I help founders get ready and connect with investors • Seasoned entrepreneur • Building tech startups for 25yrs (zero→£mil ARR, twice)

With 30 years in startups, I now run the Gipity AI Dev Studio: Expert help to launch your MVP in 30 days. www.gipity.com

𝐌𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲... 👇

1968 BC (Before Computers): Born into analogue world

1982-86: Discovered computers! Vic 20, BBC micro, ICL 2900 mainframe & more

1986-89: Computation degree, UMIST (University of Manchester, Institute of Science & Technology)

1989-99: IT consultant/project manager: Logica, IBM, Reuters, Bankers Trust & Deutsche Bank

1994-97: first side hustle: scuba diving instructor & own London dive school

1996: published first website & first ever disk-mounted website on a UK magazine cover

1999: developer/project manager at 2 early London digital agencies

1999: vision/architect/investor. created first UK under-a-tenner domain name business, Easily

1999: built+launched early/successful dot-com: domain/email/web hosting ISP

1999-2001: ceo. managed growth from 0 to 2,000 daily domain sales & 30+ staff in under 2yrs

2000: invented the web-based DNS dashboard for domains

2000: created early no-code solution for one-page websites: £100k ARR

2000: highly commended "Entrepreneur of the Year": European E-commerce Association E-business 2000 awards

2001: 64th in Sunday Times "Top 100 pre-IPO e-businesses in Europe" E-League

2001: ran one of the first successful web affiliate schemes, generating 40% of rev

2004: hit 400,000+ domain registrations, 30,000+ websites & 40,000+ email accounts

2004: 3,500 commission earning affiliates & word of mouth to 100,000+ customers

2004: negotiated successful multi-million pound dot-com exit/sale of Easily

2002: vision/investor. launched one of the first ever B2B mobile text marketing services: SMS Expert

2007-11: early digital nomad: B2B Saas startup from beach/desert

2007-19: ceo. ran leading text marketing B2B Saas: zero to multi-million turnover

2007-19: cto/architect. developed 850k lines of code & supported 1mil daily transactions/API calls

2020... consultancy/advice/support for early-stage tech startup founders

2022... helping hand-picked founders find the right investors

• 2018: vision/architect/investor/cto...
Clickacall: instant video calls from anywhere with single click
Nearevo: proximity discovery for internet of things
Scan+Click: contactless business cards
Secly: personal online security

• 2021 l2o: supporting next generation of startups
• 2022 Venture Cards: all startups, in one place • connecting the right founders and investors

• 2024 The Gipity AI Dev Studio: Expert help to launch your MVP in 30 days

Steve Procter

After 30 years in startups, with the last 5 helping other founders, I've realised there are other more established businesses out there. Who knew! Apparently, some even have actual budgets to get stuff done 🤣

So, as much as I love founders, it's time to spread my wings and help build apps, tools, AI agents and lots more useful stuff for all these other exciting companies and business people. (founders still very welcome, obvs)

And of course, doing it all using my new found love of AI-assisted development for speed and power. Plus 44 years of coding and engineering experience to guide things along the way.

A year ago, tech cost the earth to create, and developers would take 3-6 months to give you something basic. But with AI, the world has moved on.

What kind of app, internal tool or AI agent could you use today to save a tonne of time and money in your business?

DM, or comment below. I'll provide a free evaluation to get things started.

I’ll build your AI agents & apps | 44yrs in tech | Exited founder (0→£mil * 2)

"Code" is sooooo old fashioned. I've got an old web app I built 10 years ago. just got 1 client who uses it these days. I only think about it for 10 mins every year when I send him an invoice.

A server update created a bug today. I had to go into the code and debug. It was really, really weird - not seen this code in over 5 years.

It felt like walking through a museum.

Did people really used to write this weird language called "code" to make their computers do things in the olden days.

Startup ideas that are too early are brutal. I've been there several times and got the t-shirt. Quite literally, as back in the noughties, printing t-shirts and business cards, and paying for fancy logo designs before you'd even launched was just what you did.

But I'd never put a founder off trying if you have a mad idea in your head.

Because very often, nobody really knows. After 30 years in startups, I've realised that timing is just plain weird.

Something can appear in the zeitgeist on a random Tuesday that wasn't there last week, and will be gone again if you don't launch for another 3 months.

