"Most learnings come from the mistakes you make"
I've made most of the classic founder mistakes. I write about them here so you don't have to make them too — and so future me doesn't forget.
Learning #1
Spent ₹14L building the wrong MVP
What happened
Built a full-featured B2B SaaS product for growth teams before talking to a single customer. Assumed I knew what the market wanted because I'd had one exit. Spent 6 months and ₹14L on an MVP nobody asked for.
What I learned
Talk to customers before writing a single line of code. An MVP should take weeks, not months. If you're spending more time building than talking, you're doing it wrong.
Learning #2
Ignored churn signals for 3 months
What happened
Early users of Humgrow were signing up but not coming back. Instead of investigating why, I built more features. The activation rate was under 15% and I pretended that was normal for a "complex B2B product."
What I learned
If people aren't coming back, no amount of new features will save you. Fix retention before building anything else. Watch the numbers, not your feelings.
Learning #3
Built for investors instead of users
What happened
Early on, I started optimizing Humgrow's features for what I thought VCs would want to see in a demo — dashboards, analytics, integrations. None of it was what actual users needed to solve their day-to-day problems.
What I learned
Build for the person using your product, not the person you hope will fund it. Revenue from users beats approval from investors every time.
Learning #4
Didn't set a kill switch deadline
What happened
With The Networker, I should have sold 6 months earlier. With Humgrow, I should have shut down 3 months earlier. Both times, I didn't have a clear "if X doesn't happen by Y date, I stop" commitment. So I just... kept going.
What I learned
Set time-boxed experiments. "I'll try this for 90 days and need to see [metric] or I pivot." Removes the emotional drag of sunk cost.
Learning #5
Tried to do everything alone
What happened
For the first year of building, I handled everything — product, marketing, support, code, design. Not because I couldn't afford help, but because I thought "real founders" do it all themselves.
What I learned
Solo doesn't mean alone. Delegate the things you're bad at. Use AI tools, hire freelancers for specific tasks, find advisors. Your time is the scarcest resource — protect it.
Annual Retrospectives
"I'm not listing these to perform humility. I'm listing them because I genuinely believe the most useful thing a founder can share is what didn't work and why. If any of these saves you a month or ₹10 lakh, this page has done its job."