Club, impacting over 30 million children globally.
In this candid masterclass with Anup Ghimire, Rupa pulls back the curtain on how high-stakes global philanthropy actually works: sitting across tables with over 160 billionaires, the psychology of raising 8-figure checks, the hard research on why AI won’t replace teachers, and why sending generic ChatGPT cold emails is destroying your chances with global investors.
Timestamps
00:00 - Highlights
03:09 - Growing Up in Kathmandu: Army School & Teaching at Age 15
06:09 - Moving to America 23 Years Ago: Arriving at MIT Media Lab
10:24 - The $28,000,000 Cheque: Closing Google for MIT RAISE
15:39 - The Anatomy of a $17M Research Initiative
20:09 - Walking Into Rooms of Power: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
25:39 - How Billionaires Actually Give Money (DAFs & The 5% Rule)
30:24 - Sitting Across 160 Billionaires: What the Super-Wealthy Care About
36:09 - Storytelling Over Pitch Decks: The Art of Raising Capital
40:39 - The Brutal Truth About AI in Education (Gates Foundation Research)
45:24 - Scaling AI Ethics in Asia: The Hong Kong Jockey Club Project
51:09 - Motherhood & The Dual High-Impact Career Reality
56:24 - The Nepal Capital Trap: Why Nepali Giants Can’t Invest Globally
01:01:39 - Mentoring Nepali Founders: How to Pitch US Investors
01:05:24 - The Golden Rule: Stop Sending Generic ChatGPT Emails!
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🎤 Host: Anup Ghimire
Founder of The Doers
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anup-ghimire-9366aa5a/
🎙️ Guest: Rupa Laxmi Shah
Global Philanthropy and Partnerships, MIT Media Lab
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laxsh/
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