Roshan Cariappa – Being Pragmatic Will Save You From Startup Failure

<p><strong>BIO:</strong> Roshan Cariappa has over 12 years of experience as an entrepreneur and operator at early and growth-stage startups, specializing in going from zero to one and setting up cross-functional teams. Currently, he heads Marketing at Vymo, one of the fastest-growing SaaS startups in India.</p><p><strong>STORY: </strong>&nbsp;Roshan started his business in 2012, offering marketing services to startups and small businesses. He then pivoted to offering digital assets when digital marketing hit. The business was quite a success. In 2015, there was a vast consumer internet boom in India, and so Roshan thought he’d take advantage of this and pivot his business to offering tech products. He created an app to connect families. This was a huge change that worked against his company. In a few short years, the business failed.</p><p><strong>LEARNING:</strong> Pivoting is about making small changes, not huge ones. Do not go all in; make room for risk and probability and always have a plan B.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-center"><strong>“You can be super optimistic about your vision, but be a little pragmatic, or even slightly pessimistic about your execution.”</strong></p><p class="ql-align-center">Roshan Cariappa</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>Guest profile</strong></h2><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/cariappack/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Roshan Cariappa</strong></a> has over 12 years of experience as an entrepreneur and operator at early and growth-stage startups, specializing in going from zero to one and setting up cross-functional teams.</p><p>Currently, he heads Marketing at<a href="https://www.getvymo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Vymo</a>, one of the fastest-growing SaaS startups in India, and also runs<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfBfBd-1kvCOPxVll8tBJ9Q" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Bharatvaarta</a> podcast (Politics, Policy, &amp; Culture focused on India) and<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOt_E5G1aSN5xCe3