Sravya Vishnubhatla

Prerna Singh and I are bringing another breakfast to Fabrik next Wednesday, October 30th. Join us if you're looking for an authentic conversation with other local Product Leaders ... just ask former attendees :) ⤵️ "I love these breakfasts because they bring together open, insightful and creative leaders in the market to discuss timely and relevant topics in a curated, inclusive, and very interactive way. Jori and Prerna do an impeccable job prepping and facilitating which results in meaningful discussion. You can tell everyone is engaged because we get to hear from almost everyone on each topic (also a testament to Jori and Prerna's facilitation skills). I always leave with a new insight into the market or idea on how I could be applying a learning to myself or my business." https://lu.ma/ri1m9s8l

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Check out some of these open roles! Maybe this will help to get some people HIRED! I'm NOT hiring, I'm NOT recruiting - I HELP people get interviews! I SHARE resume, job search, and interview strategies. I'm VERY good at what I do - that's why I get the most recommendations (check my profile) I'm always available to answer any #jobsearch questions & provide free #resume reviews - Good luck to all you jobseekers! #opentowork #laidoff #getinterviews #opentoconnect

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The DEI Mirage and the VC Money Game: A Wake-Up Call for Founders The entrepreneurial world often paints a rosy picture of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and the venture capital (VC) landscape. However, behind the glossy facade lies a harsh reality: DEI efforts frequently fall short, and the VC world is primarily driven by profit, not genuine inclusivity. As a founder, you may have envisioned pitching your groundbreaking idea to enthusiastic investors, eager to support your vision. But what if that dream doesn't materialize? What if you never step into the hallowed halls of incubators and accelerators? Let's face it: the traditional path to success isn't always accessible to everyone. The VC world, despite its claims of diversity, often favors certain demographics and business models. This can leave many talented founders feeling excluded and disillusioned. However, this isn't a reason to despair. It's a call to action. It's time to re-evaluate your goals and chart a new course. Don't let the shortcomings of the system deter you. Instead, use them as fuel to ignite your entrepreneurial spirit. The truth is, there are countless ways to succeed outside the traditional VC model. You can bootstrap your business, seek funding from alternative sources, or build a loyal customer base through organic growth. These paths may be less glamorous, but they offer a level of autonomy and control that VC funding often lacks. Moreover, by forging your own path, you can create a business that aligns with your values and priorities. You can build a company culture that truly embraces diversity and inclusion, rather than simply paying lip service to these ideals. Remember, your worth as a founder isn't determined by the number of VC pitches you make or the amount of funding you secure. It's defined by your passion, your resilience, and your unwavering commitment to your vision. So, if the DEI mirage and the VC money game have left you feeling disillusioned, don't give up. Instead, embrace this as an opportunity to create something truly unique and impactful. The world needs your ideas, your creativity, and your entrepreneurial spirit. The road ahead may be challenging, but it's also filled with limitless possibilities. Forge your own path, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Disclaimer: This article is not intended to discourage founders from seeking VC funding or participating in DEI initiatives. It's a call for greater transparency and a more realistic assessment of the challenges and opportunities that exist in the entrepreneurial world. - Google Made me say that... JK - be originally weird and you. - Rodman Johnson founder Shifter | Shftr & bevee smart.

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Gusto Empowers Non-Tech Staff in AI Development Edward Kim, Gusto's co-founder and head of technology, challenges the prevailing notion of replacing existing teams with AI specialists. In a recent discussion, he emphasized the value of non-technical team members in AI development, highlighting their deeper customer insights over conventional engineers. Gusto, a payroll startup boasting over $500 million in annual revenue by April 2023, innovates by involving its customer experience team in creating AI solutions. One notable outcome is "Gus," an AI assistant designed to interact with customers based on "recipes" written by these non-technical members, marking a significant departure from traditional software development paradigms. Kim illustrates this transformative approach with the story of Eric Rodriguez, a former customer support team member turned influential software engineer, thanks to his self-taught AI prowess. Rodriguez's creation, a CoPilot tool for the customer experience team, streamlines workflows by providing instant, accurate responses sourced from Gusto's internal knowledge base. This example underscores Kim's vision of leveraging non-technical employees' domain expertise to enhance AI applications, making software development more accessible. Gusto's strategy of empowering non-technical staff to contribute to AI development without coding knowledge reflects a broader shift towards a more inclusive, bottom-up approach to technological innovation. By providing tools that translate their domain knowledge into AI functionalities, Gusto not only democratizes AI development but also aims to improve efficiency and customer service. Kim criticizes the industry trend of hiring expensive AI specialists, arguing for the value of upskilling existing employees to advance AI applications, a philosophy that promises to reshape the company's workforce composition and operational dynamics in the face of AI integration. https://lnkd.in/dQkKDZVk Platform: TechCrunch Author: Anthony Ha #technology #ai #artificialintelligence #gusto #techindustry #techstartups #aidevelopment #techstaff

