CoCubes founders took 2.5 crore INR in personal debt from parents
Harpreet Singh Grover · Inside the mind of Harpreet Singh Grover, Co-Founder, CoCubes, & Author, Let’s Build a Company · Apr 6, 2021 · at 4:52
Harpreet Singh Grover explains why shutting down CoCubes was not an option when their funding failed, citing personal bridge debt.
0:00 / 0:16exact quote · 16.9s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“But we had debt from, you know, about two and a half crores from people whose money was not supposed to be addressed. This was their life savings. My parents, you know, my parents, the board's parents, you know, was on our board. He was a VC, but you know, he had given us one crore by taking out his FD just because he believed in the company”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Harpreet Singh Grover
Every billion-dollar company survives a near-fatal rock-bottom crisis
“I am of certain belief that there is no billion dollar company out there, which has been made without this point, you know, having occurred. And, you know, also there are like thousands of companies out there which have given up at this point.”
Startups combining EdTech, HRTech, and B2B are dead on arrival in India
“The bad part is we did not realize the idea was in ed tech, in HR tech and B to B. If you're doing all these three, you're dead in India, right?”
Solving simple problems repeatedly is the only way to generate ARR
“You need to be able to solve a problem, simple problem repeatedly. That is how you get annual recurring revenue. This is the only way to do it.”
CoCubes laid off 70% of staff after $5M funding round collapsed
“This was the point when, you know, we had a term sheet for raising a five million dollars. And at that moment, it didn't pan through. We were a team of about one, 21, 30 people. We had a fancy office and we had to, you know, let go of, 70, 80 folks. 66%, 70% o…”
Founders at rock bottom must seek counsel from experienced mentors
“At that point, I think, you know, the thing that entrepreneur doesn't want to do is talk to somebody about it. Because you are feeling so low that I don't want to talk to somebody about it. But the thing you have to do, and this is true for personal situations…”