Off to the Valley

Arjita Sethi: Most of the people think
they need to go to business schools.

I went to a business school.

Business school teaches you
how to be a good employee, not

how you can start a business.

So that was a focus.

You come to New Founder
School, you don't get a degree.

You get a viable business.

Prateek Panda: Hello, and welcome back
to season two of Off to the Valley,

the podcast where we uncover journeys
of entrepreneurs and changemakers who

redefine success across industries.

I'm your host Prateek Panda.

And today

we are honored to be joined by
Arjita Sethi, an inspiring serial

entrepreneur, educator, and the
founder of New Founder School.

Arjita began her Entrepreneurial journey
at 16, co founding a vocational school in

India that reached over 100, 000 people.

Driven by her fascination with
Silicon Valley, she moved to San

Francisco, where she launched an
edtech startup using AI and AR.

Today, through New Founder School, she
empowers immigrant and unconventional

founders to build more meaningful
ventures while prioritizing well being.

With her experiences spanning
global entrepreneurship, education,

social impact, her story is a
testament to resilience and vision.

Arjita, it's a pleasure to have you on
the show and we're looking forward to

learning more from your experiences.

Arjita Sethi: Same here.

Thank you Prateek for having me.

Prateek Panda: Great.

I know off the record, we were
talking a little bit about

your background and journey.

Tell us a little bit more
about your upbringing.

What is Arjita as a person like?

Arjita Sethi: Yeah, my upbringing was
also very unconventional, I would say.

My dad was in the army, so I was born in a
small city of Meerut, in an army hospital.

Because he was there at that time, and
then we moved all over the country.

For a few years growing up, my dad was
posted away, so I had to move in with

my maternal grandparents, my nana nani.

So I lived there, I grew up with
them and my nani was very much into

Ayurveda and yoga and my nana was
into meditation and yoga and all that.

And reading and, just, it was
a very fascinating upbringing.

It wasn't the traditional kids
go out, play in the playground.

So grew up with them, listening to
stories, reading books and, getting

to know how essential meditation and
yoga and Ayurveda and all of these

wellness initiatives are, so did that.

And then as I grew up, I moved
back with my parents and I was

not very excited about school.

I was very bored out of my, I remember
high school where I told my mom and

she was running this vocational school.

I was like, I want to be your co- founder.

I don't know what that meant.

I just said, you are leading
a very exciting life.

I want to do this and I
don't want to go to school.

And she's okay.

She took me up on that offer.

I still had to go to school, but I was
16 when I started joining that as a

co-founder and what that meant is wake up
in the morning, give the pamphlets to the

newspaper people, do the marketing of that
vocational school, then go to school, then

go to the vocational school, run classes,
run sales, run billings, stuff like that.

And it was the most, happy and joyful
I would be at that time because I

truly could see every action that
I did brought on some change and we

were working with United Nations,
Indian Army peacekeeping missions,

local orphanages, Kendriya Vidyalayas.

And I could see the impact
that the school was making.

So yeah, I joined that and did that for a
good about seven years, reached a hundred

thousand people and impacted them with
communication and technology skills and

around that time, a lot of, just this
whole idea of scaling was happening

where Steve Jobs' speech went viral.

Everybody was listening to his
amazing speech at Stanford.

And then Facebook went live
and I was like, how are these

people able to reach a million?

What is this technology
that is able to scale?

And I started getting to
know about Silicon Valley.

And I am a non technical person.

My undergrad was in physical therapy.

I have a diploma from the London
Academy of Music and Arts in Dramatic

Arts in Theatre and Shakespeare.

So it was a very unusual
background, non technical.

And everybody's oh, you have to be a
software engineer to, build startup.

That was the first time I heard that
word back in 2013, I think 2012, 2013

and then I started talking to this
person who was, we went to the same

high school, but two years apart.

He was two years my senior.

So we'd never spoken to each
other, but he was based in

Silicon Valley, in San Francisco.

He was working at a gaming company
and he was building games that

reached millions of people.

And he reached out to me.

It's again, I'm like universe conspires.

I was thinking how this
is going to be possible.

And he reached out to me one day.

He's, you're running the school in India.

I have a passion of creating an impact.

