Friends,
I want to start this series with a true, small, unglamorous story — because I think the small stories are the ones that actually help.
In September 1993, I handed back my uniform after five years as a Captain in the Indian Army. I had been a Troop Commander, Battery Second-in-Command, Adjutant, Regiment Quartermaster — roles where I moved men, machines and missions with total, unambiguous clarity. Someone always knew exactly what to do next, including me.
Then it was over. And the following Tuesday looked like nothing. No formation to report to. No chain of command to consult. Just a resume, a set of skills nobody in the civilian world had a category for, and a silence I did not know how to fill.
I want to be honest about that silence, because I think we — veterans especially — tend to skip over it in our own retelling. We jump from “I served” to “I built a company” as if the space between was just admin. It wasn’t. It was the hardest, most disorienting stretch of my life. Harder, in some ways, than anything the Army itself asked of me — because there, at least, I always knew the objective.
It took me years — through HR and IT roles at various multinational companies – before I founded my own company in 1998 and began building toward what eventually became a ₹130+ crore, 16-city group.
Along the way, I learned something I now spend my time teaching: the discipline, the clarity under pressure, the instinct for organisation — none of that leaves when the uniform does. It’s still yours. What’s missing on day one is a map for where to point it.
That’s what this series, and the program behind it, is built to be: a map. Not a placement service, not a pep talk — a structured way to convert military discipline into entrepreneurial execution.
Over the next 15 days, I’ll alternate between stories for veterans in transition and for young entrepreneurs building from zero, because I’ve found the underlying lessons are nearly identical. Ambition. Persistence. The willingness to look at the grey areas everyone else ignores.
If you are an officer approaching release, freshly out, or years into a transition that still feels unfinished — I’d like to know: what does your “Tuesday morning” look like right now? Reply and tell me. I read every response, and it shapes what I write next.
To your second innings, Shaji Kumar
For what it is worth, I have translated my entire journey in a series of books :
- NO ONE IS COMING.
- BUILT, NOT GIVEN.
- RECALLED TO LIFE.
All are widely available for sale on Amazon. Since the intent of this Newsletter is not to sell my books, if you would so desire to get a firsthand account of my lived experience, you can search for it. However, if you still want the links to these books, you can send me a direct message at my email skcjos@gmail.com or my WhatsApp 9625675052, and I would be more than happy to oblige.
Been There, Done That.
Capt. Shaji Kumar 