The inspiration for Yoodli came from my experiences as an immigrant coming to the U.S. from India. Growing up, I had a bit of a lisp, which made me self-conscious about speaking up, especially when there were more confident people in the room who could talk non-stop in their native language. I was one of the lucky ones. I landed a great job with Google, where I got to work on incredible projects, and I also spent over a year working directly with Sergey Brin, one of Google’s founders.

As fortunate as I was, I recognize that most people don't get access to the opportunities they deserve — for every version of me that lands their dream job, there's a kid in India who deserves the role just as much but doesn’t have the confidence and communication skills to succeed. There are immigrants, non-native English speakers, and introverts who miss out on their dreams because someone else does the talking and gets the credit.

We designed Yoodli to help people get the opportunities they deserve. It is an AI-powered communication coach that helps improve public speaking skills by analyzing your voice and content, and providing feedback on areas where you can improve.

My co-founder, Esha Joshi, feels just as passionately about this and wants to use technology to help women be heard even more in the workplace. Here’s my TEDx talk about our mission.

With Yoodli, you can record yourself speaking or upload a pre-recorded audio or video file. Yoodli will analyze your conciseness, filler words, pacing, and non-inclusive language. It will also score your body language, including making eye contact and using gestures and facial expressions to engage with others. It can even give you real-time feedback on your delivery to make sure you sound confident and engaging in a live meeting.

The app is free and works with the most widely used video platforms, including Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom. Best of all, the feedback is completely private and only shows up on your screen, gently reminding you to adjust your speaking pace or include an important talking point.

The reactions have been positive since Esha and I founded the business 18 months ago. We’ve raised more than seven million dollars from a few strategic investors, such as Madrona and the Allen Institute for AI, and our team has grown to 10 people. But the most exciting news is that Yoodli now has users in 150 countries, including some of the world’s top business schools and Fortune 50 companies. It’s also been rolled out to 300,000 members by Toastmasters International, a global community that helps people with their communication and presentation skills.

Google Cloud: Taking the pressure off busy founders

Launching a business puts huge demands on your time and that of your colleagues. That’s why we run our full technology stack on Google Cloud — it gives us access to integrated software that powers the entire business. We use Cloud Storage for storing and accessing data, BigQuery as our cloud data warehouse, Google Analytics to manage website traffic, and Google Workspace for our productivity tools.

In particular, Cloud Storage is especially important for running Yoodli. We don't have a big budget for video processing and storage, but Google Cloud makes it highly affordable. We also need fail-safe security, especially as we give feedback on conversations that might include salary negotiations or an unreleased product keynote. Working with Google gives me the confidence that our infrastructure is completely locked down.

We’re also big fans of the Google for Startups Cloud Program, which offers extensive support all the way from VP-level for strategic issues to an account manager for day-to-day questions. We feel lucky that Google can prioritize a startup as small and early stage as us. It makes me confident that we'll continue to be part of the Google ecosystem as we grow.

First steps for founders

Thanks to Google Cloud, it’s been an exciting journey giving me plenty of insights into what it takes to found a business. First, you must be brave and prepared to jump into your idea. You might think you need to survey 20 founders or wait until you have the perfect proposal, but if you’re really motivated to change things for the better — you just have to go for it. Even though it can be a rollercoaster, the opportunity to do your best for other people will keep you going.

The results make it worth it. Every day when I wake up, I have emails from people saying, "Oh my God, I landed my dream job. Thank you so much." Or, we hear from people using Yoodli to learn English because they are too nervous to practice with a friend or a teacher. Whatever the ups and downs of being a founder, it always makes my day anytime I read messages from our users.

As for the future, I can see a time when Yoodli will become a real-time AI assistant in all kinds of professional and social contexts. Imagine you are on a date. The Yoodli app on your watch could remind you to stop speaking and ask more questions. Or if you’re in a tough meeting, Yoodli could advise you to take a break and get a glass of water before restarting the conversation.

It’s challenging because we deal with people’s personalities and deep-rooted feelings, but I’m positive we have the people and initiative to make it work. When you add the support from the Google Cloud team, we feel secure about the future — and giving people the confidence to excel at work and in their social lives by practicing with Yoodli.

If you want to learn more about how Google Cloud can help your startup, visit our page hereto get more information about our program, and sign up for our communicationsto get a look at our community activities, digital events, special offers, and more.