Akhila Kosaraju
@akhilak.bsky.social
I help climate solutions accelerate adoption with design that wins pilots, partnerships & funding | Clients across startups and unicorns backed by U.S. Dep’t of Energy, YC, Accel | Brand, Websites and UX Design.
Whatifdesign.co
Whatifdesign.co
And if you're feeling it right now, you're right on track. Keep putting in the reps.
Share this with someone who needs to hear it.
Comment down below if this is you, was you, or still is. Let's remind each other why we keep showing up.
Share this with someone who needs to hear it.
Comment down below if this is you, was you, or still is. Let's remind each other why we keep showing up.
December 8, 2025 at 5:49 PM
And if you're feeling it right now, you're right on track. Keep putting in the reps.
Share this with someone who needs to hear it.
Comment down below if this is you, was you, or still is. Let's remind each other why we keep showing up.
Share this with someone who needs to hear it.
Comment down below if this is you, was you, or still is. Let's remind each other why we keep showing up.
So when it gets hard, when you feel out of place, when no one wants you there, keep going.
The discomfort isn't a sign you're in the wrong place.
It's proof you're exactly where you need to be to grow.
The pain is the point.
The discomfort isn't a sign you're in the wrong place.
It's proof you're exactly where you need to be to grow.
The pain is the point.
December 8, 2025 at 5:49 PM
So when it gets hard, when you feel out of place, when no one wants you there, keep going.
The discomfort isn't a sign you're in the wrong place.
It's proof you're exactly where you need to be to grow.
The pain is the point.
The discomfort isn't a sign you're in the wrong place.
It's proof you're exactly where you need to be to grow.
The pain is the point.
Every deep friendship I've built. Every meaningful achievement. They all started in that same place.
Uncomfortable, uncertain and painful.
But just by showing up, I was already doing better than everyone who stayed home.
Uncomfortable, uncertain and painful.
But just by showing up, I was already doing better than everyone who stayed home.
December 8, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Every deep friendship I've built. Every meaningful achievement. They all started in that same place.
Uncomfortable, uncertain and painful.
But just by showing up, I was already doing better than everyone who stayed home.
Uncomfortable, uncertain and painful.
But just by showing up, I was already doing better than everyone who stayed home.
Standing there in that court, being ignored, and being the one no one picked and still showing up, that wasn't the price I paid to get better.
That was me getting better.
I've seen this pattern repeat everywhere since.
That was me getting better.
I've seen this pattern repeat everywhere since.
December 8, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Standing there in that court, being ignored, and being the one no one picked and still showing up, that wasn't the price I paid to get better.
That was me getting better.
I've seen this pattern repeat everywhere since.
That was me getting better.
I've seen this pattern repeat everywhere since.
The court never changed. The competition never got easier.
I just got stronger.
We waste so much energy waiting to feel ready, to feel better and grow.
But here's what I know now: Growth only comes from pain.
I just got stronger.
We waste so much energy waiting to feel ready, to feel better and grow.
But here's what I know now: Growth only comes from pain.
December 8, 2025 at 5:49 PM
The court never changed. The competition never got easier.
I just got stronger.
We waste so much energy waiting to feel ready, to feel better and grow.
But here's what I know now: Growth only comes from pain.
I just got stronger.
We waste so much energy waiting to feel ready, to feel better and grow.
But here's what I know now: Growth only comes from pain.
Early mornings. Late nights.
Losing matches I thought I should win. Getting picked last, then picked first.
Moving from the worst player in the room to someone the room couldn't ignore.
Two years later, I became captain of the women's table tennis team.
Losing matches I thought I should win. Getting picked last, then picked first.
Moving from the worst player in the room to someone the room couldn't ignore.
Two years later, I became captain of the women's table tennis team.
December 8, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Early mornings. Late nights.
Losing matches I thought I should win. Getting picked last, then picked first.
Moving from the worst player in the room to someone the room couldn't ignore.
Two years later, I became captain of the women's table tennis team.
Losing matches I thought I should win. Getting picked last, then picked first.
Moving from the worst player in the room to someone the room couldn't ignore.
Two years later, I became captain of the women's table tennis team.
Three days of barely touching a paddle.
Then someone finally showed me the ropes on a quieter weekend.
That small mercy felt like everything.
A few months later, I tried out for the team. I made it. And I kept showing up.
Then someone finally showed me the ropes on a quieter weekend.
That small mercy felt like everything.
A few months later, I tried out for the team. I made it. And I kept showing up.
December 8, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Three days of barely touching a paddle.
Then someone finally showed me the ropes on a quieter weekend.
That small mercy felt like everything.
A few months later, I tried out for the team. I made it. And I kept showing up.
Then someone finally showed me the ropes on a quieter weekend.
That small mercy felt like everything.
A few months later, I tried out for the team. I made it. And I kept showing up.
Warm. Fun. Never competitive.
But this was different.
The first day, I only got to play for five minutes.
The second day, maybe ten.
Some days, I didn't play at all.
I just stood there. Watched. Waited in the background while everyone else got better.
But this was different.
The first day, I only got to play for five minutes.
The second day, maybe ten.
Some days, I didn't play at all.
I just stood there. Watched. Waited in the background while everyone else got better.
December 8, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Warm. Fun. Never competitive.
But this was different.
The first day, I only got to play for five minutes.
The second day, maybe ten.
Some days, I didn't play at all.
I just stood there. Watched. Waited in the background while everyone else got better.
But this was different.
The first day, I only got to play for five minutes.
The second day, maybe ten.
Some days, I didn't play at all.
I just stood there. Watched. Waited in the background while everyone else got better.
No one wanted to play with me. I wasn't good enough.
How could I be?
Back home, table tennis meant fun friday nights.
A makeshift net stretched across our extended dinner table. Barely-working rubber paddles.
How could I be?
Back home, table tennis meant fun friday nights.
A makeshift net stretched across our extended dinner table. Barely-working rubber paddles.
December 8, 2025 at 5:49 PM
No one wanted to play with me. I wasn't good enough.
How could I be?
Back home, table tennis meant fun friday nights.
A makeshift net stretched across our extended dinner table. Barely-working rubber paddles.
How could I be?
Back home, table tennis meant fun friday nights.
A makeshift net stretched across our extended dinner table. Barely-working rubber paddles.
I learned this standing alone in a table tennis court at IIT Kharagpur. The only girl in a room full of state and national level players.
Eight people waiting at each table.
And a 1:13 gender ratio that felt like a spotlight on everything I wasn't.
Eight people waiting at each table.
And a 1:13 gender ratio that felt like a spotlight on everything I wasn't.
December 8, 2025 at 5:49 PM
I learned this standing alone in a table tennis court at IIT Kharagpur. The only girl in a room full of state and national level players.
Eight people waiting at each table.
And a 1:13 gender ratio that felt like a spotlight on everything I wasn't.
Eight people waiting at each table.
And a 1:13 gender ratio that felt like a spotlight on everything I wasn't.
PS: I borrowed Jake Parker's Inktober and turned it into Climtober.
Credited him. Adapted it for climate tech and made it mine.
Comment "CLIMTOBER" and I'll send you all 31 concepts, startup breakdowns, and cheatsheets in one place.
Credited him. Adapted it for climate tech and made it mine.
Comment "CLIMTOBER" and I'll send you all 31 concepts, startup breakdowns, and cheatsheets in one place.
December 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
PS: I borrowed Jake Parker's Inktober and turned it into Climtober.
Credited him. Adapted it for climate tech and made it mine.
Comment "CLIMTOBER" and I'll send you all 31 concepts, startup breakdowns, and cheatsheets in one place.
Credited him. Adapted it for climate tech and made it mine.
Comment "CLIMTOBER" and I'll send you all 31 concepts, startup breakdowns, and cheatsheets in one place.
We're all standing on someone else's shoulders.
The question is whether we acknowledge them or pretend we're floating.
The question is whether we acknowledge them or pretend we're floating.
December 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
We're all standing on someone else's shoulders.
The question is whether we acknowledge them or pretend we're floating.
The question is whether we acknowledge them or pretend we're floating.
The best people I know curate as much as they create.
They find design principles from fintech and apply them to climate.
They take wisdom from niche communities and bring it to the people who desperately need it.
They find design principles from fintech and apply them to climate.
They take wisdom from niche communities and bring it to the people who desperately need it.
December 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
The best people I know curate as much as they create.
They find design principles from fintech and apply them to climate.
They take wisdom from niche communities and bring it to the people who desperately need it.
They find design principles from fintech and apply them to climate.
They take wisdom from niche communities and bring it to the people who desperately need it.
→ Never copy word for word.
If you can't explain it in your own language, you don't understand it well enough to share it.
→ And when you're uncertain: Just ask.
Most people are honored when someone wants to build on their work.
If you can't explain it in your own language, you don't understand it well enough to share it.
→ And when you're uncertain: Just ask.
Most people are honored when someone wants to build on their work.
December 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
→ Never copy word for word.
If you can't explain it in your own language, you don't understand it well enough to share it.
→ And when you're uncertain: Just ask.
Most people are honored when someone wants to build on their work.
If you can't explain it in your own language, you don't understand it well enough to share it.
→ And when you're uncertain: Just ask.
Most people are honored when someone wants to build on their work.
If they share storytelling tactics for B2C brands, adapt them for technical founders pitching to industrial buyers.
Do the cognitive work of adaptation.
→ Credit the original creator.
Make it clear where the seed idea came from.
Give attribution upfront.
Do the cognitive work of adaptation.
→ Credit the original creator.
Make it clear where the seed idea came from.
Give attribution upfront.