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🌟 #Hiring for #SaucePortfolio 🌟 I am looking to connect with young and enthusiastic professionals to some of our early stage investments that are hiring across a number of roles. We’re looking to connect with folks for the following opportunities: Open Roles: 1️⃣ Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR): Someone who wants to build a business, and has a bias for action, rather than analysis 2️⃣ Creative & Content Whiz with a path to becoming Content & Creative Head in 12 months 3️⃣ 6-Month Business Internship: An incredible chance for aspiring professionals to get hands-on experience in a dynamic environment. 4️⃣ The Wild Card Role: If you feel that there is something that you want to build at an early stage company, but the role is not listed here - fill up the form with why its important, and why you are the person to do it. We would love to have a chat. How to Apply: To streamline the process, kindly fill out this form: https://lnkd.in/gcn3nHXb 📌 Important: Please avoid DMing or emailing, as we’ll only review applications submitted through the form. Let’s build something incredible together. 🚀

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This resonated with me today: "“One flaw of designers (as people) is pretending faster is always better and quick always equals efficient. A fast pace can feel good and productive short-term, but there are many long-term consequences: losing productivity, overlooking important things, and undermining diversity. It is not efficient to move so fast that we exhaust ourselves, overlook the obvious, or break everything along the way, yet we often make that assumption.” It's from Assembling Tomorrow and I highly recommend the book. https://lnkd.in/gK43NueY

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One common mistake I’ve noticed in Founder pitches, Decks, or statements…misunderstanding what PMF means. 1) Having positive feedback from a community, isn’t PMF. - It may form part of idea validation but it isn’t PMF. 2) Requiring a fundraise to spend >30% on marketing “to achieve PMF” fundementally misunderstands PMF. Marketing is part of your growth engine, but it isn’t PMF. 3) Telling people you have Product Market Fit based on research, but haven’t validated with paying client or achieved any revenue. Not PMF. So what do people actually mean by Product Market Fit? Marc Andreessen (the A in a16z) always best described it best I think in his blog: “You can always feel product/market fit when it’s happening. The customers are buying the product just as fast as you can make it—or usage is growing just as fast as you can add more servers. Money from customers is piling up in your company account. You’re hiring sales and customer support staff as fast as you can (to serve those customers).” Investors know this so misrepresenting your understanding of your markets reaction to your product is naive at best and misrepresentation at worst. Want an example? Remember Notion suddenly exploded and everyone was sharing Notion links, we were just building schedules, and storing lists…all things we’ve done in the past but suddenly the place to do it was Notion. That was Notion finding agressive traction via word of mouth…they found a product the market Pulled into its demand. They found a fit. You may or may not have PMF right now, but when you do you’ll truly know. #investorrelations #fundraising #founderjourney

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Addressing systemic risks has been one of my key areas of focus since launching Plural and while inspiring progress is clearly felt in nature & science based approaches to durably remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and there are promising signs towards energy transition our efforts also have to include reigning on our existing emissions. One obvious area of focus is the Real Estate industry which remains one of the largest emitters of carbon in the world, building operations representing c. 37% of global emissions today, in London 78%. Regulations have significantly ramped up to increase pressure & scrutiny on reporting & transparency on remediation plans, but the infrastructure & tooling available to an already pressured industry pale in light of the challenge they have to meet. The poor data coverage & limited pervasiveness of technology add unnecessary friction for managers to comply with regulations, let alone plan effective measures to improve their footprint This is where Scaler comes in. Its software defined, modular & agile platform allows managers to effectively collect relevant data & significantly automate their ESG reporting to meet regulators standards. Managers can appraise their ESG scores across their property portfolios, determine areas of underperformance and leverage the Scaler dashboard to plan & stress tests the measures & retrofits across their portfolio to meet their net zero targets. This is the only solution in the market that had operations, not only compliance, at heart to have an effective impact on the reduction of emissions. Scaler’s customers have already collectively planned $840 million in improvement and retrofit measures while reducing their carbon output by 15 million kgs in 2022, equivalent to the electricity of over 10,000 homes. Zlatan was one of the founding members of the Uber Amsterdam team and scaled his impact across the organization as one of the best performing product managers. Luc was personally involved in the foundation of ESG reporting for the Real Estate industry as early member of the GRESB team and expanded his understanding of challenges managers were facing with his own consultancy. They are uniquely equipped to provide the tools for real estate managers to draft the plans and measures towards a transition to net zero. I am excited to lead Scaler’s $10m series A round with Plural and help the team equip the Real Estate industry to meet their net zero targets.

