Optometrist & Founder, Ocushield | Workplace Eye Wellness Expert | Featured on Dragons Den, Forbes & USA Today | B Corp Certified | King's Award Recipient

Whilst studying Optometry at university, I launched the development of the initial product offering at Ocushield - medically registered blue light filtering technology that allow screen based users to have fresher feeling eyes and improved sleep latency after screen use. 

I'm currently focussed on our online eye screening solution, which takes 4 mins to complete and is accessible for employees and patients via a web based URL (no app needed). Serving policy holders and employees at Benenden Health, BHSF, AON, AIG Insurance and more... 

Having received a development grant from City University of London, I built Ocushield into an internationally distributed, MHRA/FDA medically registered product that transformed hundreds of thousands of peoples eye health and quality of life.

From boot strapping Ocushield (to six figures in revenue before taking on external funding, total raised £1.5m) to getting featured on Dragons' Den (and winning over Peter Jones & Tej Lalvani in the process), Forbes, The Guardian & USA Today - talking about the impacts of screen time on eye health and sleep, it’s been an entrepreneurial journey full of ups and downs and yes a lot of lessons.

At Ocushield, we've generated total revenues in excess of £10m and have helped over 300,000 eyes in over 147 countries with our products to protect their eyes.

We envision a world where everyone understands the value of their eyes, feels empowered to protect them, and has access to tools, products, and services that support lifelong eye health.

Dhruvin Patel

I launched my 7-fig business before I had ANY stock.
Madness, most people would think...

I was a student.
Testing eyes in clinics at university during the day
Supplier emails and product research at night.

Every time someone showed interest in person, I took their email.
No idea about funnels or a CRM.

Just 1,500 real people who cared, on a spreadsheet
(no GDPR practice in sight lol)

When my first Ocushield screen filter prototype was ready
I didn’t hunt "investors".

I asked the customer list to pre-order on a website a fellow student built for me... Big up Rishi!

That first wave FULLY funded the first production run.
No outside cash.

I then packed boxes from my dorm, then my parents home.
They weren't thrilled.
All these boxes, for what?!

I'm just about to complete my degree but started creating and selling products "online"

It taught me a bigger lesson..

You don't need anyone to tell you to start...
You don't need tons of £££ to validate an idea...

You need a developed idea/prototype, ability to speak to people, and the ability to keep them engaged...

Ever thinking of launching a business yourself?

I do believe, the above can still be replicated in 2026

Even though I did the above in 2015 before I took the plunge in 2018 to go full time in the business.

If you start building your list today.

For whatever product or service...you want to offer the world...

When you’re ready, you won’t be begging.
You’ll be opening the doors to whats possible 

If you want more building lessons like above about starting a business (0 to your first £100k stage...) I'm sharing my experiences building a multi 7-figure business, follow along.

Optometrist & SeeEO | Dragons’ Den & King’s Award Winner

My first hire/operations executive wasn’t paid.
It was my dad.

During the day, I was testing eyes at the big green machine, Specsavers.

By night, I was packing Ocushield orders on the dining room floor.

Every morning, my Dad (who had grown tired after redundancy a year earlier) took customer packages to the post office.

No questions. No payment. Just helping his son.

Even though he had no idea what I was doing, ha.

BUT, I didn’t quit my job.

I moved back home.
I downsized.

I asked for help from my dad...
That allowed me to work a job and work on my business.

I learned pretty quickly...

That you do and don't need to make a massive commitment to start a business.

Don't because, you don't have to quit your job...
You do, because you might have to compromise on your current lifestyle...

You need a structure that buys you time, cash flow and energy.

The last is something most people disregard.
Waiting for money to come in from your biz when you have bills or outgoings doesn't allow you to focus on growth, but focus on keeping your own lights on.

Keep the day job - it funds getting off the ground, figuring it out & lowers the panic

Rewire your environment to suit your needs; I moved back home.

Ask for help - family, friends, one reliable helper beats ten advisors.
Set simple rules - ship daily, build the customer base, and reinvest the profits.

If you look around, you’ll be surprised how much help you already have.
You just have to ask and then use it.

If you want more building lessons like above about starting a business (0 to your first £100k stage...) I'm sharing my experiences building a multi 7-figure business, follow along.

DON'T meet your teammates if you run a remote company.

At least, not just for the sake of it.

Remote teams don't struggle cos people are in different locations.

They struggle when connection becomes accidental instead of intentional.

We've been remote from early on at Ocushield. 

Different cities, time zones, and work rhythms...

So we had to learn new things to optimise things, to help things work for us.

We have to design connection... Here's what that means in practice:

1/ Remote doesn't mean distant

You can build real closeness through structure.

We create rituals, shared spaces, and predictable touchpoint so communication feels natural, not forced.

2/ Face-to-face time is a force multiplier

When we do meet in person, it changes everything.

Conversations get deeper, decisions get faster, trust compounds.

One day in the same room can remove weeks of small misunderstandings.

Remote keeps things efficient.
In-person resets alignment.

You need BOTH.

3/ Culture doesn't happen by accident

In an office, culture happens in the gaps.

In remote teams, you have to build the gaps on purpose.

Shared activities.
Moments that aren't just about tasks.
Space for people to be humans and not just roles.

Cos the real glue in teams is not the process...

It's familiarity.

The mistake I see most founders make?

They choose either remote efficiency or in-person connection.

The best teams design for both.

