Author: Sandeep Nailwal

Compiled by: Block unicorn

With the launch of the Nailwal Fellowship last month, I spent a lot of time reflecting on my roots and how such a project would help me in my entrepreneurial journey. Today, I want to share the process of creating the Nailwal Fellowship—from humble beginnings in a rural village to Polygon now being a leading blockchain network protocol.

My Early Life

I was born in the small mountain town of Ramnagar in northern India. My family comes from a very humble background—my grandfather was a domestic help in an affluent household, my father was a daily wage laborer, and my mother never went to school and was a homemaker. To provide me with better educational opportunities, my family moved to the "Jamna-Paar" area of Delhi when I was still a child. I proudly call this place home, but it is often labeled as a slum or impoverished area by others (as shown in the image below).

Our lives were defined by "tension." Tension from relocating our lives from Ramnagar to the new community in Delhi, tension surrounding my father's alcoholism, gambling, and violent tendencies, and the financial tension stemming from our unstable income. These experiences shaped my aspirations—I was determined not to let my family, present and future, repeat such a life. I vividly remember a childhood event that had a profound impact on my life.

When I was six years old, I visited a temple in Ramnagar before moving to Delhi. In this temple, I made a habitual wish before leaving. I wished that one day I would be able to provide my family with a life that my parents could not. This wish became the guiding force that led me out of adversity and shaped my success as a founder.

Education was my path to a better life, and even after changing schools following the relocation, I was fortunate to excel academically. As I was about to enter middle school, my neighbors and friends suggested to my parents that they should send me to a school outside of Jamna-Paar to fully realize my potential. Transitioning from a smaller school in Delhi to a larger one was challenging, but I knew it was a step towards a better life for my family. I focused on my studies and once again achieved top grades, leading to my subsequent journey through college education and entrepreneurship.

The Burden of Expectations: My Entrepreneurial Journey

Expectations can be stepping stones to life goals or burdens that hinder personal growth. In my life, they have been heavy burdens I carry. As the eldest son, I was expected to be the breadwinner, providing for the family even while repaying student loans. At times, the pressure of supporting the family made it difficult for me to sleep; I vividly remember not knowing if I could afford to fund my sister's wedding. While I take pride in supporting my family, these expectations often forced me to prioritize financial stability over entrepreneurial aspirations.

In my personal life, as my relationship with Harshita (my girlfriend, now wife) became serious, I felt the pressure of buying a house and providing a certain standard of living for her. This could have led me down a career path that wasn't right for me. Fortunately, Harshita encouraged me to pursue my passion, overturning the notion that owning a big house equates to happiness. This support allowed me to follow my interests, ultimately leading to the creation of my first company and later co-founding Polygon.

However, I know not everyone has had such support. The goal of the Nailwal Fellowship is to provide individuals with the support to pursue their passions and break free from societal expectations. Through the Fellowship, you will have the opportunity to receive financial support and access to a network of resources that will enable you to pursue your passions on your own terms. Looking back, I wish I had the opportunity to be part of a program like the Nailwal Fellowship. It would have accelerated the founding of Polygon and enhanced my overall sense of fulfillment.

The Importance of Resilience

Reflecting on my personal experiences as a founder, I want to emphasize a quality that I believe is crucial for any entrepreneur – resilience. I have always been passionate about entrepreneurship, but throughout my life, factors such as student loans, providing for the family, and societal expectations often made me hesitate to pursue my passions. My early entrepreneurial endeavors were part-time, revolving around my regular work schedule. Unable to commit full-time, most of the projects ended in failure. However, these failures were valuable lessons that cultivated my resilience.

My first real entrepreneurial experience was with a small startup during my college years, where we developed software for government agencies. While we made some progress, we were unable to scale due to time constraints and eventually had to shut down. My next attempt came a few years later, while working as a consultant at Deloitte, I took on a part-time project with a logistics startup. We had some initial success, but the competition was fierce. However, another startup had to shut down, and these experiences taught me valuable lessons. I needed to find a blue ocean market – an area where I could have a competitive advantage. More importantly, I needed to commit full-time to achieve significant growth.

I (far left, second row from the top) back in college

Encouraged by Harshita, I left my stable corporate job to focus full-time on my entrepreneurial venture. I then embarked on developing a B2B marketplace showing signs of growth. We secured contracts with major brands, and revenue started flowing steadily. However, we soon hit a plateau. Despite our best efforts, we couldn't break through the growth stage. We had to shut it down, marking the end of my third attempt. Three consecutive failures led to self-doubt. But my resilience was stronger than my doubts. I learned from past experiences, and with unwavering support from my family – they encouraged me to pick myself up and move forward. And the fourth attempt proved to be the opportunity for success. My next entrepreneurial project was a small blockchain project called Matic. Little did I know, Matic would evolve into Polygon and achieve unimaginable success.

Early days of Matic with me, JD, and Sid

Resilience has played a crucial role in my achievements today. The Nailwal Fellowship aims to identify and support creators who demonstrate resilience and are willing to overcome setbacks to achieve their dreams. We don't care how many times you've failed; what matters to us is how many times you've picked yourself up and tried again. For us, this is the most important value any founder must possess. If there's one lesson for a founder to take from my story, it's that you need an inner drive to build something better. You don't need to have the same background as me, but every great founder I know has a deep inner drive pushing them to achieve more.

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