Arpit “Paradox” Manaktala is a PC Building Guru

ONE37pm: Your name has been brought a ton in a good faith, of course. Your impact on the community has been really crazy how does that feel?

Arpit “Paradox” Manaktala: It's like, I know what works and what doesn't work now. So sometimes I guess people feel overwhelmed with joy and excitement when they see the things I'm talking about and they learn about the company. So yeah, I've been living by a quote a lot the last six months, eight months is like...I think it's a 50 Cent lyric but it probably came from earlier, too. Like, "you shouldn't throw stones if you live in a glass house." Yeah. That line means a lot to me because it's really almost impossible to have a brick house. Everyone is hiding shit, right? Every company, every person, their infrastructure, and the behind-the-scenes is shaping, right? Not everyone. Some of the best are the ones with the brick house.

I just want to make sure we have all of our bases covered, right? Our infrastructure is good and our content is good. Our prices are good, everything's good about it, and we're inviting to everyone. And that quote really allows me to keep focusing on the back end, making sure over business stuff, taxes, everything is good. So we're just trying to live by that. And that's what's allowed me to really just impress everybody. Because people like it when you talk to somebody, obviously you're going to give them better the doubts they're legit, right? But then maybe when you see some more from the story. So I like to keep up that sort of respect.

ONE37pm: You mentioned before this event you went to James Harden's house to do some PCs. You do not stop doing, like, celebrity PCs.

Manaktala: It's crazy. I am shot. Luckily, even getting proper rest is a skill, right? I've been learning that the hard way. But we were in Milwaukee for a big military convention, one of the biggest national conventions out there. And we were there for the first time ever and had a gaming booth there where we had the Paris Hustle booth. And then from there, I went straight to Houston. I drove 15 hours from Milwaukee to La Guardia Airport. I didn't get to go home. I went straight to LaGuardia, flew to Houston, and set up James Harden with four PCs and four monitors, four chairs, and four tables.

Literally, all his boys were there like six people. They were like, "bro, we're going to be set for the whole tour." But unfortunately, he does move to Philly in like three weeks for the season. I'll be doing another set of one out there in his Philly crib. That's going to be exciting. But yeah. And then now right after that, I stayed in there for 24 hours and I flew straight to the PAX Event. So we're just very busy and I think I'm going to definitely settle down a little bit after this.

ONE37pm: The CDL event on the rooftop, right? I wasn't able to make it, but I heard stories. It was like, it was lit. I was like, what? So that's crazy.

Manaktala: It's all worth the investment. Obviously, that cost a ton. And there were some concerns within me and internally about how much it cost. But the benefits of it are like you have to just a prime example, yes, they might make money. 99% of other CEOs in my exact position would have fished out and not done that. We did that and we probably made a return on investment. The next day, three of our connections in the PC industry reached out to us like "yo, that shit was official." We need to work more.

ONE37pm: Right. Facts. I was going to mention it, but you're not even into gaming, No, more like, I know you're doing gaming things for people, but it's like, those are athletes, those are musicians. Talk to me about that. 

Manaktala: COVID really helped them get into gaming. I'm a really good trainer and sort of like an educator. So when I sit down with these celebrities that don't know anything about gaming, I'm very patient and I'm very hands-on at a very good pace for them and they all appreciate that. And I think also, other CEOs in my same position would have probably been like "bro, I'm not doing this."

ONE37pm: That's also cool that your employees are people who help you. You're basically getting to experience that way of life, who would have thought?

Manaktala: I know all my employees live that startup lifestyle. If you worked for my company for literally just a month, the experience you get in the industry is like, unfair. I say that with pride because I know some of my employees that don't work for me anymore. I'm sure they're fucking killing it now in terms of their knowledge of how life actually works. Yeah, half of my employees, 75% of my employees probably don't have degrees. A lot of them I already know personally know they don't have degrees. I take pride in that bro because we're living a life that is a paradox. Paradox does not need a college degree.