Founder/CEO @ LEANSTACK | Bestselling author and founder

I have bootstrapped several products to millions of users and worked with thousands of early-stage entrepreneurs worldwide - helping them systematically find repeatable and scalable business models using my battle-tested playbooks. 

Instead of:
-Spending several months building a product you hope people will buy.

Imagine a world where you:
- Spend several weeks defining a product you know people will buy.

For aspiring or early-stage founders:

If you’re looking to bootstart your idea, consider joining my 30-day Business Model Design Challenge below: 

You'll learn how to:
- Find or test a big idea worth pursuing,
- Design a business model blueprint,
- Stress-test your idea before investing time, money, and effort. 

Join the next Business Model Design Challenge:
https://runlean.ly/challenge

Ash Maurya

There are three core jobs of a business model. 

1. CREATE VALUE
You create value with your Unique Value Proposition (UVP). To craft a compelling UVP, you need to deeply understand your Customer Segments and their Problem(s).

2. DELIVER VALUE
You deliver value through your Solution and Channels.

3. CAPTURE VALUE
Value capture (getting paid) lies at the intersection of your Cost Structure and Revenue Streams.

The Lean Canvas also helps you describe two more essential jobs:

4. MEASURE VALUE
You measure the output of these three jobs using your Key Metrics.

5. DEFEND VALUE
You deter copycats and competitors using your Unfair Advantage.

Lean Canvas = Business Model Story

I build systematic frameworks for early-stage founders. Author and creator of Lean Canvas.

Your product is NOT "the product" of your startup.
Your business model is THE PRODUCT.

Too many founders obsess over features while ignoring:
→ Customer segments
→ Problems
→ Revenue streams  
→ Distribution channels
→ Cost structure
→ Key metrics

Building the best solution means nothing if the other pieces in the puzzle don't fit.

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In 2006, I had 6 months of runway left. Everyone told me to raise money immediately.

Instead, I did the opposite.

My mentor asked one question: 'Would you rather spend 6 months pitching to investors or pitching to customers?'

I picked customers. Six months later, we were profitable. Never raised that round.

The counterintuitive truth: When you're running out of money, don't chase investors. Chase customers.

Every founder thinks they need funding to get customers. It's backwards. Customers fund your business. Investors fund your story.

Which would you rather have?

Most founders pitch their solution the same way to everyone.

Big mistake.

Investors care about market size and traction.
Customers care about their problems and outcomes.
Advisors care about learning from their experience.

Your solution stays the same. Your story must change.

Good entrepreneurship isn't about changing worldviews—it's about framing your business model in terms of your audience's existing worldview.

Are you telling the right story to the right audience?

Simple models help us understand the complex. 

Before investing in any company, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger use a latticework of mental models to evaluate the company. 

If it passes their tests, they move all in. Otherwise, they do nothing and wait.

Evaluating early-stage ideas is no different.

I have settled on 3 universal (product-agnostic) mental models that I use to
- baseline progress,
- prioritize risks, and
- formulate a “right action, right time” next step.

Here they are: 

1. Lean Canvas: Deconstruct an idea using 12 basic building blocks.

2. Customer Factory: Chart key milestones using 5 customer-centric metrics.  

3. Customer Forces: Understand customer behavior using 4 causal forces. 

BELIEFS + METRICS + INSIGHTS = BUSINESS MODEL STORY

Most founders think a great offer is about discounts and bonuses.

But the most powerful offers tell a story that makes saying no feel irrational.

I call this a "Mafia Offer" 

Here's a 4-Act structure:

Act 1: Identify an undeniable market shift (external to your product)
Act 2: Show why their current solution can't bridge the gap
Act 3: Demonstrate your different approach (transformation, not features)
Act 4: Present pricing as natural extension of the story

After rebuilding my pitch this way, I no longer get butterflies in my stomach when I reach the pricing conversation. 

Customers don't buy products. They buy a promise of something different AND better.

Are you pitching features or selling a customer story?

The hill climbing problem in startups:

Rushing to pick your first customer segment is like getting trapped on a local peak - you find success, but miss the mountain next door.

