At the age of 27, he was preparing to sell his company to LinkedIn and increase his personal net worth by millions of dollars. On the surface, everything seemed perfect: a rapidly growing startup, a seat at Y Combinator, and an acquisition from one of the largest companies in Silicon Valley was just around the corner. However, just a few months before completing his first deal as an entrepreneur, Vohra was hospitalized due to long-term stress from entrepreneurship.
That was in 2011, less than two years after Vohra and others jointly founded Rapportive. Rapportive was a browser plugin and email service. From an external perspective, this seemed like a "perfect success story." This team of just five people went from writing their first line of code to being part of Y Combinator's summer intake in 2010, and then they grew the company to a point where it could be sold to LinkedIn. However, in reality, the company was running out of money at that time, and Vohra was putting a lot of pressure on them. Finally, in February 2012, the company was acquired by LinkedIn for a reported transaction value of 15 million US dollars.
“I didn’t feel pressured at the time, but I think that’s just because when you’re constantly under pressure, you stop even noticing it,” Vohra said to Fortune.
Then everything suddenly erupted. At 3 a.m., Vohra woke up feeling intense nausea and discomfort, but still managed to go through the day as usual. By lunchtime, the pain had become unbearable; while walking four blocks from his San Francisco office to a nearby pharmacy, he collapsed outside a McDonald's. One of his co-founders came to his aid and brought him some painkillers to relieve the pain – Vohra said that he felt "like a fool" after that and immediately went back to continue working.
It wasn't until the next day that Vohra went to the hospital for a series of examinations. The results showed that the main cause of his health problems was the stress associated with the sale process of his leading company. Having relied on brownies and pizza as his staple food for two years without any exercise, coupled with the pressures of entrepreneurship, it ultimately led to gastroesophageal reflux disease. A nurse told him that his internal organs looked as if he were 10 to 20 years older than his actual age and advised him to "reconsider" his lifestyle. During his hospital stay and the following weeks of recuperation with his family, Vohra began to rethink what entrepreneurship meant and how he wanted to live while pursuing it. This experience also led him on the path to founding another company valued at 825 million dollars; that company was later sold to Grammarly, and this time, he never had to go to the hospital again.
“I personally feel that seeing founders in their 20s push themselves to the brink of collapse is often even more severe than what I experienced back then, and it makes me feel sad and uneasy,” said Vohra. “They are doing what I have done, but with even more extreme working hours, yet they regard it as some kind of honor badge. I hope that when people read this report, they will see that there is another way.”
This health crisis changed his view of the founder.
This 42-year-old entrepreneur grew up in Birmingham, UK. After that terrible health crisis, he spent a month trying to find his new "normal." After staying in the hospital for a week, he completely disconnected from work during his remaining recovery time and rested with his family. He developed a "spiritual bond" with his aunt's dog and renewed his love for narrative video games such as "The Legend of Zelda" and "Final Fantasy."
But perhaps the most important lesson he learned on his road to recovery was transcendental meditation. Several friends in the industry suggested that he get in touch with Laurent Valosek, who is not only a health coach but also the CEO of the executive coaching company Peak Leadership Institute.
Under the guidance of Valosek, Vohra began to learn Transcendental Meditation according to the traditions of India's Raj. This is a one-on-one teaching method, where the teacher personally guides the student through the exercises and mantras. They initially conducted several sessions that lasted for several hours and spanned several days; even years later, they still meet in person every two to three months.
“When I finally returned to work, all those tricks that the venture capitalists were playing… things that used to really bother me, suddenly no longer affected me at all,” said Vohra. “I’ve developed a new kind of resilience and stress resistance. I would directly call those venture capitalists who were talking nonsense to me, point out that they were being ridiculous, and refuse to continue cooperating with them, because I have found a new source of strength: gratitude for being still alive.”
These days, he sets aside specific time each day for meditation. This entrepreneur meditates for 30 minutes every morning: 20 minutes repeating his own mantra and 10 minutes lying down to rest. He says that this ritual improves his mental state, creativity, and sense of happiness, and also allows him to go through the day with a more “calm” and “clear” mindset. Around 3:30 in the afternoon, he leaves his desk to go to the meditation room for another short session.
“I will make sure to incorporate this part of the schedule into my daily life, and I think it’s definitely worth it,” said Vohra.
After recovering from a health crisis and making millions of dollars from a transaction that sold Rapportive to LinkedIn, Vohra could have rightfully taken a break from the startup scene for a while. However, this entrepreneur says he's not yet done enough, and this time, he's ready to do it in a different way.
Starting another company valued at $825 million with a better mindset
Founding and selling Rapportive was a whirlwind experience. Throughout its entire 20-month history, the company generated only 14 cents in revenue. However, judging by other indicators, it was a breakthrough success. Vohra states that early investors in the business achieved a 20-fold return, and the founders became millionaires when they sold their shares. Nevertheless, Vohra still feels that there is more he can do, and with a renewed perspective, he is ready to make things even bigger.
In 2014, two years after selling the previous company to LinkedIn, Vohra co-founded Superhuman with Conrad Irwin and Vivek Sodera. He re-entered the email software industry this time, creating a productivity suite for email management called AI. In 2021, Superhuman was valued at $825 million and was acquired by Grammarly in 2025, although the acquisition price was not disclosed. The original email product was renamed Superhuman Mail after the sale, and Vohra continued to be deeply involved, continuously releasing product updates.
The situation during the second sale was very different from the first time. After that, Vohra improved his diet, insisted on regular exercise, set aside time for meditation, and found a more efficient way of working. He consulted with nutritionists, dietitians, meditation coaches, and executive trainers. In addition, compared to managing Rapportive, he faced much less stress; he no longer constantly risked running out of funds, and his financing capabilities were also stronger. Superhuman raised over 100 million dollars from investors before being acquired, which gave Vohra a more substantial financial buffer than when managing Rapportive. With a better work approach and a more positive business mindset, he had the confidence to sell under his own terms and leave.
“I think that as I’ve grown older and gained more experience, I’ve developed a broader perspective. I’ve also persisted in exercising and meditating, and I’ve improved my diet a lot,” said Vohra. “By then, I no longer had those fears related to basic survival. We weren’t running out of money anymore. Our growth rate was faster than ever before. I could have continued to raise more funds. Selling the company was more about asking: if we did so, could we achieve our mission together more quickly?”
