Follow-up to the most liked Grapevine post ever

Kya dikat hai bhai, udane do paisa. Tumhare thodi hai. Good firms genuinely perform well and return money. The ecosystem is not forgiving -- you don't survive very long if you don't create any big wins. It's an extremely high stress job with very little WLB. You do make money but it comes at a cost. Layoffs are sad but at least those jobs existed in the first place? They wouldn't without VC money. India's VC scene is extremely young and it'll take time before we produce a Google. Entrepreneurs are not always right, they are not always nice either; but they definitely are courageous.

If there is one thing you can learn from Ambani’s wedding, it’s the fact that money is the only objective measure of power and influence in this world. - The biggest rivals politically, share the stage and greet each other The biggest rivals in cricket, dance with each other The biggest rivals in cinema, greet each other The biggest rivals within family, help each other The biggest rivals in business, hug each other - You should strive to make as much money as you possible can because money is power. You don't do it for pleasure; you do it because that's how you win. You do it because in this ruthless world, being on top is the only safe place to be. Money is your shield and your weapon, and without it, you're nothing. - You make as much money as possible because, let's face it, money's fun. It's the key to all the cool stuff—power, parties, private jets, you name it. Sure, it's also about proving yourself and not being the screw-up everyone thinks you are, but mainly it's about the thrill. Making money means you're in the game, you're relevant, and you can do whatever the hell you want. - Plus, it gives you the leverage to tell people to screw off and actually get away with it. So, yeah, stack that cash and enjoy the ride. - You make as much money as possible because it’s your ticket to security and status. In this family and in this world, wealth is what keeps you safe and respected. It’s about climbing the ladder and proving you belong at the top, even if you weren’t born into it. With money, you gain leverage, influence, and the ability to protect yourself in a cutthroat environment. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to enjoy the finer things and have a buffer against the chaos that comes with being alive in this world. - You make as much money as possible because it’s about breaking boundaries and redefining what’s possible. It’s not just about the money—it’s about the disruption, the innovation, and staying ahead of the curve. - Continued in comments

Alright folks, time for some real talk. I fucked up. Big time. And I'm here to share my story so you don't make the same mistakes I did. Back in 2021, I co-founded a web3 startup. Yeah, you know where this is going. I was caught up in the hype, the FOMO, the promise of changing the world through DAOs. Spoiler alert: We raised more than $5M in seed funding, burned through half of it, never hit product-market fit, and ended up shutting down and returning the remaining capital to our investors. Here's how it went down: It all started when I fell down the web3 rabbit hole. I read a few whitepapers, watched some YouTube videos, and suddenly thought I was the next Vitalik Buterin. I had this "revolutionary" idea for a DAO that would democratize venture capital. Sounds cool, right? I thought so too. Now, here's the thing - I'm a great pitcher. Give me a deck and 30 minutes, and I can make almost anything sound like the next unicorn. So, armed with buzzwords and a slick presentation, I hit the VC circuit. And holy shit, did it work. We were a great team, stellar credentials so were able to close the fundraise pretty quick. I still remember the day we closed the round. Popping champagne, dreaming of TechCrunch headlines once we did our Series A, all the jazz. But here's what I didn't realize at the time: I had zero conviction in what we were building. I was so caught up in the excitement of raising money and being part of the "next big thing" that I never stopped to ask myself if I truly believed in what we were doing. Reality hit hard and fast. As we started building, I realized I didn't really understand the problem we were solving. Our target users weren't as excited about the product as we were. We pivoted, then pivoted again. But nothing stuck. Eighteen months in, we had burned through $3M, had no clear path to revenue, and my co-founder and I were at each other's throats. That's when it hit me - we needed to shut this down before we wasted any more of our investors' money. Making that call was the hardest thing I've ever done. Telling our team, our investors, our families - it sucked. But it was the right thing to do. Here's what I learned from this expensive and humbling experience: 1.⁠ ⁠Hype is not a business model: Just because something is trending doesn't mean it's a good business opportunity. Do your own research, understand the market deeply. 2.⁠ ⁠Raising money ≠ Success: It's easy to get caught up in the vanity of a big round. But money just buys you runway, not success. 3.⁠ ⁠If you can't explain it to your grandma, you don't understand it well enough: I couldn't clearly explain our value proposition without resorting to buzzwords. Red flag. 4.⁠ ⁠Team alignment is everything: Make sure you and your co-founders are on the same page about the vision, not just the potential payout. 5.⁠ ⁠Listen to the market, not your ego: We ignored early signs that users weren't as excited about our product as we were. But the biggest lesson? You need 100% conviction to run a startup. Not 90%, not 99%. 100%. Building a company is hard. Really fucking hard. There will be days when everything seems to be falling apart. If you don't have absolute conviction in what you're building, you won't have the resilience to push through those times. Looking back, I realize I was more in love with the idea of being a founder than with the problem we were solving. I was chasing clout, not impact. To anyone out there thinking of starting a company: Please, please, please make sure you have unwavering conviction in your idea. Make sure you're solving a real problem that you deeply understand and care about. Don't do it for the hype, the money, or the status. Do it because you can't imagine doing anything else. As for me? I'm taking some time off to reflect. Next time (if there is a next time), I'll make damn sure I believe in what I'm building with every fiber of my being. I sort of see this happening now with AI, please take a pause. Let's learn from each other. Because trust me, learning this lesson the hard way? It ain't fun. Keep building!

