Did you know that Reid Hoffman was 42 when he founded LinkedIn, and Arianna Huffington was 55 when she co-founded the Huffington Post?
That’s right, the most successful entrepreneurs aren’t the 20-year-olds in their dorm rooms; they’re experienced founders.
But don’t just take my word for it. According to a Harvard University study by Pierre Azoulay, Benjamin F. Jones, J. Daniel Kim, and Javier Miranda, the average age of successful startup founders is between 35-45 years.
A paper titled “Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship” published in the American Economic Review found the mean age at founding for the 1-in-1,000 fastest-growing new ventures to be 45 years.
Research by Wharton assistant management professor Daniel Kim and his colleagues also showed that the average founding age of successful entrepreneurs in high-tech industries is around 43 years.
You get my point.
Experience, industry knowledge, and networks that come with age, allow these founders to spot opportunities, generate impactful ideas, execute leveraging their career learnings, and use their networks to open doors and fast-track their projects to success.
A prime example of this is Atul Shinghal. After two decades in the fintech sector with financial giants like Capital One, he set out to fix inefficiencies in the way insurance products were sold in India with his company, Scripbox.
Drawing on his deep industry knowledge, Atul had to educate a market sceptical of digital banking, reassuring customers that their money would be safe with Scripbox.
His efforts paid off. Scripbox didn’t just change customer behaviours—it evolved into India’s leading digital wealth management platform, raising over $34M in funding and earning a top spot for customer satisfaction.
Today, Scripbox is recognised by LinkedIn as the second most influential financial services brand globally and has won numerous awards including the Financial Express’ Best Bank Award.
I recently interviewed Atul as part of our podcast, The Startup Journey. Atul shared his transition from the corporate world to startup success, explaining how Scripbox was born out of a mix of professional experience, personal frustration, and a few pivotal moments in his life.
Then he went on to reveal how his expertise and strategic use of technology disrupted the traditional financial services industry.
Listen below or scroll down to read the full interview.
Contents
About Atul & the Founding of Scripbox
Rui: Could you give our readers a quick overview of Scripbox and the value you set out to create when you founded it?
Atul: Absolutely. In the simplest terms, Scripbox is a digital wealth manager.
When we started, our mission was to bring simplicity, transparency, and best practices to a sector that was traditionally dominated by offline financial advisors and banks.
A lot of people confuse digital with being just online. But for us, digital is more than that—it’s a business model, whereas online is merely a channel. We’ve harnessed the power of science, data, technology, and mathematics to revolutionise wealth management. We wanted to create a more customer-centric, data-driven, and efficient approach to managing wealth.
Today, Scripbox serves over 80,000 families with their wealth management needs, offering a complete range of services. We begin by truly understanding each customer’s requirements, not just in terms of future investments but also considering what they have already invested in. We employ various tools like financial planning and portfolio audits to get a comprehensive view of their needs.
From there, we develop tailored investment portfolios based on each client’s risk appetite, financial goals, and long-term objectives, such as retirement planning or their children’s education. It’s a science-backed process that includes asset allocation, portfolio optimisation, and fund selection to create the best possible financial strategy.
Gone are the days of filling out paper forms or writing cheques. We leverage India’s advanced payment infrastructure to enable single-click investments, making the process incredibly convenient for our customers.
But it doesn’t end there. We regularly review and adjust each portfolio. Over time, investments can become a mix of products—stocks, mutual funds, insurance policies, and fixed deposits. Our goal is to consolidate these into a cohesive, systematic plan that is reviewed consistently to ensure it aligns with the family’s evolving needs.
In India, money is often a family matter rather than an individual one. So, at Scripbox, we look at wealth management at a family level, not just an individual level. Our approach combines the strengths of digital to reduce costs, eliminate human biases, and deliver better research and outcomes driven purely by data.
That’s the essence of Scripbox—bringing the power of digital to the world of wealth management to create better financial futures for families.
How to Successfully Disrupt an Industry
Rui: As you mentioned, you’re disrupting an industry and changing behaviours, particularly in a culture where money is often viewed as a family affair.
