Exclusive | Rapid-fire with Andre Agassi on Parenting and Education

0:11 All right I am very excited because and I'm sure all the parents watching this episode are going to be equally excited because they're all Agassi fans and yeah. I'm fine, a little nervous but I'm sure I'll do a good job. Okay so how does it feel to be in India? I always enjoy being here. It's not always the easiest place to get to do from where I live. This is the third time I've been here to Mumbai.

0:37 I always feel welcomed by the people and get to enjoy some good dinners. Okay so how's it feels to be here for something completely non-related to tennis. Much better being here for tennis because I never really liked you know traveling the world and then having to deal with jet lag and stuff so here it's good. It's a culmination of my dreams sort of coming to a real point celebration. We're not here overnight and it's been a long journey and education that's certainly a very progressive quick journey in the last four years of how far we've come from end up but it feels like it's more of evolution of a longer journey and education. So to be here, doing what I love to do is fulfilling.

1:26 So in one of your interviews, you mentioned that being prepared is my greatest responsibility and raising two kids is is the biggest joy and the biggest worry in in many ways. So why do you say that raising children and I ask you now because you're also part of an education company, that why did you say raising kids is like the biggest responsibility and a lot of people are actually shying away from that, especially in India. We kind of have a lot. You know we actually have a family and a village raising our children as part of the ecosystem. It's not just the husband and wife and as more and more families become double-income households in India you know the parenting part of it kinda gets outsourced so and you have a completely different point of view on that.

2:13 Well I can't speak to the intimacies of your culture here but I can tell you about my own you know commitment and I don't know if there's any love that one can have that's as unconditional as that with your children. So if you claim you love something, in my opinion, your life should reflect that on the daily basis. Little decisions become a trajectory itself. Starting young and being involved in caring for their minds and their development is it's a big responsibility you know it's a lot of times we feel like our kids reflect who we are and in some cases that's it's true and other cases it's not but you do your best and I feel like you raise children till they're about 14-15 and then you start to mitigate risk.

2:55 Okay so you've also like mentioned that decisions get more precarious as they get older but worries get less but more intense. So one of the few the toughest decision that you've taken as a father? Well I think objective of any parent is to for your kids not to need to. I mean that's what we're trying to do right. So you try to give the leash longer and longer as the kids grow but knowing exactly how long to get the leash is the difficult challenge and comes a lot of risk and worrying that the child is prepared for the path and so for me that's the hardest as a parent is to know, okay I'm gonna give you the responsibility and then trust that we've built you know the relationship because I always believes that rules without relationship leads to rebellion. If you can develop the relationship and the trust and then you can let the leash out appropriately at the right time. Eventually you know they don't need you anymore but unfortunately by the time you're qualified as a parent, you're unemployed, so good luck with that one.

4:00 Right. Has being a parent been the source of your next journey, like your entrepreneurial drive and with the foundation, with Square Panda, was like that it's like a tipping point that got you into doing what you're doing now? Not being a parent was not the inspiration behind my involvement in education. For me it was about never having choice in my own life and that was the connection between wanting to give children who really don't have a choice. Give the opportunity for a life of their choosing through education so that was my that was my motivation. When I had children, I realized just how important it really is because the idea of your own children not having a chance at a future for themselves and whatever passions they have is it really brings home what a crime that is and so it reinforces everything that I've learned but my my commitment of dedication was you know far beyond my own children.

4:57 Unfortunately, they're the ones that have to suffer my intensities about education because you know I was an eighth grade dropout and I push them pretty hard to make sure they take care of their responsibilities their have-tos; they don't take care of their have tos in education, they don't get to do their get tos. I like the have tos to the get tos. That's interesting. With the Agassi foundation you' now have 85 schools? Well the foundation itself started which is one school in Las Vegas and through my experience with this one school in Las Vegas, I figured out at how the box way to to scale my mission across the country. Not through philanthropy.

5:36 Yes. Not by waiting for the government but through the private sector. I believe that's the only way to make true impact in in a sustainable way is to innovate and to figure out real life solutions of daunting societal issues and I did that with a real estate infrastructure fund focused on education in America for the best and fast operators and it's growing all the way to an ed tech company with Square Panda that gives a platform to help children. Early child literacy is such a big part of the trajectory of the child's life as was English second hand language learning which is also an issue in America as well, with so many Hispanic children from families who do not speak English as well. So you know there's some real fine points that Square Panda puts on my entire journey through education that not only has greater possibilities of impact but you know it also can reach globally.

