Startup
2 uncomfortable truths every successful career faces
The road to career success is often painted as an inspiring journey filled with hard work, dedication, and passion. While those elements are certainly important, there are some uncomfortable truths about success that most people prefer to ignore. Facing these realities head-on can be the difference between stagnation and truly achieving your potential. In this article, we’ll uncover two harsh truths about career success that people hate to admit but are essential for growth and progress.
1. Hard work alone isn’t enough
We’ve all heard the age-old adage, “Work hard, and you’ll succeed.” While it sounds motivating, the harsh reality is that hard work by itself isn’t a guaranteed path to career success. The truth is, you could be the hardest worker in the room, but if you’re not working smart, making strategic decisions, and positioning yourself correctly, your efforts might go unnoticed.
Many people refuse to admit this because it shatters the comforting belief that grinding away day after day will eventually lead to success. However, the key difference between those who succeed and those who plateau is often strategy, not just effort. Here are some important factors that work alongside hard work:
- Networking: Connections can open doors that hard work alone cannot. Knowing the right people and building professional relationships is often the edge you need to get ahead.
- Skill adaptation: Working hard at a skill that’s becoming obsolete won’t help you in the long run. Being adaptable and continuously updating your skills to match industry trends is critical.
- Visibility: You can work tirelessly behind the scenes, but if people don’t know about your contributions, they won’t have the opportunity to reward you. Building your personal brand and making your accomplishments visible are key factors in getting noticed.
Success requires a combination of hard work, smart decisions, and the ability to be seen by the right people at the right time. Those who continue to believe that grinding away in silence will lead to recognition are often left disappointed.
2. Failure is inevitable and necessary
This truth is perhaps even harder to swallow: failure is not just possible, but inevitable. Everyone wants to believe that with enough determination, they can avoid failure altogether. But failure is a fundamental part of the journey toward success, and the sooner you accept that the better equipped you’ll be to learn and grow from it.
Many people are afraid of failure because they see it as a reflection of their worth. This mindset leads to avoiding risks and staying in a comfort zone where there’s little chance of stumbling. However, avoiding failure means you’re also avoiding growth. Here’s why embracing failure is crucial:
- Learning opportunities: Every failure teaches you something that success cannot. It’s through mistakes that you gain valuable insights and understand what doesn’t work, helping you refine your approach.
- Building resilience: Facing failure and bouncing back builds mental toughness. Resilience is a key trait of successful individuals who learn to persevere through adversity.
- Innovation requires risk: Many breakthroughs in careers come from taking calculated risks. Sometimes, those risks don’t pan out, but when they do, the payoff can be enormous. Staying safe won’t lead to big wins.
It’s important to view failure as a stepping stone rather than a setback. Those who succeed aren’t the ones who never fail—they’re the ones who fail, learn, and keep pushing forward. The harsh truth is, if you’re not failing, you’re not growing.
The path to career success is often filled with unexpected twists, disappointments, and moments of doubt. It’s easy to fall into the comforting belief that hard work alone will guarantee success or that failure is something to be feared. However, admitting these harsh truths can be empowering. When you accept that hard work must be paired with smart strategy and that failure is a necessary part of the journey, you’ll unlock a new level of resilience and adaptability.
By embracing these uncomfortable realities, you can stop spinning your wheels and start making the strategic moves needed to reach your career goals. The real question isn’t whether you’ll succeed, but whether you’re willing to face the hard truths and keep going when things get tough.
Startup
Flipkart selects five startups for third cohort of Flipkart Leap Innovation Network
Flipkart Leap Innovation Network (FLIN).
has selected five innovative startups for the third cohort of its flagship startup accelerator programme,The cohort is introducing startups that are driving advancements across GenAI, omnichannel, analytics, and video commerce, the company said in a statement.
The selected startups— Intelligence Node, Invenzo Labs, StoryBrain, Phyllo, and D-ID— are set to run pilot programs with Flipkart to develop solutions.
“The selected startups get access to mentorship, resources, and the opportunity to execute pilot projects within the Flipkart ecosystem, scaling their solutions to meet the demands of India’s digital economy and e-commerce growth,” the company said.
Since its launch in 2022, the accelerator programme aims to accelerate the growth of the startup ecosystem in India, driving collaboration, and championing cutting-edge retail innovations.
“Through the FLIN programme, Flipkart continues to expand its role as a catalyst for innovation within India’s startup ecosystem, providing a collaborative platform for startups to test, refine, and deploy solutions that can shape the future of e-commerce in India,” said Naren Ravula, Vice President and Head – Product Strategy and Flipkart Labs.
