2025 was the hardest and most transformative year of my life. It broke me, built me, and ultimately showed me what I'm capable of and what I actually want.

Here's the unfiltered version.

Graduating Into Chaos

I graduated into chaos. The job market was brutal, the toughest it had been in ten years. While my friends were landing roles at MAANG companies, I was sending applications into the void, watching rejection emails pile up.

My first attempt at building something was helping a friend with his startup, MyAirportConcierge. It didn't work out. Another setback in a year that was already testing my limits.

But I refused to stop moving.

The Cold Email That Changed Everything

One day, I sent a cold email to Raj Srimali, CPO of a startup called GrowthFactor. I didn't expect a response. I got an opportunity.

They brought me on as a contractor, but here's the thing: I came from a machine learning and data science background, and they handed me a software engineering role. Not just any role. I was tasked with building a scalable system from the ground up, including their most critical revenue-generating feature. The deadline was tight. The stakes were real.

I worked 10-hour days. Weekends disappeared. Sleep became optional.

My time at GrowthFactor was cut short due to logistics, but those three months ignited something in me. I learned what happens when you push past the boundaries of what you think you're capable of. I learned that great technical knowledge means nothing without business context. And I grew, a lot, under Raj's mentorship.

Proving Myself at Proxis

I kept going. Kept building. Kept honing my skills with open source projects and side work.

Then came Proxis, a Y Combinator S24 startup. They offered me a trial period, three weeks to prove myself.

I did it in four days.

Liam, the CEO, extended me a full-time offer as a Founding Engineer. Once again, I was handed a massive responsibility: build the entire product from scratch.

On my first day, I broke the system. Classic.

But over the next three months, I built out the entire backend and infrastructure, roughly 100,000 lines of code. From nothing to a working product.

My parents came to visit. The job was going great. I traveled to the West Coast. Those dark, grinding nights of early 2025, when I questioned everything, finally felt worth it.

Life is good.

The Question I Couldn't Shake

But something was still gnawing at me.

Even at my peak, I couldn't shake a question: whose dream am I building?

MyAirportConcierge was Groom's vision. GrowthFactor was Raj's vision. Proxis is Liam's vision.

What about mine? What about Aditya's values? When would I stop being the engineer executing someone else's dream and start building something that reflected who I am and what I believe?

Then I met Sofia, a fellow builder with a fire I recognized because I'd felt it in myself. But here's what struck me: Sofia was in an arguably better position than me, yet she was bolder, stronger, more willing to risk everything to pursue her own vision.

In this brutal economy, she was ready to walk away from a role people would fight for, just to bring her values to life.

That was the push I needed. I'm grateful to have her in my life.

The People Who Carried Me

I wouldn't be here without the people who carried me through this year.

My parents, who gave me everything and continue to support me unconditionally. My sister, who's always in my corner. My best friend Chinmay, who pushes me beyond my limits. We pull all-nighters together, building and dreaming. Kruti for keeping up with me even when I'm so hard to be with. Kenechi for always giving the best advice. Avnish for being a friend at one of the toughest times of my life.

And honestly, I'm grateful to God for surrounding me with people who believe in me even when I struggle to believe in myself.

Looking Forward

I'm not the same person who graduated into uncertainty twelve months ago. 2025 taught me that I can handle pressure, that I can build at scale, and that execution without vision is just labor.

One thing is certain: TAIM will win.

Here's to everyone grinding through their own 2025. Keep going. Your vision is worth fighting for.

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