Honoured to mentor the energetic cohort of T-Hub’s Blitz program and be part of its demo day.

Witnessing their passion and grit reminded me of what it truly takes to build a startup that endures and scales.

Here are 5 essentials for any startup to succeed that I shared with them — hoping it helps many others on their entrepreneurial journey too:

1️⃣ Innovation is non-negotiable

Every idea may have been touched before, but there’s always room to do it better, faster, or differently — in product, service, or delivery.

2️⃣ Speed > Perfection

You don’t need to be the first or the best — just the fastest. Decisions made in the boardroom should hit the ground in hours, not weeks. Be agile, launch quickly, and iterate fast.

3️⃣ Customer is the best investor

The most powerful validation is a paying customer, not necessarily a VC. Focus on revenue over runway.

4️⃣ Be customer-obsessed, not product-possessed

Don’t fall in love with your solution — fall in love with your customer’s problem. Stay flexible, ready to pivot if needed.

5️⃣ Fail. Learn. Repeat.

Many founders come from stellar careers or top institutes, but a startup is a humbling new beginning. Rejections are inevitable — resilience is the superpower.

Appreciate T-Hub for creating such platforms where aspiring entrepreneurs learn, build, and grow.

To all graduating founders — stay curious, stay hungry, and go build something amazing!

The journey is hard, but once these fundamentals are in place — you become unstoppable.