Start by brainstorming ALL possible customers. Test multiple segments in parallel.

Your odds of finding the best market increase dramatically.

I gave AI complete control of my product launch.
Not just "helping with copy" or "writing some emails."

Full control. Landing pages. Customer segmentation. Multi-variant email campaigns. Sales tracking automation.

The result? 209 paid customers in 40 days. Before the product was finished.

But here's the plot twist that surprised me:

The AI didn't win because it was smarter than me.
It won because it helped me focus on what I do best, while it took care of the rest. 

Full video here: https://lnkd.in/gruip9bq

Open video: AI Ran My Product Launch (Crazy Results) on youtu.be

Most startups defer pricing because their MVP feels "too minimal" to charge for.

This is backwards thinking.

Price is part of your product. It shapes customer perception and defines your market position.

If you intend to charge eventually, charge from day one. Getting paid is your first real validation - not downloads or signups.

The biggest mistake in customer interviews? Leading with your pitch.

When you pitch first:
• Customers pretend to agree
• You do most of the talking
• You hear what you want to hear

Instead, frame it as learning:
• Set context, then let them talk
• Ask how they solve the problem today
• Seek their advice, not their approval

People love helping. They hate being sold to.

Get the frame right and customer interviews become easy.

Most founders think they need to quit their day job to validate a startup idea.

This is backwards.

With the right approach, you can achieve problem-solution fit in 90 days working just 10-15 hours per week. Only then does going full-time make sense.

The myth of "take a leap of faith" has burned more founders than market crashes ever will.

What if the biggest risk isn't your idea failing, but you never properly testing it?

If you can't convert a warm prospect in a 20-minute face-to-face interview, it will be much harder to convert a visitor in under 8 seconds on your landing page.

Yet most founders skip this step entirely.

They build their MVP, launch a website, deploy AI agents, and then wonder why their conversion rates are terrible.

Worse, they don't know why.

Test your messaging, pricing, and user flow with 10 early adopters first. 

If you can't sell them, you won't fare any better with strangers.

The harsh feedback you get face-to-face will save you months of poor online performance.

Don't rush outside the building without first stress-testing your idea.
Stress testing is NOT customer testing, BUT business model testing.

2025 was the year of vibe coding.
Developers typed vibes into Cursor. AI wrote the code. Products shipped in hours.

But here's what nobody's talking about: AI just made the biggest startup mistake easier than ever.

The (Faster) Build Trap.

And it's creating thousands of zombie startups—built in days, dead in weeks (which I guess is still better than dead in months)

---

A founder I know spent 3 weeks building a B2B scheduling tool with Cursor. Beautiful interface. Clean code. Zero customers.

"AI made building so fast," he told me. "Why waste time on validation?"

Sound familiar?

Before AI, building took months. So we validated first. We had to.

Now building takes days. So we think we can skip validation. 

That's the trap.

---

But here's the plot twist:

The same AI creating this problem is also the solution.

Traditional lean startup? Plan-Do-Check-Act took 6 weeks per cycle. You'd run maybe 8-10 cycles per year if you were disciplined.

Most founders ran 2-3 cycles, got impatient, and just started building.

Why? Validation felt slower than building.

2026 changes the math completely.

---

AI collapses the PDCA cycle from 6 weeks to 6 hours:

• Plan experiments: 2 hours (not 2 weeks)
• Build tests: 2 hours (not 2 weeks)  
• Analyze results: 1 hour (not 1 week)
• Decide next steps: 1 hour (not 1 week)

You can now run 50+ validation cycles in the time it used to take to run 5.

That's not incremental improvement. That's a different game.

I'm calling these Vibe Startups—companies that use AI to not just build fast, but validate as fast as they build (before and after).

---

Speed isn't the competitive advantage anymore. Everyone has speed.

Systematic validation at the speed of your thinking is the new moat.

---

Watch the full breakdown of how Vibe Startups work and why the 75-year old PDCA loop just became a lot more relevant (again):

https://lnkd.in/gXWHQpMn

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youtube.com

The New Way Startups Will Be Built in 2026

Joseph Bunga

Everyone tells you to start with a free plan and worry about revenue later.

