This man became crorepati in his 20s, bought luxurious cars, later lost it all due to…

Anupam Mittal's journey is of the rollercoaster kind: a true entrepreneurship story told in soaring highs, some crushing lows, and an unyielding will to bounce back. From being a millionaire in his early 20s to hitting rock bottom and then rebuilding his life as the founder of Shaadi.com, his is a masterclass in risk-taking and resilience.

In a candid LinkedIn post, Mittal opened up about his dramatic rise and fall during the dot-com bubble. In his 20s, he was living the dream: earning millions working at MicroStrategy, a tech company whose valuation had hit a staggering $40 billion at its peak. But then the bubble burst in the early 2000s, and fortunes were lost overnight. For Mittal, it meant watching his wealth vanish and sinking into debt. By 2003, he returned to India with just $30,000 to his name.

For many, that would have been the end of the story. But Mittal wasn't ready to give up. Betting almost all he had left, he bought a computer and the domain name Shaadi.com, an idea he believed could change how people found life partners. The gamble was massive—$25,000 went into securing the domain, leaving him with just $5,000 to actually run the business.

Friends, family, and critics called him reckless. One year after such a catastrophic financial collapse, starting again would seem absurd. Not to Mittal. He said this was never about playing it safe. "It was never about the money—it was about proving to myself that I could rise from the ashes," he said.

And rise he did. Shaadi.com just didn't survive; in fact, it thrived, becoming one of the first and most successful sites on the globe for its business. Millions have since made life partners from the site as a result of Mittal's pioneering.

Today, Mittal looks back on those stormy years as priceless lessons. He believes failure is part of the game and that persistence is the key to success. "The game is not over until you win," he says—a mantra for anyone facing challenges in business or life.

His story isn’t just about building a successful business; it’s about the courage to adapt, the grit to persevere, and the vision to keep going when the odds seem insurmountable. For every struggling entrepreneur out there, Mittal’s journey is proof that setbacks are just setups for comebacks.