My business was failing

Hi, Gopi here.

Two years ago, Nooa and I wanted to start a business. Badly.

Honestly, we would have done anything for money. We landed on selling microgreens.

We called it "Verdes."

I thought, "How hard could it be?" (I seem to have this problem)

The first year was pure magic. We were doing everything. We were on top of the world. We weren't just students, we were Founders. We had an identity. We were entrepreneurs.

It was so, so fun.

And then the hard work started. The grind of actually getting → and keeping a client.

Every time we lost a customer, the vibe would shift. Nooa would look at the numbers and bring up the topic of closure.

"Man, should we... stop?"

I would just shut it down. "Never. We can fix this. WE ARE ENTREPRENEURS."

In my head, entrepreneurs don't quit. They pivot. They hustle. They find a way. Quitting was failure.

So we'd try again, build up a tiny bit of momentum... and the next crash would feel even harder.

We were 1.5 years in. We had barely broken even. We had poured so many hours of our lives into it.

And again, Nooa asked if we should stop.

I was still stubborn. But this time, I knew exactly why. It had nothing to do with the business. I wasn't convinced we were "getting closer" to a solution.

I was just terrified of the shame.

My entire identity was "Gopi, the Founder." If I quit, who was I? Just... Gopi? The guy whose business failed? The guy who gave up?

My identity was breaking, and I was holding onto the wreckage of the business to keep it from drowning.

The shame of closing was so much bigger than the pain of continuing.

We’re told "Never give up." We celebrate grit. We post quotes about "the grind."

Nobody tells you what to do when your "grit" is just a word for "fear." Nobody talks about how "not giving up" can be the most self-destructive thing you do.

We finally did it. We pulled the plug.

And it felt awful. It felt like shame. It felt like I had personally failed.

But here’s the lesson they don’t teach you: Quitting is not a moral failing. It's a strategic decision.

You're not "giving up." You are "gathering data." And our data was crystal clear: this is not working.

The real GSD move wasn't to run ourselves into the ground for an idea that was sucking our souls, just to protect my ego.

The real move was having the courage to stop, absorb the lesson, and move that energy to the next thing (like my Master's, like this newsletter).

I had to let "Gopi the Founder" die. And that "failure" is the single best lesson I've ever bought.

So, what identity are you holding onto that's keeping you stuck?