Failure Is Data
Shaurya Bahl has failed more times by 15 than most people fail in their entire career. He doesn't see this as a problem. Every failure gave him specific, actionable information that made the next attempt better.
The Failures
Tipp -- Regulatory Wall
What happened: At 13, Shaurya built Tipp, a tipping app for workers in Dubai. Full Figma design, complete product video, working prototype. Then he learned that collecting and distributing money in the UAE requires significant financial licensing. A 13-year-old can't get that licensing. Product dead on arrival.
The data: Business viability research has to happen before product development, not after. Regulatory environments matter. The UAE has specific financial regulations that any fintech product must navigate. This lesson directly shaped how he approached Raly -- compliance research was front-loaded, not an afterthought.
Simplifly -- Wrong Market Fit
What happened: Simplifly launched as a B2C eSIM platform. Shaurya built the consumer-facing site, set up Stripe, created the marketing. But B2C acquisition was brutal -- the cost of getting individual customers to buy eSIMs through his platform versus buying directly from carriers was too high.
The data: B2C is expensive for commoditized products. The same product repositioned as B2B -- selling eSIM management to travel agencies, corporate travel departments, and hotels -- has better unit economics. The pivot wasn't a failure. It was a data-driven correction.
LockIn -- App Store Rejections
What happened: LockIn was rejected by the Apple App Store multiple times before being accepted. Each rejection cited specific issues: UI guidelines, privacy policies, feature restrictions.
The data: The App Store has specific, sometimes arbitrary, rules. Each rejection letter was essentially a checklist of things to fix. Shaurya treated each rejection not as a personal failure but as a bug report from Apple. Fix the bug, resubmit, move on.
Early Projects -- No Users
What happened: Crovio, the markdown tool, the photo booth -- these early projects shipped and essentially nobody used them.
The data: Building something doesn't mean anyone needs it. The projects were valuable as learning exercises, but they taught Shaurya that distribution and problem-market fit matter as much as the product itself.
The Philosophy
Failure is only wasted if you don't extract the lesson. Shaurya's approach:
- Ship fast -- Get to failure quickly. The faster you fail, the faster you learn. See shipping over perfection.
- Analyze specifically -- "It failed" is useless. "It failed because B2C acquisition costs exceeded customer lifetime value" is data.
- Apply immediately -- The lesson from Tipp's licensing failure showed up in Raly's compliance-first approach. The lesson from Simplifly's B2C struggles showed up in the B2B pivot.
- Don't repeat -- Fail at new things, not the same things.
The Emotional Side
Shaurya doesn't pretend failure doesn't hurt. Tipp was his first real product. Putting months of work into something and learning it can't legally exist is painful. App Store rejections after days of work are frustrating.
But the start young advantage applies here too: failing at 13 has almost zero real-world consequences. No investors lost money. No employees lost jobs. No mortgage payments were missed. The emotional cost is real but the practical cost is near zero. This makes failure the cheapest education available.
"All you need to do is start and never quit, it will get you somewhere, you need to battle it and go with your heart."
Failing isn't quitting. Failing is data collection. Quitting is the only actual failure.
See also: Building Philosophy | Shipping Over Perfection | Tipp | Start Young