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Eat the customer!? Rinky Jain, Head of TA and HR at Jupiter, shares the most inappropriate interview response she’s ever gotten! If you're hiring for your startup and want to find the right talent, try Weekday. We've worked with >500 seed funded startups to help hire their core teams across Engineering, Product, and Design. Link in comments if you want to explore (get 5 free resumes within 24 hours).

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In the last 2 weeks, 200+ people reached out asking for help. Some were looking for angel investors, some for help connecting them to the right talent. But, most of them had one strange request. They wanted me to post about their startups/products on Linkedin, and they were ready to pay $$$. I had to pass because it's not in my best interest to do so but I dug this up. And now, from my research, I found out, that the B2B influencer industry is a thing and it's growing very fast. Around $200 million have been spent in the last 12 months by brands of all sizes to do paid partnerships with creators on Linkedin, newsletters, podcasts, etc catering to businesses/professionals. This is one of the best GTM strategies going forward. I also think companies like Limelight are doing a fantastic job (I am not affiliated with them). Anyway, this research led me to create a database of B2B influencers. If you want to access this, feel free to comment below. #saas #creatoreconomy #b2b #sales #gtm #ai

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"From Dorm Room to Dropbox: Low-Investment Business Ideas That Made It Big" As an aspiring entrepreneur, I know the feeling of wanting to launch a business but worrying that you don't have enough funding. After all, don't you need millions in venture capital to create the next big thing? Well, I'm here to tell you that's not always the case. Some of the most successful companies out there started with just a tiny investment - and a whole lot of drive. Let me share a few of their stories to inspire you. Drew Houston was a college kid just like us when he had his "aha" moment. Constantly forgetting his USB drive, he thought, "There has to be an easier way to access my files from anywhere." So with just $1,500, he started building Dropbox in his dorm room. Today, it's a $10 billion business with over 500 million users worldwide. Talk about a glow up! Another dynamic duo, John and Sherry Petersik, turned their DIY home reno hobby into a thriving, multi-million dollar media company. They launched their blog "Young House Love" with only $200 - and grew it to attract millions of readers who couldn't get enough of their creative projects. Books, product lines, the whole nine yards. And then there's Katrina Lake, who founded the $2 billion clothing subscription service Stitch Fix. Her big idea? Use data and personal stylists to send customized outfits straight to people's doors. She kicked it all off with just $3,000. These stories show that you really don't need a massive war chest to build something incredible. All you need is a great idea, the determination to see it through, and the willingness to start small. So tell me - what low-investment business ideas have been percolating in your mind? I'd love to hear about them in the comments below! Who knows, you could be the next entrepreneurial success story.

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If you are a consultant on a break AND/OR wanting to be a FIRST TIME Founder AND/OR an MBA applicant and not sure what to do with time at hand before you join, then scrolling without reading would not be a good idea. We are living in an era where taking a break to figure out what to do next has become the new norm. I myself was away from work for most of last year and my recent interactions with friends who are on same path as mine made me realise - the struggle and problems for anyone starting up for the first time revolves around a key aspect - I want to startup, but am unsure of how the journey would unfold and whether it's my cup of tea or not? To add to it, a lot of us actually don't know what exactly it feels to get your hands dirty and are unaware of the challenges that they are going to face. Well, worry not. Ayush and I are building a brand in Early child development space at LiLLBUD and we exactly have what you are looking for - A first hand experience of what it takes to build a startup. No theories, no sessions, no content - Just the real world application. Perks you ask? - Answer to the question : Startup or a new job? - Satisfaction of executing a project end to end, instead of strategising it on deck and watch others ruin it for you. (Let's be honest you have that feeling every now and then) - Own a project(or two?) and experience the good, bad and the ugly of working with no budget but still achieving something concrete. - A bullet on your resume which adds to your hustler index (Yes it will help you with your post MBA placements) - Be a founder, with the option of reversing your decision much sooner than what you would have taken otherwise if things don't go as planned. What you don't get? - What you already have - cash If this makes you curious, do DM and let's discuss more. Even if synergies don't work out, would love to discuss how LiLLBUD is going to transform your child's future for good.

