Aarav Mehta
Serial entrepreneur who failed once, learned, and built a successful fitness app with 10K+ users.
Failure hurts. There's no sugarcoating it. But looking back, my failed first startup taught me more than any success ever could. Here's what went wrong and what I learned.
I had what I thought was a brilliant idea—a social networking app for book lovers. I spent six months building it without talking to potential users. Big mistake number one.
I was so obsessed with perfecting the product that I didn't validate if people actually wanted it. When I finally launched, crickets. Turns out, existing platforms already solved this problem adequately.
I assumed I knew what users needed because I was a book lover myself. But I wasn't representative of the broader market. I didn't do proper market research, competitor analysis, or user interviews.
I spent money on things that didn't matter—expensive logo design, premium hosting, fancy business cards. Meanwhile, I hadn't validated product-market fit. Resources ran out before I could pivot.
I tried to do everything myself—product, design, marketing, operations. I was mediocre at most of these. Should've partnered with people who had complementary skills.
When things didn't work, I shut down completely. Looking back, I had data and insights that could've guided a pivot. I just didn't know how to interpret them or have mentors to guide me.
1. Validate early: Talk to users before building anything substantial.
2. Start lean: MVP first, perfection later.
3. Get feedback constantly: Your assumptions are probably wrong.
4. Build a team: Complement your weaknesses with others' strengths.
5. Find mentors: Learn from those who've been there.
6. Fail fast: But learn faster.
This failure made me a better entrepreneur. My second venture succeeded because I avoided these mistakes. I built with users, not for them. I started lean and scaled strategically. Most importantly, I surrounded myself with smart people who challenged my assumptions.
If you're facing failure right now, remember: it's not the end. It's expensive education. Extract every lesson you can and apply them to your next venture. The most successful entrepreneurs have multiple failures behind them.
