Unlearning Is Often the Hardest Part of Growth

September 17th was about celebration. Jatin Chaudhary, co-founder of eChai, and I were in Mumbai with a few friends from the community for the DevX IPO listing. It felt like one of those moments that belonged to more than just a company. For many of us, it was a milestone for the larger ecosystem.

The very next evening the setting shifted to the Times of India building in Fort, where eChai and Brand Capital were hosting a session on how founders are building and scaling consumer brands. Jatin was supposed to moderate, but he had to return to Ahmedabad same day, and he asked me to step in. That is how I found myself on stage with leading d2c investor and founder, Arjun Vaidya and Abhishek Daga.

Arjun built Dr. Vaidya’s into one of India’s most recognizable Ayurvedic D2C brands and now co-leads V3 Ventures. When I asked how his perspective had changed, he said, “What I thought was right as a founder isn’t always right as an investor.” It was a simple line, but it stayed with me.

Abhishek spoke about building Nasher Miles into a ₹100 crore luggage brand while staying profitable. He talked about the risks of relying too much on Meta ads, the differences between online and offline pricing, and the advantage of being early on marketplaces. At one point he said, “An advantage is an advantage. Don’t debate it, use it.”

The audience added its own depth. Founders asked questions about logistics, supply chains, last-mile delivery, and how to balance burn with profit. These were not abstract discussions. They came from people who had already tested the easy answers and were now searching for new ones.

For me, the evening tied back to my own journey. Before 58Miles, I came from traditional corporate apparel. That world moved differently. Scale came from supply relationships, offline networks, and operational depth. When I stepped into the world of new-age D2C brands, I realised how much of that experience I had to unlearn. Not everything translates. Some parts of that background help, the discipline of operations, the patience for supply chains, but other instincts can hold you back. The challenge is knowing which lessons to carry forward and which ones to leave behind.

That night in Fort reminded me again that unlearning is often the hardest part of growth. It is not always visible and it is not celebrated, but it shapes the way founders move forward.