Who Am I?
I am Manish Maryada. I am a sucker for startups, amazing products, and entrepreneurship. I was the founder and CEO of Fello, a YC-backed fintech company that grew to over 1M users and raised $5M USD from leading investors. Fello was eventually acquired by another leading business, after which I exited the company. During this journey of building a business, I was fortunate to be listed in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list.
Before Fello, I worked at Koinex as one of the first team members and helped scale the exchange alongside the founders to a trading volume of $265M USD per day. Prior to my entrepreneurial stint, I earned my Master’s in Finance at Texas A&M University, College Station.
All this is the fancy introduction that works for PR, makes the family proud, and leaves relatives in awe. But if you are an entrepreneur or aspiring to be one, this is how I would like to introduce myself to you…
The Real Me
I am an ambitious person who always hoped to bring change to the world and chose entrepreneurship as my way to do it. I define myself as an entrepreneur who is always curious and eager to learn. During this journey, I worked with early-stage startups as a founding team member, experienced the ups and downs, and then decided to build my own venture. I witnessed both absolute highs and brutal lows.
I am an amalgamation of experiences, both good and bad. Here’s what shaped me:
The Good Experiences:
✅ Phenomenal growth as a founding team member in an early-stage business.
✅ Quit my job with a 6-month savings runway for myself.
✅ Started a company during peak COVID and raised $1M USD in six months.
✅ Cracked Y Combinator on my first attempt.
✅ Raised $4M USD from leading investors and angels.
✅ Built and scaled a team of 30 members.
✅ Grew user base to 1M+.
The Challenging Experiences – The Ones That Humbled Me:
❌ Faced co-founder conflicts, including a founder breakup that nearly derailed the team.
❌ Made poor hiring decisions that led to significant business and team challenges.
❌ Flipped the company from India to the US, encountering every regulatory challenge possible.
❌ Battled 5 legal cases, coordinated with over 10+ police cells, and had to bow to the system despite no wrongdoing—just to keep the business running.
❌ Dealt with investor challenges and successfully navigated them.
❌ Took bad decisions that had serious consequences—no blame on anyone but myself.
❌ Sacrificed personal life, mental health, and physical well-being, hoping for a bright startup future.
The list goes on…
So Who Am I?
After all these learnings, I define myself as a learned founder, hoping to build meaningful ventures and relationships, all with the goal of making a real impact on the world. But this time, I aim to avoid repeating the same mistakes and instead make better ones.
In this journey, I also want to help early-stage founders navigate their paths. Entrepreneurs and builders are shaping the future, and I’d love to collaborate with them in any way possible.
P.S. While all of this may sound serious, meet me in person, and you'll see I'm the biggest party buff, movie buff, and sports fan! 🎉 Because what’s the point of creating impact without having fun? Oh, and I still aspire to win an Olympic medal one day—let’s see if that dream comes true! 😆
💡 If you're an early-stage founder, aspiring entrepreneur, or facing similar challenges, feel free to reach out! Connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Email, or book time on my calendar.
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