Remote for focus, In-person for trust.
Shared spaces, even virtual ones, for daily cohesion.

You don't need an office to build a strong team.

But you do need to be intentional about how people feel connected when no one shares a desk.

That part doesn't happen on its own.

HR and people leaders,
LISTEN UP!

I’m REALLY excited about this.

And if screens are a big part of your day, you’ll probably see why.

Most of us don’t think twice about how screen-heavy work actually feels.

We just adapt.

We push through foggy afternoons, including your teams...

We accept that being “on” all day comes with a cost.

And we rarely stop to question whether things could feel better.

Over time, that adds up.

Not just to tired eyes.

But to focus that’s harder to hold.

Productivity that feels heavier than it should.

Sleep that doesn’t quite restore you.

Screens aren’t the problem.

They’re essential to how we work.

What’s missing is education around how to work with them, not against them.

That’s why we’re running a free webinar series with Posturite Ltd, exploring The Screen Time Effect and what it really means for people and organisations today.

I’m especially looking forward to the conversations with Katie Maycock, Ellice Whyte, and Katharine Metters.

All three bring a very real, practical perspective to how modern work impacts performance, wellbeing, and recovery.

📅 February–March 2026
🎥 3 virtual sessions
🧠 Performance, compliance & wellbeing

The sessions:
• The Productivity Problem
• The Compliance Gap
• Screens, Stress & Sleep

This isn’t about banning screens.

It’s about understanding what genuinely helps people feel better and perform better in a screen-first world.

Designed for HR, Health & Safety, and Facilities teams.

If you know someone who looks after screen-heavy teams, feel free to tag them or send this on. This will be relevant.

If screens are a big part of your workday, this should be useful.

👉 Find out more and save your spot here:
https://lnkd.in/eAeXebth

Hope to see you there.

Work hard. Don’t waste money. 
Think long term.


If you grew up in an Asian household, you’ve probably heard some version of that line too.

It wasn’t said as motivation.
It was said as guidance.
Sometimes as concern.

Often as repetition.

Stability mattered.
Education mattered.

You didn’t chase shortcuts.
You built something solid, even if it took longer.

At the time, it felt cautious.

Looking back, it was foundational.

Those values showed up long before I ever became a founder.

Some of them stayed exactly as they were.

Others had to evolve as the business grew.

“Work hard” initially meant long hours and constant effort.

Over time, it became focused work and better judgement.

“Don’t waste money” turned into spending with intention, not ego.

Hiring carefully.
Building only what solved real problems.

“Think long term” stopped being abstract parental advice and became how I measure success.

Not by speed.
Not by noise.

But by whether the business can stand up over years.

That mindset influenced how I approached risk.

Why I built steadily.

Why I avoided shortcuts that looked impressive but didn’t last.

As a founder, I’ve realised something.

A lot of what shapes your leadership doesn’t come from books or mentors.

It comes from home.

Those early lessons don’t disappear.

They mature.

And when they do, they quietly shape the kind of business you build and the kind of leader you become.

I'm not crying, you are.
Messages like this stop me in my tracks

Don't get me wrong... 
Customers matter deeply.
Without them, nothing else exists.

But the moments that stay with me as a founder come from somewhere else.

They come from messages like this.

A team member reflecting on how far they’ve come.

On rediscovering confidence.

On no longer feeling like they’re constantly on edge or second-guessing themselves.

That’s when leadership feels real.

People don’t just join companies to do a job.

They join hoping for stability.

For trust.
For the space to grow without fear.

When someone tells you they feel safe enough to do their best work.

To stretch.
To take responsibility.
To believe in themselves again.

That’s not accidental.

That’s the outcome of an environment where people are treated as humans, not just outputs.

Yes, pleasing customers matters.
It always will.

But helping someone grow, professionally and personally, is something else entirely.

It’s a privilege.

And it’s a responsibility.

Because leadership isn’t just about where the company is going.

It’s about how people feel while they’re helping you get there ♥️

A patent didn’t protect our business.


At first...

Our brand did.

People still ask me this:
“Do you have a patent?”

And for a long time, the honest answer was no.

When I started Ocushield at university, I spoke to a patent attorney early on.
The reality back then?

When it comes to wavelengths of light, especially blue and short-wavelength light, patents were fragile.

Easy to work around.
Expensive to defend.
Slow to matter.

So I had a decision to make:
→ Spend years protecting something that could be bypassed
→ Or build something people trusted, searched for, and came back to

I chose the second.

We focused on:
• Credibility over hype
• Education over noise
• Understanding digital eye strain, not just “blue light”
• Product quality people could actually feel day to day
• A relationship with the customer, not a one-off transaction

That choice mattered.

Ocushield became one of the most searched brands in the UK for screen protection and digital eye strain, not because we owned the idea, but because we owned the conversation around artificial light, screens, and modern visual load.

And now the interesting part.

As our technology has evolved, so has our ability to protect it.

We’re now actively developing patentable technology focused on reducing the impact of short-wavelength artificial light from screens and modern environments, including blue light.

Not as a starting point.
But as a multiplier.

That’s the difference experience makes.

Brand built the foundation.
Trust built the demand.

Now IP strengthens what already works.

The takeaway for me hasn’t changed, it’s matured:

IP can protect technology.
Brand protects relevance.

And understanding the real problem, digital eye strain in a world of artificial light, is what earns long-term trust.

Be honest, would a patent save your business right now… or would customers who trust you?

