12 Dec 2025
Lifestyle
December 12, 2025 Rohit D'Souza

Stepping Into 2026 With an Entrepreneurial Mindset: Lessons From IIT Bombay’s E-Summit ’25 That Every Leader Should Reflect On

As we close out the year, one insight from E-Summit ’25 stands out with absolute clarity:

**Entrepreneurship is no longer a profession.

It’s a way of thinking — and the differentiator of 2026.**

Not everyone will build a startup.
But everyone will need to think like a founder:
questioning assumptions, embracing discomfort, owning outcomes, and leading with intent.

At Rohit Consultants, these are the principles we’re carrying into 2026 — not as theory, but as muscle memory we want to build across our teams, clients, and partnerships.

1. Challenge Comfort. Build Range.

Growth is rarely found in familiar rooms.
One of the sharpest takeaways from the summit was this:

You can’t expand your thinking if everyone around you thinks like you.

Innovation is a by-product of intellectual diversity.
In 2026, we’re choosing to step into rooms that challenge — not echo — our existing worldview.

2. Remove Entitlement. Build Ownership.

A line that landed hard:

“Entitlement is the biggest virus of 2025.”

Complaints don’t create outcomes; ownership does.
Next year will reward individuals and teams who diagnose problems, adapt quickly, and move solutions forward — even when conditions are imperfect.

Because perfect moments don’t build great companies.
People do.

3. Stay Curious. Never Get Intellectually Comfortable.

Whether it’s communication, leadership, strategy or execution — improvement begins with the courage to see our blind spots.

Curiosity is no longer a soft skill.
In 2026, it becomes a competitive advantage.

4. Focus on the Core. Delegate the Noise.

Too many leaders try to be everywhere, do everything, and solve all.
Sustainable growth demands the opposite:

  • Do more of what only you can do.

  • Empower others to own what you shouldn’t.

The founder’s mindset is not about doing everything.
It’s about doing the right things deeply and consistently.

5. Listen to the Market, Not the Echo Chamber.

Across investment, product, and even F&B innovation, a powerful theme echoed:

Customers rarely say what they actually want — their behaviour reveals it.

2026 will be shaped by leaders who:

  • validate assumptions with data

  • study behaviour, not opinions

  • adapt offerings to real-world signals

In short: Design for reality, not for noise.

6. Enjoy the Journey, Not Just the Outcomes.

This may be the hardest shift of all.

Not every outcome is in your control.
But your consistency, mindset, and resilience always are.

The most influential founders and leaders aren’t driven by constant wins —
they’re driven by purpose, process, and the willingness to keep showing up.

Our 2026 Resolution at Rohit Consultants

To operate, advise, and build with a founder’s mindset — even when we’re not the founders.

That means:

  • More curiosity in how problems are understood.

  • More resilience in how solutions are executed.

  • More ownership in how outcomes are created.

  • More purpose in how work is approached.

2026 isn’t just another year.
It’s a chance to rethink how we think.