Built Without a Budget

<p class=ql-align-justify><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Built Without a Budget lands at a moment when many Gen Zs are chasing the entrepreneurial dream-but most books only tell the stories that end in glory. This one doesn't.</span></p><p class=ql-align-justify><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>As a finance student at the University of Toronto Tejas Trikha launched CouBon. This two-sided dynamic pricing marketplace connected restaurants during their slow hours with students seeking deals. Armed with limited resources and plenty of persistence CouBon grew from a dorm-room idea into a live platform used daily by students and partnered with dozens of restaurants-generating real revenue before closing due to scalability limits and macro headwinds.</span></p><p class=ql-align-justify><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Written while the journey was still fresh this candid account goes beyond highlight reels to share the real grind: pitching investors cold solving the two-sided marketplace paradox managing churn and knowing when to walk away. It's a survival guide for student founders-and a reminder that even when the outcome isn't what you planned the lessons can be life-changing.</span></p><p class=ql-align-justify><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>The startup story you don't see on Instagram.</span></p><p></p>