Trust in Business vs. Blind Faith

We often assume systems will protect us, until they fail to do so. Last year, India saw another major bank fraud. ₹122 crores siphoned off quietly over a six-year period. No alerts. No accountability. And the culprits disappeared before the damage was fully understood. As entrepreneurs, we spend years building businesses, reinvesting our profits, trusting financial institutions, and believing that audits and protocols will keep our hard-earned capital safe. But systems can fail. And when they do, it's often the common man or small business owner who suffers the most. This isn’t just about one fraud. It’s a pattern, one that repeats because we do not ask enough questions. A few things I’ve learned (and now actively apply): • Never park all your funds in one place; diversify across banks and institutions. • Before trusting a corporate or co-operative bank, review their credit ratings and recent audit reports. • Read your bank statements yourself, every single month. • Systems are designed to simplify life, not to replace awareness. Stay informed. • Most importantly, never confuse trust with blind faith. As founders, our responsibility extends beyond profit. It includes protecting the ecosystem that sustains our teams, vendors, and customers. That means asking tough questions, understanding risks, and building fail-safes even where the system says you don’t need them. Because if we don’t protect what we’ve built, who will? #Entrepreneurship #FinancialLiteracy #BankingAwareness #AbhishekVyas

Nobody talks about this hardest part of being a founder: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. Being cheated is part of the every founder journey. And it didn't happen to me just once - it happened often 𝐀 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬. We kept delivering because I thought "relationship matters more than contract." The cheque never came. 𝐀𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞 𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲. The real damage was fixing trust with clients. 𝐀 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐈 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 spent his time convincing my team to leave and join him in Delhi. 𝐀𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 after months of due diligence. We faced our team the next morning with no funding news. Each time it hurt because I had “𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅”. For a while, I thought maybe I shouldn't trust people at all. But that wasn't the answer. Every big win at Supersourcing and EngineerBabu also came from trust. 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 23-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘦 500 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦. 𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝? I stopped trusting blindly. Trust without structure is just hope. And hope doesn't scale businesses. Now I trust with systems: - Contracts that protect both sides - Milestone-based deliveries - Regular check-ins - Transparency as standard I still trust people. But now I also, give autonomy with clear expectations. I stay empathetic but watch for red flags "Believe in second chances, not third ones" 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡: Trust first, protect later 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡: Trust and protect simultaneously The founder who never trusts stays safe but small. The founder who trusts everyone grows fast but crashes hard. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦. Being cheated taught me that trust isn't weakness. Blind trust is. To fellow founders: Don't stop trusting. Just trust smarter. 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬. Have you faced something similar? How did you handle it? #founderlife #leadership #startup #success

Do🤝 Not Every Handshaker Is a Friend: The Risk of Misplaced Trust in Business Trust is a currency in business—but just like money, it can be counterfeit. This image is a powerful reminder: Appearances deceive. A firm handshake may mask a silent threat. In the world of governance, risk, and compliance, misplaced trust can result in catastrophic losses—financial, reputational, even strategic. Here’s what finance and risk professionals must keep in mind: ⸻ 🐍 1. Due Diligence Over Charm Not every confident partner, vendor, or consultant is who they seem. Trust must be earned through facts, not gestures. 📌 Example: A supplier with a polished pitch but hidden financial instability may compromise your supply chain and service delivery. ⸻ 🔍 2. Verify, Then Trust As Ronald Reagan famously said: “Trust, but verify.” Always conduct background checks, audit reviews, legal screenings, and financial health checks. 📌 Tip: Implement third-party risk assessments and continuous monitoring. ⸻ 🧠 3. Internal Betrayal Is Real Some of the biggest frauds in corporate history stemmed from insiders—employees who were trusted for years. 📌 Example: Rogue traders or misreporting finance staff with unchecked access and weak oversight. ⸻ ⚖️ 4. Separate Roles and Monitor Behavior Even friendly relationships must be subject to controls. Use segregation of duties, limit system access, and audit trails. 📌 Tip: Rotate staff roles in sensitive departments like treasury, procurement, or accounting. ⸻ 🛡️ 5. Cultivate a Healthy Risk Culture Train your team to spot red flags, speak up, and understand that skepticism is not cynicism—it’s protection. 📌 Quote: “Risk-aware doesn’t mean risk-averse. It means alert.” ⸻ ✅ Takeaway In a world of complex relationships, your defense lies not in assuming goodwill—but in structuring for safety. The handshake is only as safe as the risk controls behind it. ⸻ 🔖 #RiskManagement #CorporateGovernance #DueDiligence #ThirdPartyRisk #FraudPrevention #OperationalRisk #Leadership #Compliance #InternalControls #RiskCulture #TrustButVerify #GRC #RedFlags

