Sooraj Chandran @soorajchandran_ Twitter profile

Pinned Tweet

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

3 years

I want to move to Europe with a tech job. Where do I start? Here:

56

209

1K

Last Seen Profiles

@KaanTemeltas

@StasisVAL

@mii1280189

@mervy79043

@cjt214215

@NationalitiesP

@kkkk93838

@MakalaahM

@kkkk93838

@BinorRaja

@bokeplokalmalam

@heisrema

@mzubairirshad

@Kahramanbekcili

@n_kumiku

@aldwsry85490

@icehockeyindia

@anglyngy

@nizi_syumi

@a_uumu

@unsilenced_majo

@srsamarkandi

@JRubott

@Dk69903Kumar

@leisaidane

@Olvidismos

@Aus04092017

@jaquacyy

@stw_pdg

@BV_Trust

@roob_megan

@BinorRaja

@ConradKirkMaga

@dtxbtmguy

@bokeplokalmalam

@rojer1500

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

"You can buy quality of life in India if you have money". Probably not. Quality of life is not just outsourcing all of your chores. There are small things like - Cycle paths - Low traffic - Working systems and infra - Punctuality - Public transport and the list goes on.

281

441

4K

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

5 months

Whenever there is "are you going back to India" conversation in our friend circle, 100% of the women are 100% convinced that they never want to go back. Europe spoils you with safety and freedom - which is super valuable for women coming from conservative communities.

229

272

4K

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

10 months

⚠️ Be very careful before buying the new @TataMotors Nexon. In 3 days of delivery, and less than 100 KM, I had to go to the service centre 2 times (and the car is still faulty). Here is the full story:

325

415

2K

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

3 years

Went completely off the grid for couple of days. Middle of the jungle. Zero network. It was amazing. Wayanad, Kerala.

32

46

2K

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

Indian Podcast bros are going crazy telling how everyone will come back to India from US and Europe because it's easy to make money in India now. While the money-making part is true, most don't understand why they move to Europe and the US.

42

65

1K

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

7 months

Behind most of the productivity bro "high-performance morning routines" is a lady, taking care of their children and cooking all their meals.

11

141

1K

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

A weird life skill Indian kids have to learn: Get comfortable disappointing your parents. Dropping out of college, leaving a "secure" job, marrying someone you love - you have to make those decisions yourself and may disappoint your parents along the way (At least for a while).

12

150

1K

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

If you are serious about your job search in 2023, you must look beyond Linkedin and Angelist. Here are some regional job boards to help you find a job in Europe:

42

183

1K

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

Life update: Bought a home in the Netherlands 🇳🇱🏡 People here are kind, and we have made friends. So staying around for another few years. Look forward to learning handyman skills 💪🏾

77

12

987

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

Most parents I speak with don't want their children to grow up in a hyper-competitive, toxic environment. The others want a better quality of life and work-life balance. That's it. Those are the only (but important) reasons.

11

24

827

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

Dubai is a good location if you want wealth creation and quality of life. They have a digital nomad visa that can be a shortcut to a Schengen visa. Here is how:

16

53

799

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 months

@championswimmer Our sense of patriotism is standing up to Jana Gana Mana, but have zero civic sense.

2

26

801

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

Not the getting laid I was planning for in 2023. But it is what it is. If you are looking for a product leader (Remote, EU) with an engineering background and entrepreneurial mindset who can get shit done, drop me a line.

59

129

764

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

🎉Career update: I'm joining Via as their Head of Product and Engineering. It felt like a role that was handcrafted for me. My skills, domain knowledge, career aspirations, experience and the company stage - everything fits perfectly.

119

7

721

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

9 months

Healthcare: Netherlands vs India 🇳🇱 1 week to get the appointment. Come back after 2 weeks of simple medicines level 2 medicine for 2 weeks. Still not sure about the next steps. 🇮🇳 Visit doctor. 10 mins - CT scan 20 mins - prescribes surgery 2 days later - surgery done A

107

55

717

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

10 months

A simple way to check if you have a non-toxic manager is to see if they have a life outside of work. The ones without a life outside of work, tend to make work their escape and expect the team to do so too. And they will have no appreciation for your life outside of work.

26

67

714

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

90% of building a great work culture comes down to two things: 1. Paying people well 2. Acknowledging that employees have a life outside of work That's it. Everything else is noise, or not worth the effort.

34

85

711

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

3 years

Reasons to move to Europe if you work in tech (and not to):

20

78

699

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

@gauravmunjal Says every manager who loves micromanaging the shit out of their employees.

1

9

620

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

Let's be honest - you are hiring from a third-world country because the talent costs less. Not because you want to create an impact. Stop using remote hiring for virtue signalling.

