Here's what nobody tells you about leaving everything behind to build a startup: The scariest part isn't the product or growth. It's the 3 AM moments when you question if you're delusional or visionary.
110 days ago, I walked away from the obvious path. Good grades. Solid Japanese. Clear trajectory to a comfortable job, maybe a masters, definitely security.
I said no to all of it.
Why?
Because I couldn't forget 2021. Me, drowning in browser tabs, talking to every study abroad agency in Bangladesh. Each one running the same ads: pushing students toward universities that paid them the highest commissions.
I self-applied to 37 schools. Got multiple offers. Figured it out alone.
But here's the thing- once you're through that hell, most people move on. Forget the struggle. I couldn't.
So in 2022, we started The Abroad Company.
Not as a company or startup. As an experiment.
The hypothesis was simple: What if students could talk to someone who was in their exact shoes just 1-2 years ago? Not an agent. Not a "counselor" with outdated advice. Someone who still remembers the confusion, the late nights, the specific challenges of their exact journey.
Started with a Calendly link. Taking calls from our dorm rooms. Recording podcasts at 2 AM. Writing blog posts between classes.
Students came. Then more came. Then they brought friends.
The demand told us something the market didn't want to admit: People are desperate for authentic guidance in a world built on commissioned lies.
Fast forward to today.
Day 106 of betting everything on this vision. Some nights I'm broke but energized. Some mornings I'm terrified but joining calls with mentors and students. Every small win. Every message from a student saying "you changed my path" ; reminds me why.
We're not just fixing study abroad.
We're reimagining how people navigate life's biggest transitions.
Today it's universities. Tomorrow it's careers, immigrations- anything cross borders.
The mission is bigger than mentorship. It's about democratizing opportunity. Making sure the kid in Dhaka (or Kathmandu, or Hanoi) has the same shot as someone with connections and cash.
Will we make it? I don't know.
Will I keep building? As long as it takes.
Because some problems are too personal to ignore.
Coffee’s Ready.
Back to work.
P.S.: If you're reading this at a normal hour, you're probably not building hard enough. Just saying.