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Freedom to Fail: Lessons from my Quest for Startup Success
Shabnam Aggarwal always dreamt of success. Raised in an immigrant Indian family in the start-up hub of Silicon Valley, she believed that every entrepreneur could be successful. So she left her cushy job at Merrill Lynch to take a risk, find her passion, and make a change in the world. She moved to India to start a company. In Freedom to Fail, Shabnam tells the story of her brush with success : raising her first round of venture capital; hiring a hardworking team of millennials; growing her start-up to multiple cities...and then finding it all come to a bitter end. Shabnam gives us a peek into the world of start-ups in India. Her personal journey gives us an insight into dealing with failure, warning us of the challenges of starting a business, and helping us learn from her experience. Weaving each chapter into a powerful lesson in overcoming expectations, fear and self-doubt, she shows us why failure is important, even imperative, in order to ultimately succeed. And the best lesson she You haven't failed until you stop trying.
- GenresBusiness
184 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 5, 2018
7 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 28, 2021
Ever so rarely a book from work will make me want to reach out to an author. I absolutely loved Shabnam Aggarwal's voice, narration style and her astute confidence in the infamous field of failure. It takes courage to sell the idea of failure, especially to a bunch of business nerds. For people who lack an interest in this genre, it's a hit or miss.
February 26, 2019
Freedom to fail
I've read many self-help books & nonfiction ones pertaining to this genre specifically. Never have I encountered any book which talks about failures in depth & gives such vivid description about it. It has been explained, extrapolated with instances & also examples from reallife situations have been taken to make the readers understand what it means to fail & never give up. Because life is all about trial & errors, one must be relentless, persistent, never give up, keep moving forwards by learning from failures.
The author takes us through her journey & her viewpoint in India with a noble deed. The zeal of honesty & dedication is worth appraisal. The book has been written in an unbiased manner!
We often hear how most of the startups fail, however, no-one accounts to explain as to why it happens, let alone how to overcome it. The book gives us an insight as to how one can learn from it in a conventional manner, with more Ideas, fundraising, company ethics & culture, Investments & returns, etcetera.
To be successful in anything, let it be a startup or anything one may wish to achieve in life, what is essential is the extent of hard work, time, devotion, dedication, care & commitment required to succeed. Else success will merely fee a dream & nothing more than that. Written in a simple language, with simple narration. It's an easy read, can be finished quickly. A good onetime read.
I've read many self-help books & nonfiction ones pertaining to this genre specifically. Never have I encountered any book which talks about failures in depth & gives such vivid description about it. It has been explained, extrapolated with instances & also examples from reallife situations have been taken to make the readers understand what it means to fail & never give up. Because life is all about trial & errors, one must be relentless, persistent, never give up, keep moving forwards by learning from failures.
The author takes us through her journey & her viewpoint in India with a noble deed. The zeal of honesty & dedication is worth appraisal. The book has been written in an unbiased manner!
We often hear how most of the startups fail, however, no-one accounts to explain as to why it happens, let alone how to overcome it. The book gives us an insight as to how one can learn from it in a conventional manner, with more Ideas, fundraising, company ethics & culture, Investments & returns, etcetera.
To be successful in anything, let it be a startup or anything one may wish to achieve in life, what is essential is the extent of hard work, time, devotion, dedication, care & commitment required to succeed. Else success will merely fee a dream & nothing more than that. Written in a simple language, with simple narration. It's an easy read, can be finished quickly. A good onetime read.
September 6, 2019
At first while reading this book I thought that Hey! Why is this book trying to scare me away from the direction that I wish to go to... ENTREPRENEURSHIP... But by the end of the book I started to love the book as well as the hardships that the author faced... It is so hard to give up on something /someone you wished never to part ways with..
April 11, 2021
The book depicted the actual reality of what it takes to start a startup. It demystified the challenges from building a shared vision team to convincing investors, which will not be an easy feat. It again proved the same old golden rule - failure is inevitable.
July 12, 2019
If you are depressed from your Current failure (start-up, business, job) - this one is for you
It's not a business book nor a fictional novel, instead of a mix of both, I loved the way Shabnam put her entire story - she got an amazing style of expressing things. Going through the book was more like I was in her shows and living the moment, there were instances which made me laugh (there were two instances when someone asked her what she to wear) the way she expressed it ...I was laughing (One Beat.....Two beats).
Hope to see more books from her. We just get to know more about her continuous struggle, trying to figure out what needs to be done to sustain - ultimately meeting her failure in the end (by closing her only start-up). The book also talks about seed capital, fundraising, pitch deck, product-market fit, go-to-market plan, business plan, where to find investors, bridge round, EBITDA, Business model calculation - but no were in-depth details about the concept.
SOME Quote - UnQuote
1.) The Reality of starting up a business is that you must sell a vision to everyone - investor, users, teammates - knowing that vision may not come to fruition or may change drastically without any clear reason.
2.)No Species takes Longer to become self-sufficient than humans do.
3.) Failure might hurt less or more to certain people, but the trajectory is much the same.
4.) I was too caught up in the expectations of selling a strong vision of the business rather than building a truly strong business.
5.) This failure, every failure, would bring me one step closure to success.
NB - A must one-time READ
It's not a business book nor a fictional novel, instead of a mix of both, I loved the way Shabnam put her entire story - she got an amazing style of expressing things. Going through the book was more like I was in her shows and living the moment, there were instances which made me laugh (there were two instances when someone asked her what she to wear) the way she expressed it ...I was laughing (One Beat.....Two beats).
Hope to see more books from her. We just get to know more about her continuous struggle, trying to figure out what needs to be done to sustain - ultimately meeting her failure in the end (by closing her only start-up). The book also talks about seed capital, fundraising, pitch deck, product-market fit, go-to-market plan, business plan, where to find investors, bridge round, EBITDA, Business model calculation - but no were in-depth details about the concept.
