Rant: Entrepreneurship is lonely & exhuasting

Absolutely sad to see the state of the startups, most of them. I am a founder myself, and this is a post with equal disappointment with myself as much as it is for anyone else who relates. Look at all these companies that have raised shit tons of capital, and now make a fraction of money that has been invested in them. The raised money is spent on outsized, non business sense making acquisition costs, only to keep repeating it till the tap runs dry. Then when all stakeholders get bored, the service quality plummets, the employees are fired and whole sectors are admonished as being bad. But, my question is, which sector where large sums of money was invested in early days have come out with flying colours. Fucking nothing ! Edtech, proptech, agritech, ecommerce etc. etc. etc. kuch bhi nahi. Is there any sector where a startup which has raised in the 100s of millions in the first 5 years have actually built a sustainable business at any scale ? Then scaling down, isse acha, scale slowly. The worst part of this whole drama, is pushing the innovation wheel backward and destroying customer sentiment. Isse acha, raise less money inititally, build slowly, and only scale when the market is ready. Artifical growth makes no sense, unless you have a treasure chest that shall never run out. Even in that case, spend the money on assets and not on random acquisition costs, direct or indirect. As founders, let's do better, nahi ?

Being anonymous gives me a safe space. But life is getting tougher than ever each day. I wish I had a better paying job. I wish I had time to have slow mornings. I wish I could provide for my family and give them the things they much deserve. I wish I had a chance to rewire rewind and restart. I wish I could do more than I wish to do. It's all wishes guys . It's all hopes. . Nothing seems fulfilling. Nothing seems to make me happy. I have forgotten what carefree days were like. Adulting is kinda hitting hard. I am not able to cope up. Can someone relate?

So here's the thing. I'm 4 years into my SWE career & have realised this field is not for me for long term. I seriously want to get out of this rate race early. But I don't have any skill or talent other than SWE which can earn me decent money. Since SWE pays well my lifestyle has become of higher standard and I am now used to this lifestyle and don't want to compromise on this lifestyle by leaving the well paying SWE field. I have around 50 lakh of savings invested and interested in some business of my own but don't have a clue where to start. Please give me ideas of how I can get out of this rat race early ?

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!

I have been following the Indian startup scene for a while now, and I have to say that I am not impressed. It seems like most of the startups here are nothing more than people chasing quick bucks and the entire scene is a circlejerk of people doing everything, attending these stupid conferences and gatherings than actually building something game-changing. Every founder is chasing nothing more than a valuation just so they can exit and there’s nothing wrong with it but don’t sit on a moral high ground talking about building business etc. There’s a reason we don’t see startups here penetrating west because most of the founders in the Indian ecosystem reek of ego and it’s all because we don’t judge business on merit but based on the degree the founders have. We all can count stupid startups draining money all because they are from some IIT or IIM or now some fancy degree from Ivy and yes it takes effort and hard work to reach there. Still, it automatically doesn’t translate to you naturally being better than a guy working his ass off to make up that difference. Also, just because you used your dad’s money to start a 'Venture Firm or be an angel investor after college doesn’t mean you’re an expert at everything. You’re just adding to the noise and the hype that is already too much in this space. You’re not helping anyone but yourself and your ego. So a friendly reminder can we all actually focus on building things based on hard work and merit instead of glorifying this circlejerk. Can we stop being obsessed with funding rounds and valuations and start being obsessed with solving real problems and creating value for customers and society? Can we stop being influenced by the media and the hype and start being influenced by the data and the feedback? Can we stop being part of the problem and start being part of the solution?

Rant alert: Have you felt the same way? How many years of work ex after which you started feeling this way? Stability and money I’m grateful for. But I hate the constant comparison and competitiveness among peers/colleagues. Makes me want to quit and do a Teach for India fellowship. A little corporate detox. Wish I had become an athlete instead. I know it’s not an easy life, but It’s the kind of competitiveness I’m inclined towards. Not inclined towards the kind where you compete with people to please a company that will never care for you as a human. But people fail to recognise that, lose perspective, and lose themselves too. People have no class in this shitty world. If I have kids, they’re definitely becoming athletes and not entering this hellhole. Most ironically, I’m borderline considering an MBA to escape the corporate life for 2 years, but obviously I’m aware I will only get entrenched further in it due to the degree.

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

Most startup’s are not founded with great altruistic purpose to elevate human condition. Most startup’s are founded where founders know they can make money or earn status points through little schemes of leveraging their network of investors. Most of them know they can earn more income by just raising some money from friends or VCs. Build a small tech tool and burn through money trying to acquire and retain customers. All this while hiring 100s of employees selling false narratives. What bugs me the most isn’t the thousands of people getting laid off, salary corrections or bankruptcies, it is the mafiaesque organisation built to “create wealth for some by exploitation of countless others” Most startup founders use brute force of content and media coupled with ignorance of people to perpetuate this cycle. It’s the virtue signalling and holier than thou attitude of most founders and VCs justifying all their mindless brutality in the name of strategy and growth which destroys aspirations and outcomes for the many. It’s more relevant in India because of large scale ignorance about money and large scale trust on educated individuals with the right college tags! If you have seen sopranos, most founders are like Anthony soprano - summarily violent, manipulative and ruthless behaviour primarily driven by selfish greed but juxtaposed with moments of vulnerability and struggle justifying his action with a facade of providing for his family. *Replace Anthony soprano with your founder/ceo name* 1. VSS was playing fast and lose with rbi regulations resulting in stock crash and layoffs 2. Byju’s systematically destroyed his own company and wealth of his employees just to ensure he retains majority control 3. Ashneer G and his wife manipulated company books 4. Zerodha founders cheated in chess match or lied about their system failures which lost a lot of capital PS: I refer to most founders because there are few exceptions who don’t fit into this narrative.

Every third corporate person I talk to wants to switch to entrepreneurship and do Dhandha. 1. What could be the reason? 2. And what could be stopping them? 3. How to decide if you should switch or not?

29F, IIT & IIM grad. Thought I had it all figured out. Boy, was I wrong. Post-grad, I went full-on hustle mode. Guru worship 24/7. Gary Vee, desi "entrepreneurs" on Insta - you name it, I followed. Their mantra? Work 20hrs, sleep 4, crush life. Sounded legit to my overachiever brain. My life became a freakin' checklist: - 5AM wake-up: Check - Cold shower: Check - Meditation: Check - 12hr workday on my "revolutionary" startup: Check - Networking events instead of family time: Check - Endless online courses: Check Rinse and repeat. Every. Single. Day. Guilt was my constant companion. Watching a movie? Slacker. Attending a cousin's wedding? Waste of time. Celebrating Diwali? Think of all the work you could be doing! The kicker? Being a woman in tech. Felt like I had to hustle 10x harder just to be taken seriously. Result after 3 years of this madness? - Forbes 30U30 Asia: Check - Failed startup: Check - Nonexistent social life: Check - Chronic anxiety: Check Guess what: All that hustling led to jack shit. Now, at 29, I'm unlearning this toxic BS. Realizing success isn't about IIT tags, funding rounds, or how little you sleep. It's about actually living. To all the desi kids killing themselves over JEE ranks and CAT scores: STOP. Your life is worth more than a percentile. Success without happiness is worthless. Don't waste your 20s like I did, chasing someone else's definition of success. Anyone else been through this hustle culture hellscape? How'd you break free?