The Living Your Legacy Podcast
Manoj Swarup on Turning Memory Into a Movement with Life Index
Tue, 04 Mar 2025
Manoj Swarup, founder and CEO of Life Index Limited, is on a mission to preserve the memories of deceased loved ones through a digital platform that spans 195 countries. After losing his mother to cancer and COVID, he realized how easily personal stories fade with time, inspiring him to create a space where families can document and honor their ancestors for future generations. With a rapidly growing user base and an ambitious goal to reach 100,000 members in Asia alone, Life Index is redefining how we remember those who came before us.In this episode, Manoj shares the emotional journey that led him to build Life Index, the challenges of scaling a unique business, and the powerful lessons he's learned along the way. From his early entrepreneurial ventures—like building software as a teenager and opening a restaurant in India—to the hurdles of educating people on the importance of legacy preservation, his story is one of resilience and innovation. He also offers valuable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: take action immediately, embrace failures as stepping stones, and always strive to create something truly unique.CHAPTERS02:05 - Meet Manoj Swarup: The Man Behind Life Index04:10 - The Inspiration: A Mother's Legacy06:32 - Why Memorializing Loved Ones Matters09:04 - The Challenges of Building Life Index11:45 - A Unique Business Model for Remembrance13:57 - Turning an Idea Into a Global Movement15:46 - Overcoming Setbacks & Failures in Business17:33 - Manoj’s Advice on Creating a Lasting ImpactGUEST DETAILSGuest Name: Manoj SwarupRole: Founder & CEO of Life Index LimitedCompany Overview: Life Index Limited is an online platform designed to preserve the memories and stories of deceased family members, ensuring that their legacies live on for generations to come.
Chapter 1: Who is Manoj Swarup and what is Life Index?
I want to be remembered as somebody who made sure that everybody's legacy is left behind. Starting any sort of software or membership is very difficult. You've already grown to over 10,000 members. How did you do that? The entire thing was more about...
It spans the globe like a super high school internet. Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone. It's not over until I win. The Living Your Legacy podcast. For those who live to leave a legacy. That's extraordinary. The impossible. Oh, that is sensational. Jordan. Jordan. Chicago with the lead. Usain Bolt is the fastest man on the planet. You can live your dream.
Chapter 2: What inspired Manoj to create Life Index?
Hello and welcome back to another episode on our Legacy Makers podcast. Today, we're diving into the aspect of preserving one's legacy and keeping it alive, which is really fascinating. Joining me today is the founder of Life Index, fascinating business model, which I really love, super affordable and really impactful to hopefully millions of people out there. Welcome to the show, buddy.
Thank you very much. It's lovely to be here. So I know you've flown a long way from my homeland, England, right? Yes. And sadly, the sun isn't any better here in Miami for you, but welcome to the show and thanks for being here. Anyone watching that doesn't maybe know who you are, do you mind just giving a quick intro? Sure.
Chapter 3: Why is memorializing loved ones important?
My name is Manoj Swaroop. I'm the founder and CEO of Life Index. Now, Life Index is something we do as we preserve details and stories of deceased family members. We're the only platform in the world which does this. And this is across 195 nations.
195 nations. I know you're approaching quickly about 25 offices around the world, right? And keep expanding because the idea is to impact every family, right? Preserve that data. Where did this idea come about?
So I lost my mother four years ago to COVID and cancer. And that's where I started pondering upon, what do we do? Now she's gone. She's done so much for me for 40 years. What am I giving her in return? Taking care of her while she was going through the cancer and COVID? I thought it wasn't enough. So I came back and I said, let's put up a statue in a town where she grew up.
Chapter 4: What challenges did Manoj face in building Life Index?
And I said, but then over a period of time, generations will pass by. Will they ever know or will they ever get to know our story? We scraped the idea. And I said, let's put up a bench and let's put up a bench in the UK in a park. But then you have a name out there. How many people really read that name? So I said, no, we're not doing that. Then I thought, let's do something very unique.