Working on a screen is BLISS!!!
Said, no one.

By mid-afternoon:
Headaches.
Tension.

That drained, foggy feeling people quietly accept as part of the day.

At first, it feels like background noise.

But, it quietly becomes part of our day to day reality of "work".

That's why myself and Dr Raj Kohli, MD - our clinical innovation lead want to do something about it with the folk over at YuLife

When your eyes are uncomfortable, you don’t consciously register it as a problem.

You just adapt.
You strain a little more to focus.
You work harder to stay sharp.
You push through, without realising the extra load your system is carrying.

Over time, that quiet compensation adds up.

What struck us most is how rarely eye comfort is treated as a starting point in conversations about modern work.

Screens aren’t optional anymore.

And powering through discomfort has become normalised.

But discomfort is still a signal.

In any system, when the input is strained, everything downstream works harder.

Fatigue sets in faster.

Focus drops.

Small issues quietly become persistent ones.

That’s why I believe eye health isn’t a niche topic anymore.

It’s foundational to how work actually feels, day to day.

Ignoring it doesn’t make the problem disappear.

It just pushes the strain somewhere else.

King Charles talks screen time.
Amongst war, climate change etc... this is what he's thinking about.


And the science backs him up.

Recently, King Charles spoke about modern screen habits and their impact on health, especially how much time we now spend staring at devices.

What stood out to me isn’t panic.

It’s awareness.

Because according to research, our eyes are working harder than ever.

According to peer-reviewed studies published in the National Library of Medicine (NIH):

Symptoms of digital eye strain, things like dry eyes, blurred vision, headaches and fatigue, are reported in up to 80–90% of heavy screen users as daily screen time increases.

According to a large meta-analysis published in JAMA Network Open:

Each additional hour of daily screen time is associated with a higher likelihood of myopia (short-sightedness), particularly between 1–4 hours of sustained near work.

According to scientific reviews in Frontiers in Public Health and the NIH:

Blue light from screens can disrupt circadian rhythms and sleep quality, even though normal screen exposure hasn’t been shown to cause retinal damage.

And according to clinical studies on digital eye strain (NIH):

Spending 3–5+ hours a day on near-screen work is strongly linked with eye fatigue, headaches and reduced visual comfort.

None of this means screens are “bad”.

It means our eyes are compensating quietly… until they can’t.

Protect the eyes that power your day.

Because your eyes aren’t just windows to the world.

They’re an extension of your brain, processing information for hours on end, every single day.

Ignoring that isn’t resilience.

It’s delayed maintenance.

As we head into another screen-heavy year, the question isn’t whether screens are going away.

It’s whether we’ll finally start supporting the eyes doing the work.

What’s one small change you’ve made, or want to make, to protect your eyes this year?

The longer I build, the less interested I am in dramatic growth stories.



They’re often overrated.

What I care about now is consistency.

Energy that’s still there on a Monday.

Decision-making that isn’t reactive.

Teams that aren’t quietly exhausted.

Early on, I optimised for pace.

Now I optimise for durability.

That shift didn’t come naturally.

It came from learning a few things the hard way.

1/ Pushing harder isn’t the same as leading better

Urgency can look like momentum, but it often hides weak systems.
When everything feels critical, nothing actually gets fixed.

2/ Calm scales better than intensity

Teams take cues from how leaders behave under pressure.
Calm decision-making creates stability.
Panic spreads faster than progress.

3/ Sustainable output beats heroic effort

Late nights and last-minute saves feel productive in the moment.
Over time, they quietly drain energy, trust, and consistency.

4/ How work feels matters as much as what gets delivered

If people are always tired, clarity drops.
If clarity drops, quality follows.

Leadership isn’t about always doing more.

It’s about knowing when not to.

That judgement only comes from getting it wrong a few times first.

And while this way of building is far less glamorous than rapid growth,
it’s also far more resilient.

The most amazing thing she’d ever seen?


“ChatGPT.”
She said it half-laughing, half-serious.

Like most of us did the first time we used it.

Because it feels like magic.

Instant intelligence. Infinite output. A glimpse of what’s coming next.

Then I asked a different question.

“What’s one thing you still want to see more of in your life?”

“Kids laughing.”

That gap is the story of our time.

We’re captivated by technology that accelerates the future…

yet the moments that matter most are still deeply human and visual.

Then something else came up.

She mentioned she has astigmatism, but didn’t really know what it meant or how it affects her vision.

Again, not unusual.

Most people don’t think about their eyesight unless something forces them to.

Blur becomes familiar.

Eye strain becomes background noise.

Fatigue gets normalised.

Not because it’s harmless.

But because it happens gradually.

We obsess over tools that improve speed, output, and intelligence…

while overlooking the system that lets us experience any of it.

Our eyes.

If vision is how we witness laughter, connection, and meaning,

then protecting it isn’t a “nice to have”.

It’s fundamental.

So here’s the question worth sitting with 👇

Are you upgrading the world around you…
or quietly accepting a lower-resolution version of it?

Your burnout might have nothing to do with your workload.


It might be coming through your eyes.

And almost no one is talking about it.

I was listening to Andrew Huberman explain something that quietly reframed how I think about fatigue, focus, and modern work:

Your eyes aren’t just tools for seeing.

They’re literal extensions of your brain.

Which means how you use them all day shapes:

– your mood
– your focus
– your nervous system

Here’s the uncomfortable part.

We may be running a mass experiment in visual overload.

