2025 Wrapped

Not just highlights. Highs and Lows

This is the 70th Substack Post. And the last one of the year.

I started scrolling through the photos on my phone from 1st January until now. Jogged up the memory. Realized that most days of the life are boring, but they all add up to the highlights. I’ll also talk about things that didn’t workout. A lot of behind scenes work that go unnoticed.

Let’s get started.

Highlights

• Athletic Highlights.

  • Four 10K Races. Feb 51:36 → Dec 46:33. 🚀

  • Two were Half Marathons. The Paris Half Marathon and the Ladakh Half Marathon. The Ladakh Half Marathon was one of the best lifetime experiences. Also one of the toughest things I did. But, once the race was over. It didn’t feel like a big deal. And yet, it changed me profoundly in ways more than one. Made some amazing friends!

  • I did my first ever HYROX Single’s Mens Event. Super tough, made me cry towards the end. An intensely rewarding experience. Finished it under 2 hours.

  • In order to do this. I logged more than 1000K in running distance this year, in total 155 runs. Motivation was not the same on all days. Some days, I had to drag myself out of bed. And that’s okay. Your averages matter over a long period of time.

    

    

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  • I wanted to beat my previous Half Marathon PR at the Paris Half Marathon but I couldn’t. Frankly speaking, it doesn’t sting that much. I’ll just do better next time with better prep.

• Professional Highlights.

  • For the first time in my life, I pitched a project in French in front of senior leaders. Nerve wracking but I loved it. I practiced with my team and they were kind and critical at the same time.

  • I graduated from ESSEC in October 2025. Not a big deal, but nevertheless, a highlight.

  • I recorded a podcast in French for the first time in December 2024 with my friend, Claire. It was published in March this year. I realised the amount of wisdom I have. Sometimes, I should listen to that version when I go through negative emotions.

  • I moderated a big conference about Healthcare and AI. More than 150 people in the room. It was nerve wraking at first. But, I just maintained my curiosity and the panelists enjoyed the discussion and so did the audience.

  • I launched Just Build It – a builders community in Paris, in May 2025. We are now about to hit 400 followers on LinkedIn. Hosted 5 events. Got to work with companies like Lovable, Anthropic and Photoroom.

  • Lovable called me up and asked me to be their ambassador in France. Great perks and they help me in my initiatives for the builders community in Paris.

  • I won a hackathon in November and a finalist in another hackathon in December. 6 months ago, I couldn’t get selected to even participate. That was the fuel I needed to start working on my craft. I started building prototypes and small projects.

  • In December, I was invited to be a panelist to speak about community and AI. In 2024, I was in the audience listening to people about building community. What a full-circle moment!

    

    

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  • After my work-study contract ended with my previous company, me and my friend tried building a startup. We even applied to Y Combinator. But, we were rejected. It didn’t hurt at all. I enjoyed the experience and it pushed us to build a prototype, talk to people and iterate. But, we decided to stop working on it for 2 main reasons:

    • We didn’t care enough about we were building. We believed there was a problem but we hadn’t lived any of it. It seemed like a cool idea at the beginning. But, we asked ourselves if we’d care, even if we built the most amazing version. The answer was crystal clear.

    • Second, at a personal level, we were not in the same phase of life. I just graduated school and she applied for French nationality (so not a good time to quit your well-paying full-time job). Plus, there are other life goals too that didn’t match. So, a mutual co-founder breakup. However, as friends, we became much closer. Going through a roller coaster of emotions was worth it. I respect her a lot.

  • I began actively seeking for jobs in startups since October. I have lost count of the number of people I texted for an interview. I’d DM or email the CEOs of startups for an interview. Some were answered, didn’t go through. In one case, I did 4 rounds of interview with a startup accelerator, only to tell me that the position was no longer available (not filled). It hurt but, that’s the game. I moved on and kept applying for jobs. I have had some more interviews. It’s a roller coaster ride. Some days, I feel shit about myself. One week, it feels like nothing’s happening. And a week later, there are interviews lined up. Highs and lows. Uncertainty is inevitable to greatness.

• Other Highlights.

  • For the first time in 3 years, I visited India, saw my family and friends. Ate some delicious food. Visited Kerala for the first time in Feb. It is so beautiful. Highly recommend to go there in the winters. The best thing was talking to my sister about her life ahead. Happy that I could be of help to her as she found herself in a similar situation as I was a few years ago.

  • I got to witness one of my close friends marry his high school sweetheart. It’s one of the most beautiful life experiences.

  • On that note, I asked a girl out on a date in January. But, it never happened because she changed her mind. Huge respect to her for being honest and clear with me. It stung a bit. But, life goes on. So I moved on. However, I realized that I haven’t asked a lot of women out in my life. I treated it as a big deal and that prevented me from experiencing what it feels like to be wanted, to go through heart breaks. These are profound experiences. I was too afraid of rejection and then realised that once I asked her out, it wasn’t a big deal. Closed mouths don’t get fed. Gotta ask out more women.

  • I met one of the favourite authors in Paris. She is the author of Tiny Experiments. The book had a profound impact on me. I began a builders community after reading that book. I tried many experiments. And it helped me learn about myself and focus energy on things that matter.

  • In September, I got to run with one of my biggest inspirations in Bengaluru. He leads investments at Rainmatter. He is an inspiration for me because he went from being unfit to becoming an endurance athlete. He started his journey when he was 32 and has been doing it consistently for more than a decade.

  • Met Marc Lou, an indie hacker in Paris. Super inspiring because he is building a life he wants to live and based on external validation. We share a similar journey of going from unfit to fit.

  

2026 is going to harder than 2025. And it will be amazing!

Have a good rest of the year. I’ll see you again in 2026.

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Do What You Can’t!