Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal: Reflecting on my entrepreneurial journey

Author: Sandeep Nailwal

Compiled by: Block unicorn

With the launch of the Nailwal Fellowship last month, I spent a lot of time reflecting on my roots and considering how such a program could help me on my entrepreneurial journey. Today, I want to share the story of how I created the Nailwal Fellowship—from its humble origins in a small village to Polygon becoming a leading blockchain network protocol.

My Early Life

I was born in the small hill town of Ramnagar in northern India. My family came from very humble beginnings—my grandfather was a household helper from a wealthy family, my father was a laborer, and my mother, who never attended school, was a homemaker. To provide me with better educational opportunities, my family moved to the "Jamna-Paar" area of Delhi when I was still a child. I proudly call this place home, yet it is often labeled as a slum or impoverished area by others (as shown in the picture below).

Our lives were defined by "tension." The tension stemmed from our relocation from Ramnagar to a new community in Delhi, the stress surrounding my father's drinking, gambling, and violent tendencies, as well as the financial strain caused by our unstable income. These experiences shaped my desire—I was determined not to let my family, both now and in the future, repeat such a life. I vividly remember a childhood incident that had a profound impact on my life.

When I was six years old, I visited a temple in Ramnagar before moving to Delhi. At this temple, I made a habitual wish before leaving. I wished to one day provide a life for my family that my parents could not give me. This wish became the guiding force that helped me rise above adversity and shaped my success as a founder.

Education was my pathway to a better life, and even after changing schools due to the move, I was fortunate to excel academically. When it was time for me to enter middle school, my neighbors and friends suggested that my parents send me to a school outside of Jamna-Paar to fully realize my potential. Transitioning from a larger school in Delhi was challenging, but I knew it was a step toward a better life for my family. I focused on my studies and achieved top grades again, which led to my subsequent university education and entrepreneurial journey.

The Burden of Expectations: My Entrepreneurial Journey

Expectations can be a stepping stone toward life goals or a burden that hinders personal growth. In my life, they have been a heavy load to bear. As the eldest son, I was expected to be the breadwinner, providing financial support for my family even while repaying student loans. At times, the pressure to support my family made it difficult for me to sleep; I clearly remember wondering if I would be able to gather enough funds to support my sister's wedding. While I take pride in supporting my family, these expectations often forced me to prioritize financial stability over my entrepreneurial aspirations.

In my personal life, as my relationship with Harshita (my girlfriend, now wife) became serious, I felt the pressure to buy a house and provide her with a certain standard of living. This would have pushed me down a career path that was not right for me. Fortunately, Harshita encouraged me to pursue my passions, overturning the notion that happiness comes from owning a big house. This support allowed me to follow my interests, ultimately leading me to create my first company and later co-found Polygon.

However, I knew that not everyone has such support. The goal of the Nailwal Fellowship is to provide support to individuals, enabling them to follow their passions and break free from societal expectations. Through the Fellowship, you will gain financial support and access to a network of resources that allows you to pursue your passions on your own terms. Looking back, I wish I had the opportunity to participate in a program like the Nailwal Fellowship. It would have accelerated the founding of Polygon and enhanced my overall well-being.

The Importance of Resilience

In summarizing my personal experiences as a founder, I want to emphasize a quality that I believe is crucial for any founder—resilience. I have always been passionate about entrepreneurship, but throughout my life, various factors such as student loans, the need to support my family, and societal expectations often made me hesitant to pursue my passions. My early entrepreneurial experiences were all part-time, revolving around my regular work schedule. Due to my inability to commit full-time, most projects ended in failure. However, these failures were valuable lessons that cultivated my resilience.

My first real entrepreneurial experience was with a small startup during my university years, where we developed software for government agencies. Although we made some progress, we couldn't scale due to time constraints and ultimately had to shut down. My next attempt came a few years later when, while working as a consultant at Deloitte, I took on a part-time project with a logistics startup. We achieved initial success, but competition was fierce. However, when another startup had to close, these experiences taught me valuable lessons about the need to find a blue ocean market—a field where I could have a competitive advantage. More importantly, I needed to commit full-time to achieve significant growth.

Me (second from the left, top row) back in university

With Harshita's encouragement, I left my stable corporate job and began to dedicate myself full-time to my entrepreneurial projects. Next, I set out to develop a B2B marketplace that showed signs of growth. We signed contracts with major brands, and revenue began to flow steadily. However, we soon hit a bottleneck. Despite our best efforts, we couldn't break through the plateau of growth. We had to shut it down, marking the end of my third attempt, and three consecutive failures led to self-doubt. But my resilience was stronger than my doubts. I learned from past experiences, and I had the unwavering support of my family—they encouraged me to pick myself up and keep moving forward. And indeed, the fourth attempt turned out to be the opportunity for success. My next entrepreneurial project was a small blockchain initiative called Matic. At that time, I had no idea that Matic would evolve into Polygon and achieve unimaginable success.

Early days of Matic with me, JD, and Sid

Resilience (persistence) has played a crucial role in my achievements today. The Nailwal Fellowship aims to identify and support those who demonstrate resilience and are willing to overcome setbacks to realize their dreams. We don’t care how many times you have failed; we care about how many times you have picked yourself up and tried again. For us, this is the most important value that any founder must possess. If there is one lesson a founder can take from my story, it is that you need an inner drive to push you to build something better. You don’t need to have the same background as me, but every great founder I know has an inner strength that drives them to achieve more.