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This is great. And for additional color on the valley of death or the gap to scale — download the Sightline FOAK Guide: https://lnkd.in/eV9Wh7s5

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Excited and honored to join VC Lab Cohort 16! This incredible opportunity aligns with my commitment to ethical venture capital, and I’m proud to endorse The Mensarius Oath. I look forward to driving meaningful change in the venture capital landscape and fostering innovation that truly matters. Thank you to the VC Lab team for this opportunity—let’s create a better future! #TheMensariusOath The ethical code of conduct for investment professionals: The Mensarius Oath of ethical investing is an code of conduct for venture capitalists and other finance professionals designed to foster positive outcomes for humanity. ‘Mensarius’ is a Latin noun that refers to a banker or financier, and the tenets of the Mensarius Oath were based on the Hippocratic Oath used in the medical profession. As a financial professional investing with personal or investor capital, I pledge to uphold these values. If determined by myself or a panel of my peers that I have violated these values without reconciliation agreed between all involved parties, then I will voluntarily leave the industry. Integrity: I vow to invest with integrity, ensuring my actions benefit humanity and consciously avoid harm to any parties. Excellence: I commit to maintaining the highest professional standards, setting an exemplary ethical benchmark in finance. Fairness: I endeavor to be fair in my dealings, standing against abuse of power, unfair advantage, seduction, corruption, or mistreatment. Equality: I pledge to promote inclusivity and equitable treatment in all financial endeavors, consciously working to reduce inequality. Respect: I promise to treat individuals and opportunities with the respect and the attention deserved in business interactions. Transparency: I affirm to be transparent and honest in dealings with investors, founders, and colleagues. Confidentiality: I swear to safeguard private, confidential, or personal information, keeping it safe from public or other unwanted disclosure. Growth: I am resolved to embrace feedback from clients and peers, committing to ongoing personal and professional growth. I support the Mensarius Oath for ethical investing: https://lnkd.in/gFMKQqn3 #VCLab #VentureCapital #MensariusOath #EthicalVenuterCapital

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Conducting Impactful Product Reviews: Steering Your Product Towards Success 🚀 In my dual role as an advisor and operator, I've observed that product reviews—crucial meetings intended to guide product direction—are often underutilized. Here’s how you can make these reviews more impactful: 1. Whether you are solving for Pre or Post Product-Market Fit (PMF): Harping on these four aspects consistently improves the team's muscle to define these well. Customer Definition: Know who you're building for. 🎯 Problem Identification: Use frameworks like BELT to precisely identify customer problems. https://lnkd.in/dJERFbre Value Proposition Hypothesis: Explore multiple value propositions to increase the odds of success. 🔍 Success Metrics: Establish clear and measurable success metrics, along with check metrics to track progress. 2. Assessing Risk of Impact and effort: The balance of risk and impact dictates the level of confidence required before shipping a product. Itamar Gilad’s confidence meter is a practical tool to quantitatively align team expectations on the necessary confidence levels. Remember, not all products require the same degree of certainty. ⚖️ 3. Purpose of the Review - Discovery or Delivery: If the focus is on discovery, prioritize finding a compelling value proposition supported by solid insights. 🕵️‍♂️ For delivery, concentrate on reviewing the design and development stages to ensure they meet planned objectives. 🛠️ Leveraging these strategies in product reviews can significantly enhance your team's ability to make informed decisions, align on priorities, and ultimately drive your product towards success. If you are running a startup or scale-up, especially in consumer products, I encourage you to check out the product review brief that is now a Reforge artifact. We used this artifact at PropertyGuru and other companies to create impactful products (https://lnkd.in/gGDTHHhN). This concise, two-page document is highly effective, especially if you are just starting with this process. It is a forcing function to think clearly and rigorously. The artifact when combined with a consistent ritual creates non linear impact. #ProductManagement #Leadership #Innovation #BusinessStrategy #ProductDevelopment #Reforge.