How challenging was it to shift that mindset early on?
Atul: Changing behaviour is always a challenge, especially when it comes to money. There are two main types of behaviour we had to address.
First, there’s a common misconception that wealth management is all about short-term gains. Many people are obsessed with the stock market’s daily movements and immediate returns on their investments. I don’t even track the market regularly myself, despite being the CEO of a wealth management company, because what truly matters is the long-term strategy.
One of our biggest tasks was to shift this mindset – to get people to think about their wealth holistically and focus on their long-term goals rather than short-term gains. We continually stress the importance of staying invested and consistently contributing to their portfolios. It’s all about patience and discipline, and as I like to say, it’s like a mantra: stay invested, keep investing. During the COVID crisis, we saw a clear example of this—customers who stayed the course did very well, while those who tried to time the market struggled.
The second behaviour change was building trust in digital platforms for wealth management. It took time to convince people that their money was secure in a digital environment. Thankfully, as online banking and digital payments became more mainstream, this transition became smoother. The pandemic also accelerated this shift towards trusting digital solutions.
But at the heart of any wealth management service is trust. No matter how innovative or disruptive your approach is, if you can’t build that trust, behaviour change simply won’t happen. We focused on staying true to our core values of simplicity, honesty, and transparency, and I think that’s what has helped us the most. Our Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 60 speaks volumes about the level of customer satisfaction we’ve been able to achieve. In the wealth management space, that’s a rare accomplishment.
Changing behaviour in this space also means understanding that customers won’t immediately trust you with all their wealth. It’s a gradual journey. They might start with a small amount—say, $60 or $120—or even $1200 before they’re willing to commit more substantial investments. The key is engagement and building a relationship.
Our approach to this is very different from typical digital or e-commerce businesses that focus on speed and quick transactions. We believe that easy in is easy out. Instead, we prioritise guiding our clients through a journey—learn, plan, invest. We encourage them to take their time, use our tools, understand the process, and make informed decisions. This might seem counterintuitive in a digital-first world, where immediacy is often the goal, but for us, it’s the right way to build a sustainable wealth management business. It’s about creating long-term value, not just transactions.
Rui: I want to take a step back and ask you about how the idea for Scripbox came to be. While preparing for our conversation, I noticed that you mentioned on your LinkedIn that it all stemmed from frustration. Could you expand on that?
Atul: The idea for Scripbox was born out of a mix of professional experience, personal frustration, and a few pivotal moments in my life. To give you a bit of background, I had previously built a digital bancassurance venture in South Africa as part of my career. During that time, I truly understood the difference between building a digital business and just being online. We created a full-stack digital business and saw the power of digital transformation firsthand.
Later, I moved to set up Old Mutual’s asset management company. We aimed to create a mutual fund and wealth management business in South Africa, similar to their offerings in the UK. However, when the Lehman Brothers crisis hit, we had to shut down the venture, which gave me time to reflect and identify gaps in the industry that could be addressed with a digital-first approach.
But the real turning point came during a sabbatical in 2009. I was sitting with my parents, who are both very well-educated and financially aware individuals, yet they were having a heated debate about how to invest a relatively small sum of money. My father, a retired three-star general, was convinced to give it to one person, while my mother insisted it should go to someone else who offered a slightly higher return. I was shocked—they were debating based on word-of-mouth advice and kickback commissions.
I realised then that even highly educated people like my parents were making investment decisions based on incomplete or misleading information. When I dug deeper, I found that this was a widespread issue—people were either following random advice or just going with whatever their local advisor suggested. There was a serious lack of transparency and too much complexity in the investment process.
This experience, combined with the understanding that the financial advisory landscape was rapidly changing, drove me to think there had to be a better way. The distributor industry was in flux, and customers were overwhelmed by too many choices, which often led to poor decision-making.
