Starting up in India is often glorified as a path to innovation, wealth, and freedom — but the ground reality is far more brutal. Tej Pandya, Founder of Groweasy.ai, in a thought-provoking LinkedIn post, shed light on the psychological and financial toll that entrepreneurship can take on those who dare to build from scratch.
“9 out of 10 startups fail. Not always because of the product. Most die because the founder breaks first,” Pandya wrote, underlining how endurance often matters more than execution.
Weight of entrepreneur’s journey
Pandya explained that founders live in a state of constant delusion. They tell themselves that the next feature will fix growth, the next campaign will unlock customers, the next pivot will save the company. But months of uncertainty stretch into years, often with no guarantee of success.
The contrast with peers living more stable lives becomes stark. While friends splurge on luxury cars, vacations in Europe, or weddings, founders often scrape by — living month to month, delaying gratification, and betting everything on a future that may never materialise.
“Life doesn’t delay with you,” Pandya added. “Family issues, health scares, bills… they all show up on time.”
The real struggle
While much of the startup ecosystem focuses on funding rounds, pitch decks, and product-market fit, the unseen struggle is the founder’s mental resilience. Long working hours, unstable income, investor pressures, and the looming threat of failure push many entrepreneurs to burnout.
Experts point out that even when a startup secures capital, sustaining momentum is harder than it seems. Building teams, retaining talent, navigating regulatory hurdles, and dealing with competitors with deeper pockets add layers of stress. A single misstep in execution — or a market downturn — can undo years of effort overnight.
The uncertainty also impacts personal lives. Delayed marriages, financial instability, strained family relationships, and even health issues are common among early-stage entrepreneurs. Unlike a corporate job where the monthly paycheck provides security, startup founders often spend years without drawing a salary, reinvesting every rupee back into the business.
Training the mind for chaos
According to Pandya, entrepreneurship is less about ideas and execution, and more about mental conditioning. “Startups aren’t just about execution. They’re about training your mind to stay sane when everything around you is chaos,” he wrote.
This aligns with a growing recognition in the ecosystem that founder well-being is as crucial as business fundamentals. Mental health support for entrepreneurs, peer groups, and mentorship networks are slowly gaining traction in India, but stigma and silence remain barriers.
The real question
For Pandya, the test of entrepreneurship boils down to persistence. “Can you hold your delusion long enough for it to become reality?” he asked in his post. In an ecosystem where the odds of survival are slim, this “delusion” is often what separates the few success stories from the many forgotten attempts.
