I almost did not start Elixr Labs, the healthtech company. The more I understood the problem, the more difficult it seemed to solve. I had spent nearly two decades working in technology, including at some of the world’s largest tech companies. I had seen how complex systems were built, where they failed and what needed to change particularly in healthcare technology. I had the knowledge, the experience and the network. I could clearly see the problem and still, I waited because I understood what starting would actually mean.

Starting from zero meant walking away from the certainty of a salary, a familiar title, an established organisation and a structure that told me, every morning, that I was doing well. Building something of my own was different. There was no predefined definition of success, no predictable career path or no organisation chart telling me where I stood. I would have to define success for myself.

The Comfort of Certainty

There is a certain comfort in having a successful career. You know what your role is, what is expected of you and when you are performing well. You receive a salary at the end of the month. Even when the work is challenging, the structure itself provides a sense of security. Entrepreneurship removes much of that structure. When you start from zero, nobody can guarantee that your idea will work. Nobody can tell you exactly what your company will look like in five years.

You have to create the product, build the team, understand the market, make decisions with incomplete information and keep moving when the answer is not obvious. That uncertainty can be uncomfortable even when you believe strongly in what you are building. For me, the hardest part was not understanding the problem. It was accepting that there would never be a perfect moment to solve it.

When you have spent years in an industry, you know exactly how hard it can be. Healthcare technology makes this even more complicated because the consequences are not limited to whether a product succeeds commercially. Technology in healthcare can affect clinicians, hospitals, patients and entire workflows. So, I did what many experienced professionals do when faced with a difficult problem. I thought about it and thought about it some more. The idea stayed with me for years. But thinking about building something and actually building it are two completely different things. At some point, analysis stops being preparation and starts becoming avoidance. It was something I eventually had to confront.

The Question That Changed Everything

What finally broke the paralysis was not a business plan. It was a question. One night, I asked myself, If I do not do this, then who will? And will I be able to live with that answer ten years from now? That changed the way I looked at the decision. Until then, I had been asking myself whether I was ready to start. There was a fear of failure which is not a weakness. It means good understanding of the stakes. If you are building something meaningful, there is a lot to lose, like your savings, your time, your comfort and sometimes your confidence. It is completely normal to be afraid of that. The mistake is believing that fear has to disappear before you can move forward. It does not. The fear was still there when I started Elixr Labs. What changed was its importance. The possibility of failing was no longer as powerful as the possibility of never trying. You do not always overcome fear. Sometimes, you simply find a reason that is stronger than it.

What Starting from Zero Taught Me

Working inside a large organisation teaches you how to operate within a system. Building a company teaches you how to create the system itself. There is a difference. At a large company, you may have access to established processes, experienced teams, technology infrastructure and institutional knowledge. As a founder, you will have to start with an idea and a problem worth solving. Everything else has to be built. Starting from zero strips away many of the things that make you feel successful and forces you to focus on whether you are creating something that genuinely matters.

While leaving a stable job and investing everything you have is risky, there is another kind of risk that we do not discuss enough. The risk of not trying. Imagine knowing that you had the experience, the understanding and the opportunity to address a problem, but deciding not to act because the path was uncertain. Years later, the question may not be, what if I had failed? It may be, what if I had tried? For me, that question became more uncomfortable than the fear of failure.

Looking back, I do not think the most important decision was choosing to become an entrepreneur. It was choosing not to let fear make the decision for me. The fear of failure did not disappear, but the alternative became clearer. If a problem matters enough, eventually you have to decide whether you are willing to do something about it. It is where every meaningful journey begins.

What is one tough step you have taken in your career path even when you were not sure how it would turn out?