Successful, but burnt-out, founder quits start-up life, advises: 'No shame in 9-to-5 jobs if you are happy'

Not all startup stories have a fairytale ending. While the idea of leaving your steady but dull nine-to-five job to make your mark on the entrepreneurial ecosystem may sound heady, the tradeoff may not always yield the results you hoped for. A morose startup owner took to the popular salary and career discussions portal Grapevine to vent on his journey from leaving a Rs 50 lakh per annum job to his entrepreneurship misadventures.

In an extended social media post, he openly confessed, "I failed as a founder."

He acknowledged that his shortcomings arose from being more fixated on the notion of 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," he revealed.

Using the alias 'GrizzledTrillion' on Grapevine, the founder shared a candid narrative about his entrepreneurial experiences in the “Indian Startups” community on the platform. He recounted how, in 2021, a profound sense of dissatisfaction with his routine life spurred him into action. Feeling he was letting valuable time slip away without pursuing his dreams, he left his job, secured funding, and embarked on building a venture that eventually became profitable.

“Had a salary of Rs 50 LPA as a VP Of Ops, job security, weekends off, life sorted. But no, that wasn’t enough. LinkedIn posts, podcast founders, hundred million dollar valuations—they all made me feel like I was wasting my life not building the next big thing," he admitted.

Looking back on 2022, he described it as a year of outward success: “We developed a strong product, attracted paying customers, and even reached operational profitability. There was no reckless expenditure or major setbacks. By conventional standards, everything seemed to be on track.”

Yet he confessed that these accomplishments didn’t translate to personal fulfillment. “Throughout this journey, something felt inherently wrong. My team was genuinely excited about solving the challenges we faced, but I found myself simply going through the motions.

His inner conflict reached a breaking point when he suffered a panic attack, recognizing that he wasn’t equipped to handle the unrelenting demands of entrepreneurship. “It’s not just about working hard—it’s the constant decision-making, the uncertainty that never ends. I wasn’t truly invested in the problem we were addressing; I was more obsessed with the allure of being a founder,” he admitted.

The relentless stress took a heavy toll on his well-being. “The pressure kept mounting. I hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep in months. My personal relationships were crumbling. My mental health? Completely deteriorated. While, on paper, I had built something successful, it was utterly draining me,” he revealed.

Ultimately, he made the difficult choice to step away. “This is me, calling it quits,” he stated. He clarified that although he hadn’t failed at building a viable business, he had fallen short in embracing the responsibilities and mindset of a founder. Assuring that the company was responsibly handling its employees and returning unspent funding, he reflected on his journey.

He shared five pivotal lessons: first, that not everyone is suited for the entrepreneurial path and that the “founder” title—once an aspiration for him—is overrated. He emphasized that success does not guarantee happiness and that mental health should always take precedence over professional milestones. Lastly, he highlighted the often-overlooked value of stability.

90% Of Startups Fail To Take Off

A 2018 study by the IBM Institute for Business Value in collaboration with Oxford Economics revealed that 90% of Indian startups fail within their first five years, with a lack of innovation identified as the primary cause, according to a report by News18.

Despite India's ambitions to become the third-largest startup ecosystem globally, the country faces growing challenges, including rising unemployment as increasing numbers of startups shut down.

Another report highlighted a sharp decline in the number of IT startups, which dropped to 800 in the first nine months of 2017 compared to over 6,000 in 2016. Titled Entrepreneurial India, the study pointed out that while the valuation of Indian startups has risen over the past four years, 77% of venture capitalists believe these businesses lack distinctive models.

Rishabh Lawania, the head of a market intelligence firm, commented on the trend: “Since 2015, 1,503 startups in India have shut down. The primary issue isn’t the lack of investor funding but the repetitive adoption of Western business models.”

Industries such as logistics, e-commerce, and food technology have been hit hardest by these failures.

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