Howdy

My name is Gokul Cholaghar and I’ve been building things on the internet since I was 13. My first project? A tutorial site that taught people how to speedcube (I was obsessed with it at some point in middle school). speedcubing.com - I don’t own the domain anymore, I wish I did!

Later from middle school to graduation, making money online became my thing—from flipping stuff on eBay to launching countless side projects, mostly for the thrill of it.

At 17, I built my first startup BeezoBus- A geo intelligence product. That’s also when I learned all the startup lingo. It was a consumer internet product that failed to find PMF. I later pivoted it to Enterprise SaaS acquiring blue chip paying customers and minted my first serious money - let’s say a few hundred thousand dollars. I made the mistake of going to college (at Loyola, Chennai) alongside, but as soon as I saw the money rolling in, I dropped out. Not that I wasn’t already working on it full-time - I was. But now, it was official as my bank account went from hundreds and thousands to hundreds of thousands overnight as a teenager. The experience taught me how to build top-notch products, sell to enterprises, and think about profitability from day zero as I built this business with no upfront capital, and and it still amazes me why people were paying that kinda money to a teenager with just a corporate front. Most of our customers switched from a clunky competitor, and even though ours was the best, it was priced at 4x the competition. That whole experience gave me a deep understanding of perception - how much weight it carries in everything we do in life.

But early success does things to you. I got bored playing in easy mode and decided to go after a massive consumer internet opportunity. Btw, This is also when I realized something crazy: building the next Google takes the same initial effort as a weekend side project. At least, in terms of the grind to hit the ground running. Once I saw that, I knew I had to go after something massive. This time, I raised capital - about a crore - from some amazing folks who backed me for more than just the idea. I was still a teenager, brash and ambitious, trying to capture the whole consumer internet space in India. The thesis was simple: there were too many apps for instant needs - why not build a native experience for everything in one?

That’s how Qwk was born - an all-in-one app for essentials (think Instant Deliveries + Payments + Rides). We were building the GoJek of India. It was an asset-heavy approach that required billions to scale. I was chasing a $10M seed check that never hit the bank, though I did get to meet many partners at major VC firms in India.

Many appreciated my persistence as a teenager, took multiple in-person meetings, and even offered to write a check - if I pivoted to something more “practical.” I refused. I was engineering a $100B outcome and believed they lacked the conviction to back something truly original. (No disrespect, some of them were super cool, and I still keep in touch. Yes, I said some not all. Lols)

Looking back, I had no prior experience building an ops-heavy business, but we executed to the best of our abilities. I had the privilege of hiring and leading a great team - until startup winter 2021 hit, and it was a bloodbath. We eventually folded. During this time I was flying around quite a bit between Chennai, Bangalore and Gurugaon. It was a swing and a miss, but from day one, I knew the outcome would either be billions or nothing. The only regret? Not moving faster and being more open to advice.

Key Takeaways

  1. Focus - We tackled too many problems at once, which killed our execution speed. Focus is the ultimate force multiplier.

  2. Fundraising - I turned down money I should have taken. Someone even offered us a $1M term sheet, and I (respectfully) told them to f*** off, thinking we were worth 10x that. I said $10M or nothing!

  3. Timing - Success is 80% timing. Knowing what the market has an appetite for matters more than trying to force an idea into existence.

  4. Adaptability - We did instant grocery delivery before Zepto existed, but we also did too many other things alongside, which diluted our efforts. Investors suggested we pivot and go all-in on quick commerce (like Gorillas for India), but my ego got in the way.

I sometimes wonder if I should have just scaled my first business to 100Cr in ARR, which was realistically possible within five years. However, I lost interest in doing it purely for the sake of money tho the customer love was insane - all enterprise customers, a decent ACV, great retention, and overall, we had the best product for our specific niche.

After that, I moved to Bangalore and took it easy for the first time in years. For six months, I kept my eyes open for big gaps in the market. I had developed a fetish for large problems and outlier outcomes - and I only wanted to build something that solved a massive problem.

While on a break after six years of non-stop work (mostly seven days a week, crazy hours - yeah, that’s me saying it with pride and a smirk on my face)

Then, I realized that where you live matters. If I was going to be in the Silicon Valley of India (Bangalore), why not move to the real Silicon Valley? So I spent time in SF, fell in love with the Bay Area, and met some incredible people.

Now?

I’m building Libra AI, with my amazing team- Reinventing Knowledge Work for an AI Era.

I split my time between San Francisco and Chennai (which is home). I also visit Bangalore when I’m in India, where I’ve made some serious friends working on mostly cool stuff.

← Back to home