Adleaf Technologies
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Adleaf Technologies was an edtech startup founded in 2013 by Chetan Vashistth, blending programming bootcamps with software services. It admitted fresh engineers, trained them in web and mobile app development, gave them client work to complete - delivering development at low cost - and placed graduates with partner companies. Revenue came from bootcamp fees, client projects, and hiring fees from companies that took on its trained engineers.
02 / Adleaf Technologies FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Adleaf failed through inexperience and poor money management: the founders overspent on office infrastructure before earning a single rupee of revenue, tried to run the company on early revenue instead of committed investment, never hired a full-time salesperson, and the founder worked without salary while doing multiple jobs. When revenue dried up, the co-founder refused to invest more, accused the founder of wanting his money, and demanded his money back with 24% interest; reserves ran out before July 2014.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
Chetan Vashistth starts Adleaf Technologies in India, registered in November 2013, combining programming bootcamps with software development services. The first batch has 7 students; a Facebook ad campaign brings 43 new admissions in a week, and the company is running 5 batches a day, recovering its investment within two weeks.
- Collapse
The December-January exam season leaves no running batches, the sales pipeline for development projects is ignored, and the co-founder grows uneasy as money drains into day-to-day operations. The founder starts freelancing to cover expenses, reserves run out before July 2014, and with no ability to raise more funds, the company ends.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
By early 2014, Adleaf's reserves were draining: the founders had no running student batches during exam season, no sales pipeline for development work, and no funds for an advertising push or a business development team.
- 02
The co-founder refused to put in more money and demanded his money back with 24% interest; the founder could not raise additional funds.
- 03
Before July 2014, the company's reserves were exhausted and Adleaf Technologies ended; the founder estimated his personal loss at about INR 1 million (roughly $13,000 USD) - INR 3 lakh from his reserves plus a year's forgone salary of INR 6-7 lakh.