Aakash
Pardeshi

While most classmates were focused on grades, I was running a small merchandise operation inside college — covering my own expenses, managing margins at 19, and discovering that building something from zero is more satisfying than almost anything else.

Co-founded a D2C brand selling handcrafted footwear at a time when that category had no market validation in India. We served 500+ customers across domestic and international markets. Shut it down two years later. The category went mainstream a decade later — we were just too early without a bridge strategy.

During COVID, when most people were waiting it out, I started a marble and granite export company. B2B, cross-border, zero prior domain experience. It taught me how to build trust in high-stakes transactions with no product to hide behind — just relationships, credibility, and consistent execution.

Built and ran a high-touch events and wedding business — where the product IS the experience and there is zero margin for operational error. Managing client expectations, vendor ecosystems, and live-day execution sharpened instincts no SaaS environment could replicate.

Built a branding and social media agency, scaled it to profitability, and successfully exited. This was the discipline of building something with transferable value — not a business that runs only on the founder's energy. Clean exit. Clear lesson.

Leading product and delivery for a multi-client IT services portfolio — XR enterprise platforms, GenAI integrations, and digital transformation. Scaled MRR by 50%, built delivery governance from ground up, and integrating LLM-assisted workflows into real-world enterprise products.