NoBroker founder Akhil Gupta has said the most enduring edge in a startup is picking the right people to build with, likening co-founder selection to choosing a life partner. In a reflective note on NoBroker’s 10-year journey, Gupta credited a shared mission and values with fellow co-founders Saurabh Garg and Amit Kumar Agarwal for steering the company through its early tests and major milestones.

Gupta wrote that NoBroker began not as a pursuit of scale for its own sake but to solve a “real consumer pain point.” What made that ambition sustainable, he said, was alignment among the three founders: Gupta knew Garg from their IIT days; Garg knew Agarwal from IIM. That chain of trust, he suggested, became the foundation for execution.

The trio was connected by “a shared vision, a problem we couldn’t unsee, and a drive to fix it,” Gupta noted, arguing that co-founder fit can determine how a team absorbs shocks and sustains momentum.

The journey he outlines

Gupta’s post sketches a decade-long arc for the proptech platform: early customer wins; a “broker attack” that tested resilience; the company’s first funding round; and, eventually, NoBroker’s emergence, as he describes it, as India’s first proptech unicorn. Each phase, he said, reinforced the importance of co-founders who “share your goals, values, and belief in the mission.”

Rather than romanticising the ride, Gupta framed startups as a crucible: they “test you in every possible way.” The difference, in his telling, is the team’s ability to “evolve together,” stay grounded after highs, and push through lows. The bond between the three founders, he added, has been equal parts professional and personal, “co-founders, teammates, and friends.”

Why his message matters?

Gupta’s central point is practical advice dressed as principle: choosing co-founders is a judgement call with long-tail consequences. Skills matter, but shared purpose and values, shown in how people respond under pressure, matter more. His post ties that idea to NoBroker’s experience: the company’s formative moments were navigated, he suggests, because the founding team was aligned before the storms arrived.

A Humane Note by Nobroker Founder

Gupta closes on a human note: building a company is “about building something that matters, with people who matter just as much.” For founders weighing prospective partnerships, his counsel is clear, treat the choice with the gravity of a life decision, because the tests will come, and who you face them with will shape what the company becomes.

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