When we launched Scripbox, we decided to take a completely different approach. Most platforms at the time offered endless options—thousands of mutual fund schemes, and hundreds of equity funds—but when we dug into the data, we found that all these funds were essentially investing in the same pool of stocks. It was a classic case of unnecessary complexity.
So, we chose to simplify it all. Instead of bombarding people with endless options, we went to market with just four funds that were carefully curated. This was inspired by the work of Sheena Iyengar, a behavioural finance scientist who demonstrated that too many choices often lead to decision paralysis.
Our philosophy was simple: when people are hungry, they just want a sandwich, not a complex recipe that forces them to think about ingredients and choices. We wanted to offer that ready-made sandwich—simple, convenient, and perfectly suited to their needs. We took away all the unnecessary decisions and focused on providing a straightforward, data-driven approach that our customers could trust.
By keeping it simple, we were able to remove the barriers that made wealth management intimidating and confusing for so many people. And even though our approach was counterintuitive to the industry at the time, it turned out to be exactly what people needed—a simple, clear path to building their wealth.
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Creating the Core Product
Rui: You mentioned that Scripbox now offers a range of tools and services, but I’m assuming that wasn’t the case from day one.
You’ve always focused on keeping things user-centric, adapting to your customers’ needs, and bringing simplicity to the process. Was the current suite of services a result of iteration over time?
How did you get started, and what did the core product look like in the beginning?
Atul: You’re absolutely right. The core principle that has guided us from the start is the use of data and science to create the best possible outcomes for our customers, combined with a user experience that’s so intuitive that it just works. But yes, what you see today is the result of continuous evolution and learning from our users.
When we first launched, we started with just one product designed specifically for long-term wealth creation. It was a straightforward offering that included four diversified equity funds, which was enough for our early users who were mostly new savers. At that point, most of our customers were in the same risk profile, aiming to build their wealth gradually, so this simple approach worked well.
As our customers grew with us, both in their financial journey and in their trust in Scripbox, we started to expand our offerings based on their needs. We added solutions for short-term money goals, tax-saving products, and even emergency funds. It was all about listening to our customers and adapting to their evolving needs.
About 24 months ago, we did a deep dive into our user data and feedback. We realised that our customers were looking for more—they wanted insurance, stocks, fixed deposits, and bonds. So, we started building those features into our platform. We’ve always been keen on user feedback; we gather insights from multiple outreach programmes, monthly NPS surveys, and even direct emails that I receive personally.
As a result, our offering has evolved into a full-stack wealth management platform. Today, we spend a lot of time understanding our customers’ needs in detail and creating tailored portfolios to suit their unique financial goals. Where we once started with just four equity funds, now we have a basket of up to 23 funds, depending on factors like the amount they’re investing and their risk appetite.
We’ve also introduced international equity, tax filing, and tax-saving services, with plans to continue expanding over the next year. Our goal is to become a one-stop solution for all our customers’ wealth management needs. Even if they don’t invest all their money with us, we aim to provide a way for them to visualise their entire financial picture in one place.
What you rightly pointed out about iteration is crucial—entrepreneurs need to keep listening to their users, be open to trying new things, and be quick to pivot if something isn’t working. For example, in 2019, we made a big push towards goal-based investing, but soon realised it was causing anxiety for customers when they saw how much they needed to achieve their goals. They felt overwhelmed by the gap between where they were and where they needed to be, which sometimes led to inaction.
So, we quickly adapted and repackaged our approach to make it less daunting and more actionable. It’s about staying flexible, not getting too attached to your initial ideas, and not being afraid to step back and change course if the data tells you to.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as an entrepreneur is that early success can sometimes be misleading. It’s easy to get caught up in that initial momentum, but building a company is a long game. It always takes longer and costs more than you expect. So, patience and persistence are key. We need to stay true to our vision but also be realistic about the journey—it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Acquiring Early Adopters
Rui: There’s often a temptation among entrepreneurs to look at the market, see a product they admire, and then decide they need to build something just as feature-rich from day one. But that’s a huge risk, right? You can end up spending years building a solution without knowing if the market will take it.