Hours of intense near-focus.
Screens inches from our face.
Very little distance.
Almost no visual recovery.

Over time, the eye physically adapts to this.

It elongates.
It locks into near-work mode.

And your nervous system never really stands down.

That’s why modern fatigue doesn’t feel like “I worked too hard.”

It feels like:
– constant mental noise
– shallow attention
– irritability without a clear cause
– that wired-but-drained state

We talk endlessly about brain health.

Sleep.
Stress.
Dopamine.
Productivity systems.

But we almost never talk about visual behaviour.

Yet it’s one of the strongest inputs into how your brain feels all day.

This isn’t about demonising screens.

It’s about realising that when your eyes are overloaded, your brain usually is too.

Worth sitting with:

Are you actually exhausted from work…

or from asking your visual system to operate unnaturally all day?

One thing about starting a business that surprised me....


Most of the pressure doesn’t come from failure.

It comes from uncertainty.

Not knowing if you’re early or wrong.

Not knowing whether to push or pause.

Not knowing if today’s quiet is normal or a warning.

Early on, I tried to solve that by moving faster.

More decisions... More activity...

More things to “feel productive”.

What I didn’t realise at the time was that speed doesn’t remove uncertainty.

It just masks it.

Over the years, I’ve noticed something consistent.

The founders who last aren’t the ones who react the quickest.

They’re the ones who sit with ambiguity without panicking.

A few things that experience taught me:

1/ Most uncertainty resolves itself if you give it time
2/ Not every dip needs intervention
3/ Silence is often information, not failure
4/ Rushed decisions usually create more problems than they solve

Clarity tends to arrive quietly.

Usually after you’ve resisted the urge to “do something” for long enough.

That’s been one of the hardest, and most valuable, lessons for me.

I started a hardware business, without meeting my suppliers.
You SHOULDN'T do this in 2026.

When I launched Ocushield, I didn’t meet my manufacturers...
Emails and calls only.
It worked…

A year in, I jumped on a flight.
Factory floors. Tooling rooms. Cup of tea with the owners of the factory
Everything changed.... 

Because:

Product got better, through things we didn't even know were possible.
Like, triple tempering our Ocushield screen protector glass to ensure it withstands x10 more force to stop breakage.

We even landed a negative cash cycle

This meant paying for produced goods after we sold them, not before.
That only happened because we built a REAL relationship.

If you’re starting a business in 2026 and it's a product, don’t skip this step.

The great factories are rammed with inbound inquiries via AliBaba and more.
Faces beat typical outreach.

Before you go to see the factory...

Shortlist three of your top factories. Ask for certifications and references from others.

Bring your brief, target unit cost, and two competitor samples.

Write down your non-negotiables, e.g tooling ownership, defect limits, response times.

On site – what to actually do

Walk the line from raw material to boxed product.

Ask who owns the tooling, (important if you want IP) - get it in writing.

Look at incoming QC and final inspection.

Watch their best operator build your product. Time it.
Swap a material. Remove a part. Combine a process.
& then... design and cost are unlocked

Cost drops when steps disappear, and quality rises when it’s simpler.

Quality that matters to your customers.

Be honest about volume and cash.

Show 3 forecasts: conservative, expected, stretch.

Ask for a smaller MOQ on run one in exchange for a clear ramp.

Tie better pricing to on-time payment and repeat orders (to begin with).

Then, payment terms that really matter

Start with a small deposit and shrink it each production run.

Push for a negative cash cycle once you’ve proved you are regularly doing business with them 6-12 months in.

Keep the relationship warm - send them thank-you gifts, tell them they're doing a great job with each shipment and how they're changing your life and your team.

I didn't have to do this when I launched my first run in 2015, as suppliers in South Korea and China were hungry for business.

They still are, but they can tell where they want to invest their time and where they don't.

So, book the flights - spend some time with them.

It's also a super important part of the founder journey, one that shouldn't be overlooked or outsourced.

If you want more building lessons like above about starting a business (0 to your first £100k stage...) I'm sharing my experiences building a multi 7-figure business, follow along.

Everyone told me to quit my job to start a business...


I did the opposite.

Not because I lacked belief.
But because I understood risk.

I had responsibilities.
A profession I’d invested years into.
And a very real awareness of downside.

So I built alongside my job.

Early mornings.
Late nights.
Weekends that quietly disappeared.

That decision shaped how the business was built.

Here’s what it taught me.

1/ Income buys you thinking time
Around 70 percent of startups fail, with cash flow one of the biggest reasons.
Keeping an income early removed panic decisions and forced better ones.

2/ Scarcity creates discipline
When time and money are limited, only real problems survive.
Nice ideas disappear.
Useful ones earn their place.

3/ Validation beats velocity
Building slowly meant every product had to prove demand before it grew.
Speed looks impressive.
Traction keeps businesses alive.

4/ Ego is expensive
No spare budget means no vanity hires, no rushed launches, no noise.
Just fundamentals and focus.

5/ Quiet compounding is real
Progress looked slow from the outside.
But consistency over months and years did the heavy lifting.

Looking back, not quitting wasn’t hesitation.

It was strategy.

You don’t need chaos to be committed.

You don’t need a leap to be serious.

And you don’t need permission to build sustainably.

If you’re building something alongside work, this is your reminder:

You’re not behind.
You’re being intentional.

If this resonates, feel free to repost it for someone quietly building too.

Looking back, which risk did you choose not to take early on?