That's exactly what's killing most startups.

Even MailChimp spent years as premium-only before introducing its famous free tier.

The problem with freemium-first:
• You give away too much (like an artist wanting appreciation)
• Low conversions drown you in non-actionable data
• Free users give bad advice about hypothetical features

The premium-first approach:
1. Charge from day one - pricing is your riskiest assumption
2. Launch with one plan for one customer segment
3. Target early adopters (they're not price sensitive)
4. Use trials or guarantees instead of free plans
5. Add freemium later as a marketing tactic

When I 10x'd my prices and repositioned from B2C to B2B, conversions went UP and I doubled paying customers.

Premium is a marketing tactic, not a business model.

Are you building for users who might buy or customers who do buy?

Most founders start backward.

They get hit with an idea and try to estimate how big it can get. But if you had three ideas to work on, wouldn't you always start with your most promising one?

Instead of starting with an idea, start with a goal.

Define your minimum success criteria: the smallest outcome you'd need in 3 years to call it a success. Then stress test your business model against that criteria.

If your model can't deliver your minimum bar, fix it before investing time and money.

What's your minimum success criteria?

Most founders defer pricing until after they build their product. This is backwards.

Your pricing model should determine your product, not the other way around.

When you give away your product for free, you attract more users than customers. Users drown out the true voice of your customer, steering you down the wrong path.

Price is part of your product. It signals your positioning and determines which customers you attract.

What you charge isn't the user's job to figure out—it's yours.

Are you building for users or customers?

The biggest startup myth? You need a "perfect idea" to begin.

I've seen countless founders wait years for that breakthrough moment that never comes. Meanwhile, successful entrepreneurs use a completely different approach.

In this video, I reveal the "Innovator's Gift" framework—a systematic way to find viable startup ideas hiding in plain sight.

Watch: https://lnkd.in/gts9nruM

Stop chasing fictional 5-year forecasts.

Most founders waste time inventing big goals or pulling out Excel wizardry when pitching investors. Even Mark Zuckerberg didn't think Facebook would be a billion-dollar company.

Instead, define your Minimum Success Criteria: the smallest outcome that makes 3 years of your life worth it.

Pick your game:
→ Level 1: $100K/year (solopreneur)
→ Level 2: $1M/year (small team)
→ Level 3: $10M/year (VC-backable)
→ Level 4: $100M/year (unicorn)

There's no right answer. But you must pick a game to play it well.

What game are you actually playing?

LinkedIn Growth Hacker✌️ ||Believe in Smart work💥 || Content Creator🖋️|| Believe in Opportunities💫|| Adding a little spark✨

LinkedIn Growth Hacker | Brand Builder | Marketer | ML Engineer | Public Speaker | Featured at Times Square

Most LinkedIn profiles get views. Few get growth.

I help creators, professionals, and brands turn their LinkedIn presence into a growth engine, attracting visibility, opportunities, and authority.

Many people have incredible skills or products, but their profiles don’t reflect their value. I change that.

I’ve scaled my own LinkedIn to 130,000+ followers, not with luck, trends, or gimmicks, but with a proven system of growth-focused content, strategic branding, and audience-first engagement.

Now, I help others do the same. My focus is on amplifying your authority, building a strong personal brand, and growing your audience, so you become the go-to name in your niche.

What I do:

✅ LinkedIn Growth Strategy 
✅ Content Creation & Branding 
✅ Brand Collaborations & Campaigns 
✅ Profile Optimization

If you want to scale your LinkedIn, grow your influence, and turn your brand into a visible authority, let’s connect.

➡️ DM me or email: v.toshniwal2828@gmail.com

Always open to meaningful conversations, collaborations, and opportunities in AI, ML, and tech-driven products.

Currently seeking Tech / Machine Learning Engineer opportunities.

Vidhi Toshniwal

Your neighbour wants you to fail.
Your relative wants you to earn less.
Your boss doesn’t want you to grow.

Because your growth disrupts their balance.

So they’ll say:
“Wait.”
“Be realistic.”

Ignore the noise.

➡️ Do what you love
➡️ Upskill yourself
➡️ Ask for referrals
➡️ Follow up

There is no one fixed formula.

