Most investors add no value, but when they do, it can be company-saving.
In 2010 as @udemy was just picking up steam, eBay-owned PayPal was cracking down on marketplace businesses for violating ToS. Without warning, they shut our entire payments system down.
**Read On**
We had a few months of runway and were starting to raise our Series A. It would take weeks to implement an alternative system, and that would've killed our traction story.
It was all-out panic mode.
We asked everyone for help - many were experiencing the same problem.
PayPal was notoriously bureaucratic at this time and was completely inaccessible to small startups like us.
The "best case" scenario, we heard, was 3 months of downtime.
In the 2001 recession, my parents lost everything, marriage included.
My dreams felt like they were slipping away; I was depressed, angry and had nowhere to turn.
This is a story about how I turned crisis into opportunity by fusing education and entrepreneurship.
**Read On**
I was in a tough spot. We didn’t grow up wealthy, but I certainly had enough. I went to good schools, traveled internationally, and had all the tech and books I needed.
The crisis threw a wrench in everything.
Like many people today, I started to question the status quo.
Slowly, I started to get pissed off. The world felt like it was out to get me. I questioned if the “adults” in the room knew as much as they purported.
My grades slipped and my rebellious nature came out.
It's so easy to devolve into anger when times are tough.
Recently I've shared some heartfelt tweet-stories about entrepreneurship. Your support has been so encouraging 🙏🙏🙏
Now I'm doubling down with a personal mailing list: gaganbiyani.com - please help spread the word!
**A thread on what will make this newsletter unique**
1. I'll talk about firsthand experiences.
There are great newsletters that opine about tech, startups, vc. Instead, I'm going to talk about in-the-trenches realities. Real shit that most newsletter writers haven't experienced or aren't willing to share.
2. Global.
Silicon Valley is an extremely insular place. I love it actually, but it isn't for everyone and isn't relatable. I've spent almost 4 years of my life abroad and been to 60 countries.