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Journalism of Courage
A post meant to highlight startup founder grit has instead sparked a heated debate online after a man recently shared a post about his sister briefly stepping away from her wedding celebrations to fix a critical bug at her company.
What was intended as a snapshot of startup dedication quickly drew backlash from users on X, many of whom questioned the culture being celebrated.
“Not a photo op, parents yelled at both of us. When people ask why we won, I’ll point to this,” he added.
The image shows the bride dressed in traditional Indian wedding attire, smiling as she works on her laptop. The groom is seen beside her, smiling and eating.
Later, Agarwal shared another update on his sister’s post-wedding schedule. “She’s currently on honeymoon but taking meetings 3 hours a day. The husband is not happy lol.”
As the post gained traction, reactions poured in, and not all were supportive.
One user responded, “I’m deeply committed to my career, but not at the cost of missing the moments that matter most to me.” Agarwal replied, “Of course, nor should you be. We got heavily scolded by our parents.”
Another commenter remarked, “Not to be a critic here but you should focus on hiring a better team if the founder needs to step in to fix bugs (critical or not). Congratulations to the couple; they look lovely together.”
A third person reposted the image, saying, “If she can’t plan her own wedding day, we can only imagine how she is managing people and company. It’s a skill issue at display in public.”
At the same time, several users came to the founders’ defence.
One wrote, “No wonder I love the tool. Founders are locked in. Congrats!” Another added, “Love the hustle bro (and sis, haha), do remember that it’s a marathon, not a sprint!”
Mehul and Gauri Agarwal are based in San Francisco. As per her LinkedIn profile, Gauri holds a computer science degree from Carnegie Mellon University, and a Master of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Mehul, too, completed his undergraduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University, followed by a Master of Science at the same institute.
The brother and sister launched their company together in 2025, with Gauri taking on the role of Chief Technology Officer and Mehul serving as Chief Executive Officer.
