Asking the Right Questions
The Key to Growth
This talk was originally given at INK Women x Infosys, where I had the chance to speak about something I think fundamentally changes how we approach life, work, and everything in between—asking the right questions.
Why Questions Matter
There’s a famous quote often attributed to Einstein:
“If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend the first 55 minutes figuring out the right question to ask. Because once I have the right question, the answer takes five minutes.”
Now, did Einstein actually say this? Probably not. But does the sentiment hold? Absolutely.
The smartest people in the world aren’t the ones with the best answers. They’re the ones with the best questions.
Revolutionary questions aren’t new. In 1851, Sojourner Truth stood up and asked, “Ain’t I a woman?” One question exposed the hypocrisy of a society that claimed to fight for women's rights but ignored women of color. Malala Yousafzai, at 17, stood before world leaders and asked, “Why is it so easy to give out guns, but so hard to give out books?”—forcing the world to reckon with its priorities.
Closer to home, Savitribai Phule asked, “Why can’t girls go to school?” and then went ahead and built India’s first school for girls in 1848. Ruth Bader Ginsburg asked, “Why can’t women sign a mortgage without a man’s approval?” and spent her life overturning laws that made that absurd reality possible.
History moves forward when someone is bold enough to ask, “Why does it have to be this way?”
The Questions That Changed My Life
I could sit here and list all the world-changing questions, but I want to talk about one that changed me.
"Am I actually okay?"
It sounds small, but it scared me.
A few years ago, I was in a high-pressure job, helping build a startup from scratch. On paper, I was killing it. In meetings, I smiled. Inside, I was crumbling—panic attacks before presentations, crying between pitch calls without knowing why. I avoided that question because if I admitted I wasn’t okay, then I’d have to do something about it.
But questions don’t go away just because you ignore them. One day, in a moment of sheer desperation, I asked another:
“What do I need right now?”
That one was easier. I needed help. I needed therapy. I needed to stop pretending I could power through it. So I did something radical—I talked to my family about it, I got the help I needed, and I started actually dealing with what was going on.
And here’s what no one tells you about asking the right questions: once you start, you can’t stop.
The next question came quickly: “What else have I been avoiding?”
Oh. Exercise. Movement. I hadn’t done anything physical in years. I felt weak, sluggish, constantly tired. And then the truly dangerous question popped up:
“What would happen if I just tried?”
It was a dangerous question because it meant action. But I went anyway. Walked into a gym, scared out of my mind. Lasted all of 60 seconds on a treadmill. It was embarrassing. My lungs burned. My ego took a hit.
But then I asked, “What if I come back tomorrow?”
And I did.
One minute became five. Five became twenty. Months later, I was in the gym for an hour and a half every day—not because I had to, but because I wanted to. Because I loved feeling strong. Because I had rewritten a story I had told myself for years: “I’m not the kind of person who works out.” Turns out, I just hadn’t asked the right question yet.
How Asking the Right Questions Built WTFund
Eventually, I realized my life kept changing every time I asked better questions. So I turned that outward.
Why does startup funding work the way it does?
Why does pedigree matter more than potential?
Why do we say we want venture capital to fund bold ideas, but in India, we rarely fund difficult ones?
Why can a second-time founder raise millions, but a brilliant 22-year-old with no connections gets ignored?
I don’t have a finance degree. I have a history degree. I have no business running a fund. And yet—here we are.
WTFund exists because I asked these questions, and instead of accepting the standard answers, I did something about them.
At WTFund, we don’t just write cheques—we write new questions into the startup ecosystem. We back founders that mainstream VC overlooks. We ask: How do we serve the ecosystem better? How do we fund the most ambitious, not just the most connected? How do we make sure capital actually reaches the people solving real problems?
Every founder we support is here because they asked a question no one else was asking.
How to Ask the Right Questions (And Actually Get Answers)
If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this, it’s that the right questions—asked at the right time—can change everything. But how do you get better at asking them?
1. Ask Open-Ended Questions That Challenge Assumptions.
Not: “This will never work, right?”
Instead: “What would it take for this to work?”
Not: “Am I failing?”
Instead: “What can I learn from this?”
Simple shifts. Massive difference.
2. Ask the Right People.
Sometimes, the answer is within you. Other times, you need to ask the people who actually know. Seek out mentors, people impacted by the problem, people who challenge you. The best conversations happen when you're around people who are also great question-askers.
3. Ask at the Right Time.
Some questions need quiet reflection. Some need to be asked in a room full of people. If you wait too long, you miss the moment. If you ask too soon, you may not be ready for the answer. Timing matters.
4. Questions Are Useless Without Action.
A question is a starting gun, not a finish line. The cycle is: Question → Answer → Act → New Question. Keep it going.
Your Challenge: The Question You’re Avoiding
We’ve talked about the theory. Now, here’s the part where you actually do something.
Ask yourself:
“What’s the question I’ve been avoiding?”
It might be about your job (“Is this actually where I want to be?”). Your health (“Am I taking care of myself?”). Your relationships (“Am I happy here?”).
Now, here’s your three-step action plan:
Name it. Write it down. Saying it out loud makes it real.
Explore it. Sit with it. Answer it honestly. Ask for help if you need it.
Act on it. Even if it’s a small step, take it. A question asked without action is just a haunting thought.
Here’s the thing—most of the time, the monster we’re afraid will come out of Pandora’s box is nowhere near as scary as we imagined. And the one time out of ten that it is scary? Well, at least now you know what you’re dealing with. You’re not facing it blind.
So. Crack open that box. Ask the question. Take action. And if you take nothing else from this talk, take this:
The life you want—the clarity, the growth, the breakthrough—it’s sitting on the other side of a question you haven’t asked yet.
What’s yours?