Link: https://inc42.com/buzz/unacademy-fires-another-250-employees-to-turn-profitable/

Think about the years of your life in India after 2000, we have seen remarkable progress here, from insane technological progression to a thriving cultural revolution. Yet there is so much to achieve, new boundaries to push and drive at the cutting edge. We need to improve the living conditions of billions of Indians and become the bearers of true value enrichment. We often speak about what this country can do for ourselves and that’s a fair ask. But perhaps it is not about what this country can do for you but what you can do for this country. In 1967, my grandfather would have been toiling under the relentless sun or facing even the freezing chills of the Himalayas to grow crops. Today, I can grab a quick Uber to the airport, have an overpriced meal and fly to wherever I want. In the grand scheme of things, our time has just begun. We’ve always been the underdogs, the odds stacked against us and yet we persevere. Chandrayaan-3 is on its trajectory to the moon and perhaps as a show of unifying force it is a reminder that this country is on its way to something we haven’t witnessed before. Perhaps, to sit down and tune out the negativity is best, just focus on being a better version of yourself and inspire others to do the same. We are the kids who no one expected much from, yet we worked on ourselves and became so good that we cannot be missed. Just keep moving forward. Some Monday love from salt. :)

Unacademy is classic case of wrong hiring. Previous COO, almost all the BU heads, current marketing head, while best example for worst leadership is GM himself. You will hardly find any leader in office whom you would want to lookup to.

Been long since I wrote here. A casual post to discuss anything startup/VC related. Which startups are doing good, which ones not too good. Especially if you're a founder - how is the market feeling? My pov: despite the excess capital with VCs, funding is still very much dry. For a bit during the last year, there was a flurry of investments in SaaS and AI. Even that has dried up now. Slowest I have seen. Why: I think there's no push factor to invest, there's a lack of people starting up (vs. previous years). Awaiting some inflection point, so that things kickstart again.

I was always fascinated with corporate designations. Category MANAGER HEAD of Marketing VP of Sales CEO Now I know everyone going through same shit, life is harsh on everyone if not equally People on LinkedIn are pretty fancy in these terms Grapevine has levelled this to great extent I can now see people as humans, designations are just added tags

It’s therapeutic because you can share different aspects of your life that you can’t talk about on other platforms. For instance, you can't criticize the Ola CEO on LinkedIn, demand justice for the Kolkata rape case on Twitter without getting a notice from the Kolkata police, or express unhappiness on Instagram because that’s not the vibe of that platform. But on Grapevine, you can do all of this and more. Funny enough, I’ve been able to analyze different aspects of my personality (and all my different personalities). My brain works a lot, I talk a lot, and I think a lot. Over the past year, I've realized I see things very differently than how society, media, or authorities expect me to. Grapevine has been a tool for understanding myself better. I can share a thought, and maybe 15 people will respond—some agreeing, some disagreeing, and a few might even call me names. But that’s okay, that’s just how they function. All part of self-discovery. Another thing I appreciate about Grapevine is that it removes the halo effect we often have. Our names, colleges, and companies are masked (some who haven't revealed them), reducing the blurring of judgments. We connect with people on a more human-to-human level. Grapevine is great if you're looking to find a partner, lover, or simply make new friends and expand your network. You can be yourself, and the people who know you here often know you better than those you meet at college, work, or even within your family.