Startups and building products
A curated reading order. Explore all topics
Why I joined Sycamore
March 31, 2026
On Halloween last year, my cofounder Carlo and I had a handshake deal with a pretty known AI company to sell FirstQuadrant, and for the first time in nearly a decade, I had nothing to build. I wrote about this in my Year of Discovery post: the plan was to sit with the discomfort. Not rush into the next thing, and figure out who I am when I'm not "cofounder of X". As you'd expect, that lasted about six weeks. By December, I was restless.
Pabio's startup visa application
June 28, 2023
After you graduate from a Dutch university, you get a one-year orientation year visa to find a job or set up a business. Sukriti and I moved to the Netherlands in 2021 after spending a year in India during the pandemic, so the clock started ticking for my visa. Since Pabio was already fully operational at this point as a Swiss company (owned by an American company), I decided to set up a Dutch subsidiary and apply for a startup visa to keep my residency here.
1,000 companies per batch? OMG Y Combinator
December 12, 2021
This is a response to 1,000 companies per Y Combinator batch? RIP Y Combinator by Haje Jan Kamps, published on TechCrunch on December 10, 2021. Ever since I found out about Y Combinator, I wanted to be a part of it.[^when-yc] I always thought of myself as a hacker/builder/entrepreneur/(insert word here) because I've always been good at going from idea to product really quickly.
The Missed $30 Billion Opportunity
February 25, 2016
When I posted Study, but with a Difference two years back, my friends and I had an incredible idea that was going to change the way students think of education in India. We wanted to create a platform where students and teachers can find each other. We soon moved to a platform where students can access good-quality study material for free. I am about to take my 12th grade board examinations next week, so over the past few weeks, I have been re-thinking the Class Rebels business model.
The ClassRebels Dream
May 10, 2014
“A substandard education will always result in a substandard nation.” — Aubrey Priest Unlike all stories, ClassRebels didn’t start with the simple idea of making teachers and students connect in a way they’ve never connected before. It started with an idea to bring about a reform, a change, and a revolution. In India, this change was long needed. The society is evolving, and our education system needs to catch up. We believe that the whole idea of education is taken i
Made with ♥ in India
October 13, 2013
We’re a group of products and organizations which were proudly created in India. You see this meticulously made handicraft item which would be the perfect addition to brighten up any living room. You pick it up, admiring the attention to detail when suddenly you spot the ‘Made in India’ label at the bottom, instantly making the product you were admiring seconds ago feel as cheap as dirt. Why is it that a ‘Made in Italy’ label makes people feel as if the product had been made in heaven itself?
Introducing Saga Music
January 13, 2016
Music has always been an integral part of our lives. Ever since people started using the internet, they’ve been downloading music and movies. The process became relatively simple with the introduction of Napster in 1999, which led to the development of many such tools. I remember growing up with Limewire and Bearshare. After the discontinuation of these services after ten long years, downloading music became really complicated again.
Twitter Subaccounts
March 12, 2019
I think Twitter should have a concept of sub-accounts. It's not smart to create a Twitter account for every small project, but it's often a necessity for support or a social media presence. In my case, I have a Twitter account, and so does Oswald Labs (which makes complete sense since it's a company and I'm just a small part of it). However, I also have several other projects, like Made with Love in India, a platform to showcase Indian-made startups, which has its own Twitter account.