Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and TVK president C Joseph Vijay greets supporters at a meeting in Tiruchi | Photo Credit: Vengadesh R

In the previous column, I had listed a few key startup principles that the Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) was spot on in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. Now comes the difficult part. When startups raise a large round of capital, it is celebrated as it signals to the market that the startup has got an early product-market fit (PMF), buying customers are transiting into committed users and there is a growth momentum.

In the case of TVK, the public has funded the political startup with votes instead of money, and given party leader C Joseph Vijay and his team the runway to build, experiment and scale up.

Unfortunately, however, this vote-capital is accompanied by a huge burn rate (the voter’s massive expectations) and the TVK must execute smartly to satisfy them.

Early-stage startups are entirely created by founders and their personas, and this works as long as the venture remains small. Scaling up requires processes and systems. TVK’s big challenge will be to transit from a film star’s aura-driven fan network to a large political party capable of administering the State with strong systems across districts.

The four key hurdles common to startups scaling up are: building a second line of leadership; delegating responsibility downwards with accountability; setting up robust processes and monitoring systems; and ensuring that decision-making is transparent and fair.

Thousands of startups falter at this stage, because while building processes is easy the discipline needed to adhere to them is much harder.

Many startups try to do too much too soon, especially after a large round of funding, to show momentum to the new investors. They launch in several markets and try to address several customer segments at the same time.

TVK should avoid such an approach and, instead, carefully pick a few visible and important domains, execute well and showcase early wins to build credibility and keep investors (voters) satisfied.

Another hurdle for startups scaling up fast is the erosion in positioning and communications. They raise capital based on specific brand promises, but as they scale up the narratives change and disillusionment sets in.

TVK must remain consistent with its original positioning and the messaging that got it here. Dilution in communications can cause distress among the early users (fans).

For startups, the best way to gain trust is to under-promise and over-deliver. Several funded startups make the mistake of over-promising grand objectives and end up under-delivering, which can cause irreversible damage. TVK must steer clear of this pitfall.

Startups have to work hard and long to build trust. However, they can also lose this trust in an instant.

(The writer is a serial entrepreneur and best-selling author of the book ‘Failing to Succeed’; posts on X @vaitheek)

Published on June 8, 2026