In the midst of looming clouds of economic uncertainty that saw many businesses shutter during the pandemic, news of a pair of 19-year-olds raising $60 million for an initial funding round for their grocery delivery start-up is especially heartening. The co-founding duo, Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, who dropped out of Stanford University to pursue their entrepreneurial dream, will inspire many to cast their apprehensions aside and follow suit. The question that emerges now isn’t whether they will or won’t as much as it is if they should. Is pursuing an ambitious start-up idea prudent at this point? How much risk can be considered prudent? Further, what lessons has the pandemic taught us about starting something new and ambitious? 

Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra