Ankur Jain, founder and CEO of Kairos, on solving the world’s biggest problems

The Juggernaut Interviews: Founders

Ankur was only 11 when he accidentally started his first company. A magazine would later call him “the best connected 21-year-old-in the world.” Today, the serial entrepreneur runs Kairos, a startup studio with a portfolio of companies that aim to address people's biggest life expenses, such as housing, healthcare, and student loans. One company, Rhino, gives renters an alternative to locking up thousands of dollars in security deposits. Another company, Bilt, gives customers rewards points for paying their rent with a dedicated credit card; they can even use the points toward homeownership. Ankur dives into what encouraged him to go against the grain, and tackle the problems people face every day instead of the “hot ideas” that percolate in Silicon Valley. And entrepreneurship, at the end of the day, is about solving problems — real problems.