If you’re growing, don’t be ashamed.

Be relentless.
Keep knocking.
Someone will answer.

You’ve survived harder phases than this.

Let’s win this one too ❤️

From a cold email to a $4B AI company, yes really! 

Synthesia has now raised $200M in Series E at a $4B valuation.

It all started as a tiny AI video startup and 100+ investor rejections.

When they were almost done, one bold move changed everything: a cold email to Mark Cuban.

He replied in 5 minutes, "Intrested"
After 13 hours of conversation, he committed $1M.

Fast forward 9 years: that same company, Synthesia, just raised $200M and is redefining how work learns.

Work is changing.
Learning is changing.
And companies can’t rely on static PDFs and training decks anymore.

We’re moving toward:

➡️ AI-powered video
➡️ Conversational AI agents
➡️ Real-time, contextual learning at work

Upskilling is no longer optional.
It’s a board-level priority.

Synthesia didn’t just build AI videos.

They’re helping redefine how knowledge moves inside companies.

This isn’t just a funding round.
It’s a bet on how companies learn next.

Big signal for where AI at work is heading.

#synthesia

Hello LinkiFam 👋
This side Vidhi,Thanks for visiting my profile .
Currently pursuing 12th grade and preparing for IIT-JEE entrance exam📖 .
I believe, learning with experience that last forever so I help every deserving person to get there where they ought to be🔥.
Technology 👩‍💻excites me and I'm always in the awe of the change it drives in world🌍

Synthesia

I didn’t realise how many AI subscriptions I was paying for
until I tried cancelling them one by one.

I was already using way too many AI tools.
One for writing. One for images. One for videos. One for apps. One for dashboards.

At some point, I realised I was spending more time organising tools than doing real work.

Then I came across Abacus AI Deep Agent.

I watched it build an app from scratch in a few minutes.
Frontend, backend, database, logic -  everything came together on its own.

That was the first time I felt like I wasn’t “using a tool”,
I was just explaining what I wanted and watching it happen.

👉 http://deepagent.abacus.ai

Some things that stood out:

➡️ You can build full apps from one prompt
Web apps, internal tools, dashboards, and now even mobile apps.
You describe the idea, it handles the structure, backend, and data

➡️ Websites and SaaS in one flow
Landing pages, logins, payments, storage - all built together.

➡️ You can recreate complex products just by explaining them
No specs or diagrams. Just describe how it should work.

➡️ These are proper tools
CRMs, Notion-style systems, HR software, founder tools.

➡️ Micro-SaaS feels way more approachable
Ideas that felt “too much effort” suddenly feel worth trying.

➡️ Games and interactive tools show up instantly
Sudoku, simulations, small utilities.

➡️ Reports, decks, and dashboards
Upload data and get visuals and insights without setting everything up.

➡️ ChatLLM is built in
So you’re working with text, PDFs, images, videos, and code in one place.

It just changes how you think about building things.

Instead of planning for weeks,
You can actually try ideas and see where they go.

👉 Abacus AI Deep Agent
http://deepagent.abacus.ai

#ai #tech

Listening to music at full volume feels harmless.
Even powerful.
Like you’re in your own world.

But your ears are paying a price you don’t feel today.

Sign up for more health & wellness insights 👇
https://lnkd.in/evZpbd9E

Inside your inner ear are tiny hair cells.
Every loud beat makes them vibrate harder than they’re designed to.

Day after day.
Hour after hour.

They wear out.
And here’s the brutal part:

Once those cells die,
they never come back.

That’s how permanent hearing loss begins.
Quietly.
Silently.
Without warning.

Push it long enough and tinnitus follows,
a constant ringing that doesn’t switch off.
Ever.

No notification. No reset button.

Some damage doesn’t announce itself in pain.
It shows up later as regret.

Protect what you won’t get back.

Sign up for more health & wellness insights 👇
https://lnkd.in/evZpbd9E

I watched an AI agent build a production-ready app in minutes.

Frontend. Backend. Database. Logic.
Everything is connected and actually working.

Not a demo. Not a mockup. A real app you could ship.

