Varun is the founder of MAGIC, an AI personal training startup with celebrity trainers. He’s also the co-founder of Unhoused.org.
Varun’s jump is much shorter than usual. To April 2022.
He was just about to close his first funding round for MAGIC.
He’d spent 10 years working up to this moment. Building himself up from working in startups. Learning the ropes, starting his own business, and getting it to the funding round stage.
He’d spent months speaking to investors, angels, and VCs.
In the process, he’d learned how to pitch…. And how not to pitch!
Eventually, he locked in a few angels and 2 VCs for the round.
How to deal with uncertainty — when it’s completely out of your control?
In the final stages of closing the round, he was deeply involved with legal work. The pressure was on, with investors in 1 ear, and lawyers in the other.
And then, the Ukraine war hit its peak.
Varun’s startup in London is not the first place that you think of being impacted.
But his business was focused on a physical product. Material costs and other investments that his investors were involved with were taking a hit.
So the impact was much bigger than he thought it would be. So much was at stake in this moment.
What would happen? This was completely out of his control.
Varun felt nervous. The uncertainty was getting to him.
He would start each week, unsure if it was going to be the best week of his life — or the worst.
A series of unfortunate events
After that moment, Varun’s unexpected event kept rolling in.
Another example that he mentions is the first product shipment.
The materials were coming from Shenzhen, China.
And the night before the shipment was due to be sent, the local government in Shenzhen announced a lockdown across the region.
How can you deal with this uncertainty?
How do you get comfortable with the idea that you could lose everything?
In this episode, Varun and I talk about how he dealt with uncertainty then, and how he deals with it now.
We discuss,
- How he prepares for changes to happen overnight
- The risk and uncertainty that comes with being a founder
- Tips for mentally training yourself for uncertainty
Varun reflects on his progress, and how paying special attention to maintaining relationships has helped him to stay calm.