Things that
didn't make it.

Better Butter

Killed by: The food industry is unforgiving

Flavoured compound butters: pesto parmesan, Kashmiri chilli, lemon garlic, cinnamon, espresso. A D2C food brand that would give home cooks an instant flavour upgrade. I designed the packaging, spoke to chefs and butter suppliers, figured out production requirements, and made samples at home.

People loved it. Pesto was the runaway favourite. Everyone said they'd buy it. Then reality hit: FSSAI approvals, food quality testing, cold chain logistics, production minimums, all of it at once, in my first year of work, with no food industry experience whatsoever. Pulled the plug. Still think about it.

The Book Project*

Status: Not dead completely

I love stories. So I started giving blank books to strangers with one instruction: write a story, anything at all, then pass the book to another stranger. My contact details are on the back cover. The hope: one day a filled book finds its way home and I get to read everything inside.

30-odd books are out in the world. None have come back yet. I'm still friends with a couple of the strangers I gave books to myself. It's not a business. It never was. It's just something I believe in: that strangers have stories worth sharing, and the smallest nudge is sometimes enough to get them out.

* Needs resurrection.

SideQuest

Killed by: Life got in the way. Will return.

Everyone's building apps to help you meet new strangers. Nobody's building one to help you stay close to the friends you already have. That was the gap SideQuest was trying to fill.

The idea: a group app where one random friend gets a daily "side quest", give a compliment to a stranger, try a weird snack, do something small and unusual, then posts a photo or video for the group. No pressure, just a reason to share something with the people you love but keep forgetting to call. Got to early design exploration on Lovable before my job became all-consuming. The insight is still good. The app is still unbuilt. Someday.

Mini Golf India

Killed by: Capital requirements I couldn't meet

Post-COVID, I watched people spend more on experiences than ever before: concerts, dining, activities. India had bowling alleys and arcades, but no mini golf. Golf as a sport is inaccessible to most Indians. Mini golf isn't. It's affordable, it's social, it's fun for everyone.

I spoke to venues about rent, got rough build-out estimates, planned the space. The numbers were far beyond what I could raise at the time. Shelved, not because the idea was wrong, but because the cheque size was right and I wasn't. I still think someone should build this.

Rage Cage

Killed by: Unit economics that don't work

A space where you pay to go break things: smash plates, shatter bottles, destroy furniture. Cathartic, experiential, novel. Started as a college business project. While I was still planning it, someone else launched it and went on Shark Tank India.

My initial reaction: gutted. Then I did a proper deep dive into the economics. Cost of breakable inventory vs. what people will actually pay, safety infrastructure requirements, space constraints, scalability ceiling. The conclusion: the idea is more fun to imagine than to run. I was glad I hadn't gone further.

EaseYourAche

Killed by: Naivety

College. Trying to make some side income. Picked a niche: pain relief products, neck pillows, compression socks, ice packs, and tried to dropship from Chinese and Indian suppliers to customers globally. The domain was easeyourache.com. Learned a little about Meta ads. Made zero sales.

I knew I was naive. I did it anyway, which is the only part I'd repeat. You learn faster from a dead store than from a course about dropshipping.