Harsh Pokharna

Buckle up, cause I’m bout to tell you about Harsh Pokharna. This guy’s the real deal in the startup world. He’s an IIT Kanpur grad, like, the dude crushed his mechanical engineering degree there, which already tells you he’s smart as hell. But what’s crazy is his process from there to building one of India’s coolest fintech startups, OkCredit.

So, Harsh jumped into the startup scene after flipping around a lot of tech gigs. He worked at Flipkart for about eight months, enough to get the vibe of big tech, but he jumped into entrepreneurship pretty quick after that. Before launching OkCredit, he was deep into blockchain stuff, consulting at Cashaa and Innominds, working on cross-border remittance, Ethereum projects, even a voting system for Deloitte. Dude’s always been into modern tech, especially blockchain, which is kinda his playground.

But here’s what’s wild, he’s been through the startup grind more times than most. He tried a bunch of things: Psi Phi, Bangalore Blockchain Marketplace, ClanOut, and more. Some of these didn’t blow up, and yeah, he hit some failures, that’s just part of the game. He even freelanced to keep things afloat, which is so real, most founders don’t talk about how messy and tough the early days are. But he kept pushing.

In 2017, he co-founded OkCredit in Bengaluru, and this is where everything clicked. The idea? A simple, mobile-first bookkeeping app for India’s small businesses, the micro-entrepreneurs you see everywhere. It’s kinda genius because these small shops are the backbone of India’s economy but totally underserved. Harsh and his team built something that actually crushed it, raising ₹120 crore in 2019, which is no joke. But here’s the kicker, even with all that funding, he was struggling. Imagine that, raising tons of cash but still facing personal financial struggles. That just shows how tough it is to scale, and how even success doesn’t mean everything’s easy.

What I love about Harsh is his honesty. He’s not out here selling some bullshit hype. He talks about the reality, the failures, the sacrifices, the grind. That’s what makes him inspiring. He’s all about realistic expectations and staying grounded, even when you hit big markers. And his process? It’s all about resilience. From IIT to Flipkart, to blockchain projects, to struggling and then finally building something that’s changing how millions of small businesses operate. That’s motivation right there.

Basically, Harsh isn’t just a CEO or a founder. He’s a proof to what it really takes to build something meaningful, passion, grit, honesty, and a lot of hustle. He’s the guy who shows that even when you’ve got the skills, the money, and the success, the real challenge is sticking around, staying real, and pushing through the bullshit. No Cap, he’s one of those guys who’s built from the ground up, keeps it 100, and honestly, we all can learn a lot from his story.