Discover/Women in VC/A Conversation with Akriti Dokania | Par...

From failed founder to VC partner: why failure accelerated her venture career

Women in VC · A Conversation with Akriti Dokania | Partner, Ridge...

“I just enjoyed technology, and that got me into software engineering, and I'm very grateful for it.”

1:44 / 2:23

Look. I did not know that I wanted to be a venture capital when I was doing software engineering. I just enjoyed technology, and that got me into software engineering, and I'm very grateful for it. What I did wanna do was be a founder and launch a company. And that, I think, expedited my entry into venture capital because I obviously built a company and failed at it. It wasn't an amazing outcome. But what I'd really learned was that I enjoyed building ideas zero to one, spending time with them, and actually thinking through what it what it means to, like, go from next stage to the next stage, and venture capital gave me that.

About this clip

Ridge Ventures Partner Akriti Dokania explains how her failed startup experience unexpectedly fast-tracked her entry into venture capital. She reveals how building and failing at her own company taught her to love the zero-to-one journey, making VC a natural next step rather than her original career plan.

Why this clip

This clip offers a refreshing perspective on how career pivots can emerge from failure, showing aspiring VCs an unconventional path into the industry.

1:44 - 2:2339spersonal lesson

career-transition failed-startup zero-to-one

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