The programme is designed to engage with startups through commercial partnerships in Flipkart’s areas of interest. Successful startups get the opportunity to scale up to a business partnership.
Over 20 startups from the initial two cohorts have concluded pilots working closely with the Flipkart Product and Engineering teams.
The company added that four startups from the previous cohort— Anagog, Speedsize, Sangti, and Vtion— have recently concluded successful pilot projects with Flipkart.
Startup
Thesys secures $4M funding led by Together Fund
AI startup Thesys bags $4 million funding in a round led by Together Fund. The round also saw participation from 8VC, the company said in a statement.
The startup will use the funding to bridge the gap of user experience with AI agents. As a visual collaboration tool, the company will also provide a platform that will enable businesses to ideate, visualise, and ship intelligent experiences at scale.
“The way we engage with technology is changing faster than ever. Static interfaces simply don’t meet the demands of today’s AI-capabilities…At Thesys, we’re building tools that make it possible for businesses to adapt and thrive in this new era,” said Parikshit Deshmukh, Co-founder, Thesys.
This evolution is about unlocking the full potential of AI-driven interactions and delivering unparalleled user experiences, he added.
“The future of AI relies as much on intuitive, adaptive interfaces as it does on backend capabilities. Thesys’ vision for Generative UI aligns perfectly with Together Fund’s commitment to enabling founders who are redefining the user experience,” said Manav Garg, Co-founder and managing partner of Together Fund.
“By empowering teams to create real-time, personalized interactions, Thesys is setting a new standard for AI-driven interfaces. We’re excited to support their journey in transforming the role of design and development tools for the next generation of AI applications,” he added.
The company, founded by Rabi Shanker Guha and Parikshit Deshmukh this year, emerged from the understanding of the need to provide support in the shift towards AI-driven interfaces, it said.
“Thesys envisions a future where all interfaces dynamically adjust to each user’s behavior, preferences, and needs—driven by what the company calls “Generative UI”. Unlike traditional static interfaces that rely on predefined paths, Generative UI uses AI to create unique, adaptive user interfaces on-the-fly, allowing businesses to provide truly personalized digital experiences,” the company added.
The company plans to launch a UI SDK that is set to enable developers to seamlessly integrate Generative UI into their applications. Additionally, post its closed beta launch, the company plans a general availability (GA) with its product within the next quarter positioning itself as the go-to product toolkit for businesses looking to stay ahead in the AI revolution.
“Thesys is pioneering a transformative shift in UI design workflows by integrating AI-driven adaptability… Their Generative UI approach aligns with our commitment to investing in technologies that drive innovation in user experiences,” said Bhaskar Ghosh, partner at 8VC.
Startup
BrowserStack launches AI-driven Low Code Automation tool
Software testing platform
has rolled out Low Code Automation, a solution to simplify test automation for quality assurance teams, developers, and non-technical users.The newly launched solution will address challenges faced by software teams, including manual testing delays and complex automation frameworks, BrowserStack said in a statement.
While traditional test automation requires coding expertise by often limiting non-technical testers to contribute, this tool allows user—irrespective of their technical background—to create and manage AI-driven automated tests without writing code. Users can also use BrowserStack’s cloud infrastructure for reliable test execution.
“(The AI-powered Low-Code Automation (LCA) simplifies the process of building and maintaining test automation suites compared to traditional tools like Selenium. It reduces the steep learning curve and complexity often associated with automation projects, leading to a quicker return on investment (ROI),” Chintan Doshi, Director of Product Management at BrowserStack, told YourStory.
To support development teams worldwide, Low Code Automation speeds up testing cycles, boosts product quality, and enhances user experience by reducing technical barriers.
“Citizen testers—such as business analysts, product managers, and customer support teams—can easily add validations and create automated tests with the test recorder, without requiring coding skills. This reduces their dependency on developers and QAs and empowers them to actively contribute to testing efforts,” Doshi explained.
Founded in 2011 by Ritesh Arora and Nakul Aggarwal, BrowserStack provides a cloud-based platform for developers to test websites and mobile apps across devices, operating systems, and browsers on demand.
With headquarters in San Francisco and Mumbai, the company has expanded its product line to include over 15 products, of which 10 were launched in the past 18 months.
In August, the Accel-backed firm acquired Berlin-based Bird Eats Bug, an advanced bug-reporting tool. The acquisition aims to address the existing gaps in bug reporting and streamline fragmented testing workflows.
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