I'm building these games that are
reaching millions and billions of people.

But, it's not truly impactful.

So I want to do something there.

I was like, are you serious?

Are you a software engineer?

He's, yeah, I'm an
engineer and everything.

I'm like, okay, I know
everything about education.

I can build that.

I know everything about business.

I've built a company here.

It's doing really well.

Let's start a startup.

And while talking on Facebook
messenger, we realized we had the

same passions, the same vision.

And we decided, we should get married.

Let's just get married and
build a startup in the U.

S.

And that'd be an amazing thing.

Nine months later, I got married.

I moved to the U.

S.

and realized that we
cannot start a startup.

Because we were on H1B and H4, the
worst visas, and at that time the

EAD was not into effect as well.

So I went back to school, I did my
Master's in Social Entrepreneurship and

moved to F1 and got my work authorization,
which meant I could start my startup.

Luckily our company started doing
well and with my background and

social entrepreneurship already in
India, I qualified for the EB1, uh,

O1 VISA Got that, and then onshore
moved on to our startup as well.

We got venture backed.

We were just too early.

We were trying to build Chat GPT
for kids at that time back in 2017,

and the technology hadn't caught up.

There were, it just wasn't
feasible at that time.

So, we hustled and we worked a lot and
we built that company, but that is how I

landed here and built my first startup.

Prateek Panda: That is
amazing, very inspiring.

There are lots of questions
I want to dig in that journey

that you've mentioned so far.

One is, as a 16 year old it sounds like
an amazing experience to go, work and

build this vocational school what do you
think inspired you so much as you said you

didn't like going to conventional school,
but what was different about vocational

learning that connected better with you?

And do you think that applies
to a wider set of people?

Like I can totally relate to that
because if I go back to my school

days, I think the only reason
I went to school was because I

loved hanging out with my friends.

That was the motivation to go to school
because you would meet your friends

otherwise till you enter your late teens,
you really can't hang out on your own.

So school is the only place to go meet But
beyond that I don't think yes education

wise, there were some teachers that made
a significant impact in my thought process

and approach but otherwise like in your
experience what attracted you so much

to vocational school at the age of 16?

Arjita Sethi: A couple of things
actually, I'm an introvert, which

meant I couldn't have a lot of friends.

I couldn't make a lot of friends.

So either way, even if I went to
school, it was a handful of people, I

was if, friends with and I used to love
reading and I am a nerd, like you can

catch me reading at any time and house
is filled with books and everything.

I'm still a nerd and I love that.

And you remember what
happens to nerds in schools.

They're not, popular.

So that was basically me.

And I realized that, Hey,
I cannot make friends.

And I was not inspired by school
books, not the curriculum books.

I wanted to read everything
else under the sun.

So that meant that,
people would question me.

At home, my granddad and my mom,
they would give me an atmosphere of

hey, pick anything, read anything.

The world is your oyster.

And in school is very strategic.

You have to answer
within these boundaries.

You have to do this.

When I saw my mom running that
vocational school, I realized.

Yes, there are boundaries.

But the fact is, you actually do
something that nobody has taught you.

You experiment and you see a change.

The change could be positive and you
keep scaling that, or it could be a

failure and you change your strategy.

Which was a phenomenal way for me to learn
in life because it meant I was not bound

by a three line definition of something.

I wasn't bound by, this is what is going
to give me three points in my board

exams and that's why I need to do this.

And I don't know.

I think sometimes people ask
me this question over and over

again, like, how did you do it?

As a 16 year old, I had no other agenda
except being engaged in an effective way.

It wasn't a strategy that
I'll become this next CEO or

entrepreneur, I'll have big lessons.

School was boring and lonely.

And I just wanted to have a
place where I could use my energy

and learn and see the change.

And just within a few months,
the impact that I saw that I

could create at the school, I was
like, yeah, this is my calling.

This is what I want to do.

I have my beef with traditional education.

That's the reason I've been
so into education, no matter

what I do, what I build.

Same during my college
days as well, school days.

But yeah, I think I was just introvert.

That's why I did that.

Prateek Panda: That's amazing And
I think you know from what I heard,

you were also just living in the
moment and what gave you joy and

you were fully committed to that.

