Caesar Sengupta, co-founder and CEO of Arta Finance.
Courtesy of Arta Finance
Given the ups and downs of the startup journey, the most important “superpower” that entrepreneurs can have is the flexibility to floor themselves, mentioned Caesar Sengupta, co-founder and CEO of fintech startup Arta Finance.
“There’s a lot noise on the earth,” Sengupta advised CNBC Make It. The entrepreneurial path could be extremely unstable, and founders might be pulled in many alternative instructions, so with the ability to filter out what’s necessary from all the noise is vital, he added.
His no. 1 technique for that is easy: “begin meditating.”
“I want three years again, someone had sat me down and mentioned: ‘Dude, like the whole lot else [will] be superb. Simply sit your self down and meditate … know when to tune out,” he mentioned.
Previous to co-founding the fintech startup in 2021, the 49-year-old spent about 15 years at Google the place he led major projects similar to Google Pay and the corporate’s “Next Billion Users” initiative.
It was at that huge tech firm the place Sengupta met his co-founders and a few of his first angel buyers, together with the CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai.
Thus far, Arta Finance has raised over $92 million and is backed by distinguished buyers similar to Sequoia Capital India and Ribbit Capital.
Prime technique for entrepreneurs
There’s a huge shift you expertise going from working in a giant firm to constructing a startup, says Sengupta. Not solely are you able to lose all sense of work-life stability, however threat additionally takes on a wholly new which means.
In a giant firm, threat is extra contained. At a startup, “you are simply far more fragile,” mentioned Sengupta.
“For those who ask any entrepreneur who’s been in a big firm, it is a fairly scary leap late in your life. I might say there are days the place you’re feeling … 100%, and there are days the place you are like: ‘Oh my God, what did I simply do?’ However I believe that is what I like about it,” he added.
A startup is a type of locations the place it’s extremely straightforward so that you can fully get drawn in, to the detriment of your self, your loved ones, your well being [and] your psychological well being.
Caesar Sengupta
Co-founder and CEO, Arta Finance
Moreover, in a startup atmosphere, it’s very easy to get fully drawn in, “to the detriment of your self, your loved ones, your well being [and] your psychological well being,” mentioned Sengupta. “However finally, it is about how [you] confront the ups and downs of life.”
That is why it is necessary to care for your psychological and bodily well being, he mentioned. Each day, he tries to allocate 5 to 10 minutes an evening to sitting alone and meditating.
He additionally makes use of train as a strategy to meditate. “I spotted [that] biking, for me, isn’t just bodily train, nevertheless it’s one of many solely occasions the place nobody can attain me … So forcing myself to be on that factor for an hour or two simply makes me meditate,” he mentioned.
Are you prepared to purchase a home? Take Smarter by CNBC Make It is new on-line course How to Buy Your First Home. Skilled instructors will assist you weigh the price of renting vs. shopping for, financially put together, and confidently navigate each step of the method—from mortgage fundamentals to closing the deal. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory low cost of 30% off $97 (+taxes and costs) by means of July 15, 2025.
Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get ideas and methods for fulfillment at work, with cash and in life, and request to join our exclusive community on LinkedIn to attach with specialists and friends.