I didn’t learn how to build products from business books.


I learned it training as an optician.

You stop asking, “Does this sell?”
And start asking, “Does this actually help?”

That way of thinking never really leaves you.

In clinic, you see how people adapt.

They tolerate discomfort, they normalise strain.

They adjust behaviour without ever calling it a PROBLEM.

That lens has shaped how I think about products far more than any course or framework.

Over time, I realised a few things:

• People rarely ask for what they actually need
• The biggest problems are often the quietest ones
• If something genuinely helps, people keep using it without being reminded
• Good products reduce friction, they don’t demand attention

It made me far less interested in flashy features.

And much more focused on how something fits into real life.

The best feedback I’ve ever had on a product isn’t excitement.

It’s actually the repeat use of our products... 

That mindset came straight from my early training, and it still guides how I evaluate ideas today.

How you see products in business

Why does Simon Cowell wear these ugly orange glasses?!


In his new Netflix project, you’ll notice Simon Cowell wearing tinted glasses indoors, including under studio lights.

That’s not a branding choice.

It’s a response to light sensitivity (photophobia), something he’s spoken about publicly.

And it matters more than people realise.

According to the NHS, photophobia isn’t rare. Bright or artificial light can trigger headaches, eye pain, fatigue, and reduced concentration, especially under intense indoor lighting.

(Source: NHS – Photophobia overview)

Now zoom out.

According to Ofcom, UK adults spend over 6 hours a day on screens, and that number rises significantly for professionals and founders.

(Source: Ofcom Online Nation Report)

Add harsh LED lighting.
Add long filming or workdays.
Add constant visual demand.
The eyes don’t “break”.
They compensate.

And compensation looks like:

• Eye strain
• Headaches
• Brain fatigue
• Reduced focus
• Lower productivity

Research published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience shows that visual input directly affects cognitive load and focus, because the eyes are literally extensions of the brain.

(Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience)

So when someone at Cowell’s level actively manages light exposure, that’s not vanity.
That’s performance management.

We talk endlessly about:

• Sleep optimisation
• Nutrition
• Training
• Wearables

But we still ignore the system feeding the brain all day long.

Your eyes.

This is exactly why our new direction is simple:

Protect the eyes that power your day.

Not because it’s trendy.

Because productivity, clarity, and energy quietly depend on it.

Question worth sitting with 👇

Have you ever adjusted how you see… or only how long you work?

There’s a big difference between building something impressive and building something people stick with.

Early on, I chased polish.

Refinement... Perfection...

I thought if something looked good enough, it would naturally succeed.

Experience taught me otherwise.

What matters far more than how something looks is how it behaves in the real world.

Over time, I stopped paying attention to surface-level signals and started watching different ones.

1/ Return behaviour matters more than first reactions

If people come back without being prompted, you’re solving something real.
Excitement can get attention. Habit earns loyalty.

2/ Unobserved use is the real test

If something is still used when no one’s watching, it’s useful.
If it needs reminders, it’s probably friction, not value.

3/ Friction removed beats features added

The best products don’t demand attention.
They quietly make life easier.

4/ Absence reveals value

If people wouldn’t notice when it disappears, it wasn’t essential.
Real value creates a gap when it’s gone.

That shift changed how I judge progress.

Excitement fades quickly.

Utility compounds.

Some of the most successful things I’ve been involved in never felt impressive at launch.

They just worked, consistently, over time.

That’s when I stopped confusing momentum with value.

 building something people stick with

HR leaders, read this before your next wellbeing initiative.

Your nervous system doesn't know the difference between a tiger and your inbox.

It just knows: 
alert... alert... alert...

One thing I've realized working with screen-heavy teams is this:

Most people aren't constantly stressed cos they're weak at coping.

They're stressed cos their body never gets a proper signal that it's safe to stand down.

Modern work makes that really hard.

We move from screen... to meeting... to messages...

to MORE screens...

Even when we "relax", we often do it through another device.

So the brain never really exits stress mode. 

It just shifts from the active stress to low-grade background stress.

Over time, that shows up as:

1/ Feeling wired but tired
2/ Brain fog and reduced focus
3/ A shorter fuse under pressure
4/ A body that feels tense even when you're "resting"

That's why I'm really looking forward to Session 1 of our webinar series "The Screen Time Effect" with Posturite Ltd, Ellice Whyte and Katie Maycock.

We're diving into how stress actually works in the brain and body, and why modern work is keeping so many people stuck in a near-burnout state without realising it.

Here's a glimpse of what we'll explore:

🧠 What stress is really doing to the brain when it becomes constant
💻 Why screen-heavy work can quietly keep the stress response switched on
🪑 The hidden load from how and where we work
🌙 How to build real recovery into normal working life
🔁 Early signs you’re stuck in a stress loop (and how to break it)

February 3, 2026
The Productivity Problem

If you support HR, Health & Safety, Facilities, or manage screen-heavy teams, this will be especially relevant.

Find out more and save your spot here: https://lnkd.in/eAeXebth

Hope to see you there!

Talking might be slowing your vision down.


Not metaphorically. Literally.

A recent study from Fujita Health University, reported by News-Medical, found that speech and conversation can delay how quickly the eyes lock onto visual targets.

In simple terms:

When you’re talking, your visual system reacts more slowly.

That matters more than we think.

