An Indian founder’s candid take on leaving a job to build his own company has struck a chord with social media users. Taking to Instagram, Mehul Agarwal shared a video in which he spoke about the emotional highs and lows of stepping into entrepreneurship after quitting a job that he described as draining.
An Indian founder revealed that startup life felt chaotic after leaving his job, though he enjoyed building his own venture. (Instagram/mehulinnyc)
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In the video, Agarwal said, “Everyone said quitting a job to start your own company feels like freedom, and trust me, everyone lied. Okay, it does feel like freedom, but just for like 11 minutes. Then you open your laptop and you realize, ‘everything is on me now.’”
He added that only two weeks ago, he was complaining about his boss giving him too many tasks. However, after leaving his job, he realised that having no boss did not mean having fewer responsibilities.
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“Two weeks back, I was complaining that my boss is giving me too many tasks. Now, I have no boss, but somehow I have more tasks. Wait, what? How did that happen?” he said.
‘I was questioning every life decision’
Agarwal then described how the first few days after quitting his job unfolded. He said he began with “founder energy”, waking up early and planning the next three months of his journey.
“This is what my past few days have looked like. Day one, I woke up at 6 AM, founder energy, and I spent the whole day planning what my next three months would look like. Very productive,” he said.
He continued, “Day two, again, I woke up at 6 AM, same founder energy, and I redid the whole plan. Very productive, again, nothing to complain about that. Day three, I woke up at 6 AM again, but I was missing that energy. I was anxious, and looking at that sheet of paper of my plan for the next three months, I was questioning every life decision that I’ve taken so far.”
Speaking about the fourth day, Agarwal joked that instead of working on the plan, he was making a video about it.
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Internet reacts to founder’s honest take
The clip was shared with the caption, “they lied.” It soon garnered reactions from users who related to the pressure, uncertainty and excitement that come with building something from scratch.
One user wrote, “This is the most honest founder update I have seen in a while.” Another said, “The 11 minutes of freedom part is painfully accurate.”
HT.com has reached out to the user for his comments, and the copy will be updated once his response is received.
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)