Doing a Mathematics Degree While Building on the Side

People love the story arc: dropout founder beats the system. People also love the opposite arc: founder with elite credentials wins on credibility. The messy middle, finishing a mathematics degree at IIT Roorkee while still building, does not fit a keynote slide. It fits my reality since August 2024.

I joined IIT Roorkee in August 2024 for B.S./M.S. Mathematics. Strato Inc, my Play Store publishing company, did not pause. I still ship apps. I am not running a venture-backed startup alongside exams. I am doing proof-based coursework while keeping the builder identity that predates the admission letter.

This is not advice to copy. It is a ledger from the first two semesters.

Why Mathematics, Why Roorkee

Mathematics at IIT Roorkee is not a coding bootcamp with prestige. You live in proof-based coursework: real analysis, linear algebra that hurts, probability that finally makes sense months later. The department does not care about your Play Store download count. Deadlines are theorem-shaped.

I chose math because I wanted a foundation that would not expire when the next JavaScript framework died. Publishing apps rewards speed. Mathematics rewards careful definitions. Holding both in your head at 2 AM is character building or sleep destroying, depending on the week.

The Time Tax Is Real

There are 168 hours in a week. IIT coursework can consume 50-70 if you are honest about assignments and exams. Strato Inc experiments and client work can consume every remaining waking hour if you let them. Something gives. Usually sleep, relationships, or grades. Sometimes all three.

pie title Typical week (exam season, 2024-25)
    "Coursework + problem sets" : 35
    "Strato Inc + side projects" : 40
    "Sleep" : 20
    "Everything else" : 5

That pie chart is generous. Exam season shrinks the “everything else” slice to near zero.

Benefits That Actually Showed Up

Rigorous notation: Startups throw around “loss functions” and “convergence.” A math degree makes you annoyed at sloppy definitions in a useful way.

Credibility in India: Outside global Twitter, IIT still opens doors. I am not proud that the brand matters. It matters.

Peer network: Some of my sharpest conversations now happen in hostel corridors and lab hours. Talent density is not myth.

Optionality: Strato Inc predates IIT. The degree adds a parallel track, not a replacement identity.

Costs Nobody Posts on LinkedIn

Opportunity cost of depth: You cannot read every ML paper and ship every app update in the same week.

Split identity: Professors ask if you are serious about academics. The Play Store asks if you shipped this month’s fix. Seriousness becomes performance.

Mental fragmentation: Context switching between Galois theory and a production bug is cognitive overhead with measurable error rates.

Strategies That Keep Me Sane (Mostly)

Semester theming: Align electives with interests when possible. Optimization, numerical methods, probability: yes.

Ruthless calendar blocking: Coursework gets fixed slots. Building gets mornings before class when possible.

Say no to vanity: Campus clubs, random hackathons, most networking events. IIT offers infinite distraction disguised as opportunity.

Use the institute without worshiping it: Labs, libraries, subsidized infrastructure. Do not wait for permission to build.

What IIT Did Not Teach

Sales. Hiring. Saying no to bad deals. Reading a term sheet. Handling a customer who ghosts after a pilot. Mathematics programs are not designed for that. You learn by doing, often expensively.

Also: modern ML engineering. You will self-study PyTorch regardless of degree.

Should You Do Both?

If you need the degree for family, visa, or personal closure: yes, with eyes open.

If you already have a funded company with a team that needs you full-time: calculate the cost honestly.

If you think the degree is only signaling: calculate whether the signal buys something you cannot buy cheaper.

India-Specific Notes

The IIT label travels differently in Bangalore enterprise sales than in San Francisco VC Twitter. Plan for the market you are actually selling into.

Hostel life is simultaneous accelerant and trap. Cheap rent, smart roommates, constant interruptions.

Closing Ledger

Doing a mathematics degree while keeping Strato Inc alive is not heroic. It is arithmetic with bad constants. You trade time for credibility and rigor. You pay in stress.

I am one semester in. The Play Store account survived the transition. The coursework is hard. I would not call it optimal. I would call it mine.

If you are in the middle of it: track your hours honestly, protect one day a week from both gods, and remember that degrees are long games and apps are short ones until they are not.