6:32 Right and that's what that's I was coming at. That how do you see that that piece of education. Not only the digital piece but model that you've created with the Agassi Foundation. How do you see that populate into other countries especially like India which really needs that private sector intervention? Well that's probably why we're here. You know I think no matter what culture you're in, no matter where you are in the world, the earlier that you have literacy in your own language, the earlier you learn you know English as the second language, the more effective you're going to be not only in your education but also in life and so having a company that can sort of cross the boundaries of cultures and oceans is an exciting one for me and again the scalability of this is remarkable. The amount of kids you can reach on a very one-on-one basis, you know you're not just throwing a net out there. That you're actually individualizing a child's ability to learn and the best way for them to learn is this technology. It's also so much fun for them that you don't have to have to babysit them.

7:38 Right. Absolutely. So anyhow it's all kind of come together and allowed me to be here Mumbai for reasons that have started a long time ago. Do you feel sometimes the parents need to push their children because the children don't know what they're capable of because you always spoke of how you wish that you had led a normal life? Well I mean that pushing is an interesting word to use. I mean I would probably use the word accountable. I mean I think it's important we all are held accountable for our choices that includes the young child.

8:13 Yeah. As long as they're being held to accountability of what's appropriate for their age. I mean you know accountabilities when you learn how to drive a car, you know accountabilities when you handle yourself at a dinner table. So you know making sure you're teaching the right accountability at the right time in the child's life is probably the word I would choose to pushing. The child can choose what they want, it's their life, but making sure their days reflect what they think is important, is accountability.

8:45 You also mentioned, "The way I see it, I gave up one third of my life to tennis to prepare for the two third and now I'm trying to make the most of this period." What's the plan forward? Like what all do you want to be? Oh well first of all my comment was in sports. If you succeed you spent a 30-year life not preparing for two thirds of your life so, it was designed to encourage parents not to get so single-minded on on a child just being a successful athlete because even if you succeed what are you really winning? You know, you're winning a life that you're not really prepared for. You know, in my case my transition was a lot much more seamless into my retirement but as I look forward it's very different than my career. You know, within sport you work backwards from goals. You know, you see this objective and then you work the days back and you train. You lead up to be at your best and and now with my mission and education it feels like you're just you feel like you're growing. It feels like you're creating, it feels like you're just going forward you know it doesn't feel like I'm working back from this is my end goal. You know, it's everything has led to the next phase and the more children that I'm able to influence, impact and give the tools through education, I believe there's hope and the more I can do it for more people the better. So ask me 10 years from now. I'll tell you the last 10 years length but right now it's only one mission at a time.

10:22 You know, being an entrepreneur, according to me is a really really tough job. I don't know if you agree but like how do you manage to prioritize with all that you have on hand? It's not so much that it's simple it's uh it's being constantly aware of the tensions in your life and I think if relationships start to suffer you need more attention there than if you're not making the progress you want in your business you need more attention there and it's so nuanced that it's a constant it's a constant juggling act but it requires an ability of discipline, of ability, of attention and you have to have a passion because if you love what you do then it's not exhausting it's encouraging and inspiring.

11:04 Right. From somebody who's always been outdoors, played a sport, how is it to kind of limit those life learnings into the indoor screen? This is something that I think is natural as generations evolve and our culture changes. Sometimes it's hard as a parent to understand all the challenges a child goes through but if you - we try to limit our children's time they're facing and I can tell you that when my children were little I wish that I had a luxury of taking that limited time and having it being focused on something that not just entertains them but actually teaches them as well.

11:49 So it's it's highly encouraging for me to be a part of something that fits in to where society is. That actually is a positive part of where we, you know. social media is a double-edged sword. You can use it for good you can use it for bad, right. So I mean being in front of something can be good or it can be not good. So being a pa rt of the good side, it makes me proud.

12:18 Okay and finally we're going to play a little game where you give responses only in a word. Only in one word? Only in one word. I'm sure you're going appreciate the crispness to the questions. Okay if you were not a tennis star you would be? Square Panda. Okay. Agassi as father is? Like Square Panda. I’m kidding. Committed. Parenting is?

12:49 Responsibility. The biggest ace in my life has been? My wife saying yes. I dread this more: a match at court or a parent-teacher meeting ? A match. I don’t ever want to do it again. Skills my kids need in a 21st century? Empathy. Technology for education will be? The future. The things that you sometimes hate: a 4 year old or a 14 year old. Which one is easier?

13:24 Four. Four? Four is easier. My reaction to people when they say, "Oh my god they’re kids aren’t playing tennis?" I feel like it's a big gene pool you haven't met the rest of my family. Okay that's a really good answer. My parenting advice would be? Do your job. Okay. Perfect thank you so much. It’s been an absolute pleasure.