Aditya PS’ Post

I became Greedy and it cost me: Back when I was a client facing CISO at Unisys managing $100M+ accounts like Globe Life, VicRoads, Cal State University, life was predictable. Good title. Good salary. Global clients. Comfortable. I thought: "If I can manage cybersecurity at this scale, surely building Terraeagle would be easy. Even 5% of my previous portfolio = $5M ARR." Wrong. Building Terraeagle wasn’t a journey. It was a war. War against bad hires. War against self-doubt. War against cash flow. Let’s be honest it’s not all glam: - Funds get tight - Salaries get delayed - Clients ghost payments - Everyone wears five hats People love posting wins. Nobody posts 3AM panic attacks battling to make payroll. 1. My first mistake - Hiring too Fast: The cost of Greed The pressure to grow made us hire fast: ✅ Shiny resumes ✅ Big logos ✅ Polished interviews Inside? They needed perfect KRAs. Played corporate politics. Froze when asked to build. Meanwhile, real startup life = - Flying plane while building engines. - Fighting giants with no brand. - Winning trust from zero. 2. Firing too Slow: The cost of Hope When someone wasn’t working: ❌ I hesitated. ❌ Made excuses. ❌ Waited for miracles. Maybe poor onboarding? Maybe expecting too much too soon? Delay only: Killed morale. Bled revenue. Shattered internal trust. The Dirtier Secret: Dealing with Disgruntled Ex-Employees Firing non-performers isn’t the end. Today, I’m fighting another battle: Ex-employees that were once fired and when pressed legal charges for dishonesty, wrong doings and even data theft of our IPs now are using public platform to spread lies stating workplace harassment and attacking company reputation. We didn’t stay quiet: ✅ Filed legal action. Matter now sub-judice. ✅ Real consequences for crossing ethical lines. Leadership isn’t about just building. It’s defending the values at all costs. I’ll take a hundred cases over letting mediocrity or dishonesty rot Terraeagle. How we turned it around at Terraeagle: ✅ Slowed down hiring, ruthless about culture fit and hunger. ✅ Fired fast zero tolerance for mediocrity. ✅ Hired executors, not storytellers. Today: ✅ We are trusted by global companies and govt bodies based on pure merit. ✅ Hard work, not PR. And those employees who stood through our darkest days? They aren’t staff, they are the foundation of Terraeagle. Brutal Truth: If you need job descriptions, hand-holding, and constant validation, you’re not startup material. You’re chasing a startup title, not the battle. In a real startup: - Spot problems without being asked - Wear 5 hats and sew 2 more - Lead without permission - Fight without guarantees Lesson for others: Startups don’t die from outside competition.They die from inside complacency. Hiring fast because you’re desperate. Firing slow because you’re scared. Ignoring red flags because you’re tired. I was wrong. I was greedy for growth. I paid the price. Learn from it. Or repeat it. Your choice.