231: The truth about about starting up in your 20s | Foxtale founder

What happens when you spend your whole career chasing external validation and it still isn't enough?

Romita Mazumdar is the Founder and CEO of Foxtale, one of India's fastest-growing D2C beauty brands. But this conversation isn't about the business. It's about the years before it: the banking desk that made her feel seen for the wrong reasons, the VC firm where she was suddenly invisible, and the team dinner where someone asked a question she couldn't answer the expected way.

In this episode, Avnish Bajaj and Romita attempt to answer: 

1. When do you actually know it's time to leave? 
2. How do you find PMF when you don't trust your own lens? 
3. What does it mean to build for yourself, not for validation? 
4. How do you know you have what it takes?
5. What they land on: you either need self-belief, passion, or obsession. One 6. of the three. A hundred percent. That's the bar.

Chapters

00:00 The moment I decided to build a $100M consumer brand
02:10 Overachiever mindset, validation & a confusing career path
05:45 Losing confidence in VC & not feeling like I belonged
09:05 Where my ambition really came from
12:20 The turning point that made me choose entrepreneurship
15:05 Q1: When do you know it’s time to leave your job and start up?
20:40 Q2: How do you know you’ve found product–market fit?
26:50 Q3: How do you deal with conflict when working with family / co-founders?
30:10 Company first: the rule I use to make hard decisions
35:10  What ambition, duty & entrepreneurship really mean

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