You see the rich and famous kings and the queens and the president and prime ministers, they're always remembered even after they die. Bethany can find information. I wanted to make sure that my mom's details are remaining forever so that my next generations can get to know of them. It was not about the world. It was more about my next generations.
Chapter 5: How does Life Index's unique business model work?
So I just wanted to make sure that my mom's remembered.
Yeah, I think it's great because like you said, if you're famous, you get a Wikipedia page or whatever. It lives in the history books, but no one else does. And yeah, I mean, if I want to ask about my great, great grandparents, I have to ask my mom and she barely remembers past two generations. Right. And then when she's gone, I'll remember two generations beyond. So it's it's. fascinating idea.
Chapter 6: How has Life Index turned into a global movement?
And I mean, um, with technology, it's allowing us to do these interesting things, right. Versus old paper records. And that's really all we had. So I love that. Um, and I know it's grown fast. You mentioned that, um, you know, you're pretty new, but already grown to over 15,000 people and you're adding thousands more a month now.
So, uh, hopefully we can, you know, get the whole world on this platform. Talk a little about, I would love you to talk about the business model side, how you got it off the ground, because starting any sort of software or membership is very difficult. You've already grown to over 10,000 members. How did you do that?
Chapter 7: What setbacks has Manoj overcome in his entrepreneurial journey?
So the entire thing was more about getting the platform up and running. So I threw a very basic thing to begin with. I made it on my own. Once I got that up and running, then I went out to people talking to them about it. Once they got on board, I realized there's a lot of market for it. And then we thought we had a lot of people come back and said, try doing it on social media.
But we realized one thing. Nobody's out there in social media looking for death. So we start talking to people. Every individual I've been around, I travel a lot. At every airport, I must have spoken to 30 people every time. And I've had people come back and say, I want to sign up. I've gone to another country and people say, yes, I love the idea. People come back.
Chapter 8: What advice does Manoj have for aspiring entrepreneurs?
That's where we got more people coming on board because of touching lives, because of talking to people.
Yeah, a lot of the networking. And that's why you're building the offices and the sales teams around the world. Great. So, you know, I'd love to transition a little. That's the business model side. But, you know, diving into your episode, we're talking way beyond just this business model, right?
All about your life, your story, your failures, your successes and where, you know, the legacy part plays in. So do you mind summarizing a couple of things people will get from your episode if they watch? Yeah, yeah.
So I think life for everyone is a little different. For me, it was a lot different as well. I grew up across the world in 36 different countries. I went to school every year in a different country. And it was fascinating because I never had any friends. The only friends that I had were my two brothers and my dad and mom. Because you move in every year. So from there, but landed in New York.
I made my first software at the age of 18 and sold it off for $75,000. Just being a sophomore college student, I knew nothing about C++, but went into an organization, made that software. And that's where I realized, no, I've got that neck. My dad wanted me to get into more of IT or get into being a doctor because both my brothers are doctors. I said, no, I can't.
I think I'm okay with blood, but it was never about, I don't want to earn. I want to make something different. And that's where I started my journey. I've done all kinds of jobs. I've worked with hotels. I've worked with being a salesman. I've trained people across the world in different countries. And then eventually started about, I had a restaurant as well back in India.
So I had that, sold it off, and I said, fine, what do I want to do next? Made a dating app, didn't work, shelved it, and I said, fine, what now? And when my mom went away, this is when Life Index really happened. And yes, we did have those little failures when people would come back and say, no, it won't work. I said, why would it not work? You've got Facebook. Facebook worked.
This person who spoke about Facebook, he went from college to college talking to people. And that's how it worked. And today people don't have to talk. They don't even have to empathize. People come on. Yeah, you create a snowball effect.
And that's where we are in the same stages that we are talking about Life Index to individuals, to people, and people are using the platform because they realize the importance of what they've lost and what are they going to lose in the next 30, 40 years.
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