Young entrepreneurs share their journeys, challenged and failures

Gurugram: Young entrepreneurs at the Gen-H startup summit–Yuva Udyami Chaupal at Gurugram University on Friday shared their experiences and challenges in scaling ventures, urging aspiring founders to understand customer needs and adapt to changing markets

Published on: Aug 22, 2026, 08:01:00 IST

By Leena Dhankhar

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Gurugram: Young entrepreneurs at the Gen-H startup summit–Yuva Udyami Chaupal at Gurugram University on Friday shared their experiences and challenges in scaling ventures, urging aspiring founders to understand customer needs and adapt to changing markets.

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, who also attended the summit, interacted with entrepreneurs and Gen-Z participants at the summit. He said their journeys could inspire more youngsters in Haryana to pursue entrepreneurship and create employment opportunities.

Saini also flagged off two buses for the Yuva Udyami Yatra, which will travel across Haryana until December 2026, visiting colleges, universities and coaching institutes to raise awareness about startups, funding, loans, technical support and government schemes.

The initiative aims to encourage youngsters to develop business ideas and create employment.

During a session titled ‘Zero to ₹100 Crore’, Nalin Saluja of Virhaan, Ashish Jindal of GripInvest and Bharat Singhal of Billy Hub spoke about building businesses from small beginnings. They said capital alone could not ensure success and stressed the need to develop products based on customer requirements and respond to market changes.

In another session, ‘Ten-Year Journey: Lessons from India’s Leading Entrepreneurs’, Ankit Agrawal of InsuranceDekho, Akash Anand of Rotix, Sandeep Agrawal of Dream and Binita Dalal of MTK Capital discussed failures, business pivots and the challenges of rebuilding after setbacks.

The challenges of scaling were discussed by Akash Gupta of Jup Electric, Raghav Verma of Chaayos, Dr Suchin Bajaj of Ujala Cygnus Healthcare and Yuvraj Bhardwaj of PlanNeX. They said expansion required stronger systems, larger teams, technology adoption, quality control and maintaining customer trust.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Leena Dhankhar
Leena Dhankhar is Senior Editor and Bureau Chief, Gurugram, at Hindustan Times, where she has spent over 17 years chronicling the transformation of one of India's fastest-growing urban regions. From starting her career as a crime reporter to leading the Gurugram bureau, her journalism has been defined by investigative reporting, in-depth storytelling and an unwavering focus on public interest. Over nearly two decades, she has reported extensively across crime, politics, civic governance, elections, real estate, environment, courts, sports, education and entertainment, covering Gurugram, Faridabad, Nuh and Palwal. Her reporting has exposed several major scams and systemic failures, including insurance frauds, waste management irregularities, illegal arms manufacturing units in Nuh, illegal mining in the Aravallis, organised crime networks and governance lapses affecting millions of residents. Known for her investigative work and exclusive stories, Leena has reported on high-impact national issues, including the Nicaragua charter flight carrying Indian migrants that was turned back amid allegations of human trafficking, exposing the growing network of illegal immigration rackets. Her work has also focused on gang wars, prison administration, juvenile crime, women and child protection systems, the functioning of the Juvenile Justice Board and Child Welfare Committee, and environmental challenges such as pollution, waterlogging and deteriorating civic infrastructure. Beyond hard news, Leena has extensively documented Haryana's rich heritage, forests and wildlife, bringing attention to the state's historical landmarks, biodiversity, conservation efforts and ecological challenges through immersive reportage and feature writing. Her journalism has consistently gone beyond breaking news. She has documented Gurugram's rapid urbanisation through long-form narratives and enterprise reporting on issues ranging from pothole-ridden roads, flooding and waste management to the changing social fabric of India's Millennium City. She also writes widely read feature columns, including The Outsider, Changemaker, and Concern for Gurugram, profiling people, places and ideas shaping the city's identity. Leena is the author of Gurugram School Murder, published by Juggernaut Books, a deeply reported account of one of India's most high-profile school murder investigations. She is currently working on her second book, an investigative work exploring some of India's most significant scams and fraud investigations. Beyond print journalism, she has expanded her storytelling through public speaking and digital media. She is a TEDx speaker and has produced podcasts exploring Gurugram's transformation, civic challenges and untold stories. Her work reflects a commitment to narrative journalism that combines rigorous reporting with compelling storytelling. A law graduate with an MBA in Human Resources, Leena brings a multidisciplinary perspective to her reporting, particularly on governance, public policy and legal affairs. She has travelled extensively across India to pursue investigative assignments, often reporting from remote locations and conflict-prone areas in search of stories that matter.Read More

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