Vasanth Kamath and the smallcase team have been very intentional, deliberate operators building a well-crafted and thought-through product in smallcase. The use of lower case alphabet is deliberate (again that word!) as Vasanth and the team want everyone to think of smallcases as a common noun (like mutual funds) and not a proper noun; which of course is the opposite of how a Xerox or traditional marketer thinks! In …
Venture Capital / Startups
The Three (or More) Products Founders Have to Keep in Mind
There is not one but as many as three (or more) products that founders need to keep in mind, and keep evolving, while they build their startup.
The first product is well understood; this is the one aimed at users / customers, consisting of all of the surface edges of the startup that come into contact with the users, in order to solve the user’s problems. The desire to create …
PMF Convo #6 – Asad Khan, LambdaTest
This was one of the first interviews I conducted, as part of the research for my book on product market fit (PMF here onwards). Asad is cofounder & CEO, LambdaTest, building one of the most technically innovative India startups. As Satya Nadella recently put it after meeting Asad: “LambdaTest is doing for test automation what Kubernetes did for container orchestration – creating that next level of efficiency around test automation …
PMF Convo #5 – Pulkit Agrawal, Chameleon
I first heard of Chameleon, which helps SaaS companies improve their product adoption processes and practices, from Sheel Mohnot when I was interviewing him for our PMF Convo. In our convo, Sheel mentioned this company that took six years from their Seed to Series A raise. I was intrigued and asked Sheel for a connect to Pulkit Agrawal, the founder & CEO of Chameleon. I had a …
PMF Convo #4 – Nishchay A G, Jar
I interviewed Nishchay A G, the cofounder of Jar, recently, as part of the founder conversations I have been having, for my book on product market fit (PMF here onwards). Nishchay and Misbah, well-known in startup circles, and experienced operators, saw their fintech startup Jar hit escape velocity, thanks to a clever product and some compelling growth hacking. Nishchay also has a reputation for differentiated thinking in the Indian startup …
PMF Convo #3 – Sheel Mohnot, Better Tomorrow Ventures
This is interview #3 from the conversations I have been having with founders, funders and operators, as part of the research for my book on product market fit (PMF here onwards). This one is with Sheel Mohnot, and unlike the earlier two convos with founders (Anshuman Bapna and Chaitanya Ramalingegowda) this one is with a funder, a VC, Sheel Mohnot, who is fairly infamous on twitter:) Follow …
PMF Convo #2 – Anshuman Bapna, Terra.do
Here is interview #2 that I did as part of research for my book on Product Market Fit. This one is with Anshuman Bapna, now founder of ClimateTech startup Terra, and erstwhile Mygola (acquired by MakeMyTrip). I reached out to Anshuman on seeing a tweet by him describing his failed pitch to Joe Gebbia, Airbnb’s founder. Having seen this and his previous tweets, I thought what he had to say …
PMF Convo #1 – Chaitanya R, Wakefit
I am presently writing a book on product-market fit or PMF, a seminal concept in the startup world. It is a topic I have been obsessed with for a while now, given that a large part of my success rests on helping my portfolio achieve PMF. In that regard, the lack of a practical guidebook / playbook for early-stage founders on this topic has always puzzled me. In fact, for …
All The Writings Done Thus Far In 2022.
I have been writing and publishing, though much more infrequently than I did previously. However, I haven’t been updating this website with links or content from those. I notice my last published piece here was from late last year. Sigh. Still, those of you who follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn, or subscribe to my newsletter would have seen or read some or most of those pieces. For the sake …
Unbundling Religion
“There are two ways to make money in business: You can unbundle, or you can bundle.” – Jim Barksdale, cofounder of Netscape
Unbundling / (re)bundling is a powerful framework to rethink any topic or entity from first principles. It also helps us visualize what opportunities could be unlocked.
I have explored bundling / unbundling of human creation previously suggesting possible opportunities. In this essay, I will explore how unbundling / …