“I don’t need money. I have enough.”Otis D’Souza said it so casually that it almost sounded unremarkable.Then came the second half of the sentence.“I just don’t have anything to do.”Most stories about work begin with someone searching for an opportunity. This one begins with someone who no longer needed one.That’s partly why the internet has become so fascinated by D’Souza, a 64-year-old who recently went viral after joining a Mumbai startup as an intern. The title alone was enough to spark curiosity. Interns are usually people trying to start their careers.D’Souza has already lived through several.Long before he became the internet’s favourite intern, he had swept helicopters, become an aircraft maintenance engineer, built companies, watched one grow into one of the largest in its category, and eventually shut down, retired, and accumulated enough hard-earned lessons to joke that if there was a mistake to be made, he had probably made it already.“If there’s a mistake to be made, I’ve made it,” he told The Times of India.The line gets a laugh. But it also explains why people keep listening when he speaks.
“I’ve been expecting you”
The story began with a phone call.A mutual friend had been insisting that startup founder Joshua Salins needed to meet D’Souza.The reason was unusual.“He often joked that Otis was simply an older version of me,” Salins recalled.Curious, he picked up the phone.“The first thing Otis said was, ‘I’ve been expecting you.’”The conversation lasted more than three hours.The two discussed entrepreneurship, failures, life after retirement, purpose, business, and the strange challenges that seem to follow people regardless of age.Although they were decades apart in age, there was an immediate connection.Salins was building something.D’Souza had spent much of his life doing exactly that.
The life before the internship
D’Souza’s professional journey did not begin in a boardroom.A self-described rebellious teenager, he stopped studying after completing his SSC and entered the workforce while many of his peers were still in school.His early jobs involved sweeping and washing helicopters.What started as work gradually became an interest, and then a career.By the age of 22, he had qualified as an aircraft maintenance engineer.Later came entrepreneurship.Alongside friends, he built an events company that eventually became one of the largest of its kind.Then came the other side of business.The company shut down.Today, he speaks about both experiences with the same level of honesty.Success happened.Failure happened.Life moved forward.What remained were the lessons.
The internship that started as a joke
As their conversations continued, Salins realized that D’Souza brought something difficult to find.Perspective.Not the kind that comes from books or podcasts, but from experience.At the same time, D’Souza found himself drawn to the energy of a young team building something from scratch.One day, Salins made a simple suggestion.
Why not spend some time at the office?
There was no advisory contract. No consulting arrangement. No discussion about compensation.D’Souza wasn’t looking for any of those things.In fact, he remembers thinking, “I’m not a coach. I’m not a mentor. I’m not a consultant.”The title “intern” emerged almost by accident.Someone joked about it. The team laughed. The comparison to the film The Intern came up. D’Souza laughed too.“I am your intern; I am your boss,” he joked.The title stayed.So did he.
What younger people taught him
The viral video led many people to assume the relationship worked because younger employees were learning from someone with decades of experience.
Video:
D’Souza believes the learning goes both ways.In fact, one of the most important lessons he says he has learned in recent years came from younger people.“The problem with our generation is we spend our lives giving them instructions,” he said.Don’t do this.Do that.This is the right way.This is the wrong way.But younger people, he believes, aren’t looking for another person to tell them what to do.“They want someone to listen to them.”It’s a simple observation, but one that has shaped how he interacts with the team.Rather than lecturing, he prefers conversations.Rather than giving orders, he offers options.Then he lets people make their own decisions.
The cake lesson
One of the moments that left a lasting impression on the company came during a discussion about ownership.D’Souza noticed that too many decisions were flowing through the founders.So he gathered the team and asked a question.“Do you want a slice of the cake?”Everyone said yes.His response came immediately.“If you want a slice of the cake, you have to help bake the cake.”The message was straightforward.People cannot sit on the sidelines and expect ownership. They have to contribute to building something first.According to Salins, the conversation created a noticeable shift in accountability and initiative within the team.It was one of those lessons that took only a few minutes to explain but could have taken years to learn.
The advice a founder never forgot
One conversation between the two continues to stay with Salins.Like many entrepreneurs, he was dealing with the pressures of cash flow, payroll, and the constant uncertainty that comes with building a business.After listening patiently, D’Souza offered a perspective that surprised him.“Out of all the problems you’re going to have in life, not having money should be the least of your worries.”Then he explained why.Money matters.But so do family, relationships, meaningful work, and the people around you.After decades of entrepreneurship, D’Souza had come to a conclusion many people spend years trying to reach.“Money is actually the least of it all.”
The attention he never expected
The viral response caught him completely off guard.According to Salins, D’Souza has never been someone who enjoys being in the spotlight.Yet as the video spread online, messages began arriving from strangers thanking him for sharing his experiences and perspective.One message in particular stayed with the founder.“Joshua, I am so happy right now. You have no idea how much this has blessed me.”For Salins, that was the most meaningful part of the entire experience.What began as a simple idea inside an office had become something much larger.It showed D’Souza that people still wanted to hear what he had to say.That the lessons gathered across decades of successes, failures, and reinventions still mattered.
What matters now
These days, there is one thing D’Souza says he no longer worries about.Other people’s opinions.“You don’t like me?” he said with a laugh. “Stand at the end of a long queue.”It’s a line that lands differently once you know the story behind it.The internet may remember him as the 64-year-old intern who went viral.But the people who know him seem to remember something else.A man who has already experienced success and failure, ambition and retirement, certainty and reinvention – and still hasn’t lost his curiosity.After everything he has done, he still shows up.Not because he needs another title.Not because he needs another paycheck.But because he still believes there is value in listening, learning, sharing what he knows, and helping build something new.For someone who says he had nothing to do, that turned out to be a pretty good place to start.Disclaimer: This article is based on conversations and information shared with The Times of India by the individuals involved. The Times of India has not independently verified all details, which are presented as their personal accounts.Thumb image: Instagram/@joshuasalins
