Man Shares Why He Shut Down His "Profitable" Startup: "Failed At Being..."

A man who left his high-paying job to start a business recently shared why he "failed" at being a founder and decided to shut down his venture despite raising Rs 8.44 crore in seed funding. Taking to the popular salary and career discussions portal Grapevine, user GrizzledTrillion shared his journey from leaving a Rs 50 lakh per annum job to his entrepreneurial misadventure. In his post, he admitted that he "failed as a founder". He also acknowledged that his shortcomings stemmed from being more obsessed with becoming a founder than genuinely prepared to handle the complexities and demands of the role. 

"I wanted to be a founder. Turns out, I just wanted the idea of being a founder. And it's taken me two years, a lot of sleepless nights, and more stress than I knew was possible to admit this," the user shared. 

Left a 50L+ job. Raised$2M. Built something profitable. Shutting it down now.

A founder shared their story on Grapevine
The kind of stories that need sharing ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Gf2dxF8i0W

— Saumil Heard It (@OnTheGrapevine) November 27, 2024

In his long post, the user revealed how the "fire inside him" was ignited back in 2021 when he felt he was "wasting his life not building the next big thing". "Had a salary of Rs 50 LPA salary as a VP Of Ops, job security, weekends off, life sorted. But no, that wasn't enough. LinkedIn posts, podcast founders, hundred million $ valuations - they all made me feel like I was wasting my life not building the next big thing," he expressed.

The user shared that this is when decided to quit his job. He raised funding for his business and started building something that started making a profit. Fast forward to 2022, the user said that he built stuff that actually people wanted. "We built a good product, people paid for it, and we even became operationally profitable. No crazy burn rate, no major disasters. By all traditional metrics, things were fine (maybe more than fine)," he wrote. 

However, he further admitted that he wasn't truly happy and that something always felt off. "The whole time, something felt off. Like, while everyone else on the team was jazzed about solving the problem, I was just going through the motions. I'd wake up every morning and think, is this it?" he shared. 

This mounting pressure ultimately culminated in a panic attack, he said. "Turns out foundership (idk if that's a word lol) wasn't about the cool pitches, the media features, or the "I raised $X million" LinkedIn flexes. It's about the grind. The constant weight of making decisions that affect everything. The never-ending uncertainty," the user wrote. 

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"And I realized, I wasn't built for this. I wasn't obsessed with the problem we were solving - I was just obsessed with the idea of being a founder," he admitted, adding, "The stress piled up. I hadn't slept properly in months. My relationships went to shit. My mental health? I've seen better days. I'd built something successful by most measures, but it was draining the life out of me." 

"And here I am, calling it quits," the man wrote in his post. He explained that he "didn't fail at building something, but he failed at being a founder". He also added that the company is taking care of the employees and returning whatever is left of the funding. 

In his post, the man revealed five key takeaways from his entrepreneurial journey. He shared that he is going back to a role where he can build cool stuff "without the 24/7 chaos of running the show."

Concluding the post, he wrote, "Entrepreneurship is overrated. Stability isn't a dirty word. Keep building (or don't, that's fine too)."