My Life Journey: Lessons from Failures, Struggles, and Small Wins

I come from a small town called Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh, not far from Indore. That little town was the backdrop for my entire schooling. After my 10th grade, like many others, I set my sights on the IIT-JEE. But here’s where the first lesson came: I didn’t study much, and naturally, I didn’t qualify.

In 2012, fate or maybe the lack of better options landed me in a Tier-3 college in Pune. To be honest, the place didn’t resonate with me. I disliked the environment, the atmosphere, and even the academics. I didn’t put in the work either. For four years, I mostly passed time, though I did manage to make some lifelong friends, which was a true saving grace.

College ended in 2016, right on schedule, but I graduated with no job and nothing substantial to show for it. That’s when the real struggle began. I spent months searching for jobs in Pune, then went back home and tried a few short courses, but nothing seemed to work out. It became clear that I needed a change of scenery a place with more action and opportunity.

In November, I packed my bags and went to Bengaluru with a simple mission: find a job. My days quickly fell into a strict routine. I would wake up early, scour Facebook groups for job openings, print a fresh stack of resumes, and head out for interviews. By evening, I would return home exhausted, sometimes stopping by the serene Raggi Gudda Temple to clear my head and find some peace before another day of the same grind. I gave countless interviews, attended every hiring drive I could find, and faced rejection after rejection.

Many of my friends had already moved ahead by then they had completed CDAC, a job-oriented IT course, and secured decent positions. After a year of grinding with nothing to show for it, I decided to follow the same path. I was ready to enroll and had given myself six months to prepare for the entrance exam.

Just as I was preparing for CDAC, a twist of fate arrived. I received a job offer before the CDAC results even came out. The company was Mountblue, a newly started bootcamp firm. Life at Mountblue was intense but fun. They trained us rigorously in various technologies. For two and a half months, the office became our home we barely left, spending our days learning, coding, and pushing ourselves to the limit.

Mount Blue offered a stipend of ₹10,000 during the training period. Once placed with a partner company, the salary would rise to around ₹25,000. In return, Mount Blue would take a small cut from the company where we were placed fair enough, considering the opportunity and training they provided.

The final stage was placement. There were ten of us in the batch, and eight were placed quickly. My batchmate and I were the two left behind, as market openings were scarce. Eventually, I was placed at a company called Let’s Venture.

That’s where my corporate journey began. It wasn’t a hardcore tech company, and the work was relatively easygoing, but it taught me everything about the corporate world. I learned how to collaborate, how to communicate, and how to carry myself professionally. I made good friends and finally had an identity as a working professional.

After a year, my Mount Blue contract ended, and although the experience was great, the pay at Let’s Venture wasn’t enough to settle for. I started exploring new opportunities. That’s when the founder of Mount Blue reached out with an incredible offer he could set up an interview for me at Zomato.

I didn’t hesitate. “Why not?” I said. The interview was arranged, I went through the process, and I got selected.

Then came a moment I’ll never forget seeing my offer letter. It said:
₹10,00,000 per year.

For someone who had once struggled to land a ₹25,000/month job, this number felt surreal. I had always thought getting a package like this was too tough for someone like me. That piece of paper was proof that the years of rejection, grinding, and persistence were finally paying off.

At Zomato, I got the opportunity to work on the Merchant Team, primarily focusing on the Merchant Dashboard and the Merchant App.

The culture at Zomato was a stark contrast to the comfortable, well-balanced life after graduation it was characterized by “small teams, high workload.” It was a fun yet challenging experience. I worked a lot, learned significantly, and made some great friends.

I truly believe that every fresher should work at a high-growth company like Zomato at least once. This kind of environment removes the fear of hard work and builds a mindset where you feel like you never have “enough to do” anywhere else.

I spent 1.5 years at Zomato, contributing to projects like:

• Chat App

• Merchant App

• Merchant Dashboard

• Do It Yourself portal for merchants

It was a period of immense learning and personal growth.

The Search for a Zero-to-One Journey: Kuku FM

After many of my team members at Zomato switched roles (some even for MS), a new desire arose in me: to be part of a company’s zero-to-one journey, where my contribution would be foundational.

I found that opportunity with Kuku FM. When I joined about six years ago, the company didn’t even have a Consumer Website. They were just beginning their journey with audiobooks and podcasts.

My first task was to build the Consumer Website, which I completed on the server side in just two weeks. Today, that website generates over 3 million daily impressions on Google Search.

In the initial phase, I worked alone. Besides the Consumer Website, I built the Admin Portal and the Content Management System (CMS). I handled everything web-related writing code from scratch, setting up repos, deployment, and infrastructure management. Over the next few years, I built and scaled a team that now drives Kuku FM’s various web projects.

Stepping into AI and Business

Subsequently, I was given the responsibility to lead Generative AI (GenAI). We worked on several key projects, including:

• Converting Audio to Video

• Building and learning from Meta Ads using GenAI

• GenAI for Scripting and Video QA

We also built various internal GenAI pipelines.

In the last few months, I also explored the business side of Kuku FM, which is now one of the top spenders on Meta. This exposure gave me a complete view of how product, tech, and business come together to create real impact.

This journey at Kuku FM has empowered me. It gave me the skills, mindset, and confidence to build something from scratch not just as an engineer, but as a builder.

The Next Chapter

Now, I feel it’s the right time to pause my corporate journey and build something of my own.

This is not the end of my story—just the beginning of a new chapter.
I’ll continue updating this blog as the journey unfolds.