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What networking experience did Rajan Randeva have at MIT in Boston and how did it shape him?

August 16, 2026 The Purpose People Podcast · Rajan Randeva

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At 18, Rajan Randeva flew alone across the Atlantic to Boston for a trip organised by MIT and the Welsh government — an experience he describes as "absolutely terrifying." It changed him fundamentally: he learned that experienced professionals are there to help, not to intimidate. Today, 95% of his professional network consists of people roughly double his age.

Flying solo at 18: one trip across the Atlantic that reframed everything

The MIT and Welsh government trip happened in November the year before the episode was recorded. Randeva travelled entirely alone — his first time flying transatlantic — with no safety net of familiar faces or peers. He openly admits it was one of the most unsettling things he had done up to that point.

What made it significant wasn't just the logistics. It was the room he walked into: seasoned professionals, executives, and academics, all considerably older and more experienced than a teenager from Wales. As Randeva explains in The Purpose People Podcast, that environment forced him to engage rather than retreat.

"They're there to help" — the single insight that reshaped his network

Randeva's core takeaway from Boston is disarmingly simple: networking with older, more experienced people gets easier with practice, and those people are not there to intimidate you. They are, in fact, more willing to help than most young people assume.

This realisation compounded quickly. Back home, Randeva started actively seeking out professionals far beyond his own age group rather than defaulting to peers. The habit stuck — and the numbers speak clearly: 95% of his current professional network consists of people around 38 years old or older, roughly double his own age. It's a detail that Randeva shares matter-of-factly in this episode, not as a boast but as evidence that the discomfort was worth it.

This approach sits entirely in line with Randeva's broader biography. He started his first dropshipping business at age 11, launched an Amazon affiliate marketing operation after his GCSEs that generated £300,000 in its first three months, and has since built The Brain — an AI intelligence layer designed for businesses. Each of these moves required him to operate well above what most people his age were attempting, and the Boston trip appears to have been a deliberate accelerant for that upward trajectory. You can hear him trace this thread directly in The Purpose People Podcast.

"I started to build the Brain, which is an AI intelligence layer that sits on top of the tools that your business uses. You can ask any question — it's essentially ChatGPT for your business."

What the Boston trip illustrates, beyond the personal growth angle, is a deliberately uncomfortable choice made by someone who could easily have stayed within the comfort zone of peers his own age. Randeva chose exposure over familiarity — and built the habit of doing so repeatedly. The full conversation is available in episode 189 of The Purpose People Podcast.