Leaving a ₹75 lakh annual technology job to build a startup would be a major gamble for most professionals. For Khyati Thakur, however, the bigger challenge came after she had already taken that leap.
The co-founder of Fridayy AI has shared how her startup’s first product quickly became irrelevant as artificial intelligence tools evolved. According to Thakur, the company subsequently lost every customer it had within just 30 days.
Her experience, shared in a LinkedIn post, offers a candid look at one of the less glamorous sides of entrepreneurship: building a product, discovering that the market has moved on and having to start again.
Khyati Thakur Left a ₹75 LPA Tech Job
Thakur said she was earning ₹75 lakh per annum in a technology role before deciding to leave her job and pursue entrepreneurship.
She holds a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Southern California. Rather than continue on a conventional career path, she chose to put her experience into building a company.
But the initial product did not survive the rapid evolution of AI.
“I quit my ₹75 LPA job to build a startup. Our first product, ChatGPT and Google AI made it irrelevant. We lost every customer in 30 days,” Thakur wrote in her LinkedIn post.
The setback meant that the founders had to reconsider what they were building and, more importantly, whom they were building it for.
Seven Months to Find a New Direction
According to Thakur, the startup spent seven months searching for a viable pivot before spending another nine months developing the new product.
That period appears to have been one of the most difficult phases of the company’s journey. Instead of simply making incremental changes to its original offering, the team had to rethink its direction.
The result was Fridayy AI, which focuses on helping small businesses establish online stores, create product catalogues and generate marketing content with AI. The platform is also designed to help businesses sell across marketplaces.
The company’s evolution illustrates how quickly the AI market can change. A product that may have appeared useful at launch can become difficult to differentiate once larger technology platforms introduce similar capabilities.
Startup Still Faces a Tough Road
Finding a new product-market direction did not mean the company’s problems were over.
Thakur said Fridayy AI is dealing with long B2B sales cycles, limited runway and the need to raise additional capital.
She described sales cycles of three to four months and acknowledged that the startup has less financial runway than she would ideally like.
The founder said the company is therefore looking for investors who understand its business and are willing to support its next stage of growth.
For an early-stage startup, the combination of lengthy enterprise sales processes and limited cash reserves can put considerable pressure on founders. Even a promising product needs sufficient capital and time to convert potential customers into recurring revenue.
‘Building Something Takes an Almost Delusional Belief’
Despite the setbacks, Thakur said she does not regret leaving her job.
Her message to other aspiring entrepreneurs was not that startup life is easy, but almost the opposite. She argued that founders need an unusually strong belief in their idea to continue through periods when there is little external evidence that things will work.
“I’m not telling you this to scare you. I’m telling you because building something takes an unlimited, insane, almost delusional belief in yourself,” she wrote.
She also reflected on the difficult question of knowing when to abandon an idea.
For founders, deciding whether to persist, modify the product or walk away can be particularly complicated because every failed experiment represents time, money and emotional investment.
Why Pivoting Can Matter More Than Giving Up
The story of Fridayy AI is ultimately less about a failed first product and more about what happened afterwards.
Thakur did not describe losing customers as the end of the company. Instead, the setback became the reason to search for a different business model.
That distinction is important in the startup world. A pivot can involve changing the target customer, product, pricing model, distribution strategy or even the underlying problem a company is trying to solve.
For Fridayy AI, the shift eventually led the team toward tools aimed at small businesses and their digital commerce needs.
‘The Thrill of Building Something of Your Own’
Thakur acknowledged that walking away from a secure, high-paying job can feel like the wrong decision when a startup encounters repeated setbacks.
Yet she said the experience of building a company can provide lessons that are difficult to gain from a conventional job.
“Everyone says knowing when to quit is a sign of intelligence. But you won’t know when to quit,” she wrote, describing the temptation to keep trying one more time in the hope that the next attempt will work.
Her experience with Fridayy AI demonstrates the uncertainty involved in entrepreneurship. A founder can leave behind financial security, build a product, lose customers and spend months searching for a new direction—all before finding out whether the second attempt will succeed.
For Thakur, however, that uncertainty appears to be part of the reason she chose the startup path in the first place.
