VMPL
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], June 29: Over the last two decades, entrepreneurship has emerged as one of the most powerful forces shaping modern economies. In India, founders have built category defining companies that have transformed how millions live, work, transact, travel, and consume. Yet, behind every celebrated success story lies a less visible journey marked by uncertainty, failure, resilience, and the determination to begin again.
Capturing these rarely documented stories, Subrata Mitra, Founding Partner at Accel, and Pankaj Mishra, entrepreneur, journalist and Founder of FactorDaily, have co-authored Down But Not Out: Gritty Comebacks of India's Diehard Founders, a compelling exploration of the human side of entrepreneurship.
Drawing from extensive conversations with founders across sectors, the book chronicles the journeys of entrepreneurs behind companies including BlueStone, Tejas Networks, Ninjacart, GreyOrange, Capillary Technologies, HyperVerge, Zolve, Uniqode, and ZopNow.
At a time when conversations around entrepreneurship are often dominated by valuations, funding rounds, and exits, Down But Not Out shifts the focus to the less visible realities of building companies.
Here are just some of the key moments detailed in the book:
- How BlueStone went from cutting its team from around 150 staff to just six in 2017 to scaling into one of India's leading jewellery platforms, later backed by Ratan Tata.
- How TaxiForSure went from an idea scribbled on a tissue at a Bangalore pub (~2011) to a ~$200 million sale to Ola in 2015.
- How MobStac went back to square one in 2015 after six years, then pivoted to Beaconstac - which became one of FedEx India's larger SME customers.
- How Tejas Networks survived Lehman's crash, Nortel's bankruptcy, a 2G freeze, a flood, and a fire that gutted its R&D labs - revenue collapsing from ₹676 crore to ₹208 crore -- before listing in 2017 as India's first pure deep-tech IPO and powering BSNL's 100,000-base-station 4G rollout.
- How HyperVerge turned down a $10-12 million acquisition offer with just six months of cash left, then went on to verify over a billion users for 75+ banks and lenders.
The book also reflects on Subrata Mitra's own entrepreneurial and investing journey, including lessons from failure, conviction and what he describes as the pursuit of "truth and long-term greed" - the belief that enduring value is built through patience, trust and long-term thinking rather than short-term gains.
Commenting on the book, Subrata Mitra, said: "Over the last two decades, I've had the privilege of working closely with founders through some of the highest highs and lowest lows of their journeys. What struck me was that the defining moments were rarely the successes that made headlines, but the setbacks, doubts, and failures they quietly endured. Down But Not Out is an attempt to bring those untold stories to light. It is a tribute to the resilience of founders who chose to keep going when walking away would have been easier. In entrepreneurship, as in life, success is rarely a straight line. What matters is the courage to take one more turn, stand up one more time, and remain, in every sense of the phrase - Not Out."
Pankaj Mishra, co-author of the book, "I've always thought of entrepreneurship as a trapeze act -- you let go before you know if anyone will catch you. I've lived a version of that myself with FactorDaily, which is partly why these stories pulled at me. Working on this book with Subrata was a gift. He's spent over two decades with founders in their hardest hours, and learning to read those moments alongside him taught me more than I expected."
Combining candid founder accounts with personal reflections and visual storytelling, Down But Not Out explores the decisions, setbacks and turning points that shaped both individual entrepreneurs and India's startup ecosystem. The book offers insights not only for founders and investors but for anyone seeking to build, persevere and adapt in the face of uncertainty.
Published by Harper Business, Down But Not Out: Gritty Comebacks of India's Diehard Founders is now available across leading online and offline bookstores.
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.in/Down-But-Not-Out-Comebacks/dp/9365693357
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