And that's amazing.

Talking about, since we are talking
about the theme of education tell us

a little bit about new founder school.

Arjita Sethi: Yeah, so New Founder
School actually came up as an idea after

I closed my first startup and this was
back in 2019, 2020, COVID had just hit.

So we closed down our startup, Anshul
and I, we were working on it together.

We realized this is
not feasible right now.

We'll have to shut it down.

So we shut it down let our
investors know, did all that

closing, all of that, which is

a long, tedious, messy process.

So we finished that thinking, Hey,
2020, we can finally relax and, maybe

travel a little bit, figure things out.

And 2020 February, San Francisco
shut down and we are now stuck

in this one bedroom apartment,
no startup, and we cannot travel.

We cannot do anything.

And I was heavily burned out.

I was burned out to the point because we
had been working 20 hour days, not eating,

barely eating, living that down down San
Francisco startup life, sell, sell, sell,

uh, raise, raise, raise all of that.

And it worked really well.

We were pretty successful in terms
of like entrepreneur, but I realized

that entrepreneurship is already
hard, but if you're an unconventional

entrepreneur, it gets a hundred X harder.

You don't have a network.

You don't know what your next step
should be, you're just shooting

the dark, hoping something lands.

The only examples of other
entrepreneurs is very traditional.

I work in a garage and I work all day
and that's how I become successful.

That was the only definition.

And I realized something had
to change there because that

did not lead me to success.

And that's what I came
to San Francisco for.

That's exactly the dream.

I thought this is perfect.

This is amazing.

This is my life.

So I wanted to build a space where
we could support unconventional

entrepreneurs and you can define yourself.

If you do not fit the traditional
entrepreneurship definition, you

are an unconventional entrepreneur.

Come to us.

And the focus is going to be how to
build slowly, steadily, a longer lasting

entrepreneurship endeavor while taking
care of yourself, but also making

sure that you have the right guidance.

You have the right network.

You have the right mentorship
and the next steps.

So I went ahead, it did
not even have a name.

New Founder School name came in late
2021, I think in 2020, I just went

on my Instagram, I was documenting
my entrepreneurship journey and say,

Hey, if anybody wants to know how
to start an idea, just let me know.

And then 75 people said,
yes, are you serious?

I thought maybe three, four
people are going to say yes.

That's when I led a webinar and
they were like, this is great.

What's the next step?

Help us with the next step.

So it was all experimentation and
started guiding the next step.

Amazingly, out of the first year, we had
100 plus entrepreneurs graduate and launch

something, which was so interesting.

That was not a metric that I
was looking for, but I realized

there was a need for this.

Because accelerators, incubators do come
in once you have an idea, you have a

team and, you get some initial capital,
but how do you even get to a viable

proof of concept or a proof of business?

Most of the people think they
need to go to business schools.

I went to a business school.

Business school teaches you
how to be a good employee, not

how you can start a business.

So that was a focus.

You come to New Founder
School, you don't get a degree.

You get a viable business.

Prateek Panda: That is amazing.

And what do you think in your experience
working with so many entrepreneurs who

are in your definition, unconventional
could be immigrants as well.

What is like a common theme?

If we were to say, Here are three things
that I commonly see unconventional

founders face, what do you think has
been some of those common themes?

Arjita Sethi: Yeah.

The first is delay, delay of building
something, launching something,

delay of even getting funds.

And the delay is sometimes
we don't have the network.

You're the first ones in our family,
in our community, in our tribe.

I remember when I moved here,
I wanted to build a startup.

Every person in my community said,
why can't you just get a job?

Why are you doing this?

You can have a nice job.

And so many of them today, now that
I've been here for 10 years, 11 years.

Wow, it's going to be 11 years this year.

Now they're looking back and I wish
I would have created something.

You have that freedom
and I'm stuck in my job.

So the first thing I see is that
delay because a lot of people don't

know what the next step should be.

They don't have that guidance.

The second is the delay in funding
because again, when you have to go

ahead, build from scratch, you need to
know the right people, the right timing.

The second issue beyond delay is saying
yes to things that you shouldn't be saying

yes to because you're just not aware.

This person sounded exciting.

