Ketan Kapoor of Mettl on connecting the dots looking backwards

Hindsight isn’t just a luxury, as many believe. For founders,
hindsight or the ability to look back at the events and learn
from them with blunt honesty, is priceless. Just ask the
second-time founders such as Ketan Kapoor, the co-founder of
Mettl, who sold his startup to Mercer after a long, slow burn.
Mettl is a SaaS platform for online assessment. 


“If I start something again, I will not raise money for the first
three years, not because I can afford it, but because I can run
it that way,” Ketan tells me in this conversation. 


“The more you can push it out (the funding), the more you can set
up a business, which looks solid and sustainable.”


There’s too much focus on the ongoing entrepreneurial journeys.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s absolutely needed to keep bringing
learnings from the journey as it evolves. What needs to be
unlocked more is a goldmine of candid insights from founders
after they have completed their entrepreneurial journeys. 


“There are moments in every entrepreneur’s journey when you just
want to be alone and want to cry, and not share anything with
even your family or co-founders.”


This quote from Steve Jobs captures the amazing power of
hindsight well:


“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only
connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the
dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in
something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach
has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my
life.”


Listen to this conversation with Ketan Kapoor of Mettl to learn
from his entrepreneurial journey that offers honest insights
about building, failing and finding an exit for founders,
employees and investors. 


Ketan is now preparing to become an entrepreneur again, and is
looking to apply all the learnings from the Mettl journey.