Saurabh Gupta is no stranger to the hard realities of entrepreneurship. As the Co-Founder of VeriSmart.ai and Digipass, his experience spans not just the technical and operational aspects of building companies, but also the nuanced challenges founders face in today’s startup ecosystem. In a recent LinkedIn post, Saurabh Gupta articulated a perspective that is both timely and necessary a reminder that startup success cannot and should not be equated solely with the ability to raise capital.
Saurabh Gupta begins by pointing out a pattern familiar to anyone who has spent time in the startup world. Time and again, media outlets, venture capitalists, and fellow entrepreneurs seem fixated on a single metric “How much have you raised?” This question, while seemingly innocuous, sets a dangerous precedent. According to Saurabh Gupta, when first-time founders are constantly exposed to this narrative, they often internalize the notion that raising money is not just important, but the ultimate marker of startup legitimacy.
Yet, as Saurabh Gupta emphasizes, this is a distortion of what entrepreneurship is meant to be. In the race to attract VCs and angel investors, too many founders lose sight of the core pillars of company-building understanding the problem they set out to solve, assembling a committed and capable team, listening intently to customer needs, and designing superior experiences that serve their market. Saurabh Gupta reminds us that these facets are not secondary they are the foundation on which enduring businesses are built.
Throughout his reflections, Saurabh Gupta cautions against what he calls the “dopamine of raising fast and getting into media.” He argues that glamorizing fundraising has unintended consequences. Startups might successfully secure rounds of funding, but without depth, purpose, and resilience, many falter despite the capital infusion. The ability to persist, iterate, and serve customers diligently is what sustains a startup through the inevitable storms of entrepreneurship.
Drawing from his own journey, Saurabh Gupta advocates for a mindset shift. Instead of obsessing over capital, founders should focus on building defensibility whether through technology, intellectual property, or unique customer insights. Equally important is fostering a company culture that prioritizes customer retention, employee engagement, and long-term value creation. These, as Saurabh Gupta highlights, often take a back seat in the mad dash for investment, but neglecting them compromises a startup’s future far more than a temporarily lean balance sheet ever will.
Saurabh Gupta does not discount the importance of venture capital altogether. On the contrary, he acknowledges that investors and VCs play a pivotal role in nurturing and accelerating startups. The problem, as he sees it, lies in the ecosystem’s current imbalance. When platforms and stakeholders overly glamorize fundraising, they risk misleading emerging founders into believing that money is the ultimate solution when in reality, thoughtful execution and customer alignment are just as critical.
It’s in this context that Saurabh Gupta invokes the words of fellow entrepreneur Faizan Munshi “Build your company for customers and not investors. If you are bringing justice to your customers, investors will follow you.” For Saurabh Gupta, this isn’t just a catchy quote it’s a principle he applies to his own ventures and encourages others to adopt. Raising capital without an ethical, customer-centered purpose, he warns, can be more devastating than not raising at all.
During a recent panel discussion where Saurabh Gupta shared the stage with several venture capitalists, he was the only founder present. His contributions stood out precisely because they were grounded in lived experience not abstract theory. He shared insights on when founders should consider raising money, what red flags to watch for, and more importantly, what elements matter most beyond capital. In doing so, Saurabh Gupta once again underlined that money, while important, is only one piece of a much larger puzzle.
Saurabh Gupta’s message resonates because it is built on clarity and intention. He urges all founders to remember why they started their companies in the first place. Whether their financial runway is long or short, they must stay focused on delivering value, supporting their communities, and continually building with integrity. In his words, “Less or more money, keep your focus straight, keep adding value to your customer’s life, keep building and keep supporting each other.”
Perhaps most commendable is the open-door approach that Saurabh Gupta offers to fellow entrepreneurs. Despite the demands of building his own startups, he invites others to reach out if they need guidance or support. His belief in collective progress helping each other navigate the ups and downs of startup life is a testament to the ecosystem he hopes to nurture.
In a time where headlines often prioritize valuations over values, and funding rounds over fundamental execution, the perspective shared by Saurabh Gupta is both refreshing and necessary. His call to action is clear build for purpose, not just publicity; prioritize customers over capital; and remember that true entrepreneurship is about solving real problems with commitment and grit.
Saurabh Gupta’s voice stands as a reminder to every founder if you do the hard, often unglamorous work of building something meaningful, everything else including the investors will follow. And as Saurabh Gupta repeatedly shows through both his words and actions, integrity and clarity of purpose will always outlast fleeting funding announcements.