I’ve seen it happen too many times — family offices or high-net worth investors invest in a deal directly because their friends did. Without any diligence. They assume: - Their friends surely did their diligence already, right? - Their friends have their back, right? - They’re a minority investor, they don’t need access to the board or C-suite right? These assumptions put them in a bad situation, as is using someone else’s diligence because: 1) Different risk tolerance – A friend’s investment goals, risk appetite, and timelines may be completely different from yours. What works for them may not work for you. 2) Incomplete or biased information – Even experienced investors can miss critical red flags. Were they looking at the same risks that matter to you? 3) No substitutes for independent review – Every investment deserves fresh scrutiny. Understanding the company’s fundamentals, leadership, financials, and risk profile through your own lens is key to protecting your capital. This includes spending time with the company, as well as having carving out a structure where you have access to information if you decide to go through with the investment. Family offices have the flexibility to invest in unique opportunities—but that freedom comes with responsibility. No matter who else is in the deal, do your own diligence. Blind trust is not an investment strategy. #privateequity #familyoffices #HNWI #duediligence

When it comes to boards and executive teams, "trust" is an incredibly important aspect of how they work together. In the case of high-performing boards and executive teams, trust is the critical factor that allows them to stretch and get the best out of each other. In the case of in-effective and dysfunctional boards, trust becomes blind and boards abandon their critical challenge/oversight role. The appalling UK Post Office scandal is a very clear example of an experienced board failing at every level in terms of their oversight and challenge due to "blind trust in the executive team" and shocking levels of complacency. In our board evaluation work, when we see the very best boards and executive teams in action, trust is used to ensure; 1. Absolute clarity on all board directors and executive's role, responsibilities and commitments to each other. 2. The highest levels of intelligent robust challenge, oversight and the board holding the executive team's feet to the fire on their performance, commitments, priorities and behaviours. 3. Absolute honesty and a consistent ability to face up to and deal with "the elephants in the room". 4. Board directors continually on their toes, irrespective of how well the organisation is performing, with high levels of curiosity and meticulous preparation for board/committee meetings. In our board dispute mediation work, we see the sharp end of the devastating consequences of trust breaking down between the board and executive team. This rarely happens overnight and is usually an accumulation of multiple "trust fractures" over time. In the following article, I explore the five components of the trust equation of a board. https://lnkd.in/eTWM4R7R

The WHY...... Fallacy of Blind Trust In an age where "I blindly trusted you" becomes a refrain in the symphony of our interactions, I embarked on a journey from victim to observer of blind trust. The realization? It wasn't the trust that was blind; it was me. Blind trust, often cloaked in the guise of convenience, emerges not from the other's deceit but from our unwillingness to engage in the rigor of diligence. It springs from a place of need, a shortcut we take when someone seems to fit the mold of what we're seeking, be it in a friend, a partner, or a business ally. The truth hits hard when the veil lifts, and the person in question fails to meet the pedestal we placed them on. The aftermath? A cocktail of loss - time, effort, financial resources - followed by a bitter aftertaste of betrayal. Yet, upon reflection, the epiphany strikes: the betrayal is not theirs alone to own. The foundation of blind trust was laid by our hands, fueled by convenience and a deep-seated aversion to exerting the necessary effort and scrutiny. This realization pivoted my perspective. "Blind trust is the foundation for Betrayal". Blind trust is not just an act of naivety; it's an exercise in laziness, a reluctance to probe deeper, to question, to validate. It's a self-inflicted wound, born from a failure to recognize that genuine trust is earned, meticulously built on a scaffolding of reliability and proven integrity, not hastily granted on a whim of compatibility or need fulfillment. So, the next time the echoes of blind trust and betrayal resound, let's pause and reflect. Is the fault entirely theirs, or did our own lapses in judgment pave the way for disappointment? Trust is a two-way street, paved with mutual respect, understanding, and, most importantly, effort. Let's not shy away from the labor it demands. In the narrative of trust, let us not be blinded by our desires, quick-wins or lethargy. Let the tale evolve from blind trust to enlightened trustworthiness, where each step towards trust is measured, examined, and earned. Because, in the end, the clarity of our judgment and the depth of our relationships hinge not on blind faith but on the vigilant eyes of mindful trust. Have you ever placed blind trust in someone or something, and what was the outcome? How has this shaped your approach to trust in your personal and professional life? Share your stories and insights. #life #leadership #philosophy