In this Article you won’t hear me talk about explosive pivots or viral growth hacks. No "aha!" moment in the shower. No meteoric rise after a late-night code sprint. But surely some stories that will tell you where consistency can take you.
When my Co-founder (also co-partner in life) and I started Trezi, we weren’t chasing a trend—we were trying to solve a very real problem in the architecture and design space. We believed that if spatial understanding could be transformed from static drawings to immersive experiences, the entire industry could collaborate better. That belief was—and still is—the foundation of everything we’ve built with the mindset of -
Always trying to find an Extra Step:
As a long-distance runner, I’ve always believed in finding that extra step—the one that takes you just a bit further while
keeping your eye on the long path. That mindset naturally flowed into how we are building the company.
We did the research and built the prototype and made a little bold
decision to put up a stall at one of the USA’s biggest architecture events
in the hope of finding that extra step. We were armed with little more than a prototype and a gut instinct. No flashy launch, no PR agency. Just belief. And it paid off.
I walked away from that event with one of the largest architectural firms in the U.S. as an early adopter—they bought four subscriptions on the spot.
That moment was huge. Against the giants of the industry, with our early product still rough around the edges, we cracked one of the most demanding markets in the world. Had it not been for Covid, we might have set up shop in the U.S. right then. The pandemic diluted the momentum, but the confidence it gave us? That has lasted.
That one big win didn’t change everything overnight.
But it reminded me—and still reminds me—why we do what we do.
Why we keep refining the same workflow.
Why we keep believing. Not in fantasies, but in the problem.
And in our ability to solve it.
Without Failing Fast;
In the startup world, there’s a popular mantra: “fail fast, learn faster.” Which is good while you are starting up, But when you're a founder with real skin in the game—when your decisions ripple beyond the boardroom and impact EMI payments, your team’s livelihoods, investors’ trust and sometimes, even your sense of self-worth—that philosophy feels like a luxury.
That’s why raising capital without clarity, often backfires.
Raising capital brings validation. After all, someone just trusted you with a ?500K or even a ?5 crore cheque. That doesn’t happen unless there’s conviction in what you’re building. It gives you the confidence that you must be doing something right. And it also sharpens your focus. The responsibility that comes with external capital naturally makes you more deliberate in how you make decisions.
But that’s precisely why the “fail fast” mindset doesn’t always apply. You can’t afford to test ideas recklessly when each move impacts your team’s direction, your business runway, and sometimes even your family’s stability. The stakes are higher. The consequences are real. You don’t get to hit reset that easily.
In this reality, failure—if it happens—has to be thoughtful, contained, and ideally, not repeated.
Raising capital doesn’t give you immunity; it gives you accountability. And navigating that tension is where real founders grow.
The Cycle of Emotions in a Startup Journey;
People used to miss talking enough about how cyclical the emotional journey of building a startup really is. A study published by Forbes in April 2023 reported that 72% of startup founders acknowledge that entrepreneurship has impacted their mental health, with 37% suffering from anxiety. Source
Founders who’ve lived this know: One day, you’re closing a partnership, your team is buzzing, and you’re on top of the world. The next, a key hire resigns, a client goes cold, or a regulation changes overnight—and suddenly, you’re questioning everything.
The highs feel euphoric. The lows feel personal.
You might begin your journey filled with anxious energy—wondering if the idea is even valid, if you’ll ever get someone to fund it, if anyone beyond your inner circle even cares. That early seed stage is laced with doubts and the quiet desperation of trying to show traction before the runway runs out.
You might then hit the MVP stage with slightly more confidence—maybe even with your first 500k cheque in the bank. Then every decision starts feeling heavier because as i said it's no longer just your time at stake—it’s other people’s money and belief.
You might raise more capital and step into the series rounds—where the challenge transforms again. The mood changes from proving value to sustaining performance. Now you’re thinking about ARR, customer churn, team structure, and scaling operations without losing control. The stakes are higher, the spotlight sharper, and the margin for error thinner.
Through all these ups and downs, from solo volunteer to growing founder, you might often find yourself unable to share your challenges with others—sometimes because they won’t understand, sometimes because you don’t want to worry them, and sometimes because there’s simply no time. And that’s okay—because if the dream and vision were yours, the challenges will be yours too.
Through all of this, one emotion might persist like a background score—“I must do better than I did yesterday.” It doesn’t matter if the day ends with a win or a loss. The drive resets (or should reset) each morning automatically.
If a startup journey were a movie, then monotony and grit would be in the lead role
It’s not the big funding announcement, the fancy offsite, or the viral product launch that carries the story forward—those are just the highlight reels. The real plot moves with the scenes that no one claps for:
Logging the hundredth customer call.
Fixing the same bug that reappears in a different form.
Writing yet another investor update even when nothing exciting happened that month.
Monotony might not look heroic, but it’s the quiet force that builds rhythm. It creates habits, it sharpens instincts, and most importantly, it weeds out the ones chasing drama over depth.
And grit? Grit is the actor who doesn’t quit when the reviews are bad.
It stays on set even when the budget’s low, the script changes last minute, or the audience doesn’t show up.
Grit doesn't perform for applause—it stays because the story matters.
Many founders eventually come to a quiet realization that entrepreneurship is not always exciting.
In that long, unglamorous stretch between milestones, it’s monotony and grit that keep the wheels turning.
My Philosophy; What never changes is changing the things
Long-distance running built a habit in me — the habit of looking at the long path without getting too bothered by the short sweats.
It taught me to stay steady, even when progress felt invisible. To respect the rhythm more than the rush. To rely on inner cues when the outside world went silent.
That same approach flows into how I’ve come to view entrepreneurship. The terrain keeps changing — new markets, shifting teams, evolving goals — but what never changes is the need for persistence, rhythm, and mental strength.
As I said,
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. And the finish line isn’t always in sight.
But that’s okay — while short runs might have people cheering you on from the sidelines, climbing the Himalayas doesn’t come with applause at every step.
To the Ones Still in It
If your profit graph is moving—maybe not exponentially, but steadily.
If your team shows up every day, still aligned, still believing.
If your product is sharper today than it was six months ago.
If your customers are renewing—even if they aren’t shouting from the rooftops.
Then the monotony isn’t a red flag.
It’s often how real progress looks: quiet, repetitive, consistent.
Not every phase is about a breakthrough.
Some are about holding the line, pushing the flywheel one more inch, making 500 decisions no one sees.
And if you’re still here, caring, showing up—you’re not behind.
You’re in it.
___________x_______x__________
People also read -