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Ankur Warikoo recalls laying off 80 employees after raising $17 million: 'Toughest period of my life'
Ankur Warikoo opened up about the “toughest phase of his life” that came right after what should have been a career high.
Entrepreneur and content creator Ankur Warikoo has shared a deeply personal account of one of the most difficult phases of his professional life. He opened up about the “toughest period" of his life that came right after what should have been a career high.
In a post on X, Warikoo recalled that in 2016 - less than a year after raising $17 million from Sequoia India - he had to lay off 80 colleagues out of a 420-member team. He described the decision as a result of his own “terrible decisions and judgment” and said the experience left him overwhelmed with guilt.
“I had let everyone down - my cofounders, my team, my investors. And myself. Going to office every day was the biggest mental mountain to climb,” Warikoo wrote.
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3 things Ankur Warikoo resorted to
The entrepreneur shared his reflection while responding to a question on X that asked, “During a very dark period, what was the best thing you did for your mental health?”
In his response, Warikoo listed 3 things that helped him survive the period. He revealed that the first thing was reading. “I read 'Better Under Pressure' - the book literally saved me,” he wrote.
He also spoke about a daily ritual where he would step out of the office after lunch, listen to Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’, and cry silently - a routine he followed every day for 3 months. The third, he said, was meditation, which initially felt painful even for 10 minutes but gradually helped him move from being “a participant of my thoughts to an observer of my thoughts”.
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Social media reactions
Warikoo’s post struck a chord with many who said they related to the invisible guilt that often accompanies leadership decisions.
“This honesty takes courage. Failure hurts more when it comes from your own decisions. What matters is not the fall, but the discipline to show up every day despite the weight. Reading, movement, meditation not as hacks, but as survival tools. Many founders feel this. Few speak it. Respect,” wrote one user.
“Owning catastrophic mistakes, showing up to the same office you broke, and still doing the inner work to rebuild yourself is the unglamorous side of entrepreneurship people rarely post about,” commented another user.
“This kind of honesty matters, not because it glorifies failure, but because it shows how resilience is built quietly, day after day, when no one’s watching,” one user wrote.
“This takes real courage to share. Owning mistakes and still showing up every day is a quiet kind of strength. Moments like these often shape the most grounded leaders,” added another.
