Freedom to Fail

Lessons from my Quest for Startup Success

By: Shabnam Aggarwal

Narrated by: Karen Dsouza

My dear, incredible, beautiful team of superheroes,

Over the past two years, we have given this idea everything we've got. We've given it our love, our time, our sweat, and even some of our tears. We will be shutting down next Friday. I love you guys, and I am sorry to have let you down.

Yours truly,

Shabnam

Shabnam Aggarwal always dreamt of success. Raised in an immigrant Indian family in the start-up hub of Silicon Valley, she believed that every entrepreneur could be successful. So she left her cushy job at Merrill Lynch to take a risk, find her passion, and make a change in the world. She moved to India to start a company.In Freedom to Fail, Shabnam tells the story of her brush with 'success': raising her first round of venture capital; hiring a hardworking team of millennials; growing her start-up to multiple cities...and then finding it all come to a bitter end. Shabnam gives us a peek into the world of start-ups in India. Her personal journey gives us an insight into dealing with failure, warning us of the challenges of starting a business, and helping us learn from her experience. Weaving each chapter into a powerful lesson in overcoming expectations, fear and self-doubt, she shows us why failure is important, even imperative, in order to ultimately succeed. And the best lesson she learnt: You haven't failed until you stop trying.