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The Weight of Small Decisions
When we think of turning points, our minds jump to the big ones. Quitting a job. Raising a round. Signing that dream client. These moments feel heavy and dramatic. They look obvious in hindsight. But most companies are not defined by headline choices. They are shaped by smaller ones. The ones that do not feel heavy at the time, yet carry their true weight later.
Founders live inside these calls every day. Choosing to document decisions after meetings instead of relying on memory builds a culture of clarity. Delaying launch by a week to fix small bugs earns trust that shortcuts would have broken. Personally replying to the first customer complaints turns frustration into loyalty and unlocks insights for the roadmap. Saying no to a client feature request that distracts from the product vision preserves long-term coherence. Paying salaries on time even when it means skipping your own sets a silent foundation of trust that compounds far beyond that moment.
The same pattern plays out again and again. Turning down an investor who does not align with the mission prevents future pressure to chase the wrong path. Being transparent with the team during a cash crunch creates ownership instead of hidden panic. Training an early hire into leadership rather than recruiting from outside strengthens the culture from within. Keeping daily rituals, even when they feel repetitive, anchors discipline when chaos arrives. Answering an unexpected call or email often leads to the first big customer. None of these choices look like turning points in the moment, yet each carries weight that compounds into direction, culture, and growth.
Small choices do not just add up. They compound. A skipped note here or a quiet compromise there and the culture drifts. A single act of discipline or patience, repeated, becomes a habit that carries the company through storms. That is the weight of small decisions. They may not feel heavy in the moment. But over time, they decide who we become.
As startups change us, how do our friendships change too?
In the early days, founder friendships often feel effortless. Even when friends are building different ventures, there is a shared energy in late-night calls, trading ideas, and cheering each other on. But as Utpal Vaishnav, Founder of Upsquare, shared: “At the start, founder friendships thrive on shared dreams and late-night ideation. But as money, roles, and accountability enter, the bond gets tested. Some friendships bend under the weight, others deepen.”
Startups do not just change our work, they change who we are as people. Net worth grows, roles shift, circles expand, goals diverge. And that is natural. What I have come to value though are friendships that do not orbit around status. The ones where conversations are still about ideas, honest debates, and broader perspectives on life. Even when a friend’s venture is moving at a different pace than others, the respect for their journey and the time shared together does not change. As Utpal put it: “The friendship evolves when they learn to celebrate each other’s growth instead of competing.”
Eventually, another realization comes through: “The company might succeed or fail, but the friendship has to survive. The strongest ones separate the critique of work from the judgment of character.” For me, the friendships that remain are the ones where you can challenge each other, exchange perspectives, and still respect the person more than the numbers attached to their name.
People evolve, and that is fine. But the rare friendships that stay rooted in trust, curiosity, and respect deserve to be cherished.
Is Timing the Invisible Co-Founder?
Sometimes it feels like timing plays a bigger role in a startup’s journey than we admit.
When Kunal and I started eChai back in 2009, “startup” wasn’t a common word. Families worried if someone quit their job to build a company. There were hardly any coworking spaces, very few angel networks outside metros, and entrepreneurship still felt like an odd career choice. We kept building communities and hosting meetups, but most of the time it felt like planting seeds without knowing when they would grow.
Things changed after 2016. Jio made the internet affordable and accessible across India. UPI and India Stack made digital payments seamless. The Startup India program gave official recognition and support. At the same time, startups in e-commerce, payments, food delivery, mobility, and edtech were booming and changing consumer habits. Suddenly, being a founder felt possible. For eChai, this timing meant the same meetups we had been running for years now started to gain real momentum.
Another shift came as many founders from our community moved abroad, to San Francisco, Toronto, Singapore, Dubai, London, Melbourne. They carried the same spirit of eChai with them, which made our global expansion much easier. Instead of starting from scratch, we were simply reconnecting with familiar faces in new cities.
By the time Shark Tank India came on TV, startups had become part of everyday conversation. Parents who once worried were now proudly watching founders pitch with their kids. India’s startup story had gone mainstream, and the journey we had started years ago had found its moment.
Maybe timing really is an invisible co-founder.
Maybe it isn’t.
But one thing feels true:
Maybe it isn’t.
But one thing feels true:
Timing only makes sense in hindsight.
And staying consistent is what lets you be ready when the wave finally arrives.
And staying consistent is what lets you be ready when the wave finally arrives.
The Loneliness Paradox of Founders
Loneliness is the feeling of being unseen even when you’re surrounded by people. You can be in a busy room and still feel a quiet distance. The more people depend on you, the harder it feels to show doubt. Responsibility often brings its own solitude, even in the noisiest places.
