Here are the hard-won truths from his journey as an entrepreneur and now, as an investor, on what it truly takes to build a lasting enterprise
OdishaPlus Bureau
In a remarkably candid keynote address at the inaugural TiECon Bhubaneswar on August 9, 2025, hosted by the TiE Bhubaneswar Chapter, Mindtree co-founder and Mela Ventures Managing Partner, Parthasarathy NS, laid bare the essential, no-nonsense lessons for today’s entrepreneurs. Here, in his own words, are the key takeaways for every founder.
I want to share some practical lessons from my journey, lessons learned not in classrooms, but in the trenches of building a business. These are the things I wish someone had told me when I started.
Your Market is Your Ultimate Teacher
Your initial business plan? I can almost guarantee you it’s wrong in many aspects. Your spreadsheets will tell you one story, but the market reveals the truth much faster.
We often fall in love with our own ideas, but it is the customer who pays your bills and validates your vision. Don’t be afraid to pivot. Pivoting isn’t a sign of failure; it’s a sign that you are listening to your customers.
Cash Flow is Oxygen
I cannot stress this enough: “Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, but cash is reality”. You can survive for a while without profits, but you won’t last a week without cash. It’s the oxygen for your startup.
A common mistake I see is confusing investor money with customer money. Investor money is for growth and scale, but customer money is what validates your business.
The Evolution of Your Team
The team that you start with is not necessarily the team that you will finish with. In the early days, you hire for passion, flexibility, and proximity. But as you scale, you need people with experience in handling that scale. This can lead to painful decisions.
Letting go of early team members who were with you from the start is tough, but it’s sometimes necessary for the company’s growth.
And remember, culture isn’t what’s written on your slides; it’s what you and your team live by every single day.
Resilience is a Skill, Not a Trait
Everyone talks about resilience, but it’s not some innate personality trait you’re born with. Resilience is a skill that is practiced one decision at a time.
The founder’s journey is often a lonely one, and having a strong support system is crucial.
People see the “overnight successes,” but they don’t see the 7 to 10 years of relentless effort that went into it.
Focus on Problems, Not Just Your Product
The market doesn’t really care about your product; it cares about the problem you are solving.
We get so enamored with our creations that we forget this. In the race to build the perfect product, we often delay our entry into the market. Speed beats perfection. Your first product should probably be a little unfinished because your idea of perfection might be very different from your customer’s.
Fail fast and iterate.
The Evolving Role of a FounderIn the beginning, you are the chief everything officer – the chief builder. But as your company grows, your role must evolve. You become the chief recruiter of talent, capital, and, most importantly, belief.
Entrepreneurship is often over-romanticized. The reality is 5% inspiration, 90% relentless execution, and 5% luck.
True founders are obsessed with a problem they simply cannot stop thinking about, not the “Instagram version” of success.
Anticipate and Adapt to Waves of Change
The next decade will be defined by the convergence of technologies like AI, biotech, and climate tech. Your product might not survive these waves of change, but your ability to adapt will.
The founders who will thrive are those who can anticipate change, build strong teams, and balance bold bets with disciplined execution.
AI as Your Co-founder
AI is not just another tool; it will be an accelerator, a strategist, a translator, and even a co-founder.
While AI will lower the barrier to starting a company, it will also make it easier for others to copy ideas. Your real edge will come from unique insights, brand trust, and an execution discipline that AI cannot replicate.
Human skills—vision, storytelling, leadership—will be more crucial than ever.
As a venture capitalist, the cheapest thing I bring to the table is capital. The real value I provide is perspective, helping founders see around corners. I invest in “time machines”—people who are already living in the future. The future isn’t something that just happens to us; it’s something we build by being relentless in moving forward and adjusting along the way.
(About the Speaker: Parthasarathy NS is the Managing Partner at Mela Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage B2B startups. He was also a co-founder of Mindtree, a global technology consulting and services company. Views Expressed are Personal.)