In a world that glamorizes entrepreneurship and startup culture, a founder recently took to Grapevine’s ‘Indian Startups’ community to share a brutally honest account of his journey. Posting under the name ‘GrizzledTrillion’, he opened up about leaving a Rs 50 LPA job, raising $2 million in funding, building a profitable startup, and then deciding to shut it all down.
In 2021, he quit his high-paying job as a VP of Operations, fueled by the desire to create “the next big thing”. Like many, he was inspired by LinkedIn success stories and podcast interviews with millionaire founders. With a solid idea and a strong resume, he managed to raise seed funding and got to work.
“I told myself: ‘I’m smart, I work hard. Why am I building someone else’s dream?’ So, I quit. Left all that stability behind with just a vague idea and the audacity to call myself a founder. Raised $2M in seed funding because, I had a good idea, had the credentials and enough evidence to prove from my career that I had the right to win in this space. Investors believed in me. Hell, I believed in me,” he wrote on Grapevine.
By 2022, his startup was doing well – so well, in fact, that it had become operationally profitable. But even with all the external metrics of success, he felt empty. While his team was passionate about solving the problem, he felt like he was just going through the motions.
“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. But 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?”
By late 2023, the cracks became impossible to ignore. Sleepless nights, strained relationships, and constant stress pushed him to the edge. A panic attack made him confront the truth – he wasn’t cut out for the founder life.
“Turns out foundership 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. 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.”
Instead of pushing through, he chose to step away. He’s now shutting down operations, ensuring his team is taken care of, and exploring acquisition offers for the company.
“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.”
His takeaway? Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone, and there’s no shame in admitting that. He learned that success doesn’t always lead to happiness and that stability isn’t something to look down on.
“Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone. The ‘Founder Title’ is overrated. Success ≠ Happiness. Your mental health is worth more than a cap table. Stability is underrated,” he realised.
You can read his full post here.
Sometimes, walking away isn’t failure – it’s clarity.