Fueler in WLDD Meetup

Last weekend, I attended an offline mixer hosted by WLDD. I went there thinking it would be just another networking event. Exchange a few business cards, have small talk, come back home. But what I experienced there completely changed how I think about building teams and company culture.

I am Riten, founder of Fueler. I am building a portfolio platform that helps companies hire people through assignments and proof of work, instead of just resumes. I spend a lot of my time talking to founders, teams, and hiring managers. But some conversations stay with you longer than others. This was one of them.

Walking into the WLDD mixer

I went to the WLDD mixer with very simple expectations. Meet a few people, learn what others are building, and maybe share what we are doing at Fueler.

WLDD is known as India’s largest meme marketing company. If you have spent time on the internet, you have probably seen their work without even realizing it. They are sharp, fast, and culturally very relevant.

At the event, I met Arihant Jain, the founder of WLDD. The first thing that struck me was how humble he was. No flashy talk. No founder ego. Just a calm, grounded person who clearly knew what he was building and why.

With Arihant Jain, Founder of WLDD

They have built a great core team

While talking to Arihant and his team, I learned something unexpected. Their entire core team of around 15 people comes from the same school and the same hometown.

• Same background.
• Same roots.
• Years of knowing each other.

My first reaction was honest and maybe a little judgmental. I thought, is not hiring your friends risky? What about professionalism? What about bias?

So I decided to dig deeper instead of assuming.

I asked a few team members a simple question.

How do you attract and keep good talent?

I was expecting answers like strong HR policies, performance reviews, or structured hiring processes.

Instead, I got something very different.

How do you attract and keep good talent?

Their answer was simple and very real.

They focus on culture over everything.

They give freedom to experiment and fail.

They build around mission-oriented work.

There was no corporate language. No buzzwords. No fake motivation lines.

Just people who genuinely trust each other and believe in what they are building.

That is when it clicked for me.

Trust is not built overnight. When people grow up together, struggle together, and dream together, that trust becomes very strong. And when trust is strong, speed increases. Communication becomes clear. Ego reduces.

In fast-moving companies like WLDD, that matters a lot.

Why this hit me personally

Coming from Agartala, a small town in Northeast India, I do not get access to such events and conversations very often. Going to offline mixers, meeting founders who are building large companies, and seeing how their teams operate is still rare for many people from small towns.

That is why these moments feel like gold to me.

You can read books.

You can watch podcasts.

You can scroll through Twitter threads.

But one honest conversation with a founder or a team can teach you more than ten business books combined.

As a founder myself, I am always learning. Not just from success stories, but from how people work together behind the scenes.

What founders often get wrong about hiring

Many founders believe that the best teams are built by collecting people with perfect resumes and big company names.

In my experience, that is not always true.

Skills are important, yes. But skills without trust, ownership, and shared belief can break very fast under pressure.

At Fueler, we strongly believe in hiring through proof of work. Show what you can do. Show how you think. Show how you solve problems. That matters more than fancy titles.

But this experience reminded me of something deeper.

Even proof of work works best when there is trust and culture supporting it.

The role of shared mission in team building

WLDD’s team works because they are not just working for salaries or titles. They are working for a shared mission.

When people believe in the same goal, they push each other forward. They call out mistakes. They celebrate wins together. And they stay during tough times.

This is something every founder should think about early.

You are not just building a product.

You are building a team.

And your team will decide how far you go.

What is Fueler Portfolio?

Fueler is a career portfolio platform that helps companies find the best talent for their organization based on their proof of work.

You can create your portfolio on Fueler, thousands of freelancers around the world use Fueler to create their professional-looking portfolios and become financially independent. Discover inspiration for your portfolio

Sign up for free on Fueler or get in touch to learn more.