For founders, this paradox feels even sharper. Nothing feels lonelier than being the one everyone turns to. Surrounded by teams, investors, customers, and communities, many still describe their journey as deeply personal and, at times, isolating. The more you support others, the fewer you feel you can truly lean on.
It’s not just about long hours. It’s the weight of decisions. Every choice has consequences. The need to appear confident while wrestling with doubt creates distance. Even in a crowd, it can feel like you’re carrying something invisible.
That’s why honest peer connections matter. A single conversation with someone who has walked the same path can cut through the isolation. The comfort often comes not from solutions, but from knowing someone else has stood in that same place.
Loneliness may never fully leave, but in the company of peers who truly understand, it shifts. What once felt like solitude begins to feel like belonging, and that’s the power of finding your own founder peer group.
At eChai Founders Social at IIMA Ventures, founders opened up about their small wins and everyday challenges
In addition to our panels and demo days, we also host eChai Founders Socials, intimate gatherings for founders to connect. Last week in Ahmedabad, we hosted one at IIMA Ventures.
This time, we had a simple script. Everyone was asked: what was the most exciting or thrilling thing that happened to you last week, what challenge did you face, and how did you navigate out of it?
Generally, startup discussions tend to drift toward numbers, how much revenue someone is making, who’s doing better, or what some popular founders are doing that everyone else measures themselves against.
There’s value in focusing on individual journeys every now and then, the stories of a single week in a founder’s life. At this Social, founders spoke about the very real week they had just lived through: the small wins that gave them energy, the challenges that stretched them, and the unexpected roadblocks they had to work their way around.
We’ll do more of it. Alongside eChai Socials, we’ve recently started experimenting with the “Table of” format, curated, theme-based circles where founders and operators gather around a specific context. It could be a Table of 5 for folks building on Shopify, a Table of 7 for founders who’ve raised seed and are preparing for their next round, a Table of 4 for those trying to crack their hiring process, a Table of 10 for founders visiting San Francisco to explore opportunities, a Table of 6 for founders scaling D2C brands, or a Table of 8 for SaaS builders figuring out global GTM.
The idea is simple: bring together the right mix of people, keep it small, and let the conversations go deep.
The idea is simple: bring together the right mix of people, keep it small, and let the conversations go deep.
Participants included
- Aalap Sanghvi, Immersfy
- Umang Rajyaguru, C³
- Kush Prajapati, Redicine Medsol
- Viraj Rajani, Digipple
- Shruti Jayswal, Ridefy Invention
- Heet Sheth, Sheth Info
- Kumar Manish, Communicate Karo & UrbanVoices.in
- Maithili Shah, Syntelligence
- Krunal Jajal, Unclenomad
- Shaishav Amitbhai Shah, Tusker AI
- Nandan Shukla, Dicot Innovations
- Shreya Sachdeva, TOSS – The Old Slate Studio
- Aenik Shah, Wizzy.ai
- Pankaj Bhimani, 58miles
- Jhalak Pamnani, Digital Strategist
- Jatin Chaudhary, eChai Ventures
- Parth Devariya, GFuture Tech
The eChai Effect - In Their Words
"From late-night brainstorming over chai to early morning founder calls, eChai has been more than just a network for me; it’s been home base for ideas, impact, and inspiration. What started as a simple meetup years ago turned into a powerful movement, connecting founders, creators, and dreamers. I’ve had the privilege of seeing startups find product-market fit, marketers (like me) find unexpected collaborations, and most importantly, people finding their tribe. संगच्छध्वं संवदध्वं – Let us move together, speak together. It’s not just a verse from the Rigveda — it’s how Jatin and the entire eChai community truly operate. We don’t just network, we grow together. Forever grateful to be a part of the eChai Effect.
Jaydip Parikh
Chief Everything Officer at Tej SolPro
"For me, eChai is a second home. I've been associated with it since the early days, when it was already setting a different tone for how startup communities could work. As a traditional business owner entering the new-age D2C space, eChai supported me in every direction. Over the years, it became my window to the startup world — and also gave me lifelong friends who continue to show up, for business and beyond."
Pankaj Bhimani
Founder, 58miles
“eChai has been that turning point in my journey. It gave me a platform when I wasn’t looking for visibility but needed direction. Over the years, it became more than just a network. It became my tribe; a place where conversations sparked collaborations, and strangers became trusted sounding boards. What I value most is how effortlessly eChai brings people together - no airs, no filters, just genuine people with shared dreams. I owe a lot to this community and to Jatin, whose consistency and belief in people have shaped journeys like mine. Forever grateful to be part of something so real.”
Rushabh Shah
Managing Partner - STIR Advisors
eChai Partner Brands
eChai Ventures partners with select brands as their growth partner - working together to explore new ideas, open doors, and build momentum across the startup ecosystem.