December 31, 2024: A defining story of startup setbacks – In the fast-paced world of startups, success often comes at the cost of failure. Shakti Mani Tripathi, a Bengaluru based an ex Amazon techie, has learned this the hard way after a roller-coaster entrepreneurial journey. From quitting a high-paying job at Amazon to facing rejection from Y Combinator and failing to secure funding for his ventures, Tripathi’s path to entrepreneurship has been nothing short of wild. But despite the setbacks, his story is one of perseverance, learning, and unyielding determination.
Tripathi’s journey began when he made the bold decision to quit his ₹1 crore-per-year job at Amazon, where he helped develop the Amazon Pay Later application. “2024 has been a wild year for me. Left my ₹1 crore job at Amazon without any backup, out of an urge to finally ‘start up’,” Tripathi shared in a now-viral post on X (formerly Twitter).
With no safety net in place, Tripathi co-founded his first startup, Hoobahoo AI, a venture aimed at solving business challenges with artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, despite pitching the idea to more than 30 venture capitalists and applying to prestigious accelerators like Y Combinator, Hoobahoo AI was met with rejection. The lack of funding and high customer acquisition costs led to the inevitable decision to shut down the startup.
Bengaluru Techie Shakti Mani Tripathi Sums Up Startup Setbacks – From High Paying Job to Startup Woes
But the startup setbacks didn’t stop Tripathi. His next attempt involved a B2B SaaS for engineering teams, aimed at measuring productivity. The idea, however, was short-lived after realizing that productivity in software engineering was far too nuanced to measure accurately. “We soon realized that one cannot measure the productivity of a software engineer as there is too much qualitative nuance,” Tripathi explained.
Not giving up, Tripathi and his co-founder, Kunal Ranjan, pivoted once again, this time launching Codermon AI, an AI agent designed to automate developers’ ad-hoc tasks. However, this move proved unwise as the market was already flooded with similar solutions. “We pivoted again, due to an overcrowded market,” Tripathi said.
Undeterred by these startup setbacks , Tripathi and his team switched focus to the supply chain industry, developing an AI solution for procurement. However, they quickly realized their lack of expertise in this domain and scrapped the idea. “We realized we didn’t have the necessary experience in the supply chain industry,” Tripathi admitted.
It was only after these multiple setbacks that Tripathi and his co-founder finally found some success with Reflecc AI, an AI-powered platform designed to automate business and operational workflows for organizations. The duo built the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in just seven days and conducted interviews with over 50 industry leaders to validate the idea. Their hard work eventually bore fruit when they secured three Letters of Intent (LOIs) from potential clients, signaling genuine interest in their product.
Despite these positive signs, Reflecc AI was not immune to rejection. The startup made it to Y Combinator’s top 10% of applicants but was ultimately turned down. Realizing that their product was trying to solve too many problems at once, Tripathi and Ranjan decided to pivot once again, this time focusing on developing an AI Digital Marketer.
Tripathi’s post, which has reached over 40,000 people on X, is a testament to the realities of entrepreneurship. It’s easy to romanticize the idea of starting a company, but Tripathi’s journey reflects the harsh truth that failure is often a stepping stone to success.
“I’ve failed a lot, but I’ve also learned a lot,” he confessed, reflecting on his tumultuous year. His post resonated with many, with countless comments from fellow entrepreneurs sharing their own experiences of failure and offering words of encouragement.
Looking forward to 2025, Tripathi hopes the year will bring more success and fewer failures. “I hope 2025 doesn’t force me to quit my entrepreneurial journey and return to being an employee…once again,” he concluded.