As you said, companies like Scripbox—and even Amazon, which started as a simple online bookstore—took the path of least resistance.
They focused on solving one crucial problem first and then gradually expanded based on customer feedback.
Let’s talk about your early adopters. How did you go about acquiring those first users? What strategy did you use to make sure they embraced your product?
Atul: Our early strategy was to engage deeply with those first users, understand why they chose our product, and what they liked about it, and then use that insight to scale while still maintaining simplicity.
The core of our message to these early adopters was straightforward — just tell us how much you want to invest, and leave the rest to us. We wanted to create a “fill it, shut it, forget it” experience.
That level of trust and simplicity resonated strongly with them. To our surprise, we attracted a diverse group of customers—not just those who were new to investing, but also individuals in middle management and even senior professionals with significant wealth.
We initially thought our simplicity would mainly appeal to beginners or smaller investors, but we quickly realised that even those with larger amounts to invest appreciated a straightforward, no-nonsense approach. Of course, keeping those larger investors meant we had to continually evolve our offerings, adding new products and more sophisticated tools as their needs grew.
You mentioned a great point about not aiming to launch with the “perfect” product. We see Google Maps as a classic example of this. They weren’t the first to market, and even now, they’re constantly adding small but impactful features.
It wasn’t about having a flawless product at the start; it was about building something that worked well enough and then continuously improving it.
Our philosophy at Scripbox is similar—we focus on refreshing rather than rebuilding. Instead of tearing down the entire product whenever there’s a need for improvement, we prefer to give it a fresh coat of paint. It’s about making incremental changes that keep things relevant and engaging without overhauling the entire system.
This approach helps us stay agile and keeps the product aligned with our users’ evolving needs. Too many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of either trying to build the perfect product right out of the gate or feeling the need to completely start over if things don’t go exactly as planned. It’s far more sustainable to build something solid, keep improving it, and be open to evolving.
How to Deal with Investors & When to Look for Funding
Rui: Let’s shift gears a bit. Can you share some important lessons you’ve learned when it comes to dealing with investors?
Atul: Absolutely. The most important thing is to be honest and transparent—never make false promises. We’ve always been focused on generating real value and revenue, rather than chasing vanity metrics. Luckily, our investors share this mindset, which has made our journey smoother.
My approach with investors has always been to keep things as simple as possible. Yes, in today’s world of inflated valuations, it’s easy to get caught up in thinking, “Why aren’t we getting those kinds of numbers?” But for us, it’s always been about making sure we get a fair valuation for what we’re building.
A big lesson I’ve learned is that you should always be open to raising capital because, at the end of the day, cash is king. Coming from a large corporate background, where cash flow was never a concern, this was a significant mindset shift for me. In a startup, if you don’t have money in the bank, you can’t hire the right team, you can’t invest in marketing, and you can’t develop your product.
So, even if you’re not actively seeking funds, staying open to the idea of raising capital is crucial—especially if you’ve chosen a path that requires scaling and significant investment. If you’re building a bootstrapped company, that’s a different journey altogether, but if you’re looking to scale fast with external funding, it’s essential to keep that door open.
Be clear and transparent about your plans, be available to your investors, and most importantly, deliver on your promises. Building that trust is key to a successful partnership.
Rui: Let’s assume we’re talking about founders who aren’t looking to bootstrap and know they will need to raise funds at some point.
When do you think they should start engaging with investors on their startup journey?
Atul: I’d say the right time to start engaging with investors is when you have a clear understanding of what you want to build and, more importantly, a clear view of how you’ll monetise your business. If you’re not clear on the monetisation aspect, it’s going to be tough to make a compelling case.
The first lesson I’d give to founders is not to get too hung up on valuation, especially in the early rounds. In most cases, investors are genuinely interested in giving you a fair value because they want your business to scale. Their goal is to partner with you for long-term growth, not to take a huge slice of your company right away.
Early-stage founders often worry too much about dilution, but I advise focusing on getting the money you need to get to market as soon as possible. It’s more valuable to have funds in the bank quickly than to spend months negotiating for a slightly higher valuation.
It’s also important to remember that engaging with investors is a great reality check for your business model. They see so many pitches and business plans that they can offer you valuable insights into your market position and aspirations.
Approach these conversations with an open mind, assuming positive intent on the investor’s part. They’re usually looking to partner with you, not just write a cheque.
Most investors will give you a fair valuation because that’s their job—they’re professionals at assessing the potential of businesses. If your expectations are far out of line with theirs, you’re likely in the wrong place. Negotiating within a reasonable range is fine, but understand that they’re seasoned experts, and their valuations are typically well thought out.
Your job is to build the business, while theirs is to invest in promising ventures. So, focus on your growth strategy, be transparent, and leverage their experience to refine your vision. That’s how you turn a funding conversation into a long-term partnership.
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The Early-Stage Startup Team
Rui: Who did you have with you in the early days? What was the team composition like?
Atul: In the beginning, we were fortunate to have a strong founding team with complementary skills. Ravi, my co-founder, brought extensive domain knowledge in asset management and capital markets, which was crucial for determining which funds to include in our offerings. Sanjeev, on the other hand, had a solid background in technology and architecture, helping us build the digital backbone of the company. My focus was on understanding how to grow the business and bring all these elements together.
One piece of advice I always share with aspiring entrepreneurs is that it’s very tough to go it alone. Sure, being a solo founder means more equity for yourself, but having a founding team with a good mix of technology, sales, and business skills is invaluable. Domain knowledge is essential, of course, but the balance between people who can code, those who understand sales, and those who can strategise is often underestimated.
Too often, I meet tech founders who don’t fully appreciate the importance of sales or marketing. But the reality is, no matter how great your product is, you need someone who’s hungry to acquire customers and understands how to reach them. The only major exception I’ve ever seen is WhatsApp—they’re one of the few success stories that didn’t have a sales team. But for almost every other company out there, having a strong sales function is crucial.
We truly were a garage startup when we began, with a team of just six people. In those early days, we had to make do with limited resources, so we outsourced the tasks we couldn’t handle ourselves, like some of the branding and initial tech development. But one thing we were adamant about was keeping customer service in-house. For us, that was non-negotiable because it was the main touchpoint where we could listen to our customers and gather insights on their needs and challenges. That feedback loop was, and still is, vital to our growth.
As soon as we could afford it, we gradually brought everything back in-house to have more control and ensure a consistent quality of service. Now, as much as possible, we handle everything internally to maintain that direct connection with our users and stay true to our mission.
A “Day in the Life” of an Early-Stage Startup Founder
Rui: So what did a day in your life look like back then? How many hours a day, and how many days a week were you working? What was the focus split like?
Atul: Well, I think the best way to describe those early days as a startup founder is like constantly boxing with gloves on. You’re putting in the effort all day long, but at the end of the day, it often feels like there’s still so much left to do and progress seems slower than you’d hope. That’s just the reality—it always takes longer than you expect.
In terms of focus, it was a healthy mix of visioning, strategy, and a lot of bold experiments. I was directly involved in sales and marketing—acquiring customers, talking to them, figuring out how to scale on a limited budget, and constantly tweaking our approach based on what we learned. I was also in charge of hiring, which was tricky with our tight resources, and, of course, I was involved in fundraising, meeting investors, refining our brand, and even working on the web design.
There wasn’t a fixed split of focus; it was more about tackling whatever was most pressing or inspiring that day. But one thing we were very strict about was not leaving decisions hanging. If we had a meeting to decide on a brand name or website design, we made sure to come to a conclusion right then and there. Our rule was simple: good, bad, or ugly, make a decision and move forward. We didn’t procrastinate because we knew we’d never have perfect information to work with.
Being decisive was crucial in those early days. You have to trust your instincts, make educated guesses, and keep moving forward, even when you don’t have all the answers. It’s the only way to maintain momentum and keep the business evolving.
Rui: The goal is to minimise the odds of failure, not to achieve a perfect success trajectory, which will never be possible no matter what stage you’re at.
