azeem panjwani

Notes from the Arena – 4 Months in SF

Back in September 2024, I built a 3-year project for myself – which had a goal that by the end of 2027, I will start my own healthcare startup and will move to SF.

18 months later, I achieved these goals – started up Arksense to solve for chronic diseases and spent 4 months in SF. I am very grateful for the forces and people that have helped me throughout this journey.

These 4 months in SF have been quite transformational. While from an external perspective it might feel that nothing has changed, but internally, I know the experiences, the challenges, the learnings and the battles I have been through that have slowly changed the kind of person I am for better.

One metaphor to explain this entire experience is to think of a toy called slingshot – where to throw a ball far far away, you need to put the ball in between the rubber bands and pull it backwards and then release it. I am currently in a step where the ball has been loaded and pulled backward so that it can store energy – and once released, will go far away.

SF is very different than other parts of the world – when you are there you are 10-15 years ahead in the future. And people are working on problem statements that are going to change the trajectory of humanity for the best.

Through this entire experience, something has recalibrated in me and here are some of the learnings and realizations about the city and myself:

  • The whole environment really pushes you to work on massive and hard problems. And to think big. Because everyone around you is working on big problems, your baseline of what is great changes massively. Whatever ceiling you have for your potential will break once you are in the city and once you speak to more people. The whole experience will push you to not have a ceiling and think in terms of infinity.
  • Making mistakes and being wrong fast are encouraged – your brain learns that being wrong does not equal not being a success. This was the major shift that happened in my brain because since childhood I have always been taught that if I make mistakes it is a bad thing.
  • Always think in terms of possibilities. People are genuinely solution-oriented and when you talk to them they will always have a perspective on how to solve the problems that you are going through. I have always been optimistic in all aspects of my life. But my optimism has reached a whole new level after being in the city and meeting people.
  • People believe in paying forward and helping others – and it is not just the founders at your level or slightly senior. But even the veterans and seasoned folks. People are not cagey or gatekeepy about things – and this is what I loved the most about the city. If you reach out with an earnest and genuine ask, people are ready to help you in any way possible.
  • There is definitely a lot of noise and you need to learn to differentiate the noise from signal. Push yourself to think hard and figure out what it is that you are doing and what kind of people will be helpful to you. Then reach out to them one-on-one and offer to meet them for a coffee. Do not go to random networking events just for the sake of it, because the ROI from them is not great. The people you meet over coffee, ask them to introduce you to their network and find out where they spend time networking with people. And do that. Initially, I was going to any and every event for networking – it was quite energy-draining with no outputs. Figure out your people and your niche events and spend time there – otherwise your time will slip away and you will not achieve anything.
  • Doing the right thing should always be the priority – be a truth seeker no matter how hard it may seem. During these 4 months, I had to take some hard calls, which initially some people did not approve of, but I stood up for the things that I believe are right and things are working out. I guess you need to lose some battles in order to win the war in future.
  • Grass might seem greener on the other side and it might happen all the time when someone you know raises funding, gets to $1M ARR, gets featured on TechCrunch etc. But believe me, you do not know the battles that they are going through and have been through. The perceived greener grass on the other side may lure you to pursue the thing that is trendy, but believe me, every journey is tough when you are building a generationally massive company and you do not know the challenges until you are in the trenches. So stick to what you are working on and what you believe will change in future and take feedback from your customers rather than the trends.

This is just the start of the journey and I am playing an infinite game of building a generationally massive healthcare company that solves for the issues that chronic disease patients go through. I will be back in SF in a couple of months.

I would highly recommend everyone in their 20s to go to SF at least once, for a few months, to see where the world is headed. It really changes the way you think and approach things in your life in whatever you are planning to do.