‘Sleepless nights turn into long workdays…’: Bengaluru entrepreneur couple brings son to work

Amid all the talk of work-life balance, Puneet Manuja and Richa Singh, co-founders of Bengaluru-based emotional wellness platform startup YourDOST, brought their 1.5-year-old son to work on November 4. Manuja shared a LinkedIn post highlighting the challenges of balancing parenting and running a company.

“One of the most challenging situations for us as couple founders is balancing our new born (Rudra) with our other baby YourDOST,” said Puneet Manuja in his LinkedIn post. 

The co-founder said giving an “idealistic” answer to the balancing equation was easier when they did not have a child.

“Running a company together while raising our newborn was overwhelming,” said Manuja, addressing people asking them about the pros and cons of being a founder couple and running a company.

He also highlighted that balancing the two roles has made “sleepless nights turn into long workdays,” as per the social media post. 

“Some days, we questioned if we were doing enough as parents or as leaders,” he said, sharing the guilt of not fulfilling either role to its full potential. 

Bringing children to work

Talking about integrating his son into his work routine and vice versa, Manuja said that he got the idea from a friend, which turned out to be one of the most effective things the couple had done.

“A dear friend Siddharth (having done this with his baby while scaling PlaySimple Games) gave this idea last month and we started bringing him to office. That was probably one of the most effective things we have done,” said the co-founder on LinkedIn.

Manuja reflected on his journey and added, “The journey wasn’t easy, but it has taught us resilience, empathy, and the importance of asking for help.” 

Netizens React

Social media users congratulated the Bengaluru-based founder couple on having a baby. 

“Compliments to both of you : ) Creating a thought and honouring what you need during this period of time is essential. That way, both you as parents and your child can flourish physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually,” said Imtiaz Batkoo, senior vice president and COO at RXG Business Consulting.

Others like Roli Gupta, CEO and founder of Babblebots Inc, loved the founder's story, while Simridhi Makhija addressed the cuteness factor of the 1.5-year-old Rudra.

“Your message is so on point. But I am distracted by how cute Rudra is. Especially with his baby hat,” said Simridhi Makhija, responding to Manuja's post.