Two crucial things here: avoiding procrastination and making decisions even when they aren’t perfect. Simply put, you have to keep moving forward.
And to your point, in the early days, founders do whatever it takes. Whether it’s getting coffee for the developers or handling customer support, you just roll up your sleeves and do whatever is necessary to keep things moving.
Now, you mentioned how you were juggling all these tasks—how did you balance that with your personal life?
Atul: That’s a great question, and it’s something we were quite disciplined about. While our minds were always engaged with the business, we made a conscious effort to set boundaries. Given that we were a bit older and had some experience behind us, we placed a lot of importance on maintaining a work-life balance.
We made it a point to avoid bringing work home on weekends and to limit emails after, say, 6:00 or 6:30 in the evening. It wasn’t just about protecting our own time; it was also about setting the right culture for the team. We believed that if you couldn’t get the essential tasks done within an eight or ten-hour workday, then stretching it out to 14 or 15 hours every day wouldn’t necessarily make you more productive.
Of course, there were exceptions—like when we had a product release or a big decision that needed to be made urgently. On those days, yes, we’d put in the extra hours. But on a daily basis, we were very intentional about supporting our families and making sure we didn’t let work consume everything.
I was around 40 at the time, with young kids at home, and I knew how important it was to be present for them. So while the mind might always be ticking away with ideas and plans for the business, we were careful to carve out time for our personal lives. It’s a tough balance to strike, but it’s crucial if you want to stay in the game for the long haul.
We made sure that while we were deeply committed to building the business, we never let it completely take over our lives to the point where we missed out on family gatherings or time with friends. We were very present in both our personal lives and our professional pursuits.
And even though we were doing a bit of everything in the startup, we established clear boundaries on decision-making. Each of us was accountable for our own areas. For example, when it came to technology, Sanjeev made the final call on what tech stack to use, and whether to build or buy certain components. When it was about acquiring customers, building the brand, or shaping the product, those decisions fell under my responsibility. And Ravi decided on the funds and how we would shape the customer experience.
That structure helped a lot. We could each have an opinion, but ultimately, the final decision was always left to the person who owned that specific area. Having clear lines of accountability within the founding team was essential to keep things moving efficiently.
Key Lessons for Early-Stage Startup Founders
Rui: Let’s wrap up with some rapid-fire questions.
Can you share one key lesson you learned on product?
Atul: Convenience. It’s all about convenience. It doesn’t need to be fancy; it just needs to be intuitive. The customer should get it immediately without having to think too hard.
Rui: Can you share one key lesson you learned about marketing?
Atul: Try multiple things. Experiment with as many channels and tactics as you can. Capital One taught me that it’s all about testing, testing, testing. You need to constantly be learning from what works and what doesn’t.
Rui: Can you share one key lesson you learned on managing people?
Atul: Transparency and empathy. Always put yourself in the other person’s shoes and be honest about your decisions. If you can’t afford salary increases, be straightforward and say it. If you can, then do it. The key is to be absolutely transparent in whatever you do. There’s no room for holding back information.
Rui: Can you share one key lesson you learned about creating and maintaining a good culture?
Atul: Respect. The most critical part of our culture is respect. We assume positive intent and we respect every team member from day one. Trust is given freely, not earned over time. We believe in supporting our people, trusting them to deliver their best, and figuring out together what to do if they fall short.
Rui: Finally, can you tell me one resource that was invaluable to your success?
Atul: I’d say capital. The ability to experiment and test new ideas requires funding, and having that capital early on from our investors was invaluable. Beyond just the money, the trust and support from our investors played a huge role in our success. Access to capital is critical to scaling a business effectively.
Thank You, Atul…
… for taking the time to sit down with me and share your journey.
Your story is a pertinent reminder that experience and a deep understanding of your industry are invaluable assets in building a successful startup.
It’s clear that spotting inefficiencies and leveraging a strong network can make all the difference when turning a vision into reality.
Thanks for reading.