Let me make him my, or
make her my co-founder.

Oh, this person is really good.

He has the money.

Let me take money from them.

Like money is not just
money, and I did that too.

I got money from some amazing VCs and
angels, but some really questionable

people as well, which I did not want to.

And I wish somebody would have guided me.

So that thing I've seen happen so much.

And I think the third thing is.

Understanding that there is not just
one definition of entrepreneurship,

because there are not enough examples
of unconventional people out there

building with a balance or forget balance.

I understand as an entrepreneur,
you have to hustle.

I have my moments of hustle.

Even today, I've been doing
this for 18 years now.

And I still have my moments of hustle,
but the fact that we need to center

ourself and come back, this is a very
crucial thing for an entrepreneur.

You're in a creative field.

You are not just doing a job that you
can just show up and do a standard thing.

So I think that understanding
is also missing.

So those are three issues
that I generally see.

Can dive into.

There are so many other mindset
things, but all of that can change

if we show them more examples of
unconventional entrepreneurship or

immigrant entrepreneurship, and we
give them the knowledge, guidance,

mentorship of, and networks of what
is possible, what is the next step.

Prateek Panda: I think that's amazing
that you said that it's important to

see more examples of unconventional
entrepreneurship, because a lot of the

founders that I have spoken to and in
fact, even when I had first started my

first couple of companies, I was younger,
my visibility of the startup ecosystem

was very influenced by Silicon Valley.

And and there is a particular
definition for you to meet if you

want to be a successful Silicon
Valley entrepreneur, right?

You have to grow quick.

You have to raise a lot of money.

So although some of those
definitions change with time or

economic scenarios, but largely the
expectation is still the same, right?

And being able to see that there are
other models available and then that

you define what is your dream life as
an entrepreneur is so important, right?

And over the years I've met founders
who've moved to countries like Costa Rica

and a friend of mine who just moved there.

He's building a very unconventional
startup moving away from Silicon

Valley as a tech founder.

And one of the things he told me, I was
like, Dude, like, why did you move there?

And he's I found my American
dream in Costa Rica.

So that's the thing.

Like we've all have this sort of dream
as entrepreneurs, what we want to get to.

And the thing is that the dream is unique
to you and you have to understand that

and you have to find your own path.

The more we confirm to expectations,
the more pressure we add on ourselves.

Arjita Sethi: Yeah.

Yeah.

But here's also the thing, Prateek I
see even in Silicon Valley, a lot of

people are building their startups,
but because they have the permission to

fail, they're able to do it with balance.

And that's one of the Issues with being
unconventional entrepreneur that you

don't have the permission to fail.

It's one shot that you get.

Like I had one of my mentors who was,
the celebrated person in Silicon Valley.

And now this person had enough capital
and enough network to trust in him,

to give him the money to build his
company over the next five to 10 years.

That kind of space and psychological
security and financial security is

not that is given to entrepreneurs.

So he's building a high growth startup.

Yes, but he's still doing it with balance.

And I think that is something that
if we can give to unconventional

entrepreneurs, they would thrive because
we come from different perspectives.

We have a very different idea
of what ideas could work and the

world needs those innovations.

I think we need to support them
psychologically and financially so

that they can afford to fail and
feel this is not their only chance.

Prateek Panda: I think that's a, very
true and that's the beauty of Silicon

Valley that it allows you to fail.

On the flip side is like people
can very easily forget about you

or you're like such a small fish in
a big pond that it doesn't matter,

but that comes both ways, right?

It also means that you can
fail, nobody will care about it.

So that itself, like especially
you and me who've come from South

Asian descent, it's good like that.

Culturally, we are designed or
brought up in an environment

where failure is not an option.

Like you have to be successful and
that's a ton of pressure, right?

Arjita Sethi: And then that's what
you were talking about freedom,

we were chatting before there
are different types of freedom.

So in my twenties, I was seeking freedom
from not having the fear of failure.

And now in my thirties, I'm seeking
freedom from just not working because

I have to work, but because I want
to work and I have the joy for works,

I think it was a different freedom.

So I still suggest if somebody is
in their twenties and has that bug

of startup, go to Silicon Valley.

