Behind the Handshake: Sunil Daluvoy
Behind the Handshake is a short-form interview series and today's conversation features Sunil Daluvoy.
Sunil began his career as a lawyer and his work in technology started with crafting tech policy at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). His expertise in communications policy helped Sunil land business development roles at Yahoo! and Google. Since then, Sunil has helped build new businesses in on-demand logistics (Uber), digital assets (ABRA), and now as a co-founder at SiftAI, which develops AI agents that solve problems for social customer support and community teams.
I once had a conversation with Sunil during a chapter of his career when he was consulting and he shared a perspective that I’ve never forgotten. Sunil told me “I view these consulting projects like paid interviews. I’m getting paid by these companies to understand the people and the problems they’re facing and I then get to decide if I want to continue working with them.”
It is gems of wisdom like that led me to this conversation with Sunil. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Tell us about yourself
I’m a curious soul that is constantly learning. I have a deep insecurity for mediocrity. I have a lot of confidence in my ability to impact the world positively, which also causes tension and stress if I'm not achieving that. That can also be a curse. When you're never really satisfied, you're always thinking about doing something else, you don't smell the roses along the way.
Lastly, I am blessed with a community of many friends and family.
How would you describe your company and your role to someone sitting next to you on a flight?
My answer reflects my approach to doing deals: how I describe what I do depends on who I’m talking to. I have a different answer depending on whether the other person works in technology or not … and based on how old they are. So, before I say anything about my company, I ask the person questions to understand who they are and what they care about.
I’ve worked on numerous different technologies over the years, but the common denominator is taking new technologies and bringing them to market to solve problems that very often people don’t realize they have.
What is an unpopular or contrarian view you hold?
Well, the Russians defeated the Nazis. I think many historical narratives tend to overdramatize the role of the United States in history. There’s no question when you read the history that the Nazis were more defeated by the Russians, but the narrative of WWII is often very different than that. I find that the popular narrative can be completely wrong, not because of differing opinions, but because of political reasons. The best phrase that comes to mind: “history is written by the victors”. For me, the way I get to the truth is by reading and listening to different media with contrasting viewpoints.
Tell me about a partnership that you're proud of and a lesson you carry with you today from that deal.
I really loved a deal I worked on where we brought Google WiFi to Starbucks stores, the first time Google got into the access business in a mass market scale. While that specific product no longer exists, Google has significantly grown its investment in Fiber and access since that deal. It was a thrill to bring connectivity to some of the most remote parts of the world, and knowing that I had a small part in that.
I had done all my homework, read all the 10-Qs. This was before ChatGPT. I knew deal economics. I know the legal elements - it helps to have a legal degree. I knew all the arguments for and against the deal.
And there was a point during the internal deal review meeting where I outlined why we should do the deal, and at the end, I said, “look, if we don’t win this RFP, you guys can fire me.” The beauty of that was that my leadership was not going to fire me. But it showed how much conviction I had that this was the right opportunity for us to take.
What is one insight that is core to how you approach relationships and build partnerships?
Empathy - that's really it. What is the other side worried about? What are they worried about that they shouldn’t be? What are they not worried about that they should be? The objective is to get to the underlying core assumptions of the negotiation.
What is one thing you have found to be true about negotiations but is often overlooked?
Empathy starts with listening. Oftentimes, people are just waiting for their turn to talk get their point across.
Another is context, you have to separate the internal negotiations from the external negotiations. The hardest challenges I’ve faced on deals are often internal negotiations. And you need to have situational awareness to switch between the realities of your partner’s organization versus your own organization.
What advice would you offer to someone earlier in their career that you wish someone had given you?
Coming from a household of doctors, I was instilled with a sense that if you do good work, it will speak for itself. And that is true … but it is not the full truth. If I could go back, I would have invested in stocks earlier.
I wish I had a better understanding of the distinction between labor and capital.
Work is not all about the money but it does matter. And until you reach the upper echelons of management, you’re in the labor world. If I had put more time and attention into capital wealth creation, it would have been better for me overall.
What is something you read or listen to that makes you smarter?
I try to find contrasting views even if it is painful. Doing so helps me to learn and grow by testing my assumptions.
I really believe in reading longform books. Making time to step away from my inbox and getting into a mindset of absorbing new information. I personally prefer the printed word on paper. I also find it important to read different genres and disciplines - technology, history, religion, etc.
What is a book that has changed your perspective?
Technological Republic, Alex Karp
Winners Take All, Anand Giridharadas
The Post-American World, Fareed Zakaria
What is one question I should ask you that I didn’t?
How does AI change business development? In my mind, there are a couple ways that I’ve integrated AI into how I operate …
Legal - I use AI to assess legal risk.
Research - has this company done these types of deals before? It is malfeasance if you aren’t reviewing their 10-Qs and 10-Ks. I used to read them manually. And now I just use AI to do that. I also find executive interviews on YouTube and use AI to summarize those interviews.
I also play different AIs off of each other. I’ll get an answer from ChatGPT and I’ll copy/paste it into Grok and tell Grok “I just got this answer from ChatGPT, I know you can do better. Show me.” It works.