12

54

619

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

If making money is your top priority, find remote work from India. Don't relocate to Europe. If you care about other things, like travel, quality of life and working system, move to Europe. Simple as that.

29

23

606

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

5 months

Quoting: "The safety, security and freedom I get here is worth paying 45% tax or more. I'll never get that in India no matter how rich I'm".

16

21

592

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

Life won't magically be better if you move to a new country. A few reasons not to move to Europe:

22

54

593

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

Note based on some comments: If you think saying objective truths about quality of life is "hating on the country" - you are part of the problem.

12

32

561

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

In other news, earlier this year we bought a piece of land to explore agriculture in India. All the formalities are done and it's official now. Futureproofing, to make sure we'll have food to eat when AI takes our jobs. 😉

34

7

554

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

A few shots from our big trips this year: 1. Iceland 🇮🇸

21

12

536

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

3 years

How to relocate to Europe if you have a remote job that pays well (Even with a weak passport):

11

66

528

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

3 months

Life hack: Live in places where population/density is less. It trickles down to all aspects of life and makes it better.

23

25

522

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

My mood swings between 1. "I want to do epic shit, build generation-defining companies and change the world", and 2. "I want to leave tech, travel and live on a farm far away". There is no middle ground.

28

34

498

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

3 years

Zuckerberg: How do we crowdsource categorised, tagged images for our ML algorithm? Instagram PMs: Hold my beer

4

88

481

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

3 years

New setup to write google docs.

22

4

473

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

7 months

View from the office today. 🌇

15

8

443

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

7 months

On pressing the battery button on headphone: Sony - "Battery: About 50%" Bose - "Battery: About 12 hours" A simple yet smart product management decision. Makes a big difference in user experience.

17

24

439

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

It was our ( @keerthijay_ and I) anniversary a couple of days ago. 5 years of marriage, and 12 years of friendship. I made a little something for fun.

35

6

435

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

6 months

I spend an awful lot of money, within my means, on travelling. I used to have second thoughts about this. But then I came across this "You will exchange all your worth in your 60s to be 30s again". Certain things are done better at certain ages.

11

33

435

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

8 months

Should have called it PropogAInda instead of Krutrim.

Bhavish Aggarwal

@bhash

8 months

This is why we need to build India’s own AI @Krutrim !

1K

720

5K

22

15

427

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

Croatia has a lesser-known digital nomad visa with a path to citizenship and PR. 🇭🇷 Here is how you can get it:

16

39

417

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

3 years

Life update: After 4 years in Berlin, we moved to Netherlands today. 🇳🇱 Cheers to new beginning.

40

0

420

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

Most Indian 90s kids really start living their life in late 20s or early 30s. Early 20s are run in autopilot. - Out of college - Job (Higher studies?) - Better job etc. - Marriage It takes years to start thinking for yourself and think about things outside of that path.

20

23

409

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

Americans are losing it, because they have to apply for an EU online visa, paying $8, in most cases will be approved in minutes. Now imagine them going through the Schengen visa process like most people do. That would cause war.

13

19

404

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

10 months

Had a surgery yesterday. They put me in a room that's so hard to find.

30

2

404

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

Switching jobs has nothing to do with going woke. Early on in your career, you don't know what you want from life. So fuck around and find out. Also bad managers and underpaid jobs.

15

19

400

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

MFers are now starting to brag about layoffs. Thread summarised: We fucked up, now let's blame it on AI and use it for marketing.

9

12

379

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

Says every manager who loves micromanaging the shit out of their employees.

Gaurav Munjal

@gauravmunjal

2 years

The first piece of advice I give every early stage Founder I meet is to ban remote work in their org and call everyone back to Office (except for genuine cases). In almost every case I get a message a few weeks later saying that this advice was game changing for their org.

381

105

2K

13

21

378

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

Remote work is a blessing for efficient people - you don't need to work the fixed 8 hours a day to get things done. On the other hand a curse for workplace politicians who survived by being "present" for 8 hours. Output is the way to measure work.

10

48

382

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

I always wanted to move to the US for higher studies. But my family and I couldn't even afford to think about it. Probably that's why I'm very vocal about helping people move to Europe with a job. This is the lowest entry barrier for folks to experience the first world life.

17

10

379

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

Spending the next 2 weeks camping in the only metaverse I want to be part of. Ladies and gentlemen, the Icelandverse. 🌋

19

4

365

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

It's funny how VCs and NRIs who brag about India's GDP, growth and bright future would never come back and settle in India.

32

33

360

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

Unpopular opinion(?): If you work in tech, you are earning much higher than local average salaries, no matter where you are. Once you got your bases covered, Instead of investing too much, spend it locally and send it back to the system. Tip more, buy from local shops.

