Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster of highs and lows, but I believe it's important to stop and honor the milestones. Edstruments is celebrating its (legal) 5th birthday today, though the idea was sparked in early 2017 during my last year at Stanford. Here are five personal reflections on the journey so far as we cross five years 👇
1. 💫 It took many people to get us here, including team members, investors, advisors, and supporters...including many who I have never even met in person. The earliest Edstruments partners who took a bet on us in 2020 (right before the world turned upside down) gave us some validation that we were building something of value and helped us persist through a rough first pandemic year. The partners who've joined us in 2021 and beyond continue to reaffirm that there is a real need for what we're building.
2. 👬 Having the right co-founder is powerful. When Ashwin Gopi Krishna first started working with me in August 2019, it was supposed to be as a temporary ("a few months") favor as he was figuring out next steps. Today, Edstruments wouldn't exist without his technical expertise and steady product leadership. His skillset is completely different from mine, and our shared commitment to the mission and vision of what we do makes us a great team.
3. 💪 Resilience, perseverance, and optimism are perhaps the most important characteristics to develop as an entrepreneur. I have never faced so much rejection in my life prior to this work...whether from a prospective partner, investor, or job candidate, I have been told "no" hundreds of times in the last five years. Staying optimistic and believing in the best days being ahead have kept us going even on the hardest days. By the way....some of those individuals who told us "no" before are now some of our best and most active current partners.
4. ⛰ Staying grounded in what matters most has prevented entrepreneurship from becoming all-consuming. When I started Edstruments, I made a commitment to do it with balance, including prioritizing my marriage with Kelly, physical/mental health, and personal relationships. I became a father one year in, and had a second child three years later, both whom I try to spend quality time with every day. I have times where I commit to "switching off" from work, and for the last year I've met with a therapist monthly. I continue to nurture my faith and spiritual community. Perhaps all of this means we move more slowly than if I was working 80-hour weeks and every weekend...but it allows the role to feel sustainable rather than burn-out inducing.
5. ⏳ Building something great takes time...much more than I expected. It's tempting to read articles about startups that exploded from "day one" and believe this is what success is supposed to look like. More commonly, certainly for us, it's a steady grind with various inflection points. We're hitting one of those now, and I'm excited for what the years ahead hold.
Gratitude to all,
Aditya
Today marks our 5-year legal birthday of when Edstruments was formally incorporated! 🥳🎉 We are grateful for all the team members, partners, investors, advisors, and supporters who have played a role in our story to date.
Check out the carousel below for "5 Stats for 5 Years", and thank YOU for following our journey! Here's to the next 5 years to come. 📈🚀
Enterprise Account Executive at Commvault
1wJC has amazing taste in sweaters! Just sayin' 😂