Because modern work looks like this:

• Reading screens while talking on calls
• Driving while speaking or thinking out loud
• Switching focus rapidly during meetings
• Multitasking without ever going visually “offline”

According to the research, conversation increases cognitive load, which interferes with visual processing speed, especially during tasks that require quick focus shifts.

(Source: News-Medical, Fujita Health University study)

This isn’t about being anti-conversation.

It’s about understanding something uncomfortable:

Your eyes don’t work in isolation.

They’re wired directly into how your brain processes information, decisions, and risk.

So when we stack:

• Constant talking
• Continuous screen exposure
• Rapid context switching

We quietly tax the system that feeds the brain all day long.

That shows up as:

• Slower reactions
• Mental fatigue
• Reduced focus
• Mistakes we blame on “being busy”

This is why eye health isn’t just clinical anymore.

It’s cognitive.
It’s behavioural.
It’s performance-critical.
We optimise sleep, nutrition, and training.

But we rarely ask:

What state are my eyes in while I’m doing all this?

Worth thinking about 👇

Have you ever noticed how much harder it is to focus visually when you’re constantly talking or multitasking?

I am a seasoned entrepreneur with over 18 years of experience in business leadership. My academic background includes a degree in Supply Chain Management from Cardiff University, UK, and an MBA focused on Family Managed Business from SP Jain Institute of Management and Research. This combination of education and hands-on experience has equipped me to successfully navigate and grow diverse business environments.

My career began with leading the family business, Alpha Plastomers, where I gained extensive expertise in operations, management, and strategic growth. After significantly expanding the company, I transitioned into the agri-tech sector by founding GROWiT India Pvt. Ltd., with the vision of revolutionizing protective farming in India.

GROWiT was born out of a personal journey in 2017 when my brother Akshay and I ventured into farming with the goal of growing our own food. Discovering the potential of protective farming but finding a lack of quality products in the market, we decided to create our own. The success of our innovations, such as mulch and crop covers, led to the establishment of GROWiT, which now empowers over 500,000 farmers across 10 states with sustainable solutions.

At GROWiT, our mission is to "Empower Farmers for Food Security Towards a Sustainable Future." We are committed to becoming the largest protective farming company globally, providing comprehensive soil-to-harvest solutions that address the evolving challenges of modern agriculture.

I am also passionate about continuous learning, particularly in farming, entrepreneurship, and sustainable practices. This drive has led me to join the Stanford Seed Transformation Program, where I am eager to engage with international faculty and like-minded professionals to transform GROWiT into a global company.

Saurabh Agarwal

Soil never failed Indian farmers.
The system around it did.

For decades, soil testing in India has worked against the farming calendar.

Samples travelled miles.
Reports came months later.

By the time data arrived,
the crop decision was already made.

That gap between soil science and the field
has quietly cost farmers yield, money, and confidence.

With the KrishiDoot Programme, our intent at Growit India has been clear:

Bring certified soil testing directly to the farm.
Deliver insights in hours, not weeks.
Help farmers decide with data, not guesswork.

But this goes beyond faster testing or higher yields.

What matters more is the ecosystem taking shape:

• Local youth trained as Soil Gurus
• Science reaching the last mile, not stopping at labs
• Farmers understanding their soil, not reacting to symptoms
• Rural livelihoods growing alongside precision agriculture

When soil health improves, everything compounds:

Crop quality.
Input efficiency.
Farmer income.
Long-term resilience.

This is not about replacing traditional knowledge.

It’s about strengthening it with clarity, precision, and trust.

Agriculture doesn’t need louder innovation.

It needs relevant innovation built for real fields, real seasons, and real constraints.

Proud of the teams, partners, and every KrishiDoot working on the ground to make science usable where it matters most.

Because the future of farming doesn’t start in reports.

It starts under our feet.

Founder & CEO @ GROWiT - Empowering Farmers for Food Security towards a Sustainable Future. TEDx Speaker

When people ask me what has shaped Growit India’s journey the most, the answer is not funding or products.

It is two things we learned directly from farmers: trust and time.

In the early years, one lesson became very clear. 
Solutions are only as strong as the trust behind them.

Farmers do not adopt what they read about. 
They adopt what they see working in nearby fields.
That understanding shaped how we built the business.

We chose to: 
• Build franchise hubs deep in talukas, not just urban markets 
• Set up demo farms to show results firsthand 
• Listen before selling, always listening first

Growth did not come overnight. 
Real impact never does. 

The lessons learned over the last four plus years have become our strongest foundation.

We also learned that trust travels further than any campaign. 
When farmers see consistent results season after season, they do not just stay. 

They advocate.

Today, the community of farmers, franchise partners, and field teams around Growit reflects that belief.

Because in agriculture, real scale is quiet. It shows up in repeated use, peer recommendations, better outcomes for farmers, and resilience across seasons.

This journey has taught me, and our entire team, that the longest roads often lead to the most meaningful impact.

Here’s to patience, practice, and progress in the fields we serve.

We think farming is simple.
It never was.

Seed. Soil. Water. Harvest.

That’s the story we tell ourselves.

The reality is far more uncomfortable.

Because the biggest cost of modern agriculture doesn’t show up in one season.

It shows up silently.

Soil that looks fine today but loses 20–30% productivity over 3–5 years without a single dramatic failure.

Yields that appear “stable”
but demand 15–25% higher inputs every season just to stay flat.

Farmers pushed to grow more with almost no support to grow better

For decades, agriculture has chased one number: quantity.

- More land.
- More fertiliser.
- More chemicals.
- More water.

