From Struggling to Buy a TV to Getting Acquired by a $3B Fintech Monster

Over the last year, I’ve talked to several non-tech entrepreneurs who’ve shared their insights and tips on how to build a successful startup.

So in the lastest one – the 10th in The Startup Journey series – it was great to sit down with a technical founder - Adarsh Jain.

And besides that, it never ceases to amaze me the incredible stories we find in each of these conversations.

Picture this:

Your parents need a new TV. You go to an online store and try to order a shiny new set.

Problem is, fraud is a big thing in your country.

Some of these e-commerce platforms weren’t delivering to entire zip codes because of the number of fraudulent orders in some areas.

But your parents had nothing to do with that. How’s this fair?

Entrepreneurial moment #1: you decide there must be a better way to solve the problem.

You know a thing or two about tech and you approach a former colleague to talk about a potential solution.

Fast forward a couple of years and you’ve been the first acquisition of one of the fastest-growing fintechs in the world, RazorPay, just recently valued at – $3B.

Not only that, but RazorPay’s CEO is saying this about you:

“The team at Thirdwatch comes with an exceptional understanding and expertise in AI, machine learning and data sciences and together we envision a future where AI will help e-commerce firms not just combat fraud but maintain a competitive advantage and significantly improve profitability. Together, I believe we can help reduce frauds by 30–40% by next year.”

Crazy, right?

Now you can imagine how eager I was to sit down with Adarsh and pick his brain.

Throughout our conversation, he shared some amazing lessons and insights from his crazy ride, seasoned with his 12 years of experience as a CTO and entrepreneur.

You can check the full conversation here.