New Book — Soul Venture: A True Life and Death Journey into the Startup Culture

SAN FRANCISCO BAY, CA, UNITED STATES, February 25, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Ashwin Gulati is a startup insider: a CEO, co-founder, and busy consultant who knows the secrets to startup success and, more often, failure. Now he's sharing the truth in a riveting wake-up call of a book, revealing his insider's experience as a startup entrepreneur, up close and personal. Soul Venture captures the zeitgeist of today's startup culture and redefines entrepreneurial success.

The hard truth: 97% of start-ups are destined to fail. Even Jensen Huang, cofounder of the $3 trillion tech giant Nvidia, confessed he would never go through it again. But the call to start the next global giant is a constant, especially today. As entrepreneurs line up, venture capitalists continue to encourage them — knowing full well the chances of heartbreak are always high. It's a relentless cycle, and for every Nvidia or DeepSeek, there are countless failures. The challenge is how to succeed — and how to survive.

Ashwin Gulati has been there to help startups safely take off and land while facing untenable odds. In Soul Venture he exposes the flaws, foibles, raw ambition and drive for success that makes the startup culture both so irresistible and so risky. Through captivating interviews, revealing case studies, and his own odyssey of self-discovery, he reveals the unspoken truths no one wants to talk about. You don't need to ruin your life to start a startup, but a startup may indeed ruin your life if you're not careful, he notes.

The bottom line? If you don't have to, don't start a startup, notes Gulati. But given that startup entrepreneurs tend to think they can beat the odds — and are driven by a hunger to keep trying — they need to ask themselves essential questions, from what drives that pursuit of success to what to do when things go sideways. Should a startup seek a management consultant or shaman — or both? How does someone know if they're built for the intensity that marks a startups trajectory?

Gulati also explores the blurred lines between personal life and business practices that take a toll on so many — friendships, marriages, self-worth, sex lives. In the midst of a sea-change in the country known as the land of opportunity, Soul Venture offers the navigational, heartfelt tools every startup entrepreneur needs — whether to jump ship, get safely to shore, or be one of the rare conquerors.

About the Author

Ashwin Gulati has launched international ventures, helped start-ups take off or land, and copiloted complex transitions for over 100 companies in various industries in the UK, US, Spain, and France. With 30 years in the trenches, he has identified the hidden pitfalls, unspoken truths, and personal twists that ultimately determine a venture’s success or failure. He holds a BA in Economics and Mathematics from Claremont McKenna College and studied at King’s College and the London School of Economics. His new book is Soul Venture: A True Life and Death Journey into the Startup Culture. Learn more at soulventurebook.com.

David Lewis
C.S. Lewis & Co. Publicists
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