That is the place to explore it fully.

And then if it works out, it's great.

If it's not so many options available.

Prateek Panda: When you first move
to Silicon Valley, like if I go back

to my experience, it was almost like
coming out of a movie for me, because

growing up when I did my first startup,
all I knew was Silicon Valley being

this mecca for startups and so on.

And I had a very different first
week experience in Silicon Valley.

I can get into that later.

I think I've told about this
on the podcast before, but what

was your experience coming into
Silicon Valley the first time?

Did it feel like a dream to you?

How did you feel the first few weeks?

Arjita Sethi: First I want to
hear your experience even if you

can give me a brief overview,
I'm really curious at this point.

Prateek Panda: I did not have a
pleasurable first few days because

like in my mind I was was maybe Twenty
Three, Twenty Four years old, the

first time I came and I'd started
my first company when I was 19 and

had been like very enamored by the
whole Silicon Valley startup culture.

So the first time I got onto a flight
to land in San Francisco, I was very

excited to go to this place that I felt
would be like, almost like heaven, right?

And then of course you've lived
in San Francisco, proper downtown.

So you know the challenges
of San Francisco.

It's not really the cleanest
city or whatever, right?

So all of that hit me first and I
was like that's not what they show

on sitcoms or TV shows and whatever.

And then the first night, a
friend of mine was kind enough

to let me stay at his place.

And in the morning, I was supposed to
take a train down south to San Jose.

So I landed pretty late in the night,
went to his place, kept my stuff, and

he told me like, let's meet for dinner.

The restaurant was about to close, so
he's I'm going to go place an order.

It's just two blocks down, you
can walk down there, freshen

up, take your time, whatever.

I was like, fine.

I freshened up, put my stuff, went down
and as I was walking to the restaurant,

like somebody popped out of the alley with
a knife and was like, I like day zero.

It's not even been an hour of me

Arjita Sethi: What?

Prateek Panda: in San Francisco.

I'm laughing about it now,
but it was very scary.

Arjita Sethi: So scary.

Prateek Panda: Yeah, because I didn't
have any money on me and I was like

really trying to explain to this guy that
I literally just landed in the US and I

was showing my wallet and like I have no
money on me and then he just said a few

swear words and walked away and I was
like my heart was beating so fast and

for the next, I'm not exaggerating this,
for the next two to three years, I used

to go to San Francisco Not in a train,
no matter like how little money I had

or whatever, I would take an Uber, get
off exactly where I had to meet someone.

And I would not stay back
after 5 pm in San Francisco.

I would take a train back or whatever, an
Uber back and just get out of the city.

So for the first two or three years.

I was like so sure I don't want
to go to San Francisco at all.

I was forced to go because a lot of
things were happening in San Francisco.

But over the years, like my
experience obviously changed.

But yeah, that was like day zero for me.

Arjita Sethi: That is so unfortunate.

Oh, I am so sorry, Prateek,
that, that was your experience.

My experience was magical, like
literally coming out of the movies.

My experience during COVID was
bad and that's why we moved away

where I had similar experiences.

A lot of those experiences with me and
my husband, we both had, and that's

when we were like, yeah, it's not
the same city and it's no more safe.

And that's when we moved
out after seven years.

For seven years, it was amazing.

It was everything and more that
I had taught San Francisco to be.

And, I'm glad I did that.

Like the first day I landed,
also because Anshul was here.

I think that's why my
experience was different.

I didn't have to do it alone.

When he talks about his coming to the U.

S.,

the first year was a struggle for him.

But for me, it wasn't because he was here.

And I had already enrolled in my program,
so I knew it was starting in nine months.

He told me your job for the next
months is network, learn about

entrepreneurship, attend events,
do whatever you want, you're free.

And it was so important.

The fact that I got that again,
financial and psychological

security, because he had a good job.

He said, go ahead, build, and I can
join you when the time is right.

That was very important.

But the first, the moment I landed.

He came to pick me up and he took me
to Golden Gate and I went back to my

childhood memories of Full House and
I was like, how is this my real life?

What is happening?

And then we went to Dolores
Park and it was just amazing.

Just the whole vibe of
the city, everything.

I have walked the entire city on foot.