16

14

359

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

11 months

India will be a developed nation when we understand how these things work (and actually follow those) 1. Queue 2. Roundabouts

38

20

344

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

A few more pictures from the Faroe Islands trip. I have a lot more of these to process.

11

6

347

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

3 months

While trying to escape my first job, I got an interview at Freshworks after several applications. After the interview, the interviewer told me I don't have enough skills for a 1-year experienced developer. I asked him if he could consider me a fresher, as I'm self-taught.

5

3

340

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

Please correct me if I'm wrong: There is no way to reach early retirement through investment returns. Every return is trivial. The only way is to make enough money by building businesses or owning a large enough equity.

48

11

334

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

Setting up a small home gym. Coming along nicely. The sunroom is fun especially with the moody weather.

20

3

326

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

This doesn't mean you love them less. You know what you want and what works for you. Get comfortable with that. Your parents will get used to it, and they'll respect your decisions once you prove yourself. Don't let the love for your parents get in the way of your best life.

3

14

319

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

If I were to do something different in my early 20s, that is to be "not a nice person" and understand the difference between nice and kind. Don't be nice. People will run over you. Be assertive. Set boundaries, be ok with offending people and be authentic.

12

26

321

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

I've said this before: Choosing your life partner is the highest leverage decision you will ever make. And no amount of mental models or Twitter threads is going to help you make this decision. You know it when it's right. And the right person makes life 1000x beautiful.

8

13

318

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

8 months

2 years since we moved to the Netherlands 🇳🇱 (and 6 years in the EU). NL has been kind to us. I drive a car I love and have a house - would have been hard in other countries. Made a non-exhaustive list of pros and cons in the Netherlands from an Indian adult's POV.

34

12

325

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

The tiny buildings in the Faroe Islands are right out of the childhood drawings. A few from the largest island of the archipelago - Streymoy.

13

14

316

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

Hiring is very funny. When I started my job search, I was rejected from two Senior PM roles after the recruiter round. (Trust me, I'm not that bad). But I ended up with two solid VP-level offers a few weeks later.

11

7

321

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

This is a little movie I made covering our trip to Iceland. (P.S: The language you hear in the beginning is my mother tongue, Malayalam - from the movie on my cover photo. Roughly translates to everything happens in its own time)

29

6

318

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

Germany is set to introduce a new point-based green card system, called the Opportunity Card, for non-EU citizens. Here is everything you need to know:

10

37

322

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

3 years

1. Start looking at the right places: Linkedin is not the best place to start looking. Here are some. - AngelList - Honeypot - stepstone[dot]de - berlinstartupjobs[dot]com

3

12

320

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

5 months

EU Salaries are a hot topic again. My experience summarised in a tweet for mid/senior/exec in tech. Normal salaries, local companies, average-good talent: 60K - 100K

15

8

313

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

Life in the Netherlands 🇳🇱 vs Germany 🇩🇪 It has been six months since I moved to the Netherlands after four years in Berlin. Some thoughts comparing my experiences in both places:

18

17

309

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

“Countries as subscription” should be a thing. Imagine being able to volunteer and pay monthly taxes in a country in exchange for a period of stay. Like how I would pay for a SaaS, I pay 500$ per month to the government to stay in their country - no fancy application process.

26

29

308

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

10 months

Today, the issue has repeated. This is a locked car in our yard. The car has done less than 100 km now. At this point, @TataMotors feels like a big joke.

5

27

299

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

Tried visa on arrival today for the first time in UAE. Got a tiny glimpse into the the life of strong passport holders. Wow 🥲!

10

3

297

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

Portugal has a new remote worker visa starting October 30th (apart from the existing one). Here is how you can get it:

10

31

300

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

The fact that working in McD, Uber Eats etc is seen as an inferior job is why many people are leaving the country. People's jobs and identities should be two different things.

28

16

294

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

7 months

Indian MNCs will be the safest place to work when AI takes over the tech jobs. No way AI can be trained to replace incompetent managers, bureaucracy, politics and technologies older than me.

14

9

296

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

Germany is removing the requirement of degrees for IT professionals to get Blue Card. That was the only use of a degree certificate I had honestly. One less reason to go to college.

9

19

295

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

My mom noticed me smile while texting today. That also made me realise that I smile while texting my wife, even after all these years. Felt good.

2

3

292

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

6 months

I love setting up home offices so much at this point. Did something for my wife's home office.

16

3

285

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

The new German visa reform allowing expats to bring their parents on dependant visas is a big deal. One big reason why people think of moving back to India is to be with their parents, especially as they age. This reform solves it to an extent.

