Dear Founder, How can I help you?

Who am I?

I (with my co-founders) built SprintAI. We identified a problem space, built a product, sold a few deals in India, had early signs of PMF, raised seed, went to YCombinator (YC) W20, had to adapt the company for US GTM, made mistakes, and finally shut operations due to weak PMF in the US and headwinds of COVID-19. Before that, I was a product guy at Amazon, went to the Indian School of Business (ISB), did early-sales at Capillary, and am an engineer from IIT Kanpur.

Founding a company is a lonely journey, and I was lucky to have sounding-boards whenever I needed it. I received enormous help from countless numbers of people who I had never met before and had no incentive to help me. They patiently listened to what I was building, validated / in-validated my thesis, gave me product feedback, and sometimes were just around to listen to my dilemmas, and conflicts.

When I thanked one of them for helping me, he very generously told me, “Irrespective of whether you are successful or not, please pass this gesture on.” So, while I have shut down operations at SprintAI and while it was an unsuccessful stint, I am more than happy to help any founder in his / her journey in whatever little way I can.

So what concrete help can I offer?

1. If you are a SaaS entrepreneur, I am happy to share my own learning of building an enterprise-SaaS platform from India at SprintAI, and what I learned at YC. My learning on taking a product from India to US are shared here.
2. If you are building a B2B SaaS product, I will be more than happy to try your product, give you feedback, and pitch your product wherever I am working. Here is a short twitter thread on my philosophy of building B2B products. (Blog Post pending)
3. If you are planning to apply to YC, I am happy to give you feedback on your application, do mock interviews, and share my opinion on accepting or passing-on the invite. Writing that application and being honest about the questions in the application will change the way you look at your business. Getting into YC is a cherry on the cake.
4. If you are facing alignment-issues with your co-founders, I have seen my share of it. I’d be happy to listen to you and help you think objectively about it. This is a very good video from Amy Buechler and Michael Seibel about it.
5. If you’re struggling with your business taking away from your marriage because it’s just a very stressful journey. My wife and I went through this, which she documented here. While I’m not a professional, and this is extremely sensitive, feel free to reach out if you’d like to.
6. If you are fresh out of college or have little work-experience, and feel that you know little about business, I am happy to chat about what you’re building, and how you plan to take your product ahead.

The best way to get a response from me is to write to me at ankjain8609@gmail.com. I generally respond within 48 hours of receiving an email. Just drop a short note on what you are working on with the product/website link and I will be more than happy to schedule some time.

PS1: I want nothing in return. I don’t want to be your advisor. I will not angel- invest in your company. I will not charge you any consulting fee for helping you.

PS2: If you are looking to get connections with a VC friend of mine, there are better people than me who can help you get connected. They generally like it when they get introduced by someone who is already committed to invest in your company or founder of one of their portfolio companies.