Like I loved walking.

That's one thing I miss right now
in my life that I cannot just go

to a coffee shop, just go down and
go to a coffee shop, just go down.

I have see the biggest conference
that's happening in the world

and people are flying in.

We were right opposite Moscone Center,
which is where all the conferences happen.

Prateek Panda: Yep.

That is the conference center.

Arjita Sethi: We could see
it from our, we had big glass

windows, beautiful apartment.

We got really lucky and we were
really, we had to go ahead and scale

down once we started our startup
because we had to save, but the

first few years, it was so magical.

We were there at every networking event.

We were there when blockchain
phenomena happened.

We hosted blockchain educational
sessions at our home and our

home would be packed with startup
founders creating their wallets.

We did entrepreneurial
meetups and things like that.

Because we were living so central,
there were so many people, I got

the biggest speaking opportunities.

LinkedIn was like five
minute walk from my house.

Some of the biggest entrepreneurs,
Instacart CEO at that time

was sitting and sipping tea.

I would just go there
and just talk to him.

It was everything and more
that I had thought to be.

Yes.

Cleanliness and safety were an
issue, but I'm coming from Delhi.

I was living in Delhi.

So cleanliness and safety, my
bar and benchmark was pretty

low when it came to that.

But the thing that hit me was after
nine months, when I started my

entrepreneurship course, and it was
in social entrepreneurship, we, me

and some of my classmates, my friends
went to have our lunch at Subway.

That was the first time I saw a homeless
person going to trash can and picking

out food and trying to eat it and it
just hit me wait, what is just happening?

There's like Uber and Twitter right here.

It's the richest companies, the
richest people and this guy is

eating out of trash can and he's all
by himself and some of my American

classmates say I you'll get used to it

I've still not gotten used to it.

And it baffles me, the amount
of inequality that was there

literally at that moment.

And they were like, is
poverty not there in India?

For me, the first thing was, I have
never seen poverty this sad in India,

even though, yes, there is poverty.

But my project, my final thesis
project was on homelessness.

And we had to interview a bunch of people.

And I realized so many
of the homeless people.

They're not homeless because they're poor.

They're homeless because
of the situation in life.

And

Prateek Panda: yeah.

Arjita Sethi: it was terrible to know.

And I still haven't gotten used to it.

And even when it became unsafe a
lot of people had during COVID,

many instances happened with us.

So I'm not going to go into it.

I didn't feel bad.

I didn't feel angry at them.

I just felt bad about the
situation that we cannot help them

and it's becoming more severe.

So yeah, that happened nine months
later, but it was everything I

hope to be the first nine months.

Prateek Panda: Yeah, I think,
when I reflect back on all of

those experiences also, I feel
like that's what is a holistic

Silicon Valley experience for you.

It'll give you dreams.

It'll also humble you down by showing you
things that you would have never imagined

would happen in a place like this.

And everything together is what actually
gives you that fuller experience.

Yeah, on that note, actually you did
talk a little bit about burnout as well.

You mentioned briefly that there
was a phase when you felt an

incredible high amount of burnout.

A lot of founders go through that.

A lot of times, I don't think we realize
that we are in that burnout phase

till you actually take a step back.

I was definitely in one where
I did realize I was really

pushing myself too hard.

Oh, you also mentioned that in your
program with New Founder School,

you're trying to help founders build
companies while maintaining a more

holistic way to grow companies.

Can you tell a little bit more about
your experience with burnout and what

is it that you are really telling
or doing with founders that can

help them think in that direction?

Arjita Sethi: Yeah, absolutely.

I did not, I was burned out a lot.

Like we started building our
startup when I was in school.

It was 2014 September.

And then 2015, we raised
a crowdfunding round.

2016, we raised our VC round.

2017, we were part of
a Finland Accelerator.

We reached 2018, 40, 000 user pipeline.

It was just go, literally
from the beginning, 2019, we

were raising our next round.

We started getting a little bit
of traction, a lot of rejection.

Also, we were too early.

We realized we were too early and
there was no idea when this idea is

actually going to go into fruition.

We had paid users and they had finished
the product to say, and the rest of

it had to be built technologically
and wasn't just possible at that time.

