My first startup — a clothes renting and lending marketplace for women in India, founded right after college (Aug 2018 – Jan 2019). My bedroom was the warehouse.
- Built a catalogue of 700+ garments and completed ~70 rentals end-to-end: pickup, dry cleaning, delivery, and return
- Onboarded 10+ homemakers willing to lend their wardrobes — recruited apartment community by apartment community, with printed posters and newspaper ads
- Took on a cultural taboo: renting used clothes didn't make sense to a lot of people, so presentation had to carry the trust — I recruited models and photographers so our catalogue could stand next to fast-fashion retail photography
The unit economics told the ending honestly: after dry cleaning and delivery, a rental netted ₹1–2 per garment, and daily-wear renting wasn't becoming the habit I'd bet on. I shut it down after six months. It remains one of the most fun, hardest-working stretches of my life — and it taught me what zero-to-one actually costs: supply acquisition, trust-building in a skeptical market, and knowing when the math says stop.