The difference now is you don't need permission, investment, or 6-12 months to build and test it.

It has never been cheaper or faster to build a small, real app and put it in front of people.

Don't overthink it. Cut it down. Ship something real. Then let the market slap you (gently) across the face and tell you what it thinks.

Your gut matters. But the market is the only judge that counts.

If you're sitting on an idea right now, stop polishing it and let's get the first real version built and launched.

You never know.

I heard a very powerful line yesterday, by Olivia Moore at a16z:

"Humans Are for Ideas, AI Is for Execution"

As long as we, as individuals and societies, hold to this belief, then we will continue to have purpose.

The moment we start letting AI take control of the creative juices, it's game over.

Pure chat-based GPT usage in businesses will begin a steady drop. AI agents are where it's at - always on, always working for you, 24/7. Not just politely responding if you ask it stuff, otherwise sitting silently in the corner.

What are AI Agents and Automations? To answer, let me ask you a question:

If you are a business owner, consultant, operator or founder, what's one recurring job you'd like taken off your plate?

Something repetitive, annoying, time-consuming, easy to get wrong, or just plain old boring.

• Not "run my whole business".
• Not "take over my entire marketing outreach".
• Not "do everything".

One thing.

If you claim to love every single task you do (really?), ask a colleague or your assistant. I bet there is something.

That "something" is the best way to understand what an Automation is:

It's simply a workflow that you already have in your business, and currently driven by a human. You know the steps or can easily define them, and you have instructions, a system, and a set of tools that execute them.

And that's what we can automate using technology, removing or hugely reducing the need for that human involvement at every time-consuming step. By the way, these tech-driven automations often don't require AI.

An AI Agent on the other hand, takes your automation and does a lot more. It can execute your workflow with its own judgement. Driven by AI means you can give it an objective, let it figure out the steps (within constraints), use tools, and adapt when things change.

Neither are magic robots. They're just tools (AI-powered or not) that can sit in the cloud, connect to the right systems (docs, email, calendars, call transcripts, your CRM or other internal systems, or whatever), and take over the mundane in your business.

A few years ago, they were out of reach of many small businesses. But with AI-assisted development, experienced builders can now create these at a much lower cost and faster than ever before.

For now, it is likely they will still be overseen by a human supervisor. But think of the hours saved every single week, and imagine what you or your team could do with that time back.

Yes, you can make AI a grand vision. But in the real world you and your business occupy, it often starts with one annoying task that quietly drains your time and energy.

Tell me the task you want to get rid of, and I'll tell you if it's actually a good candidate for tech automations and AI agents.

AngelList India || Building India's #1 Startup Podcast - Indian Silicon Valley || Angel Syndicate GP @ISV Capital

Reach out to me at - superdm.com/jivraj

Adding value by democratizing the Startup Ecosystem of the Country by running a podcast + angel syndicate. 

Fascinated by Startups and how Founders strategically build them. Super interested in knowing more about the amazing folks who help capitalise these Startups. 

Exploring my curiosity through my Podcast - Indian Silicon Valley. (https://linktr.ee/indian_silicon_valley)

Before AngelList, I had a short Product stint at an early stage startup. 

Feeding my experimental self further, I'm involved a couple of weekend projects wherein I work with Startup Teams working towards impact. (Every Infant Matters & LedBy). And I continue to hone my Storytelling skills and meet interesting folks through ACE Humans, a Storytelling Platform I started.

By education I'm a B.Com (H) graduate from St. Xavier's College (Honours), Kolkata, having majored in Finance. I've also completed both parts of the FRM (Financial Risk Manager) Certificate by GARP (Global Association of Risk Professionals). I have also passed two levels of the CFA Program and due to appear for Level 3 in June '21.

I have been extremely grateful to have studied in great institutions which have honed my leadership and entrepreneurial skills. Throughout University, I was involved in multiple co-curricular activities. I founded the TEDx Club on Campus, Co-Founded a one of a kind Climate Action Club, Co-Founded the Finance Community involved with the first finance lab at the University level in Eastern India, Led multiple societies including the E-Cell, Enactus, Student Council and many more. This made my entire college experience a fulfilling one, developing my skills and virtues! So, I'm all up for taking initiative, lead and pursuing my passion all along the way.

I relish new conversations and am always up for an interesting one. 

