‘Class 9 pass, no English’: Hyderabad founder hired a taxi driver as his first employee, a decade later he heads procurement
A LinkedIn post by Hyderabad-based founder Sravanth Gajula, recounting a hiring decision he made a decade ago, has drawn wide attention online after he revealed that the taxi driver he once hired as his first employee now leads procurement at his company.Gajula shared that ten years ago, he hired a taxi driver as his first employee, someone with a Class 9 education, no knowledge of English, and no corporate experience. “No resume that would make any traditional hiring manager look twice,” he wrote in the post.He recalled that people around him questioned the decision at the time. According to Gajula, what convinced him was not the man’s qualifications but his hunger and honesty, and he decided to take the bet without thinking further.
Betting on potential
The company enrolled the new hire in spoken English classes and gave him work that mattered from the start. “We treated him like someone who was going to grow, because we genuinely believed he would. He didn’t just grow. He flew,” Gajula wrote.A decade later, the man heads procurement at the company, with what Gajula described as pan-India responsibilities.
What leadership looks like
Reflecting on the years since, Gajula argued that culture and values are often discussed but rarely practised. “In practice, it looks like hiring someone the world would have overlooked. It looks like investing in them before they’re ‘ready’. It looks like giving them a seat at the table, and then watching them own the room,” he wrote.He closed the post with a message to other founders and leaders: “Your team will become who you believe them to be. Believe bigger.”
Social media responds
The post drew a wave of supportive comments. One user wrote that skills can be taught, but “integrity, ownership and the willingness to learn are much harder to teach.” Another called it an example of “true leadership,” noting that great leaders build people, not just companies. Several others echoed similar sentiments, congratulating both Gajula and his employee on the journey.
About the founder
Sravanth Gajula is a former Microsoft employee who co-founded Adonmo, an out-of-home advertising technology company, in 2016.
