Some things worked.
Everything taught me.
Not a straight line. Not the obvious choices. Just a belief that the next chapter is worth showing up for.
Not the easy way. My way.
After three years in Kota and two JEE attempts that didn’t work out, the advice was simple: take admission in a private college and move on. But I knew it wasn’t ability I lacked. It was practice. I gave myself another three to four months, took a third attempt, and scored 98.9 percentile. In 2021, I joined NIT Trichy. My first big lesson: be honest with yourself about what needs to improve.
An idea, a team, and a hard stop.
In college, I started FinstoX, a fintech startup. We built a strong team and received a ₹1 crore funding offer. Then regulatory changes around virtual trading platforms meant we had to shut it down. It was hard to let go of something we believed in. But the desire to build didn’t go away.
Building closer to the problem.
Next came Mediva. I brought together people I believed in, including seniors working at Apple and Citi and a junior who had interned at D. E. Shaw. Over six to eight months, we onboarded four major hospitals in Bangalore and were speaking with Apollo’s leadership. We weren’t just building a product; we were getting close to a real problem.
Conviction over the safer offer.
Family responsibilities meant it was time to earn. I had a strong offer from Even Healthcare, where I had interned in my third year. But I wanted to understand the startup ecosystem. While friends took full-time roles, I joined Transition VC as an intern and stepped away from Mediva. Within three months, I earned a full-time offer.
Backing founders. Still thinking like one.
At Transition VC, I worked on 10+ investments across climate, deeptech, and engineering-led businesses. Later, I joined Folks Funds as a Principal, working more closely with founders, businesses and investments. The investor’s lens taught me a different side of company building. But a part of me always knew I wanted to return to the founder’s side.
“My biggest success isn’t a title or an achievement. It’s the confidence to trust my judgement, the humility to learn when I’m wrong, and the resilience to start again.”— Gaurav Kumar Tiwari