Banglore: Harsh Pokharna is the Co-founder and CEO of OkCredit. Since graduating from IIT Kanpur in 2014, Harsh has aspired to become an entrepreneur. His goal was to establish a business capable of impacting the lives of at least a billion people through technology solutions. To drive the digital transformation of small businesses and MSMEs, Harsh, along with his two friends, Gaurav Kumar and Aditya Prasad, launched OkCredit, a digital “Bahi Khata” application for small vendors, in 2017.
Harsh now helms the affairs at OkCredit as Chief Executive Officer. Prior to OkCredit, Harsh co-founded two other startups; one to update contact lists, another to plan events, with the same team. He has also worked as a blockchain consultant for top-notch companies in 2016-17, at a time when Blockchain adoption saw a lot of traction in India. Harsh Pokharna has been featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 list and Asia 2020 list.
Quit job at Flipkart to build a startup to make money very quickly
Pokharna further shared that he quit Flipkart to begin a startup because he wanted to make a lot of money very quickly. He noticed founders were raising millions of dollars in funding around him, and it seemed easy at once.
He tried with three ideas for the first two years after quitting, but he again failed. This led him to spend his savings, and he resorted back to freelancing to survive.
He mentioned in a recent Instagram update that he left Flipkart to create a startup because he aimed to earn a significant amount of money in a short period.
“Founders were raising millions of dollars in funding all around me. It seemed easy. But, the reality?” he expressed in his post. Pokharna noted that he encountered startup setbacks before launching his current business.
He said that he failed for the first 2 years working on 3 different ideas. The entrepreneur also revealed that during this time, he exhausted all his savings and had to freelance to survive.
He further mentioned that he has been building OkCredit for 8 years but still has a “long way to go” and that he has learnt a valuable lesson. Pokharna mentioned that building a startup is not equal to instant success.
“It’s a long-term game, not a get rich quick scheme. Play it only if you truly want to solve a problem, or you’ll end up disappointed.”
Netizens backed Harsh for sharing his struggle, with some even saying that they could relate to what Pokharna went through during his journey.
Some users also shared their experiences about starting your own venture or business.
Netizens reaction on his post
“Your story and perseverance always pushed me to never give up. I want to share my ideas and want your review (sic),” a user wrote.
But still let’s play the long term game with strategic plannings & relentless efforts with patience to WIN! Sounds like a good idea man to me (sic),” a second user said.
“Our situation is kinda similar but the idea we are working on is unique and i believe a small help from people like you can help us faster to overcome, but the problem is whenever we go for help or mentorship nothing is free of cost & there we back off. Hope you try to understand,” a third user commented.
“Having myself going through these, I can absolutely feel you (sic),” a fourth user said.