December 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
If they share storytelling tactics for B2C brands, adapt them for technical founders pitching to industrial buyers.
Do the cognitive work of adaptation.
→ Credit the original creator.
Make it clear where the seed idea came from.
Give attribution upfront.
Do the cognitive work of adaptation.
→ Credit the original creator.
Make it clear where the seed idea came from.
Give attribution upfront.
→ Take the idea and make it fit your world.
If someone writes about reducing friction in consumer checkouts, show how it applies to simplifying ESG vendor onboarding.
If someone writes about reducing friction in consumer checkouts, show how it applies to simplifying ESG vendor onboarding.
December 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
→ Take the idea and make it fit your world.
If someone writes about reducing friction in consumer checkouts, show how it applies to simplifying ESG vendor onboarding.
If someone writes about reducing friction in consumer checkouts, show how it applies to simplifying ESG vendor onboarding.
They're doing the hard work of translation.
And sometimes that translation matters more than the original insight.
So here's what I learned.
The line between theft and service comes down to how you handle it:
And sometimes that translation matters more than the original insight.
So here's what I learned.
The line between theft and service comes down to how you handle it:
December 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
They're doing the hard work of translation.
And sometimes that translation matters more than the original insight.
So here's what I learned.
The line between theft and service comes down to how you handle it:
And sometimes that translation matters more than the original insight.
So here's what I learned.
The line between theft and service comes down to how you handle it:
These ideas spread because people translated them. Adapted them. Made them useful in new contexts.
The person who takes a concept from a technical paper and makes it accessible to founders isn't stealing.
The person who takes a concept from a technical paper and makes it accessible to founders isn't stealing.
December 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
These ideas spread because people translated them. Adapted them. Made them useful in new contexts.
The person who takes a concept from a technical paper and makes it accessible to founders isn't stealing.
The person who takes a concept from a technical paper and makes it accessible to founders isn't stealing.
→ IDEO popularized design thinking by remixing older problem-solving methods.
→ Jobs to be Done was popularized by Clayton Christensen, building on work by Tony Ulwick and Bob Moesta.
→ The hero’s journey was Joseph Campbell’s take on Carl Jung’s archetypes.
→ Jobs to be Done was popularized by Clayton Christensen, building on work by Tony Ulwick and Bob Moesta.
→ The hero’s journey was Joseph Campbell’s take on Carl Jung’s archetypes.
December 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
→ IDEO popularized design thinking by remixing older problem-solving methods.
→ Jobs to be Done was popularized by Clayton Christensen, building on work by Tony Ulwick and Bob Moesta.
→ The hero’s journey was Joseph Campbell’s take on Carl Jung’s archetypes.
→ Jobs to be Done was popularized by Clayton Christensen, building on work by Tony Ulwick and Bob Moesta.
→ The hero’s journey was Joseph Campbell’s take on Carl Jung’s archetypes.
As Austin Kleon says in 'Steal Like an Artist' - everything is a remix of what came before.
Look at the ideas we consider foundational:
Look at the ideas we consider foundational:
December 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
As Austin Kleon says in 'Steal Like an Artist' - everything is a remix of what came before.
Look at the ideas we consider foundational:
Look at the ideas we consider foundational:
I held onto this belief for a long time.
Then I had to be honest with myself: Was I angry about the copying itself, or about not being credited?
Because if I'm being real, very few ideas are truly original.
Then I had to be honest with myself: Was I angry about the copying itself, or about not being credited?
Because if I'm being real, very few ideas are truly original.
December 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
I held onto this belief for a long time.
Then I had to be honest with myself: Was I angry about the copying itself, or about not being credited?
Because if I'm being real, very few ideas are truly original.
Then I had to be honest with myself: Was I angry about the copying itself, or about not being credited?
Because if I'm being real, very few ideas are truly original.
Dropping someone's post into AI and asking it to ‘make it original’ doesn’t change what it is.
It's still theft, just with extra steps.
Not crediting the person who did the original thinking erases their contribution entirely.
It's still theft, just with extra steps.
Not crediting the person who did the original thinking erases their contribution entirely.
December 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Dropping someone's post into AI and asking it to ‘make it original’ doesn’t change what it is.
It's still theft, just with extra steps.
Not crediting the person who did the original thinking erases their contribution entirely.
It's still theft, just with extra steps.
Not crediting the person who did the original thinking erases their contribution entirely.
No credit. No acknowledgment. Not even a courtesy DM.
My first reaction: Rage.
This is plagiarism.
This is lazy.
This is inauthentic.
My first reaction: Rage.
This is plagiarism.
This is lazy.
This is inauthentic.
December 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
No credit. No acknowledgment. Not even a courtesy DM.
My first reaction: Rage.
This is plagiarism.
This is lazy.
This is inauthentic.
My first reaction: Rage.
This is plagiarism.
This is lazy.
This is inauthentic.