Ankita Gupta, co-founder of Akto, joins Vandana Verma to discuss turning an API security problem into a product, learning directly from users, and staying resilient through the unpredictable early stages of a startup.
Before founding Akto, Ankita worked as chief of staff at CleverTap, while her eventual co-founder led engineering there. The experience gave them a close view of a cross-border B2B SaaS company: how products are selected, how teams go to market, and how customer conversations shape a business.
Both wanted to build something of their own. An application-security testing problem initially caught their attention, but conversations with more than 100 security engineers helped them narrow it to API security. They repeatedly heard three needs: knowing which APIs exist, automating security tests as developers continually ship changes, and identifying runtime issues. Those needs became Akto’s early roadmap.
The founders began writing the product in December 2021 and had an MVP the following month. What started with the two founders and an intern grew into a multidisciplinary team serving customers in several countries.
For Ankita, regular customer conversations are essential in B2B software. A founder needs to understand the user’s workflow and pain points rather than assume what the market wants. That work does not stop after launch; it should continue as the company grows.
At the same time, research should not become an excuse for a long, private development cycle. Akto released a deliberately small MVP in about 20 days and invited people to use it. Early feedback gave the team evidence for deciding what to build next. An imperfect product in users’ hands can be more informative than a polished product developed for months without validation.
The startup encountered disruption at several points. A promising early customer engagement collapsed because of a legal issue, and the Silicon Valley Bank crisis created an urgent concern because the company held funds there. The team responded by developing a plan instead of assuming that every setback could have been prevented.
Ankita describes startup life as a series of small wins and disappointments. Founders need enough emotional durability to accept useful criticism, learn, and proceed without allowing one event to define the company.
Burnout is not limited to founders; it can affect anyone on the team. Ankita makes time for exercise, family, entertainment, and breaks when the volume of work and context switching becomes too much. A supportive team also matters: colleagues can recognize overload, redistribute work, or simply pause together.
Her motivation comes from seeing a real user problem and believing in the potential of the product. That conviction does not remove the need for rest, but it gives the work a durable purpose.
Ankita has less time for broad networking than she once did, so she focuses on trusted groups of founders who exchange concrete help. Such networks proved valuable during the banking crisis and for everyday questions about hiring, content, and operations. Founders further along can share experience, while newer founders can eventually pay that help forward.
For continued learning, she recommends Paul Graham’s essays and Y Combinator’s practical startup resources.