SOME Quote - UnQuote
1.) The Reality of starting up a business is that you must sell a vision to everyone - investor, users, teammates - knowing that vision may not come to fruition or may change drastically without any clear reason.
2.)No Species takes Longer to become self-sufficient than humans do.
3.) Failure might hurt less or more to certain people, but the trajectory is much the same.
4.) I was too caught up in the expectations of selling a strong vision of the business rather than building a truly strong business.
5.) This failure, every failure, would bring me one step closure to success.
NB - A must one-time READ
October 31, 2020
One always gets to learn a lot from the failure stories. But, very few people share their failure stories and surely not as candidly and vividly as Shabnam has done in this book.
As a struggling entrepreneur, I could completely relate to the situations faced by Shabnam & her team.
I liked the fact that the writer told her story without any unnecessary dramatization.
The book is very well written & the pace is perfect. Thanks to Shabnam for sharing her story with the world.
As a struggling entrepreneur, I could completely relate to the situations faced by Shabnam & her team.
I liked the fact that the writer told her story without any unnecessary dramatization.
The book is very well written & the pace is perfect. Thanks to Shabnam for sharing her story with the world.
December 23, 2019
Shabnam Aggarwal has written a down-to-earth and honest account of her struggles in building a startup from scratch. She narrates her experiences in starting her business in the education sector interleaved with glimpses into her life before the startup. This is not a guide for how-to run a business nor is it one on how-not-to. The book brings out her raw emotions and pains as she faces setback after setback at her firm.
However, in my opinion the book could do with some refining and maybe the author could expand some sections on why she made certain decisions. It would also have been interesting if the author had shared her thoughts on how she would have done things differently (during each of failures) to ensure the firm didn't shut down as it did.
However, in my opinion the book could do with some refining and maybe the author could expand some sections on why she made certain decisions. It would also have been interesting if the author had shared her thoughts on how she would have done things differently (during each of failures) to ensure the firm didn't shut down as it did.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 4, 2019
The book chronicles through the entire life of a startup, takes you through the emotions of the founder and the team in detail which is very tough to replicate for anyone else other than the founder writing by herself.
The raw intensity, the stories make you feel like you are there too. Congratulations to Shabnam on pulling this off
The raw intensity, the stories make you feel like you are there too. Congratulations to Shabnam on pulling this off
February 26, 2019
Shabnam takes you through all her downs she went through building her baby startup. She has explained her failures well, right from her first little idea of earning money, to the funding rounds she has had to face. She has written about her tough times post shut down of her startup and proudly embraces all her failures.
A good read overall.
A good read overall.
February 10, 2019
V well written, personal and nuanced account of the travails of trying to build a startup in India, where success hinges on so many factors - both within and outside your control.
But, what a ride....
But, what a ride....
September 1, 2019
Must read.
January 14, 2022
✨"Success leads to the greatest failure, which is pride. Failure leads to greatest success, which is humility and learning." - David Brooks
.
Now, this book turned out to be something very different than I expected it to be. It is, what could be called, a memoir, of the Indian-American entrepreneur, Shabnam Aggarwal. First things first, I loved the way the book was written in first person. It felt like I was listening to her, than reading what she wrote. The book had a part of her elaborate start up journey - the love-hate relationship she made with various people involved and the highs and lows she went through at different stages of birthing and sustaining her business. Her journey, was quite inspiring. And her intentions, noble.
.
However , I expected the book to be more general. It turned out to be very specific. In addition to that, the technical terms used didn't make me feel very comfortable. It didn't tell how to face failure, but it showed how a young entrepreneur faced adversity, stood through it, healed and moved forward. But it would be unfair, if I said I didn't relate to things she said. There were many points at which things seemed quite relatable. I couldn't draw inspiration from the second half of the book as much as I could in the first half.
.
So, that's what I think about the book. Anyone who's a beginner reader and wants to read on entrepreneurship, or a person who wishes to know about all the obstacles that are certain to be faced in the journey of entrepreneurship, could go ahead and pick this book to read.
.
#freedomtofail #shabnamaggarwal #entrepreneurship #business #failure #memoir #selfhelpbooks #nonfictionbooks #nonfiction #inspiringwomen #bookreview #readerspace #reader
.
Now, this book turned out to be something very different than I expected it to be. It is, what could be called, a memoir, of the Indian-American entrepreneur, Shabnam Aggarwal. First things first, I loved the way the book was written in first person. It felt like I was listening to her, than reading what she wrote. The book had a part of her elaborate start up journey - the love-hate relationship she made with various people involved and the highs and lows she went through at different stages of birthing and sustaining her business. Her journey, was quite inspiring. And her intentions, noble.
.
However , I expected the book to be more general. It turned out to be very specific. In addition to that, the technical terms used didn't make me feel very comfortable. It didn't tell how to face failure, but it showed how a young entrepreneur faced adversity, stood through it, healed and moved forward. But it would be unfair, if I said I didn't relate to things she said. There were many points at which things seemed quite relatable. I couldn't draw inspiration from the second half of the book as much as I could in the first half.
.
So, that's what I think about the book. Anyone who's a beginner reader and wants to read on entrepreneurship, or a person who wishes to know about all the obstacles that are certain to be faced in the journey of entrepreneurship, could go ahead and pick this book to read.
.
#freedomtofail #shabnamaggarwal #entrepreneurship #business #failure #memoir #selfhelpbooks #nonfictionbooks #nonfiction #inspiringwomen #bookreview #readerspace #reader
November 23, 2021
really needed to read a book on startup situation in India.
December 20, 2023
Freedom to Fail is a miss. Next time will try a book about how to succeed.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews