‘Don’t give up on love’: Ankur Warikoo explains why what you seek at 25 should differ from 18

Giving up on love at 25 may feel like a final decision, but Ankur Warikoo believes it could simply be too early to close that door. In a social media post, Warikoo recalled a conversation during a 1:1 with a 25-year-old team member who said he had given up on love. The entrepreneur told him it was “far too early” to do so. Reflecting on how relationships evolve with age, Warikoo explained why the qualities people look for at 18 may no longer matter in the same way at 25.

Ankur Warikoo says 25 is too early to give up on love

Warikoo began his post by describing the conversation with his team member, who had decided to give up on relationships at 25. The entrepreneur said he told him that it was “far too early to close that door”. The team member had last been in a relationship as a teenager. Warikoo described that experience as “young love”, suggesting that relationships formed during those years can be shaped by very different priorities.

For someone who has not found lasting love by 25, Warikoo's message was simple: don't assume that a past relationship defines what future love can look like.

Why young love can be based on the surface

According to Warikoo, what attracts people at 18 can be heavily influenced by outward qualities. He said young love “lives almost entirely on the surface”, with factors such as looks, fashion, confidence, vibe and popularity becoming part of the selection criteria at that age. But as people grow older, those priorities can change.

Warikoo pointed out that eventually “reality arrives”, and people begin to see the “true nature” of the person they are with while simultaneously understanding more about themselves. That shift, he suggested, can change how someone views a relationship.

The red flags people overlook when they are in love

Warikoo also highlighted what he considers one of the biggest mistakes people make in relationships: ignoring obvious red flags. He said people often overlook warning signs because they are in love, adding that this is “exactly what love does to us”. But he believes age and experience can bring a different perspective.

At 25, according to Warikoo, young love should have the opportunity to “grow into mature love”. While someone may still not know exactly what kind of partner they are looking for, they can be mature enough to recognise the warning signs they might once have overlooked.

‘Fall for the mind too’

For Warikoo, growing older should also change what attracts people to a partner. He suggested that by 25, people know better than to “fall only for a face”. Instead, he urged people to “fall for the mind too”. His reasoning was that physical attraction is only one part of a long-term relationship. As he put it, in the end, you live with your partner's “mind”, not their face. The idea shifts the focus from what initially catches someone's attention to the qualities that remain important once the excitement of a new relationship settles.

What you seek at 25 can be different from what you wanted at 18

Warikoo's larger point was that the meaning of love can evolve alongside the person experiencing it. “As we grow and change,” he said, “so does what love means to us”. The qualities someone wanted in a partner at 18 may therefore not be the same qualities they value at 25. Warikoo argued that what people seek at 25 “should look nothing like what you sought at 18”.