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Founders get a lot of advice. Very little—even “founder mode”—focuses on brand. Paul Graham’s essay puts forward some very...male...ideologies about how founders should run companies as they scale. While he advocates for hands-on leadership, he (like a lot of YC and VC advice) overlooks how a founder's vision translates into a cohesive brand that can outlast its creator. Interestingly, "founder mode” echoes some principles of brand governance. Both are about maintaining a consistent and compelling vision (a holistic story, universe, experience) even when chaos threatens to derail it. Everybody wants to be Steve Jobs; they idolize his high standards and his commitment to consistency and attention to detail in every aspect of the Apple experience, not just design. But Apple has over 150,000 employees. You’re telling me you can’t uphold a consistent vision with 500 employees? And it's all your middle managers' faults? Where “founder mode” falls short is that, if they can’t trust anyone, it doesn’t give founders any advice on scaling their vision. What it doesn’t talk about is how founders can empower others with their vision, rather than limiting growth through excessive control. “Brand” is something many founders have no idea how to scale, and it holds them back. So I’ve put just a little bit more advice out there, 10 brand rules for founders (link in bio). A few of them: 1. You have a brand, whether or not you're building it on purpose. 2. You are not the brand, but you are part of it. 3. You need product-market fit. And brand-market fit. 4. Consistency is key, but evolution is necessary. Successful founders (and I've worked with several) recognize that their company's brand isn't just a reflection of their personal vision—it's a strategic asset that makes it easy for *other people* (your prospects/customers) to evangelize your product themselves. If you’re a founder, scaling your brand is how you scale yourself.

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I'm Hiring—but only if you’re in “Founder Mode” Shopflo is hiring a Head of Revenue. Leading revenue is a founder-esque role. Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about leadership needing micro-management, and this limiting construct of "founder-mode". It sounds low-trust and unscalable to me. Our #1 value at Shopflo is that we are a “team of founders.” We expect and see everyone in the team as a co-owner. I don't think it makes sense to be in a startup and settle for anything lesser If you are (or know someone who is): o Truly passionate about your craft o And your craft is sales and marketing o Preferably in software o Have the courage to take on the 1-10 growth challenge o Want to experience the so-called “Founder Mode” :P Apply here: https://lnkd.in/eJUUVBBz

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Bilt Rewards went from $0 to $1.5B valuation in under a year post launch. I had the pleasure of hearing Ankur Jain, Bilt’s founder and CEO, speak at FintechMeetup. It was extremely inspiring and I had to dig deeper. What is Bilt? The core idea of Bilt Rewards is simple and compelling. Why can’t your rent payments contribute towards home ownership in the future? Most of us pay rent through our bank since paying with a credit card adds an additional 2.5-3%. With the Bilt MasterCard, you not only avoid fees but earn points on your rent payments: redeeming 1 point for every dollar spent up to 100K points per year - that you can apply towards your down payment. Fascinating tidbits: 1. Before Bilt, you weren’t legally allowed to use points towards a down payment. So Ankur and team spent 18 months working with regulators to create the regulations required to make a system like this possible. 2. Ankur worked on the idea by himself for a year, pitching to real estate owners and finessing the model before even hiring the first employee. 3. Almost every real estate owner Ankur pitched to initially was opposed to the idea. Over the course of 4 years, Bilt built a distribution network of 4M+ rental homes that allows residents to pay with Bilt. Ankur shares lessons valuable to every entrepreneur: 1. Distribution and customer acquisition strategy needs to be at the forefront of your pitch. 2. Creative relentless vs hard-headed relentlessness: “No just means ask again differently. Slightly different changes. Slightly different approach. Slightly different person you are asking. That’s the key. Doing the same thing over and over again will only get you the same results.” 3. A great product will not sell itself. To break through change aversion and transform consumer behavior, you must out execute with relentlessness: “The irony is when you think about building a company, you’ve gotta have the right product to solve a real problem. You have to have the core business economics and all that stuff. But what people don’t talk about - it doesn’t matter how good your idea is or how perfect the timing is. If you are not relentless at taking no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no over and over again and still being willing to come to the plate, it doesn’t matter. That is the single most important trait I’ve found. Because for whatever reason, the world likes to reject change. There is such inherent resistant to anything different. So you have to literally will your idea into existence. It’s exhausting but fulfilling.” Keeping especially the last takeaway in mind as we forge new paths ✨

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