What we started doing is.

Doing more user interviews, more user
acquisition, pitched more investors,

more rejection, you're getting, oh,
we're just close to our next yes.

It became very intense,
especially if you're running

this as husband and wife as well.

You have to understand if you're
doing that together, the highs are

highs, but the lows are epic lows.

Sometimes if you're doing separate
things, if it is low, you can balance

each other, you can help each other.

But for us, the lows happen together,
the highs happen together as well.

And it came to a point where we
were all the time just working.

If we were not selling, we were raising or
building or creating all over the world.

Our research was happening in Finland.

Our accelerator program was in Finland.

Our users were in 14 different countries.

We were part of Elon Musk's 15
million $ X prize at that time.

So some of our testing was happening in
Tanzania and our partners were in LA.

We were down in Austin for SADPA.

It was just intense.

I do not remember a time from 2014 up
until 2019 when we were not working.

Even on a vacation, we were working.

Even on a weekend, we were working.

I remember, my parents had come down,
we were going down to Tahoe and our

crowdfunding campaign was literally
launching in the car as we were driving.

And we're like, okay, we have to stop.

We have to see everything's okay.

Is the video live?

Who has invested?

We had, asked our first 50 funders
to invest right at the moment.

It was night time, and we're doing
this, and then we reached the place in

Tahoe and our parents are sleeping and
whole night we've been awake and, just

messaging people, hey, please contribute.

And then we came back and created a
banner and went to Fort Mason and Dolores

Park, and we were physically requesting
it, money for our crowdfunding campaign.

And so it just became something that
we were used to either, and I was

having part time job, another part
time job to so that I don't take money.

Only our developers take money.

Our team takes money.

I don't have to take money.

It came down to a point where that
was the only thing we were doing and

we did not realize we were burnt out.

I think we were pretty burnt out in
2017 already, but we thought if we

could just push a little bit more.

And that's the zone.

I feel a lot of
entrepreneurs get stuck in.

I'm not doing enough.

Maybe I just need to push a little more.

Maybe if I just, sell a little
more, if I find this number, if

I get to this traction, this is
going to solve all my problems.

It didn't for us.

In 2019, August, it came down to a point
where we had to go ahead and choose.

Our well being over the fact that
do we continue raising, selling,

and struggling and seeing when this
technology is going to be feasible.

I could already see I was
not as active, as energetic.

Years of eating pizzas at networking
event started showing up and I realized

that I needed a break from all of this.

But I was very ashamed that I needed
a break and sometimes I still think

if I could have just pushed harder,
it wouldn't have happened to me.

But Anshu was like, no, we this
marriage is more important for us,

our health is more important for us.

It's great to have a partner
that recognizes this.

Had it just been me, I don't
think I would have given up.

It was a collaborative decision.

And that's when I realized that I was in
burnout for years and I didn't realize it.

If I would have got it in 2017 and
already put in measures, maybe this is not

what would have happened to my company.

And I've seen this over
and over again in founders.

When their product isn't doing that
well, or they're not able to raise the

money, they will push on accelerator even
harder and faster, instead of taking a

step back and saying, let's reassess.

What do we need to prioritize?

What do we need to not prioritize?

We will start doing a lot of
everything just to survive and

see if we can get, that success.

And that's what I want to tell
entrepreneurs that build a strong

foundation, build a network, and
it is okay to communicate, Hey, I'm

going to achieve this in one year.

No, I'm going to achieve
this in three years.

It's still a big enough
goal in three years.

Three years is not a long time
in grand scheme of things.

If you have a vision of three
months, give yourself a year.

When we have founders who say they
want to raise their round in the

next month, that's not happening.

It'll take you three to six months.

Are you okay with that?

That is one of the reasons that I wanted
to start setting those expectations

for entrepreneurs and be very clear
and transparent that this is a harder

journey and if you have to prepare for
a harder match, you don't go unprepared.

You take more time training yourself.

That's what a good athlete does.

They train themselves.

So please spend time training,
taking care of yourself and preparing

your body and being resilient.

So it is not the fluff
of, hey, I'm too weak.

I'm not able to do this.

Flip the question.

How can I do this?

