I Was Supposed to Be a Millionaire at 25… Instead, I Went Bankrupt

"Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts." – Winston Churchill

By the age of 24, I had managed to save ₹3 crore—an amount I’d once believed would set me up for life. To me, it symbolized freedom, success, and a break from the financial hardships of my childhood. I envisioned my future with certainty: by 25, I would be a millionaire, creating opportunities, traveling the world, and finally achieving the security my family had always dreamed of. But life, as it turns out, had other plans. Within a year, I had lost every rupee. My journey was no longer one of riches; it became a story of survival, resilience, and the humbling lessons that came with losing everything I’d built.

This is my journey through success, failure, and the slow but steady rebirth of hope.

The Spark: Ambitions Fueled by Scarcity

Growing up in a lower-middle-class family, I understood scarcity all too well. Money was tight, and the dreams I nurtured felt almost like luxuries. But I knew that if I wanted to change the future for myself and my family, I had to take control. For me, success wasn’t just a goal—it was a responsibility. I wanted to be the one who broke the cycle of struggle.

When I entered IIT Kharagpur, I knew it was more than just an academic opportunity. It was my ticket to rewriting my story. But while my peers focused on exams, grades, and the high-paying jobs that awaited them, I felt drawn to something different: entrepreneurship. I saw entrepreneurship as a way to take charge, to carve out my own destiny, and to make a lasting impact. So, in my third year of college, I took a leap and launched my first startup, IWantTutor—an online tutoring platform.

Running a business while studying was anything but easy. I often worked 18-20 hours a day, balancing lectures, assignments, and the demands of a growing startup. But the idea of building something from scratch was exhilarating. I wasn’t just creating a business; I was creating a way out of the limitations I’d grown up with. I was determined to make it work.

By the time I graduated, my startup was generating revenue, and I had saved a significant amount. My peers took jobs in prestigious firms, but I chose the path of uncertainty. I decided to expand my startup, confident that the sacrifices I was making would pay off. I believed, wholeheartedly, that I was on the path to becoming a millionaire by 25.

The Thrill of Early Success

At 24, I had ₹3 crore saved—an amount that felt like a dream come true. I felt powerful, validated, and unstoppable. This money was more than just numbers in my bank account; it was the result of sleepless nights, relentless work, and a refusal to quit. With it, I felt as though I’d secured my future.

Emboldened by my success, I decided to scale up my operations. I invested heavily in expanding my startup—upgraded technology, hired more employees, rented a bigger office, and poured funds into marketing. I was ready to make my business soar. The vision was clear, the plan seemed foolproof, and I was all in.

But success can be deceptive. I believed that my past achievements guaranteed future security, and this overconfidence led me to overlook certain risks. I was so focused on achieving more, on scaling up rapidly, that I ignored the growing cracks in my foundation.

The Fall: From Financial Security to Chaos

In the startup world, things can shift overnight, and for me, they did. The market dynamics changed, competition intensified, and the financial stability I had relied upon began to slip away. Suddenly, everything I had invested in started turning against me.

Operational costs skyrocketed, clients delayed payments, and my revenue streams began to dry up. With mounting expenses and dwindling cash flow, my once-solid financial cushion vanished rapidly. Month after month, I watched my savings disappear as I tried to keep the business alive. The ₹3 crore that had once felt like my safety net was gone within months, leaving me not only with nothing but with crushing debt.

The descent from security to chaos wasn’t gradual—it was a freefall. I maxed out credit cards, took out loans from friends and family, and did whatever I could to cover the costs of running the business. The harder I tried to save my startup, the deeper I sank. I found myself living in my office because I could no longer afford a home. I was so consumed with trying to salvage what I could that my personal life began to unravel as well. The strain weighed heavily on my relationship with my wife, and every day felt like a struggle just to survive.

In my mind, I was no longer the successful young entrepreneur I had once been. I was simply someone fighting to hold onto a dream that was slipping further away with every passing day.

Rock Bottom: Losing Everything

The financial turmoil was devastating, but it was the emotional toll that truly broke me. The identity I had built, the confidence I had nurtured, and the dreams I had cherished all crumbled. I was no longer on the road to becoming a millionaire; I was in debt, exhausted, and unsure of how to move forward.

Eventually, I had to make the painful decision to let go. I had to accept that I had failed—not just as a businessman, but in my own eyes as a person. Facing bankruptcy was shattering, but facing myself was even harder. I had to confront the disappointment, the shame, and the self-doubt that had taken root in my heart. I had let myself down, and it felt like a failure that would define me forever.

In the months that followed, I was haunted by the dreams that had once filled me with hope. I felt as if I had been stripped of everything—my money, my success, my identity. But in the depths of that despair, a realization began to take shape. Maybe this failure didn’t have to be the end.

The Rebirth: A New Way Forward

Letting go of my startup felt like the death of a dream, but it was also the beginning of a new journey. With each passing day, I allowed myself to grieve, to process the loss, and slowly to start rebuilding. I realized that failure was not a dead end; it was simply a detour.

When I started Artivatic, my focus was no longer on rapid success or on becoming a millionaire. Instead, I prioritized sustainability, resilience, and learning from my past mistakes. I built a business model rooted in steady growth, realistic goals, and a deep understanding of the industry. This time, I wasn’t driven by the need to prove anything to anyone; I was simply building something meaningful and grounded.

The journey back wasn’t easy, but it was liberating. I no longer defined myself by my bank balance or my achievements. I had come face-to-face with failure, and I had survived. I had discovered that resilience, humility, and purpose were worth more than any amount of money.

Lessons Learned from Losing It All

Reflecting on this journey, I’ve come to appreciate the lessons that losing everything taught me:

1. Resilience is Everything: Real strength isn’t measured by how high you climb, but by how you rise after a fall. My journey taught me the value of resilience, of holding on when everything else falls apart.
2. Growth is Not Always the Goal: Scaling too quickly can be disastrous if the foundation isn’t solid. I learned the importance of sustainable growth, of building a business that could weather challenges rather than one that simply looked impressive.
3. Self-Worth Is Not Measured in Money: I once equated my identity with my bank balance, but losing ₹3 crore forced me to re-evaluate. True self-worth comes from within, not from external achievements.
4. Letting Go Can Be Liberating: The hardest decision I made was to walk away, but it was also the decision that set me free. Sometimes, holding on does more harm than good, and there’s strength in knowing when to let go.
5. Purpose Over Profit: After losing everything, I redefined success. My focus shifted from financial gain to creating something meaningful, something that contributed positively to the world and aligned with my values.

Moving Forward: A Life Rebuilt

Today, as I reflect on my journey, I see it not as a story of failure but as a testament to resilience. Losing ₹3 crore was devastating, but it taught me lessons I couldn’t have learned any other way. It stripped me of illusions, taught me the value of humility, and reshaped my understanding of success.

My story is for anyone who has faced setbacks, who has doubted themselves, or who feels that they’ve lost their way. It’s a reminder that success is rarely a straight line, and sometimes, the hardest journeys lead to the most valuable destinations.

If I could leave you with one thought, it’s this: failure is not the end. Sometimes, it’s the beginning of something far richer, deeper, and more meaningful than any dream of wealth could ever be.