2 days ago
- Business
- Time Business News
I Thought I Knew Startups… Until Reality Hit Me
A brutally honest story about startup education, the mistakes I made, and the ₹2,999 decision that changed everything.
They say startup life is glamorous.
Investors. Product launches. Hustle culture. Tweets. TED Talks.
I believed it all — until I started my own.
I quit my job in 2021 with a solid idea, some savings, and what I thought was enough knowledge. I had read the books, watched the YouTube gurus, followed all the right people on LinkedIn.
But guess what?
By mid-2022, I was broke, burned out, and bitter.
My startup didn't just fail. It confused me. I didn't even know why it failed.
And that haunted me.
I sat in a coffee shop one evening scrolling through my phone, trying to figure out what I missed. That's when I stumbled across a line on a forum:
'Most founders don't fail because of lack of effort. They fail because they never learned how to build a startup properly.'
That hit hard.
I didn't need another motivational video.
I needed a roadmap, not random tips.
I needed clarity on unit economics, not vague 'build what people want' quotes.
I needed to understand how to talk to investors, how to structure a pitch deck, how to know if an idea is even worth building.
That's when I discovered
No hype. No fluff. No billionaire-founder worship.
Just a clear promise:
'Learn how to build a real startup — from idea to execution to fundraising — at just ₹2,999.'
Honestly, I was skeptical. I'd already spent more than that on coffee meetings and pitch deck templates.
But something felt different here.
Maybe it was the tone.
Maybe it was how the course spoke to people like me .
Maybe I was just ready to listen this time.
So I enrolled.
This wasn't like Udemy, where you just 'watch and forget.'
It felt like someone had reverse-engineered the entire startup journey into small, brutal truths: Why your idea might fail (and how to test it early)
How to build a business model that doesn't collapse in 6 months
How to calculate if your product can even survive in a market
How investors actually think
And how to grow without burning cash for likes and downloads
I was finally learning what no MBA or LinkedIn thread ever taught me:
Startups aren't built on motivation. They're built on systems.
I thought I was fundraising-ready before. Turns out, I was just 'pitching blind.'
The StartupCoE fundraising section walked me through: Exactly what investors expect to see at different stages
at different stages How to structure a pitch deck without sounding like a brochure
without sounding like a brochure Real mistakes founders make when reaching out to VCs
when reaching out to VCs How to build a data room, calculate unit economics, and prepare for due diligence
It didn't give me hope.
It gave me preparation. And that was far more valuable.
This was the first course that asked:
'Can your startup survive without funding?'
It changed how I changed what I built.
It made me chase customers before chasing investors.
And ironically, that's what made me fundable.
Because no one told me this stuff when I started.
Because too many brilliant founders are stuck in a loop of noise, jargon, and burnout — when all they need is clarity.
Because I wish someone had whispered in my ear earlier:
'Hey, before you burn ₹1 lakh on random tools and failed ads, maybe just spend ₹2,999 to learn how startups really work.'
And that's exactly what gave me.
No sugarcoating.
Just real lessons, for real entrepreneurs.
If you're serious about your startup…
If you want to raise funds the right way…
If you want to build something that doesn't just look good on pitch decks, but actually survives and scales …
Then do yourself a favor.
Start with
₹2, course.
Your entire mindset—rebooted.
'The best founders aren't the smartest. They're the ones who learn early what others only learn after failing.'
This is your chance to learn before the fall.
Go build it right.
— Anonymous (but real)
TIME BUSINESS NEWS
