Praveen Dorna's Linkedin Analytics

Thinking of Joining an Incubator? Read This First. A lot of early-stage founders rush to incubators thinking it’s a shortcut to success. But here’s the truth: ☑ An incubator won’t validate your idea for you. ☑ It won’t magically get you customers. ☑ It won’t replace the work you need to do. What a good incubator will do: ✔ Give you access to mentors & networks. ✔ Provide a structured environment to test & refine your startup. ✔ Help you avoid common early-stage mistakes. ✔ Open doors to potential investors & partnerships. But at the end of the day, it’s on you to execute. Before applying, ask yourself: • Do I have a clear problem & market insight? • Am I ready to test and iterate fast? • Will I use the resources actively, or just be there for the name? An incubator is a launchpad, not a lifeline. Have you been part of an incubator? Was it helpful? Drop your experience below. 🚀 🔄 Repost & share if you found this useful!

Staying ahead is crucial. How do you do it? Focus on key skills. First, let’s break down what you need to do: ↳ Learn to think creatively  ↳ Solve problems effectively  ↳ Build a strong network  ↳ Find mentors who inspire you  ↳ Work consistently and stay dedicated In reality, it’s all about: ↳ Developing new ideas  ↳ Finding solutions quickly  ↳ Connecting with the right people  ↳ Gaining insights from experienced mentors  ↳ Committing to your goals every day To excel in your career. You must sharpen these skills. → It will boost your confidence  → It will open new doors for you  → It will help you stand out from the crowd Start improving your skills today. For a brighter future tomorrow.

Don’t be Humane! Be Human. Everytime I read stories like these, I increasingly feel how much money can be saved and better products built by just doing the basics right and building with customers than trying to look cool and think they are killing an industry. Vision is great but operating and building, preparing for the worst case and being mindful of money, even if it’s VCs should be the norm. So many of these startups raise more than needed and then burn more than needed as well and get burnt out themselves. Cool idea and guess a lot of bad decisions. Wish the best to everyone! Please validate both marketing and products too and focus on nailing them before trying to be big.

How do with hack problems and drive innovation? In 2008, Elon Musk was told that building a cost-efficient rocket was impossible. NASA spent $500M per launch. But Musk didn’t accept that. He broke the problem down into its basic parts. 🚀 What is a rocket made of? 🚀 How much do raw materials cost? 🚀 Can we build it for cheaper? Turns out, the raw materials cost just 2% of what NASA was paying. So instead of buying rockets, SpaceX built their own—90% cheaper. That’s first principles thinking. It’s how startups disrupt entire industries while big players stay stuck in old systems. Here’s How Founders Use First Principles Thinking: 💡 Zerodha – Why do stock brokers charge commissions? Nithin Kamath removed the percentage fee model → today, India’s largest stockbroker. 💡 Razorpay – Why is setting up online payments so complicated? Harshil Mathur built a developer-first solution → now a $7B+ fintech giant. 💡 Zepto – Why does grocery delivery take hours? They rethought supply chains → 10-minute delivery changed the game. The lesson? Most people copy existing models. The best founders break them down and rebuild smarter. A First-Principles Test for Your Startup Idea: Ask yourself: 1️⃣ What’s the core problem I’m solving? 2️⃣ Why is it done this way today? 3️⃣ What happens if I strip it down and rethink it? If you’re copying how things are already done… You’re not innovating. You’re just repeating. Now, your turn—what’s a problem you’ve broken down and rebuilt from scratch? Drop it below. 👇🚀

You Want to Start a Startup in 2 Years? Start Now. Most people say they want to build a startup… someday. But waiting doesn’t prepare you. You don’t wake up one day ready to be a founder. You become one by doing the work before you start. Here’s what you should do NOW if you plan to start in 2 years: 1. Build an unfair advantage. → Learn skills that will make launching easier—sales, marketing, product, or coding. 2. Start solving problems today. → You don’t need a startup to think like a founder. → Find inefficiencies in your job, industry, or daily life—then figure out better solutions. 3. Grow your network before you need it. → Start talking to founders, investors, and potential customers now. → The best opportunities come from relationships built over time. 4. Understand the market. → Follow industry trends. Study successful and failed startups. → Learn what actually works instead of guessing later. 5. Develop a side hustle. → Sell something. Test an idea. Build an audience. → It’s not about the money—it’s about learning how to create value. The mistake? Thinking preparation starts when you quit your job. The best founders don’t just launch. They build their foundation years before. If you’re serious about starting a company in the future, your work starts today. What’s one thing you’re doing now that will help you build later? Drop it below. 👇🚀

The IKEA Effect: The Trap That Kills Startups Founders don’t fail because they have bad ideas. They fail because they get too attached to them. It’s called the IKEA Effect— you overvalue something just because you built it. And it’s deadly. ❌ You spend months building before validating. ❌ You ignore feedback because “they don’t get it.” ❌ You refuse to pivot—even when data says otherwise. Hard work ≠ Market demand. The best founders do one thing differently: They fall in love with the problem, not the solution. 💡 Validate first. Build later. Kill what doesn’t work. Have you ever fallen into the IKEA Effect? Share your stories in the comments if you’ve been there. 🔄 Repost & tag others who needs to hear this! 🚀

Startup is NOT for You if… Everyone loves the idea of being a founder. But not everyone is built for it. If you need certainty, stability, and a clear path… A startup isn’t for you. ❌ If you wait for permission… In startups, no one tells you what to do. You figure it out. Or you don’t. ❌ If you want work-life balance from day 1… Startups are unpredictable. Some days, it’s 4 hours. Some days, it’s 14. ❌ If you need quick wins… Success takes years. If you can’t handle slow progress, you’ll quit too soon. ❌ If you hate rejection… Customers will say no. Investors will ignore you. Most people won’t get what you’re doing. ❌ If you blame the market, the funding, or luck… Startups reward those who adapt, iterate, and keep going. Not those who wait for the perfect conditions. BUT… ✔️ If you can embrace uncertainty… ✔️ If you can take ownership, not just tasks… ✔️ If you can fail, learn, and try again… Then a startup might be for you. Most people love the idea of startups. Few can handle the reality. 🚀 Are you exploring opportunities with early-stage startups? Drop a comment and share a problem you’ve solved👇 Let’s see if we can work towards getting opportunities via Founders First Network

You Don’t Find Mentors. You Attract Them. Most people never get a mentor. Not because there aren’t great mentors out there. But because they go about it all wrong. Here’s why you’re struggling 👇 You ask for mentorship instead of building relationships. → The best mentors don’t reply to “Can you mentor me?” → They respond to curiosity, action, and value. You think one person will have all the answers. → No single mentor can guide you through everything. → The best founders have a board of mentors, not just one. You take, but don’t give. → The fastest way to get a mentor? Be worth mentoring. → Even if you’re just starting out, you can offer insights, introductions, or even just energy. You expect mentorship to be formal. → The best advice happens in quick, unplanned moments. → One sentence, one insight, one email—that’s what changes the game. So how do you ACTUALLY get a mentor? ✅ Engage first. Stop cold DMing. Start showing up. ✅ Learn from many. No single person has all the answers. ✅ Be worth investing in. Take action, show progress. ✅ Ask better questions. Not “Will you mentor me?” but “How would you approach X?” The best mentors don’t offer to mentor you. They notice your work. They see your progress. And they choose to help. Want great mentors? Start moving. They’ll find you. What’s one piece of advice a mentor gave you that changed your game? Drop it below. 👇

This Year, I Set a Bunch of Goals. One of them? Growing my LinkedIn and becoming a top voice in startup validation education. Not for vanity. Not for likes. But because I genuinely believe that each of you need validation education and you don’t even know it. I have seen 1000s of aspiring entrepreneurs, and early stage Founders fail, burn money, time and destroy their life and careers as they took years to realize that their startup doesn’t work. Now am bringing that to just validating in few months with Founders First Network I believe every aspiring founder should know how to test ideas before building. How to validate before wasting time and money. How to think like a founder—before they even start. Last few years, I have been quite inactive on LinkedIn. So on Jan 1st, I decided to change that. No hacks. No shortcuts. Just experimentation, iteration, and daily consistency. Some posts flopped. Some took off. But every day, I kept learning, tweaking, and showing up. And now? From almost 0 daily views → Now averaging 5K+ per day. This is just one of many goals I set this year. I’ll be sharing more soon—because sometimes, you just need to see that systematic growth is possible. Even if it inspires one of you to be consistent, It’s totally worth it. What do you think will be my numbers by this month end? 😄 Let’s have fun! Drop your guess below. 👇🚀 ♻️Repost if this inspires you. Spread the word and look forward to see you growing your LinkedIn too!

🚀 Looking for Referrals: Inside Sales Managers (Fully Remote) A NY-based growth-stage startup has a fully remote opportunity for experienced Inside Sales Managers with a strong background in global markets. 📌 SaaS experience is strongly preferred. I’m only considering referrals from Founders or experienced Inside Sales Specialists. Please tag relevant connections or DM me. I’ll be pre-filtering candidates before making any introductions. Appreciate your help!

The Best Startup Ideas Sound Crazy at First. Think about these: 🚀 “Indians will buy cars online without test-driving them.” → Spinny 🏠 “People will pay brokerage fees to avoid brokers.” → NoBroker 🍗 “Raw meat can be a premium D2C brand.” → Licious 💳 “Only premium credit card users will get rewards.” → CRED 🚗 “Auto-rickshaws can be booked like cabs.” → Ola 🛒 “Grocery delivery in 10 minutes is a business.” → Zepto These ideas didn’t just sound difficult. They went against existing consumer behavior. • Indians prefer test-driving before buying cars. • Brokers were seen as "necessary" in real estate deals. • Meat was always a price-sensitive, unbranded category. • Grocery delivery was already competitive—why shrink the time window? Yet, these founders saw something others didn’t. They asked: ✅ What shift makes this possible now? ✅ What do people secretly want but don’t say? ✅ What broken system can I flip? If your startup idea feels too obvious, too safe, too easy… You might be building what already exists. The real breakthroughs? They start with doubt, skepticism, and a little bit of madness. 🚀 What’s one startup idea you believe in—but others think is crazy? Drop it below. 👇🔥

Join The Change This Women’s Day! 3 months ago, we started something meaningful. Something that’s changing lives. I’ve always believed women restarting careers have immense potential—yet they are often ignored, stereotyped, or underestimated just because they took a career break. We wanted to change that. We didn’t start another “Restarting Program” or just share job leads. Instead, we focused on something deeper: Teaching them how to fish, not just giving them fish. We built a community where women could: ✅ Discover their strengths, aspirations, and goals. ✅ Build a mindset and system for weekly progress. ✅ Support each other, grow together, and take ownership of their careers. Here’s What We Did: We ran hands-on workshops on: ✔ Building a strong mindset ✔ Professional & personal goal setting ✔ Unconventional job search & networking strategies ✔ Leveraging AI & ChatGPT for career growth ✔ Finding mentors & building meaningful relationships ✔ How to build a powerful LinkedIn presence I also personally did 1-1 sessions with over 30 women to understand their challenges and help them with tailored guidance. What Did We Achieve? 🚀 50 women joined the community 💡 Nearly 20 are actively engaging and working on themselves. 👩‍💻 3-4 have already cracked jobs, and many more are on their way. 🎯 Several started freelancing & consulting. 💡 Some are exploring small business ideas. 🙌 The community is now self-sustaining, run by the women themselves! Even better? I hired my first employee for Founders First Network from this very community. This isn’t just a program. It’s a movement. They have owned it, and they are building the community they wished for. What Did It Cost? Just a little personal time, empathy, and treating them with the respect they deserve. No noise. No promotions. Just real impact. What’s Next? We are growing this further and making it sustainable. And soon, we’re launching something where everyone can access this value and more. If You Want to Be Part of This, Here’s How: 💬 Comment below / Ping me if: • You are a woman restarting your career and want to join the community. • You want to offer a job or opportunity to talented women. • You have resources to help them grow. • You want to mentor/guide them to land jobs or achieve their goals. 📢 Please be specific when you reach out! I didn’t tag all the amazing women in the community because each of them is special in their own way. But their stories deserve to be told, and I’ll be sharing them soon. A special thank you to Bhargavi,Sujatha and other lovely women, who have been volunteering and running this community selflessly, with no expectations—just a deep desire to support fellow women. Let’s not just celebrate Women’s Day. Let's act! Let’s celebrate, support, and uplift women—every single day. They don’t need just empathy. They need opportunities. Let’s create them. Happy Women's Day! ---------------------------------- ♻️ Repost to spread the word

Validating Ideas is Like a T20. Building Startups is a Test Match. Most founders treat their startup like a T20 match—Fast, aggressive, and always looking for quick wins. But here’s the truth: Idea validation is a sprint. Building a startup is a marathon. In T20, you: 🏏 Test different shots quickly 🏏 Take risks early 🏏 Adapt fast based on what’s working In validation, you: ✔ Experiment rapidly with different ideas ✔ Talk to customers, iterate, and pivot ✔ Fail fast and move forward with data But once you’ve validated the idea, the real game begins—the Test match. In Test cricket, you: 🏏 Play the long game 🏏 Have patience and strategy 🏏 Build innings, session by session In startups, you: ✔ Focus on sustainable growth ✔ Build systems, teams, and repeatable processes ✔ Play for long-term success, not quick exits Many founders burn out in the T20 phase. They want instant traction, fast money, and viral success. But real startups are won in the long game. 🏆 Fast validation. Slow, deliberate execution. That’s the formula. As we gear up for the Champions Trophy tomorrow, Rooting for India to bring home the win! 🇮🇳🏏 Love to hear your thoughts! Drop it below. 👇😄

Startup Education Is Broken. Here’s Why. Most people think you need an MBA to start a company. But let’s be real—most MBAs don’t teach you how to build. 🚀 They teach case studies, not execution. • You’ll analyze how Amazon grew. • But they won’t teach you how to get your first 10 customers. 💰 They teach fundraising, not bootstrapping. • You’ll learn about VC term sheets. • But not how to generate revenue from day one. 📊 They teach strategy, not survival. • You’ll master 100-slide decks. • But won’t know how to run ads, sell, or validate an idea fast. 🔥 Here’s the truth: You don’t learn startups from books—you learn by building. Your first startup is your real education. The best founders aren’t the smartest. They’re the ones who start. That’s why in our 30-day Startup Idea Validation Bootcamp, we are fixing real startup education: ✅ How to validate ideas before spending money ✅ How to sell before you build ✅ How to iterate fast & survive long enough to figure it out 📢 Next cohort starts on April 12th! Comment below or DM me to learn more/register. 🚀

Kavikrut . will be heading T-Hub as the next CEO. Look forward to see the new developments and hope to see lot more good things for the Hyderabad Startup Ecosystem.

Hyderabad-Based Startup Darwinbox Raises $140M from KKR to Take on Global HR Tech Giants 🚀 Back in 2015, when I was building my first startup, Darwinbox was just getting started too. HR tech wasn’t a hot space back then. It was clunky, outdated, and dominated by legacy players. But Rohit Chennamaneni, Chaitanya Peddi, Jayant Paleti and Vineet Singh and his team saw what others didn’t— The future of HR wasn’t just about managing employees. It was about empowering them. Fast forward to today: Darwinbox has grown leaps and bounds, scaled beyond expectations, and is now competing with the biggest names in HR tech—Deel, Rippling, and Workday. ✅ Became a unicorn and is still growing fast. ✅ Raised over $190M from top investors like Sequoia, Lightspeed, Salesforce Ventures, TCV, and now KKR. ✅ Still headquartered in Hyderabad—despite playing on the global stage. It’s inspiring to see a company scaling this way while still staying rooted in Hyderabad. With $140M in new funding, they’re not just defending their position. They’re going after the global giants. Congratulations to the entire team at Darwinbox. Will be cheering for more success in the days to come! What’s your take? Drop it below. 👇🚀

Week 1 Update: 30-Day Idea Validation Bootcamp! Here’s What We Did 👇 We kicked off with 23 driven founders and professionals from across the country. All with one mission: 👉 To turn ideas into clarity. 👉 To validate before building. And Week 1? It was power-packed. What We Covered: 🎯 Know Yourself – Founder-Market Fit & self-awareness frameworks. 💡 Idea Generation – Systematically come up with startup-worthy ideas. 📊 Market Research – Learn how to understand demand before we move. ⚔️ Competitive Research – Study the battlefield before you enter it. What They Did: ✅ 1-hour daily working sessions to apply every concept. 🤝 Cohort Networking – Because great companies are built by great teams. 💬 Collaborative learning, shared progress, honest feedback. Why It Works: In just one week, participants: • Narrowed down ideas they care about • Built clarity through frameworks • Started validating problems in real time We're building problem-solvers, not just founders. Execution > Theory. Clarity > Chaos. 🗓️ Next cohort starts April 12 🧠 Only 30 seats (and we keep it tight for a reason) ⚡ Register by 31st March and get a special price! 📩 Comment below or DM me if you're exploring startup ideas and want to do it the right way. Let’s build smarter. 🚀

Interview with HMTV: My Journey, Challenges, Failures & Lessons🎙️ Last week, I was invited for an interview on HMTV, where we had a no-filter conversation about startups, failures, and what it really takes to build. We dived deep into: 🚀 The journey so far – Lessons, failures, and pivots along the way. 🔍 The story behind Founders First Network – Why we built it & the vision. 🔥 The reality of building a startup – What it takes beyond the headlines. ⚡ Early-stage challenges – From validation to traction to survival. 💡 Where startups fail & how to avoid it – The mistakes no one talks about. 👩 Women Entrepreneurs - and their challenges in my experience. 🌍 The role of the ecosystem – How a strong support helps founders grow. 🎯 Rapid-fire Q&A – Fun, fast, and straight to the point. It was raw, insightful, and packed with real lessons from the trenches. 🎥 Watch the full interview on YouTube here: https://lnkd.in/gQNJBZRT Thanks to Vineela K Sekhar for inviting me to the interview. 💬 Which part resonated most with you? Any fresh insights that stood out? Drop it below! 👇🚀

As Founders, We Celebrate Holi Every Day! 🎨🚀 No, not with gulal and water balloons (though that would be fun too). But with the endless colors life throws at us: 💙 Customers – Some love us, some ghost us. 💚 Investors – One day bullish, next day skeptical. ❤️ Family & Friends – Supportive, confused, or waiting for us to get a “real job.” 💛 Society – Sometimes cheering, sometimes judging. 💜 Team & Co-founders – The ones who make the journey worth it (and test your patience). 🖤 Competitors – Keeping us on our toes, making the game more exciting. A startup journey is never black & white. It’s filled with unexpected twists, highs, and chaos—just like Holi. As the festival winds down, here’s to embracing the madness, the uncertainty, and the thrill—every single day. Because as founders, we don’t wait for festivals to celebrate—we embrace the chaos every day. Happy Holi! 🌈🚀 Btw excited that we are starting off the 30 Day Idea Validation Bootcamp tomorrow. Wish us luck :) What’s been the most colorful moment in your startup journey? Drop it below! 🎉

Wish You Had a Startup Program Back in School Days? They Do. Did you know there’s a 12-week entrepreneurship program designed for 9th to 12th graders? Its called TiE Young Entrepreneurs. I surely wish there was one when I was back in school. Last week, Subba Raju Pericherla & sriya nandimandalam from TiE Hyderabad invited me to take a session on Business Plans for a group of 20-30 students actively working on ideas. And let me tell you—these kids are sharp. In just 2 hours, we went deep into: 📌 Lean Startup Canvas 📌 Business Model Canvas 📌 How to structure a business plan like a story They weren’t just learning—they were exploring building. And their ideas? Spanning industries, solving real problems, and already showing promise. Thanks for such a lovely Souvenir TiE Hyderabad Team. Was great to see Bhanu Prakash Reddy Varla take a follow-up session as well! I am sure the students were impressed with the way he does storytelling. It’s incredible to see the next generation of entrepreneurs getting a head start this early. Now, I am curious—Do you remember what were you doing in school? 😄 Drop it below. 👇🚀 Founders First Network