Hi Kumar,

I faced a similar contradiction when I ran my own startup. I also tried to work within the capital that we had. As a first-generation entrepreneur, I put a lot of constraints on my dreams and aspirations. The fear of breaking my word and commitments to employees, investors, and clients put incredible pressure on me.

Initially, I thought hiring great talent needs money, and that capital is also needed for taking risks. When I raised money, my risk appetite didn't increase, but I wanted to conserve the capital I raised, which, in hindsight, was wrong!

I also thought hiring talent required money, but after raising money, I hired the wrong people at a high cost. I realised a young start-up needs great talent with the right attitude, because the required effort was very different, and many people didn't want to put it in. I learnt money and talent alone weren't the constraint.

After hiring, I delayed the forced exits because I felt I needed to give people more time and groom them. It did not work. I should have acted fast when I had the comfort of a bank balance with the money raised. That affected growth. It also affected the IRR we had to give to our investors.

I realise now a couple of things - we don't just need product-market fit alone, a startup entrepreneur needs a co-founder fit, employee-founder fit in terms of values and aspirations, and finally investor fit. It was a lonely journey for me, so I needed all the scaffolding to succeed and grow.

I had gaps in my capabilities everywhere, and overcoming them was a big challenge.