20

286

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

3 years

Brussels by Night 🧇🍟🍻 👩🏽‍❤️‍👨🏽

18

2

285

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

One of the things Indians moving to Europe has to unlearn is their mentality towards service providers. Many are used to giving orders to service providers. People are treated with equal respect here irrespective of their job. And it's funny how many people don't get that.

25

14

283

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

7 months

30s is a lot about fixing things that went wrong in the first three decades of our lives. We are all broken in some ways, and the 30s is when you start to understand yourself better, your flaws, strengths, and your bullshit tolerance level to navigate life. Bullish on 30s.

9

14

281

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

10 months

Parents creating their kid's Instagram accounts and trying to make them influencers is the 2020s version of the old "parents trying to achieve their dream careers through their kids". But with much darker implications.

13

21

276

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 months

If your employees are not working at home, they are also not working at the office too. They just look busy to you. Culture problem, not a location problem.

Deedy

@deedydas

2 months

Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, openly says what we all know — Googlers don't really work and they come in 1 day a week.

39

84

1K

4

16

262

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

Every time Slack goes down, it reminds me of my layoff. Happened on a fine morning, an email, a meeting, and Slack was gone. Life goes on. Even get's better. If you are having a tough time, keep going. Also, remember there is a lot more to life than work.

10

8

262

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

Germany is making a lot of changes to their immigration policies in 2023. Here is a summary of everything you need to know:

5

23

258

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

3 months

It's been one year since @keerthijay_ and I became home owners 🇳🇱. Don't know if it's a financially smart decision or not, but the ability to design the space where we spend most of our waking hours is absolutely worth it. If given a choice, will do it again.

14

0

260

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

Saying this again since it's valentine's day: Choosing your life partner is the single most important decision you'll make in your life. It can make your life a 100 times better or worse.

6

10

253

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

Number of countries traveled is one of the biggest vanity metric to ever exist. Imagine visiting Delhi and thinking you have seen the country India for example.

14

22

252

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

I want to bootstrap a SaaS startup and have a slow life. But I also want to build a billion-dollar high-impact startup that's not a boring SaaS. But I also want to stop working in tech and be a farmer. But I also want to travel and make movies. ADHD is in full swing today

27

15

248

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

A few things about ESOP (Employee stock options) I didn't understand a few years ago that may be helpful to you:

6

23

246

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

Made a tiny travel video. From our Iceland trip.

23

5

244

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

Is there a word for "craving mountains and hiking"? That's how I'm feeling today. Scrolling through one of our favourite hikes from 4 years ago. 📍 Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany

19

2

245

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

By that logic, - Driving cars are morally wrong because there are people who don't have cars. - Eating food is morally wrong because there are people who don't have that I can go on and on. Remote work is a privilege, yes. But so are many other things.

CNBC

@CNBC

1 year

Elon Musk says work-from-home is "morally wrong" — here's why.

4K

729

4K

18

21

246

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

6 months

A cheat code here is to find US based remote jobs once you are settled in EU. It's a cheat code to create wealth while enjoying the benefits of EU. Easily 2x or more salary than local salaries. Caveat: Number of such jobs are less, but not rare and is increasing.

Ankur💻🎧💪

@TheAnkurTyagi

6 months

NRI playbook is dead. you can’t save money like NRIs were doing earlier so don’t come with hope of huge savings instead come for experience, clean air, less pollution, less population, culture and living a different lifestyle and see if this is something you wanted otherwise

192

474

3K

21

5

242

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

3 years

Good morning, Amsterdam!

7

1

237

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

3 years

Note to self: 2019 was 3 years ago, not 1 year ago.

10

26

239

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

3 months

He gave me the fresher assignment, and I must have done a decent job. Got the offer to join. That was pivotal in my career, meeting the right people and sending my career in a different direction from a boring MNC job. Still thankful to him for that second chance.

1

239

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

4 months

Wifey will leave her job at the end of the next month to start building something new. My second-hand excitement is palpable. Her contract was ending soon. We decided to end it early as it's the best time to take some risk and build for the long term. 🚀

17

4

235

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

2 years

Work-life in Europe vs India - A woman's perspective: Co-writing this with my partner @keerthijay_

5

18

230

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

1 year

PMs who have tech backgrounds (or understand coding), and engineers who have a product mindset make the best product teams. Low friction, low ego, easy communication - focus on shipping product. 🚀

11

13

225

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

3 years

Been married for three years today along with a decade of being best friends. This is the one project I'm most proud of and nothing else comes close ;)

16

0

228

Sooraj Chandran

@soorajchandran_

10 months

Called the emergency roadside assistance and disconnected the battery to the stop the honking for now 🤞🤞. Waiting for a meaningful (non template) response from the dealer tomorrow.

24

15

224