Like most other startup-founders, I wear (read: have had to wear) multiple hats. Over the years I have stacked up a fair amount of firsts, and it has cumulatively been an incredible experience. I founded Altor right after undergrad in West Bengal, working off of a tortile mess of connectors in a shoebox that we showed off first to our engineering mentors. In the process we won the coveted NIDHI entrepreneurial fellowships from the Government of India's Department of Science and Technology, raised funds from IIIT-Hyderabad and also became the youngest Bengali-born-and-founded startup team to raise VC funds. I've also personally received the 'Distinguished Industrial Entrepreneur' award during the Nation Pride Awards, hosted to recognise offbeat entrepreneurial efforts in the states of West Bengal and Jharkhand, by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Govt of India. In 2021, we became one of only 16 teams out of 65,000+ applicants on Shark Tank India to receive funding offers from all judges on the show. I personally lead operations and product strategy in my role as Chief Operations Officer at the company, also having delved into design and development at the early stage. As an early stage founder, team building is your priority - and we have knocked heads to figure out the leanest, best possible team. In conclusion: I believe nothing prepares you for the world like entrepreneurship. You will get rejected, thrown to the ground and see your peers outpace you on traditional careers. But the breadth of experience and hockey-stick skills-growth you will face here will be unparalelled.