This is Abacus AI Deep Agent an AI agent that works like a full engineering + execution team.

👉 http://deepagent.abacus.ai

Here’s what really stood out:

➡️ End-to-end apps from one prompt
UI, backend, databases, forms stitched together into something you can actually deploy.
And now mobile apps too. You can build and publish full mobile apps with Deep Agent just by describing what you want in a single prompt.

➡️ Websites and SaaS built in one flow
Landing pages, login systems, payments, and data storage - created together, not pieced apart.

➡️ Complex products recreated just by explaining them
You describe how it should look and work.
Deep Agent figures out the structure and builds it.

➡️ These are proper products
CRMs, internal tools, Notion-style systems, HR software made for real usage, not demos.

➡️ Micro-SaaS suddenly feels practical
Resume tools, niche utilities, lead magnets ideas that used to take months now feel achievable fast.

➡️ Apps and games appear instantly
Sudoku, Conway’s Game of Life, and interactive tools, ready to use as soon as they’re generated.

➡️ AI apps built around specific roles
Founder assistants, research helpers, and domain-specific AI tools.

➡️ Reports, decks, and research on demand
Charts, visuals, and structured insights put together in minutes.

➡️ Spreadsheets turned into dashboards
Upload Excel or CSV files and get metrics, explanations, and visuals automatically.

➡️ ChatLLM comes built in
Work with text, PDFs, images, videos, and code in the same place.
For founders, this changes how fast ideas can be tested.

For teams, it changes how work gets distributed.

Worth paying attention to.
👉 Abacus AI Deep Agent

 http://deepagent.abacus.ai

#ai #tech

I cancelled my $20 ChatGPT Subscription
and started using an All-in-one AI tool that's much better! because… my work didn’t fit in one place anymore.

I’d write in one place.
Generate images in another.
Make videos somewhere else.
Create presentations in another.
Build apps or prototypes in a different tab.

By the time I finished one task, I had 6–7 tabs open.

Then someone introduced me to ChatLLM by Abacus AI, and my whole workflow moved into one place.
👉 https://lnkd.in/gdrpgQnC

Here’s what made the switch stick:

1. ONE SINGLE PLACE FOR ALL AI MODELS
ChatLLM lets me switch between GPT-5.2, Claude 4.5, Gemini 3 Pro, Grok 4.1 Fast, DeepSeek, LLaMA, and more without breaking flow.

2. IMAGES & VIDEOS, WITHOUT JUMPING TOOLS
No more opening separate platforms.
Nano Banana Pro, GPT Image 1.5, Seedream 4.5, Ideogram for images.
Sora 2, VEO 3.1, Kling AI v2.6, Runway, Luma for videos.

3. FULL-STACK APPS, WEBSITES & SAAS
I describe what I want and actually see it live.
Layouts, colors, and copy are edited normally, like working with a real designer.

4. PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS, INSTANTLY
Simple ideas turn into clean decks with researched content, graphs, and charts.

5. A PERSONAL AI ASSISTANT THAT WORKS IN THE BACKGROUND
Searches and tasks keep running even when I’m offline -  you come back to progress.

6. TALKING TO PDFS INSTEAD OF READING THEM
Upload a file, ask questions, get clean notes and summaries.

7. MAKING AI WRITING SOUND NORMAL
Write → click “Humanize” → choose a tone.
The output actually sounds usable.

8. REAL-TIME WEB SEARCH
Answers with sources, images, and videos - more research, less guessing.

9. ABACUS AI DEEP AGENT FOR BIGGER BUILDS
Web apps, technical reports, dashboards, micro-SaaS, workflows, websites, and now mobile apps too, built from simple prompts.

10. AN AI CODE EDITOR THAT ACTUALLY HELPS
Write, run, debug, and improve code inside Abacus AI Desktop, with proper vibe coding without the chaos.

It stopped feeling like “using AI tools.”
And started feeling like working inside an AI workspace.

If you’re paying for multiple AI subscriptions right now,
This might clean up your whole setup.
👉 https://lnkd.in/gdrpgQnC

#ai #tech

This morning, a newspaper made me pause.

Just two photos. Side by side.
No labels. No explanations.