How can I prepare myself
physically, mentally, emotionally

to be able to be an entrepreneur?

Because it is a hard journey.

And that's what we do
at New Founder School.

Build that resilience and
tolerance for the ambiguity.

Because those are the biggest skills
I feel that entrepreneurs need.

And just a week ago, I also launched
my own wellness company now around

that, which is called Shaanti.

So yeah, I'm a professor.

I'm running two businesses.

I'm a new mom.

I have a five month old
and you can do it all.

But you have to give it time.

It took me instead of a year after
coming to Silicon Valley, it took me

about 11 years and that's okay too.

When we are in the thick of it,
we want to do it fast and quick.

So I think that's what I
want founders to think about.

And that's what we do
at New Founder School.

Prateek Panda: That's amazing, Arjita.

Thank you so much for sharing that
personal journey and you've achieved so

much, but just realizing from your story
that it's important to take the time.

So you enjoy it thoroughly as well.

And it's really not a race
and it's your journey, right?

And you make the most out of it.

As we sign off any one last piece
of advice for founders, especially

immigrant founders who I feel like
entrepreneurship is already very hard.

And as immigrant founders, we leave
behind a lot of that safety net.

That we get socially, friends,
family and move to different

countries to go chase our dream.

And you've worked with, you've
been an immigrant founder, you've

worked with so many others.

Any one piece of advice for founders
looking to navigate the complexities

of starting up in a foreign land?

Arjita Sethi: Yeah.

First I would say is be flexible about
what success looks like the success that

you see on screens or read about in books.

That is their success.

I really like Naval Ravikant's book on
wealth and happiness almanac that he has.

And he says, even if I did the exact
same steps that I did to build AngelList

today, I would have a different outcome.

So don't develop your definition of
success based on somebody else's story.

Be flexible.

There's enough for everyone.

There is enough opportunity.

There is enough innovation,
creation, space, funding,

money, all of that for everyone.

So take that definition of
success and be flexible with it.

Secondly, Find a network of the kind
of people that you're trying to become.

That is very critical.

You cannot be an entrepreneur
in a balanced way if you're not

surrounded by entrepreneurs who
are building in a balanced way.

You cannot be an entrepreneur if you're
not surrounded by an entrepreneur.

If all you have, everyone
around you is a professor, you

will not be an entrepreneur.

They know nothing about it and
you're going to burn out because you

have to now figure out everything.

And yes, entrepreneurship,
like you said, is hard.

You have to figure out
everything, but many things can

be solved if you have network.

If you have community.

At this point, I know if a founder
comes to me in New Founder School

and says, Hey, I need somebody who
can develop this product for me.

I've got you.

I'll connect you to this person.

Now that person would have spent
time, money and resources on

finding the right person and
may not have been the right fit.

So having that network that they can rely.

Hey, can you connect me to this person who
can do branding and copywriting for me?

I've got the best person.

I'll do that.

You need that trusted group of people.

So create that so that you
can rely on, these people.

Ask for help.

We are very bad at asking for help.

When we move across the world, we
think we have to be hyper independent.

We don't.

It's okay.

People don't see it as a weakness.

And the right people don't
see it as a weakness.

Prateek Panda: Exactly.

Arjita Sethi: So you just
have to find the right people.

So yeah, that's not one advice.

There's a lot of advice, but yeah,
I'm running New Founder School.

This is my everyday, so, not stop at one.

Prateek Panda: But that is amazing.

All of all of the things that you shared
are amazing experiences and amazing

learnings and I'm sure all of our
listeners will find it very helpful.

Thank you so much, Arjita, again,
for taking out time, sharing your

experiences, talking about your startup
journey and more importantly, sharing

some of the deeper darker stuff, right?

Like the struggle that we go
through and Very few people

are willing to talk about that.

So thank you so much again
for spending time It was a

pleasure having you on the show.

Arjita Sethi: Thank you Prateek.

It was a pleasure.

Prateek Panda: And that
wraps up today's episode.

Before we sign off, I would like
to thank you for your support

and thanks for tuning in.

If you loved today's episode.

Then don't forget to subscribe to this
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Be kind, be happy, challenge the norm.

I'll see you folks again for the next one.