Start a company to get rich or solve a problem? Indian CEO says it’s fine to focus on making money, netizens agree with him

Jitendra Emmani wrote a post in response to investor Aviral Bhatnagar, who urged aspiring founders not to launch businesses for financial gain or for the title of CEO.

The Indian CEO said his outlook shifted when founding his second startup (Representative image/Unsplash)

A Hyderabad-based entrepreneur has pushed back against an investor’s view that founders should build companies out of passion rather than financial ambition. Jitendra Emmani, co-founder and CEO of Cozy Farms, argues that wanting to make money is a perfectly valid reason to start a business.

Drawing from his own journey, Emmani shared his perspective on X. He explained that his first venture, Picxy, was created to solve a problem he genuinely cared about. According to YourStory, Emmani was studying at Northern Illinois University in the US and working on a media portal focused on stories from South India when he noticed a shortage of Indian stock images. To address that gap, he launched Picxy, a platform that offers stock photos specifically for Indian businesses.

However, despite six years of effort, the company never grew. “Started my first company to solve a problem I deeply cared about. A stock photo company for India. Worked 6 years pretty hard and it didn’t take off beyond a point,” Emmani wrote on X.

He said his outlook shifted when founding his second startup, Cozy Farms. Within a year, Cozy Farms generated more revenue than Picxy did in six years, he claimed.

The post was written in response to investor Aviral Bhatnagar, who had urged aspiring founders not to launch businesses for financial gain or for the title of CEO. “Only do it if you’re crazy enough to do whatever it takes to solve a problem you deeply care about,” Bhatnagar wrote.

“Started my second company to make money and be happy with the work I do,” he said, adding, “Year 1 revenue of Cozy Farms >> 6 years cumulative revenue of Picxy which is my first company.”

Concludingly, he wrote, “Stop listening to the gyan. Build for money, it’s totally fine.” He encouraged people to focus on getting rich first and then use that wealth to do meaningful things.

See the post here:

Started my first company to solve a problem I deeply cared about.

A stock photo company for India. Worked 6 years pretty hard and it didn’t take off beyond a point.

Started my second company to make money and be happy with the work I do.

Year 1 revenue of Cozy Farms >> 6… https://t.co/kLC5b2CRSJ

— Jitendra Emmani (@JitendraEmmani) November 22, 2025

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The post sparked a discussion about startups and how companies should operate. “Obviously business is supposed to be for making money, even most of the big NGOs are running a profitable business. In fact if one is not practical enough to be driven by money they shouldn’t think of starting the business,” a user wrote.

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“Great to see such turnaround. I can relate with founder pain and 6 years of no concrete results. Realising whats working and whats not is really important,” another user commented.

“Seriously this follow your passion may not take 99% to where they want to go. Building for money is fine. In the process you will have new passion new goals,” a third user reacted.