“What you can do is learn how to think, how to break down and solve problems, and how to ask good questions,” the HubSpot CEO said. “If you can do those things, education is incredibly worthwhile.”
She advised budding workers to go deep into their work, instead of being a generalist. If her son wants to pursue graduate school or further specialized training, she said she’s “all for it.”
“Depth in an area, combined with learning how to learn, is what really matters,” Rangan added.
But standing out in an increasingly competitive tech job market requires more than technical know-how. Rangan said that she looks for candidates with what she calls a “scientist’s mindset.”
“I look for people who are comfortable experimenting—having a hypothesis, proving the hypothesis is right or wrong versus saying there’s a set path,” Rangan said.
Curiosity and a willingness to go deep also matter, especially when it comes to understanding customers.
“For AI to be effective, you have to be close to the ground. You have to know what parts of the workflow are broken, what parts of the workforce can actually get value from AI,” Rangan told the Silicon Valley Girl podcast.
“My focus is, Don’t just use AI for the sake of AI, use it to solve real problems for customers. Can you ask the right questions? Can you stay curious enough to uncover what truly matters?” she added.
“I don’t know how to do it [but] for all of you Stanford students, I wish upon you ample doses of pain and suffering,” Huang told Stanford Graduate School of Business students in 2024. “Greatness comes from character, and character isn’t formed out of smart people—it’s formed out of people who suffered.”
To stay ahead in the fast-moving tech industry, Rangan embraces a demanding schedule.
All of her workdays begin around 6 a.m.—with meetings starting at 7 a.m.—and some days stretch as late as 11 p.m. But she still makes time to find some version of work-life balance.
Rangan carves out Friday night and all of Saturday as protected personal time. She spends it walking with her family, doing yoga, meditating, and reading—rituals she says help her avoid burnout.
She’s not alone in rejecting the traditional nine-to-five model in favor of a more intensive rhythm.
