Mohan Belani: Fatherhood as a Founder, Raising AI-Ready Kids & Balancing Marriage with Startup Life – E589
" I mean women have it so much harder, right? Because for them, their bodies are literally changing on a daily basis. Then the emotions, the appetites—everything is going through a massive cycle. For me, my wife was a huge inspiration because she was dealing with a whole bunch of ups and downs. In my mind, I was like, I have no place to be stressed out or frustrated, 'cause what she's going through is way worse. I have this thing where, if I'm in a bad situation, I will always reference myself to individuals that I know within my network that are in really difficult situations. And I'm always like, look, my situation is really not... yeah, yeah, yeah, you. It just helps make things a lot easier, helps ground me on some level. It just fundamentally is a psychological trick to make me realize it's not that big a deal." - Mohan Belani, Co-Founder of e27
"Even if it opposes your worldview, it's really important to stay curious rather than be judgmental or critical. So there's one quote that I shared with some friends earlier this year—I think it's a bit corny, but actually very powerful for me at least, especially now in the age of AI. This need to consistently be curious about what's new, what's interesting, or what's changing, even if it opposes your worldview, is really important rather than to be judgmental or critical. I'm hoping through that I can be a better learner, a better dad, but also a lot more ready for the changes that are coming. Because if you are able to be curious, the good thing about AI is that it will feed you that curiosity. But you’ve got to have the curiosity—the patience to ask questions and not just judge the outcome. So yeah, for me, be curious, not judgmental." - Mohan Belani, Co-Founder of e27
"We made the decision that we were husband and wife first and parents second. It doesn't mean that we didn't care about the kid, but we had to make sure that we put in effort, time, to continue to build on and respect the sanctity of our relationship, and not pour everything into just purely raising the child. We made a lot of decisions that maybe third parties would look at and go like, 'Wow, you guys are bad parents for making those decisions.' When really, from our perspective, we're like, 'No, we are making sure that we are rock solid as partners, and that rock solid foundation will help us bring up the child better.' And I think looking back, I'm really very happy we made those decisions." - Mohan Belani, Co-Founder of e27
Mohan Belani, Co-Founder of e27, and Jeremy Au reflect on what it means to be a tech leader, startup founder, and modern dad raising Generation Alpha. They explore how parenting rewires identity, the mental load of fatherhood, and how decision-making feels like startup building in a world flooded with information. They discuss the tension between being an attentive partner and a present parent, how childhood memories shape parenting choices, and how to raise children with curiosity and resilience in an AI-saturated future.