Yet returns keep shrinking.

In many regions, fertiliser use has increased 2–3×

while yield growth has crawled in single digits.

That’s not efficiency.

That’s erosion.

What we lost along the way is respect.

- Respect for soil as a living ecosystem, not an extraction surface.
- Respect for data as a decision engine, not a report filed too late.
- Respect for farmers as long-term stewards, not seasonal risk-takers.

When quality is ignored, the bill always arrives later.

As degraded land.
As rising input dependency.
As unstable yields.
As mounting financial stress.

The future of agriculture isn’t about taking more from the land.
It’s about understanding it better.

Nutrient balance over overuse.
Soil biology over symptom treatment.
Science over assumptions.

Sustainability isn’t slower growth.
It’s growth that still exists 10, 20, 30 years from now.

The moment farming becomes science-led, it stops being a gamble.

And real success in agriculture isn’t measured by what we extract in one season but by what the soil can still give a decade later.

When we started Growit India, our mission was simple.

Make every farmer’s effort count.

Over the years of walking fields and speaking with farmers across Rajasthan, Punjab, Maharashtra, and beyond, one pattern became clear:

Productivity improves most when risk is reduced.
Protective farming isn’t a theory.

It’s a practical approach that helps farmers safeguard their fields against uncertainty whether that uncertainty comes from weather, weeds, pests, or water stress.

What our field data and farmer conversations show today is encouraging.
Farmers using protective farming solutions have seen lower input costs, reduced crop loss, and more consistent harvests.

These aren’t abstract numbers.
They’re stories of families sleeping better, knowing that an unexpected rain won’t wash away months of hard work.

We’ve seen cases where farmers reported saving up to ₹2.5 lakhs annually through smarter input use and better crop preservation.

Not because of luck.
But because of preparation.

This is what makes protective farming more than an innovation.
In an age of climate unpredictability, it has become a practical lifeline.
There’s still a lot to do.

More regions to reach.
More farms to protect.
More uncertainty to design for.

But every acre protected is a step toward resilient agriculture.

Here’s to farming with confidence not chance. 🌱

Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India

One thing years of on-ground exposure teaches you very quickly:

Real progress is rarely dramatic.

It’s quiet.
It’s incremental.
And it’s deeply practical.

Farmers don’t look for disruption.
They look for dependability.

What works is adopted.
What doesn’t is discarded no matter how well it’s packaged.

That reality builds a certain humility.

You learn to listen more than you speak.
To observe before suggesting.
To respect experience that comes from repetition, not theory.

Some of the best insights don’t come from reports or presentations.

They come from simple conversations:
“What worked last season?”
“What failed?”
“What would you change next time?”

Those answers shape better thinking than any framework.

Progress, especially in agriculture, isn’t about moving fast.
It’s about moving right season after season.

And when solutions align with ground reality, trust follows naturally.
That trust is the most valuable outcome of all.

In agriculture, growth is often measured the wrong way.

For years, progress has been associated with:

more inputs,
more chemicals,
more interventions,
more short-term yield.

But anyone who has spent time on the ground with farmers knows this isn’t sustainable.

Real agricultural progress comes from clarity, not complexity.
It comes from understanding the soil before prescribing a solution.

From precision instead of excess.
From reducing waste rather than increasing dependency.

Today, farmers are dealing with rising input costs, unpredictable weather, and shrinking margins.
In this reality, adding more products is not innovation.

Removing inefficiencies is.
The future of agriculture will not be built by flooding fields with solutions.

It will be built by:
• targeted, data-backed interventions
• practices that protect long-term soil health
• technologies that respect the farmer’s effort and economics

True agri-innovation is about doing fewer things, better and doing them consistently.

When systems become simpler, adoption increases.
When adoption increases, impact compounds.

Sustainable agriculture isn’t a buzzword.
It’s the only path that works for farmers, ecosystems, and the future of food.

Curious to hear from farmers, agri-founders, and industry leaders what’s the one inefficiency in agriculture we need to remove first to create real, lasting impact?

We call startup founders entrepreneurs.
But we hesitate to use the same word for farmers.

A startup founder risks capital once.
A farmer risks capital every season.

They invest before returns are guaranteed.
They make decisions with incomplete information.
They operate under uncertainty where weather, soil, prices, pests, and timing collide.

There is no pitch deck.
No safety buffer.
No second chance within the same season.

One season. One outcome.

My shift from boardrooms, meetings, and presentations to actual fields changed how I view agriculture.

In farming, theory meets reality fast.

What works on slides often struggles on soil.
What looks efficient in models ignores human behaviour, climate variability, and regional nuance.

That’s when one thing became clear.

Agricultural innovation doesn’t fail because farmers resist change.
It fails when solutions ignore how farming actually works.

Farmers don’t reject technology.
They reject tools that don’t respect their constraints.

From Cardiff to the khet, the biggest lesson has been humility.

Listening more.
Observing longer.
Accepting that progress comes from trust, not instruction.

Real impact happens when technology adapts to farmers, not the other way around.

When solutions are built around:
• local conditions
• real crop timelines
• practical economics
• long-term sustainability

If we want agriculture to move forward, we need to stop selling ideas.

And start building alongside the people who live with the consequences of those ideas every single season.

Because the farmer isn’t just a user.

The farmer is India’s original entrepreneur.

For decades, the primary question in agriculture was simple:

“How do we increase yield?”
That question is slowly changing.

