Sharing my story of being betrayed in my startup

Six years ago, in a cramped PG in Bellandur, there was a ton of rain that had waterlogged everything. I thought about starting a men's grooming company at that time, because a lot of my friends were complaining about hairfall problem due to water. I launched my startup with a simple positioning, "Men deserve the best care."

Back then, I was a mid‑level SDE frustrated by the shit work culture at the startup I was working at. I poured Rs. 10 L from my savings into hand‑crafting five grooming kits a day.

The unit economics were sooo bad in the beginning:

• Average Order Value (AOV): Rs. 300
• Product Cost: Rs. 120 (40%)
• Packaging: Rs. 60 (20%)
• Digital Marketing: Rs. 50 (17%)
• Logistics & Misc.: Rs. 40 (13%)
• Net Loss per Order: ~Rs. 10 (before fixed costs)

This wasn't working. but still there was something in our unique blend that the repeat rate was really good.

Within six months, we started getting a lot of orders and 10x the number of orders were being filled by us.

I expanded our range to other beard related products. When COVID hit in 2020, digital demand exploded; orders surged to 500 daily. Our metrics began to shine:

• Revised AOV: Rs. 350
• Net Margin: Inched up to 8% (excluding fixed costs)
• Customer Acquisition: Organic WoM combined with a few strategic online pushes

Then came the investors. In 2021, we discussed a $3M at a Rs. 300 crore valuation with a T-1 fund, but we ended up not taking it.

Instead we went on an expansion spree to get a better deal for our ask.

The numbers were the best by the end of 2021. But shit was about to hit the fan.

Scaling rapidly came with a lot of hidden costs:

• Training & Quality Control: Soared to Rs. 1.5 L per unit
• Raw Materials: Essential oils spiked 90%; natural extracts jumped 75% in just two years because of a lot of new funded D2C products.
• Marketing Spend: Ballooned from Rs. 50 to Rs. 150 per order as platforms, Amazon jacked up commissions.
• Monthly Burn Rate: Hit Rs. 80 lakhs, with 40% of hubs bleeding money

And then I got hit with the betrayal right before we were going to talk to VCs:
I discovered that my co‑founder, I'll call him "Snake", someone I trusted like a brother, was siphoning funds and leaking our proprietary formulations to a rival.

When I confronted him, his cold reply was, “This is just business.” That moment shattered my trust and made me realise that the very people you rely on can stab you in the back when the stakes are high.

Also, the platforms we once celebrated began to bury our listings with a single algorithm change to promote other products spending on ads, which completely destroyed our orders by 50% overnight.

My business imploded under mounting pressures while my personal
Ever since my late father passed away, my mom’s constant desire was that my father believed in building something lasting, don't use debt.

Her support was unwavering and I lost her too due to Covid.

My girlfriend of 5 years began to zone out. Her father is ex-MD at a top Bank and dismissed my startup , which he called a dhandha.

Despite her love and even her secret support for my vision, the pressure was too much. She decided to break up with me and got married to an MLA's son from Goa.

Now, I am back in Bangalore and writing this is making me tear up.

I sacrificed my relationships, my health, my mom and even my father’s legacy.

This isn’t a tale of success. It is the ultimate reality of what this country does to you.

Either way, I’m left with nothing but maximum pain and a bitter lesson that sometimes, the price of ambition is simply too steep.