I want to start by acknowledging the difficulties faced by Vauld’s customers from 2022 to this day. I’m extremely regretful for putting every Vauld customer through the scheme but believe the scheme is the best outcome for customers with the cards the company and its customers were dealt with. Q2 2022 was a crazy time in the crypto world that we failed to foresee while sprinting.
I was focused on building and growing Vauld from an idea in my apartment in India since I was 24. It was all I knew, and all that I was excited about for years on end. Looking back, my connection with Vauld was so deep that its ups and downs felt like my own. I could not (and did not) disassociate my identity from being the company’s CEO. The pain of Vauld failing felt as painful as losing a close member of my family. This attachment made the abrupt end of Vauld even harder, pushing me to question my values and decisions, and many times paralysing me for days on end where I couldn’t do anything beyond lay flat on my bed staring at the ceiling while feeling sorry.
I don’t know whether it’s typical to think about one’s legacy as often as I do, but thinking about the legacy I’d leave behind if I stopped working today caused a tremendous amount of sadness that was very hard to come to terms with. After a lot of help and introspection, I’ve come to accept that it is only the end of a chapter.
Where I Stand Today
I failed to see that I was more than Vauld’s CEO. The past two years helped me see that work life is only one part of life. I was extremely single-minded and I missed out on life experiences and relationships that I’m no longer willing to put on the side.
I am now in a better place, optimistic about the future after what’s been an extremely stressful and heavy two years. The support from my family, friends, my faith, Vauld’s early investors, and advisors like Kroll and Rajah & Tann have been crucial in helping me get to a place where I’m excited about being involved in early-stage companies again.
A New Chapter
Sanju and I are laying the groundwork for a new company with new partners. We're focused on building with a focus on growth as well as antifragility this time around.
While building a centralised venue was fun, we missed out on being part of the crypto zeitgeist by being a web2 company in the web3 world. It always felt like the real party was happening elsewhere - we were invited to it, we could even hear the party from a distance but we still missed it.
We want to embrace the culture and values of decentralisation much more than we did while running Vauld. We want to take ourselves less seriously, savour victories, and have fun at work.
Rounding Up
We’ve been through a lot in the last two years and are sensitive towards hate speech so please be mindful of the same.
In the spirit of maintaining a respectful and positive community through my writings on substack, I will actively manage and remove any hateful commentary directed towards myself, Sanju, or anyone involved with Vauld in the past or present.
This account is purely from my personal experience and is not meant as financial or legal advice.