This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Astha Chaturvedi, 38, the founder of Mouri Living. Her words have been edited for length and clarity. After a decade in Big Tech and at McKinsey, I was working at Ripple in San Francisco when I decided to build my own startup . I traveled to India in 2024 to hire a CTO. While I was there, a cousin suggested I open an office in India, pointing out that the startup ecosystem was booming. That sent my husband and me down a rabbit hole of