Hi, I’m Dilip Singh, a founder, builder, and someone who has learned startups the hard way.
I’m an alumnus of IIT Guwahati, and like many engineers with big dreams, I started my journey excited about building products that could make an impact. Over the years, I launched multiple startups. Some had strong ideas. Some had great technology. But not all of them worked out, and those failures shaped how I think about startups today.
My first venture, TryOnFit, was a virtual makeup mirror. The idea was exciting and ahead of its time, but we focused heavily on building the technology before deeply validating user demand and market readiness. We built something impressive , but not something enough people urgently needed.
Then came HRNEX, an enterprise HR and accounting software. This time, we aimed at a large and serious market. We even gained early interest. But we underestimated how difficult it is to scale in a space dominated by well-established players and long enterprise sales cycles. Product alone wasn’t enough; distribution and positioning mattered just as much.
After that, I built Strackup, a networking platform for entrepreneurs. The vision was to help founders connect and collaborate more easily. But again, we learned a tough lesson: platforms need strong initial traction and a very clear core use case. Without deep validation and a focused early audience, growth becomes extremely difficult.
Each of these startups didn’t just “fail” they taught me something I couldn’t have learned from books or courses.
They taught me that:
- Building fast doesn’t matter if you’re building the wrong thing
- Features don’t create traction; solving a painful problem does
- Assumptions are dangerous when they aren’t tested in the real market
Those experiences led me to where I am today: ZipNom.
With ZipNom, my focus completely shifted. Instead of starting with code, we start with clarity. Instead of asking “What can we build?”, we ask “What should be built , and is it worth building at all?”
Today, I work with early-stage founders to help them validate demand before they invest months into development. We run real-world experiments, test messaging, measure user interest, and only then move toward building lean MVPs designed to learn fast.
I’m especially passionate about the earliest stage of a startup, when an idea is still forming. That stage is full of excitement, but also full of risk. A few smart validation steps at the beginning can save founders years of frustration later.
My journey hasn’t been a straight line of success. It’s been a series of experiments, mistakes, lessons, and pivots. But that’s exactly why I care so much about helping founders avoid the same traps.
I’m not just here to help startups build products.
I’m here to help them build the right products.
If you’re a founder with an idea you’re excited about, I’d love to hear your story. Sometimes a single conversation at the right time can completely change the direction of a startup.