Hope to create an impact & add value to the India Growth Story!

Jivraj Singh Sachar

CAVA opened its first store on Sunday!

They’ve taken the new-age activewear trend by storm. 

We were lucky to meet Ria & Shreya early in the journey and back them via ISV Capital at pre-seed, in the round led by Spring! 

It was lovely to see friends, family and all the investors across pre-seed and seed show up. 

This is the first store of many more to come. 

So glad to partner with founders who’ve become like family! 

More power to the CAVA team 🚀

Ria Mittal Shreya Mittal Antara Raychaudhury Raja Ganapathy Arun Iyer Abhiram Bhalerao

India's #1 Business Podcast - Indian Silicon Valley || General Partner @ISV Capital || Venture Partner @Tribe Capital || Forbes 30u30 Asia || Ex AngelList India

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Indian Healthcare has been broken. 

Until now. Until this. 

Varun Dubey is changing how hospitals, doctors and healthcare in India operate. 

The Superhealth model of healthcare is the most disruptive thing anyone in the industry has ever seen. 

- No waiting for patients 
- No Mininum Gurantee for Doctors, fixed salaries 
- Pre Decided Discharge Time without delays 
- No counter for bills at the front desk 
- No upfront heavy capital expense for high street large investments 
- No hidden pricing for procedures 

I witnessed this magic in person and was absolutely blown away! 

Teaser for the episode with Superhealth out now.

India has a silent deficiency crisis, and that is the consumer opportunity. 

~70%+ are Vitamin D deficient. 
~60% are low on Magnesium. 
~68.4% are iron-deficient/anaemic. 
~47% are Vitamin B12 deficient. 
~90% don't meet daily Fibre requirements. 
~70% are Omega-3 deficient. 

Protein became a ₹10,000+ crore market because a problem was visible and brands made it accessible and habitual.

The next wave — Magnesium, Vitamin D, Iron, B12, Fibre, Omega-3 — is the same story, just earlier in the curve.

Huge consumer play here depending on how you position, simplify and reach the customers.

Your AI stack is probably one 502 error away from a board meeting you really do not want to attend.

I have seen how this happens. 

A team builds one LLM feature, then another, then 5 more. Soon multiple teams are calling different providers with no shared control layer, costs lie there in spreadsheets nobody fully trusts, prompts are scattered across docs and when something does not work at 2am, everyone blames “the model.”

Recently, I watched this brand video by @Portkey and its just sooo good.

A boardroom. A frustrated CEO. An office literally on fire while the AI team insists everything is under control. It is dark comedy, but it nails the fact that running LLMs in production without a control layer can cause a lot of chaos.

That is where Portkey sits. Between your app and every LLM provider. 
OpenAI. Anthropic. Google. Open source models. All through a single unified API.

1,600+ models connected.
2 trillion+ tokens processed.
650+ organizations globally.
10,200+ GitHub stars on their open source gateway.
SOC2, HIPAA, GDPR.

What stood out to me is the operational layer i.e., the gateway, observability, guardrails and model catalog. 

If you are running LLMs in production, what does your stack look like right now?

Watch the video below and see if it feels familiar.

Congratulations on the round!
Portkey and Rohit Agarwal and Ayush Garg.

I hosted the founder of India's most disruptive fintech x travel company. 

Anil Goteti building Scapia

Anil recognised the core problems for the Indian traveller. 

1. Hidden forex costs that customers are unaware about. 
2. Subpar travel experience like lounge access limitations, food court enabled for airports without lounge. 
3. A disintegrated travel experience - card someplace else, booking someplace else, reward points on another platform. 

It's amazing, how he has solved for all of this and more. What a wonderful chat to understand how a serieal entrepreneur like Anil is building his next disruptive thing!

Closing 6-7 SPVs in the first quarter of the year! 

We’re off to a great start at ISV Capital this year :’)

If you’re building reach out to us.

I walk out of almost every meeting with a thought I don't want to lose.


Something someone said that led to me thinking something or a pattern I noticed or a thesis I've been carrying around for weeks that suddenly got a little clearer.

And then my phone buzzes, the next call starts, I'm in a cab and it's gone.

See, as a podcaster, I've always expressed myself better through voice. Voice carries context, emotion, nuance in a way that typing just doesn't. Even when I'm working with LLMs, I find myself wishing I could just talk rather than type.

So I tried voice memos and even google dictation but it just gives you back everything you said, the ums, half-sentences and you're left doing all the work of editing. 

Honestly, if I had time for that, I'd have just typed it out.

Also, voice notes are not the best options as it is hard to tag and easy to lose context. You can't forward it into a doc or search for it later. It lives and dies in the moment.

A few months ago I started using Wispr. And the gap it fills for me, I really enjoy it. 

I talk, literally the way I actually talk, messy and fast and mid-thought and what comes back is the clean version of what I meant. No filler words or editing required. Just the idea, fully formed, ready to use. I can send it anywhere immediately. 

The first time it happened I genuinely just stared at my screen. I'd been rambling in a cab for two minutes and it didn’t just get all the Indian names and spellings right but also me switching between Hindi and English. 

Imagine all that happening in a cab, so even commuting becomes productive. Now I use it everywhere. The mental load of  I should write that down has disappeared. 

I've probably captured more useful thinking in the last three months than in the year before it. For someone who thinks out loud for a living, I am glad I tried it. You should check it out too!

- Written with Wispr Flow.

graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message

New banner, going deeper with Indian Silicon Valley Capital!

The era is finally over. 


Earlier, there was a time when building software meant you either learned how to code or hired a CTO. But that boundary is over. 

While hosting multiple podcasts on the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast, I used to think about what AI can accomplish and one area that was always in my mind was that whoever builds a product where you can just type in a prompt and an app can be made...that would be a total transformation of the entire industry!

(Because the TAM would be huge and any company with a solid product would acquire a good market share.)

And guess what! What Mukund and Madhav Jha did this with Emergent.

More than 7 million applications have already been created in just 8 months, with usage doubling in the last 40-45 days. That is an amazing change at scale.

And I have myself used Emergent and I must say it was too good a product. Yesterday, I saw Y Combinator's YouTube channel published a podcast with Mukund Jha, where he talked about how he built Emergent. 

Being super curious as a person, I immediately clicked on it immediately and it was a delight to watch. Learnt so much!

Do watch the full episode if you don't want to miss out on any good insights. The link is in the pinned comment.

Why AI will not necessarily take all jobs away or atleast what history has to say about it ⬇️

Full doc on this is super interesting. Comment or DM for the link.

India’s EV policy has a blind spot and it’s honestly worth talking about.

I was recently listening to a conversation featuring Ather Energy on the impact of India’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme on the EV ecosystem and it raised an interesting policy tension that doesn’t get discussed enough.

The PLI programme has done exactly what it was designed to do, push companies to manufacture at scale in India. By tying incentives to production and revenue thresholds, it has already driven significant investments and accelerated domestic manufacturing.

But EV innovation rarely begins at scale.

Most deep-tech EV companies spend years building battery systems, power electronics, vehicle software and manufacturing processes before they ever reach large sales volumes. What many people don’t realise is that hardware startups often burn through the heaviest R&D capital long before the market fully shows up.

Which means the companies investing the most in core technology early on may not qualify for incentives yet, while those already operating at scale unlock meaningful cost advantages.

This creates an imbalance in the ecosystem - between those who are established, deep pocketed and yet continue to get govt support and those who are starting out fresh but have the capability to disrupt the segment.

If India wants to become a true EV hub, the next phase of the policy conversation will probably need to balance both sides by rewarding manufacturing scale while also recognising the companies building the technology that future scale will depend on.

What happens when the subsidies fade and you’re already operating at a 15% disadvantage? As EV incentives are withdrawn globally and policy uncertainty looms at home, the bigger question isn’t survival, it’s competitiveness.
 
On Young Turks Reloaded, Ather Energy’s Tarun Mehta says the future of India’s EV story can’t be subsidy-dependent. In fact, not qualifying for PLI pushed Ather Energy to rethink its entire business model—from hardware to software, from one-time sales to subscription revenue.

Now the bet is bigger. India could become one of the world’s largest exporters of electric two-wheelers—in what is a $100 billion global market. But that will require policy that supports innovation, not sidelines startups.
Because capacity may come from legacy players. But the engine of disruption? That comes from startups.

Shereen Bhan

#YoungTurksReloaded #AtherEnergy #EVIndustry #PLI #StartupIndia #MakeInIndia #CNBCTV18Digital

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