A Postcard from Aniket · IIT KGP → 4 jobs → Founder of Swish

A Postcard from Aniket IIT Kharagpur → 4 jobs → Founder of Swish

Hi,

Let me start with something that might sound crazy.

Two years ago, I had a stable job at a well-known company. Good salary. Comfortable life. Everything most people would call "successful." And then I quit. I left it all to start a company from scratch — with two friends, a small kitchen, and an idea.

Today that company is called Swish. We deliver hot, freshly cooked food to your door in 10 minutes — faster than the time it takes to boil water. We started in 2024 with nothing. Today we have 350+ employees, kitchens across Bangalore, and investors who've trusted us with over ₹300 crore of funding.

I'm 26 years old.

I'm telling you this not to brag — but to show what's possible. Being a founder is hard. It's risky. But it's also the only career where, at 25 or 30, you can be running a company that thousands of people work at and millions use.

Let me tell you how I got here. It didn't happen in one big jump — it happened in many small steps.

1. Engineering at IIT Kharagpur (age 18–22). I studied Mechanical. Honestly? I didn't fall in love with the subject. But IIT taught me how to think, how to solve hard problems, how to be around really smart people. That mindset builds founders. I also did a research internship at NUS Singapore — my first time abroad. It opened my eyes to how big the world is.

2. First job at Citi (age 22). Credit Risk Analyst. Good salary, comfortable office. But after a few months I realised — this wasn't the work that excited me. I wanted to be where things were being built, not just analysed.

3. Joining startups to learn (age 22–25). Jupiter — how a digital bank gets built from scratch. Pillow — how to grow a product from zero to thousands of users. Meesho — how a company scales to millions. The secret nobody tells you: most successful founders don't start straight out of college. They work for 3–5 years first.

4. Starting Swish (age 25). Ujjwal, Saran and I noticed something. In Bangalore you could get groceries in 10 minutes. But hot food still took 30–45. Why couldn't food be 10 minutes too? We started Swish. Tested with friends first. Within months, investors believed: $14M first round, $38M a year later.

I won't lie. Becoming a founder is not the safest path. It's not for everyone. But if you're the kind of student who notices problems and thinks "why hasn't anyone fixed this?" — keep this path in mind.

You don't need to come from a rich or business family. I didn't. Most founders I know didn't. India is becoming a place where anyone with a good idea and willingness to work hard can build something huge.

Even if you never become a founder yourself, someone in your generation will build the next Flipkart, the next Zomato. Why not you? Dream a little crazier.

— Aniket · IIT Kharagpur, 2020 · Co-Founder & CEO, Swish

Here's the honest map — and the most important warning

Becoming a founder takes patience most people don't expect. This is how to start, in the same voice as the letter above.

Now → Class 11–12

Start the habit of shipping things

You won't start a company tomorrow — and you shouldn't. But you can start the habit of shipping. Build a school newsletter. Start an Instagram page about something you love. Run a tiny side business helping neighbours.

The skill founders need most isn't an IIT degree — it's the muscle of taking an idea from zero to shipped. Build that muscle now.

Pick a stream that gives you tools

Not ‘founder credentials’

PCM (engineering) — gives you a problem-solving toolkit. What I did.
Commerce — gives you business fundamentals early
Design (NID / NIFT) — for product- or brand-focused founders
Humanities / Liberal Arts — Ashoka, Krea, FLAME for founders who think in culture, policy, narrative

Undergrad

Go where smart, curious people gather

A ‘good’ college isn't about its NIRF ranking — it's about who else is in the room. The friends you make at 19 often become your co-founders at 25.

IITs, NITs, BITS — concentrated talent
Top liberal arts colleges — Ashoka, Krea
Top design schools — NID, NIFT, Srishti
Strong state colleges with active entrepreneurship cells

After college — the most important step

Do NOT start a company straight out

Almost no one succeeds doing this. Instead:

Join an early-to-mid stage startup (Series A–C) — see how things are really built. I did this at Jupiter, Pillow, Meesho.
Try consulting / finance for 1–2 years — learn business fundamentals fast
Go deep on a craft — design, engineering, sales — for 3–4 years until you're genuinely good

When to actually start

Wait for these four conditions

You've spotted a real problem that won't leave you alone
You have at least one co-founder you trust deeply
You can survive 12–18 months on savings or family support
The worst case (it fails) is recoverable for you

Different kinds of founders

It's not all tech startups

Tech / SaaS founder — apps, software, AI (what I do)
D2C brand — consumer products (Mamaearth, boAt, Sugar)
Manufacturing entrepreneur — factories, products you can hold
Family business takeover — 10× your family's small shop with new ideas
Social entrepreneur — organisations that solve social problems sustainably (Saarthi is one)

Most successful founders aren't ‘special’. They're patient, curious people who shipped a lot of small things before they shipped one big thing. Start small. Start now. — Aniket