And now we know why.

It’s the newly launched REDMI Note 15.

What stood out to me about this launch:

➡️ No exaggerated claims. Just a camera comparison.

➡️ Confidence over noise. Letting real images speak first.

➡️ Bold timing. Most brands wait for reviews, REDMI invited judgment on day one.

➡️ Familiar REDMI Note DNA. Disruptive, direct, and unafraid of comparisons.

After following the Note series for years, this approach feels intentional, and refreshing.

If details matter to you, this is your camera.

No shortcuts. Just 108 million pixels mastering your moments.

Blind test photos on print? This is such a cool way to launch a smartphone. 😎

I met someone at a cafe last week.

A few days later, I couldn’t remember their last name.

And that’s when I realized something:
We meet too many people…
and remember too little.

That’s where ConnectMachine feels different.

Instead of asking me to “post more” or “stay active,”
it quietly does the remembering for me.

It knows:

➡️ who I met
➡️ where I met them
➡️ when it happened
➡️ and why the connection mattered

I don’t carry one digital identity anymore.

I share different cards for different contexts, 
founder, collaborator, private circle.

No oversharing. 
No awkward follow-ups.

When I want clarity, I just ask:

“Who are the founders in my network?”
“Who did I meet at that conference last month?”

No scrolling. No searching. 
Just answers.

Conversations stay private.

Only silent alerts, encrypted channels, and control.

Sometimes the exchange is a QR.
Sometimes AirDrop.
Sometimes straight from the lock screen.

It’s fast. It’s precise.

ConnectMachine isn’t trying to make networking louder.
It’s making it intentional.

👉 If you believe networking should be quiet but powerful,
take a look at ConnectMachine.

https://lnkd.in/gnmCvhvQ

Ananya Panday’s confidence in this film really stayed with me.

It felt thoughtful, not impulsive, and it made me reflect on my own hair care habits.

We often hydrate hair without thinking if we are even using the right ingredients ?
TRESemmé Hydra Matrix is infused with Polyglutamic Acid (PGA), an ingredient that is naturally biocompatible with hair, not borrowed from skincare.

That distinction changed my mindset.

Hydration should protect hair health over time, not just make it look good for the moment.

#TRESemmeHydraMatrix

Maharashtra just sent a strong signal to the world.

₹30 lakh crore in MoUs at Davos 2026.
Another ₹10 lakh crore already in advanced talks.

This isn’t hype.
This is execution at scale.

83% of these agreements are pure FDI from 18 countries, a clear vote of confidence in India’s most industrialized state.

A projected 40 lakh jobs.
And a rare 75% MoU-to-project conversion rate.

What stands out is not just the number, but the direction 👇

➡️ AI, Quantum Computing, Green Steel, Data Centers

➡️ Health, Fintech, Food Processing

➡️ India’s first Innovation City near Mumbai

➡️ A bold Circular Economy model to process 100% of urban waste

➡️ Balanced regional growth, from MMR to Vidarbha, Marathwada, and North Maharashtra

Global giants like Tata, Reliance, Adani, Volkswagen, Bosch, Brookfield and many more are not “exploring” anymore, they are committing.

This is how economic leadership is built:

Vision + Infrastructure + Global trust + Local impact.

Maharashtra isn’t just attracting capital.

It’s designing the future of India’s growth. 🇮🇳

This ad didn’t feel like an ad.

It felt like someone saying,
“Stop babying your phone.”

We’ve all done it.
Skipped the rain photo.
Stayed back at the beach.
Put the phone away because it felt too risky.

This one flips that habit.

No fancy setup.
No perfect phone shots.
Just showing a phone that can handle real moments, and capture them.

The camera shows up.
The durability doesn’t hide.

Quiet, confident, very REDMI Note.

You don’t feel sold to.
You just feel a little less careful.

#REDMINote15ProSeries #SimplyBetter #200MasterPixelCamera

taplio

The Battle

Ash Maurya

Vidhi Toshniwal

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taplio

The Battle

Ash Maurya

Vidhi Toshniwal

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Ash Maurya's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreVidhi Toshniwal's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreAsh Maurya's LinkedIn Performance