Meet Chandrika Maheshwari

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Chandrika Maheshwari. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Chandrika, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

I was recently asked to speak to a group of women at a prestigious tech company for International Day of Women & Girls in Science. When I received that email, my first thought was “What an honor, this seems so exciting”. And my second thought was “Am I accomplished enough to be giving career talks yet? I’m still working towards some of the biggest goals I have.”

And this is exactly how I feel about confidence: it’s not about eliminating self-doubt, but rather about moving forward despite it. My journey to building confidence and self-esteem came after going through a rough phase a few years ago. I was fresh out of a long-term relationship, I wasn’t excited about the work that I was doing and I found myself at a crossroads. I spent a lot of time looking inward, building a routine around exercise and meditation practice which I continue to this day. These daily rituals and practices are what helped me lay the foundation to build my confidence.

Then I stumbled upon a quote that changed everything: ‘No one knows what the heck they’re doing. We’re all just winging it.’ It was liberating. I realized that confidence isn’t about having all the answers – it’s about being comfortable with uncertainty while believing in your capacity to figure things out. True self-worth, I’ve learned, isn’t tied to achievements or others’ validation. It’s innate, requiring no external justification. This mindset has become my north star, transforming self-doubt from a barrier into a familiar companion on the path to growth.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m a founder building a tech company. We are building an AI powered revenue management platform. The way software is being built and sold is evolving faster than ever before. With everything that’s happening in AI, there are bigger problems to solve and better ways of solving those problems.

One such problem we identified was how broken the workflows and tools for revenue teams at b2b software companies are. The data that they often need to do their job effectively is in fragmented and siloed sources. With AI driving the change in how software is being priced (based on usage or outcomes vs pure subscription based pricing), it becomes critical to fix these broken systems and enable revenue teams to have the tools they need to work effectively.

I’m super excited about solving this problem that I have experienced first-hand in my previous roles. We’ve been building for the last few months and early traction really validates the problem. We’re seeing our customers become more efficient and increase their topline by up to 20%. We’re pumped to launch our product broadly soon.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Relentless curiosity, comfort with uncertainty, and resilience.

Curiosity drove me to question conventional ways of doing things, and ultimately led me to build my company. It wasn’t just about asking ‘why?’ but about diving deep into problems that others had accepted as unsolvable.

As a founder, you’re constantly navigating uncharted territory. Learning to embrace uncertainty was transformative. At first this was nerve wracking, but over time I learned to see uncertainty as a signal that I’m pushing boundaries.

Finally, resilience has been crucial in my journey. There have been times when I put a ton of effort into something and things didn’t end up going exactly the way I wanted. I realized life is not about avoiding failures, but about how quickly you can learn from them and push forward. I’ve learned to see challenges not as roadblocks, but as data points guiding me toward a better solution.

And these qualities compound over time. The more curious you are, the more comfortable you become with uncertainty. The more setbacks you overcome, the stronger you become. Start developing these qualities now, even in small ways, and they’ll serve as foundational strengths throughout your journey.

To develop more curiosity, read widely outside your field. Ask questions that might seem naive. To get more comfortable with uncertainty, start with taking calculated risks in low-stakes situations. And to build more resilience, take on projects that you think would be challenging and failure is likely but survivable. Most importantly, develop routines that help you maintain perspective and bounce back quickly – whether that’s exercise, meditation, or regular check-ins with mentors.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

My daily practices help me stay grounded when I feel overwhelmed. I try to maintain a routine of meditation, getting at least 30 mins of intense physical activity, going outdoors on walks or spending time in nature.

A couple of quotes and beliefs that serve as reminders in times when I get overwhelmed are –

– Everyone is figuring life out, one day at a time. The role models that we have, whose life seems all together, are also doing it for the first time, making mistakes along the way and learning. Everyone is just winging it 🙂

– Whatever it is, this too shall pass. Feel like you’re on cloud 9? Cherish it while it lasts because this won’t last forever. Feel like you’ve hit rock bottom? Work through it because things always get better when you come out on the other side and this won’t last forever either.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandrikamaheshwari/
• Twitter: https://x.com/Chandrika633