The things I did that led me to founding my startup

1. Start a blog

You can pay and use Ghost.org to start and online website/blog, but I would recommend coding your own. It forces you to build something and get you familiar with AI coding tools. Codex, Claude, AntiGravity - the AI tools don’t really matter at all (for this kind of project).

You can write about anything. I wrote one about Pacific Rim, my favourite movie: https://neerajsubbanna.com/writings/a-love-letter-to-pacific-rim

The topic doesn’t matter, it’s the act of publishing - action.

2. Write consistently and share publicly

This allows you to begin the journey toward ego death. The scariest thing is what people think about you, when in reality nobody really cares about you. Publishing helps you realise that. It slowly kills the internal fear and ego that stop you from doing meaningful work.

You build tolerance to judgment and ultimate become freer to take action.

3. Reach out

It can be as simple as messaging people who are doing cool things. Everyone wants connection, we’re just too afraid that others don’t feel the same way. Great founders want honest feedback about their product. The real operators love someone who gives constructive feedback without being asked, that could be your starting point but do it tactfully.

Most days, I’m begging for feedback and I see companies paying for it!

4. Take risks

Quit your job if it’s financially feasible and there’s a better opportunity - if you feel like you’ve stopped learning that’s a good indicator to move on. However, risk doesn’t always have to be that dramatic. Sometimes it’s just doing something new and for me that was picking up triathlon without knowing how to swim. I signed up and paid $600 for a race ticket where the perceived risk was “wasting money and maybe drowning” It wasn’t true at all.

The real risk is stagnation.

5. Read, listen and help broadly

Read books like Zero to One. Listen to podcasts like Masters of Scale. Help others without expecting anything in return.

Contribute to open-source projects, volunteer for a helpline, donate plasma or blood. Offer advice and make introductions for others. All of these build your bias toward action and build an unrelenting momentum that’s compounded by all the other things you do. The single biggest driver of success in building something that matters isn’t intelligence, network, or net worth.

It’s grit and more importantly, action.

Launch quickly. Don’t get stuck planning. Don’t let others tell you to stop or slow down. Carve your own path. Have delusional self-belief.

Aim to leave the world in a better place than you found it and create something that helps.

The money, lifestyle, whatever is you want will work itself out.