Across states, crops, and farm sizes, a more important concern is emerging:
How do we reduce risk?

Recent agri research and field observations point to a clear shift:
Farmers are no longer optimizing only for output they are optimizing for stability.

Why?

Because uncertainty has increased.
• Weather patterns are unpredictable
• Input costs are volatile
• Soil health is under pressure

In such conditions, even a high-yield crop can become a loss.
That’s why practices focused on protection, soil care, and resource efficiency are gaining traction.

Not because they promise miracles
but because they bring predictability.

When water loss reduces,
when soil decisions are informed,
when crops are shielded from extreme stress
decision-making improves.

And better decisions compound over seasons.

The future of agriculture won’t be defined by who grows the most in one season,

but by who can grow consistently across many.

The biggest myth in agriculture is simple: more is always better.

More land.
More inputs.
More output.

On paper, it makes sense.
In reality, it’s created a quiet paradox.

As quantity increases, quality starts to disappear.
Yields may climb briefly,
but soil health weakens underneath.

Costs rise faster than returns.
And farmers work harder each season just to stand still.

Here’s the paradox no one talks about:

When we chase quantity, we lose efficiency.
When we ignore quality, we lose the future.

Healthy soil doesn’t respond to excess.
It responds to balance.

Crops don’t fail because farmers lack effort.
They fail when decisions are made without understanding what the land actually needs.

Quality in agriculture isn’t abstract.
It’s practical.

- The right input, not more input
- The right timing, not faster timing
- The right data, not inherited assumptions

When quality leads, quantity follows naturally and sustainably. 
But when quantity leads, quality is sacrificed.

And the cost doesn’t show up immediately.
It arrives later as depleted land, rising input dependency, unstable yields, and financial pressure.

The future of farming isn’t about choosing between quality or quantity.
It’s about recognising that one cannot exist without the other.

Quality isn’t a brake on growth.
It’s the system that makes growth possible.

And the farmers who understand this early don’t just grow crops.
They build resilience, stability, and longevity into their land.

That’s the real advantage.

This is exactly what we’re building at Growit India helping farmers move from guesswork to clarity, from excess to precision, and from short-term yield chasing to long-term farm health.

Because better decisions today create better harvests tomorrow. 🌱

India sells nearly 10 lakh tractors every year.

That number alone should challenge how we think about Indian farmers.

A tractor is not a casual purchase.
₹12–15 lakh upfront.
Years of EMIs.
High operating costs.
Long replacement cycles.

Yet farmers commit to it, season after season.

(CY 2025 retail sales ~9.8 lakh. Momentum already visible into 2026.)

So the question is not whether Indian farmers can afford to invest.

They already do.

The real question is what they choose to invest in next.

Every buying decision runs through the same filters:

→ Will the machine hold up during sowing and harvest
→ Will service arrive when the window is tight
→ Will diesel costs stay manageable
→ Will resale value survive after 5–7 years
→ Will this decision protect the entire crop cycle

Still, hesitation gets labelled as “rural slowdown.”

That framing is convenient.
And inaccurate.

The farmers buying tractors are progressive farmers.

They are not buying symbols of status.
They are buying production certainty.

These farmers think like operators and planners.

They assess:
- Cash flow impact
- Downtime risk
- Service reliability
- Exit value

That is why tractors are not chosen for horsepower alone.

They are chosen for confidence.

Confidence that the machine will not fail mid-season.
Confidence that service will not drag for weeks.
Confidence that resale will remain intact.

This also explains why:

40–45% of agri-equipment demand still flows through used machinery.

Not because farmers lack money.

Because they manage risk carefully.

In Indian agriculture today, risk reduction matters more than discounts.

The modern Indian farmer is not price-driven.

He is decision-driven.

And the next wave of tractor buyers will reward brands that deliver:

→ Proven performance in Indian soil and climate
→ Predictive service, not breakdown recovery
→ Fuel efficiency that protects annual income
→ Technology that reduces downtime
→ Strong resale that lowers total cost of ownership

This market is not shrinking.

It is evolving.

Progressive farmers are no longer buying machines in isolation.
They are buying outcomes they can rely on season after season.

The brands that win next will not be the loudest or the cheapest.

They will be the ones that consistently earn farmer confidence
in performance, service, and resale value.

That is where India’s next phase of tractor growth comes from.

India is sitting on one of the largest medicinal plant opportunities in the world.

Yet, we keep losing value at the same place every time:
the farm gate.
Not because farmers aren’t doing the work.

But because their effort is rarely measured, verified, or protected.
Today, a farmer can grow a high-quality medicinal crop with discipline and care and still get paid the same as someone who didn’t.

That single gap destroys incentives, trust, and consistency across the entire supply chain.

This is why AI-enabled farm-gate quality assessment and digital traceability matter so much.

When quality is verified at the source:

→ Farmers are finally rewarded for doing things right
→ Adulteration drops sharply
→ Buyers gain predictability
→ Exports gain credibility
→ India moves from “low-cost supplier” to trusted global source

At Growit, we’ve seen this on the ground.
Increasing yield alone doesn’t change outcomes.
Protecting the farmer’s effort does.

Technology here isn’t replacing traditional knowledge.
It’s amplifying it making quality visible, provable, and valuable from the very first step.

India doesn’t need more production.
It needs systems that protect integrity at scale.

Because if quality isn’t verified at the farm gate,
can we ever truly build trust downstream? 🌿

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