‘It’s long-term game, not get rich quick scheme’: IITian who quit job at Flipkart to launch startup on 10 yrs of struggle

‘Be your own boss’ is a belief that many youngsters imbibe over the first few years of their job. This could be due to the long working hours, toxic bosses or maybe just the daily grind could be getting the better of them. 

Most of them get into the game of entrepreneurship hoping for greener pastures. Harsh Pokharna, a Bengaluru-based CEO recently said in a social media post that he quit his job at Flipkart to start his own company.

He said in a recent Instagram post that he quit Flipkart to build a startup because he wanted to make a lot of money very quickly. 

“Founders were raising millions of dollars in funding all around me. It seemed easy. But, the reality?” he wrote in his post. Pokharna said that he initially faced startup failures before starting his current venture. 

He said that he failed for the first 2 years working on 3 different ideas. The entrepreneur also revealed that during this time, he exhausted all his savings and had to freelance to survive. 

He further mentioned that he has been building OkCredit for 8 years but still has a “long way to go” and that he has learnt a valuable lesson. Pokharna mentioned that building a startup is not equal to instant success. 

“It’s a long-term game, not a get rich quick scheme. Play it only if you truly want to solve a problem, or you’ll end up disappointed.”

Netizens backed Harsh for sharing his struggle, with some even saying that they could relate to what Pokharna went through during his journey.

“Your story and perseverance always pushed me to never give up. I want to share my ideas and want your review (sic),” a user wrote. 

“But still let’s play the long term game with strategic plannings & relentless efforts with patience to WIN! Sounds like a good idea man to me (sic),” a second user said. 

“Our situation is kinda similar but the idea we are working on is unique and i believe a small help from people like you can help us faster to overcome, but the problem is whenever we go for help or mentorship nothing is free of cost & there we back off. Hope you try to understand,” a third user commented. 

“Having myself going through these, I can absolutely feel you (sic),” a fourth user said.