We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Steven Puri. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Steven below.

Hi Steven, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Remote work has HUGE advantages – flexibility, no commutes, a global talent pool – all the things. I love it, but I learned something important was missing & that inspired me to create The Sukha Company. The problem I wanted to solve is social isolation. Loneliness.

My last two companies were entirely remote – software living on the ZIP Code-less internet. After a few years, though, I realized that I miss people.

Yes, people.

I know we have Zooms that replaced in-person meetings. Yes, we have Slack for the occasional “hey, would you do this for me” and “look at this laser-eyed cat GIF I found.”

But I missed most of all the little sense of seeing my team while we worked. The subtle sense of belonging that engages us, motivates us and spurs us on when we need it. The little micro-interactions that happen all day in a physical office, but don’t when you’re working alone at your kitchen table.

So we built something.

We took a productivity platform that had all the fun tools – beautiful focus music, pomodoro timers, task lists – you know, the table stakes tools…

…and we added the ability to see each other,

And it’s magical.

It’s like being in a coffee shop with a group of friends all working away on their laptops, and every now and then joining the group chat and making new friends. Supporting each other.

In researching why this works, we found a bunch of research by smart people around “The Coffee Shop Effect” and “The Hawthorne Effect” and “Social Facilitation Theory”….but really

…it works because it makes remote work feel human. and fun. and we’re supporting each other.

That’s why we created The Sukha Company.

“Sukha” is Sanskrit for happiness.

Steven, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I was a VP at 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks and I had a lot of scripts to read and notes to write – so I would go to a Starbucks on Sunset in West Hollywood to do this. A lot of screenwriters would work there at nights and on weekends. I loved the collegial environment where we quietly worked on our laptops with our headphones on, but benefited from the energy of being around other people.

When I founded my first all-remote company, I realized the amazing benefits of being remote (flexibility, global team, etc.) and also that I missed the company of other people.

This was the impetus for building Sukha – to give everyone around the world a beautiful place to work – surrounded by others who are quietly working away – and offer all the great productivity tools like focus music, pomodoro timers, AI coaches, etc.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The origin of The Sukha was a productivity app called “Centered” started by a good friend of mine. His concept was for “a mindful to-do list app.” I helped him with that for a while until he decided to quit, and I offered to buy the underlying technology.

My belief is that the most powerful foundation of productivity is having a supportive community, so we adapted the technology to emphasize this aspect…and we changed the name of the company to “The Sukha Company”

Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.

The first company I founded was Centropolis Effects, a computer-generated effects company for film & television. We raised $15MM to start the company just after we won the Academy Award for visual effects. We produced the CG effects for 14 films through the company and eventually sold it to Das Werk, a German media conglomerate for a 5x ROI.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that perseverance and grit is worth more than raw talent.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.TheSukha.co/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-puri-b0714436/