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

With 29 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

CONTROVERSIAL: If you're ready to create an internet/mobile based startup in 2026, you do not need investment. What's that I hear: "but there are a few setup and running costs". Well, no shit Sherlock! That's how business works.

If you expect it to be a free ride and for someone else to take the risk before you've even started, this game aint for you. Your idea, your risk.

Five years ago, sure, it was tough back then. You needed the app ready just to discover if there was even a market. And the developers who would build it saw you coming and demanded £150k just to get out of bed.

But those days are over. Building your MVP is cheap. Signing up to a handful of AI-driven marketing/growth platforms is even cheaper. Your costs for getting from day 0 to day 1 are minimal, and should come out of your pocket.

If your savings account can't cover it, then give up Netflix, or your 2nd annual holiday, or a meal out and bottle of wine each week.

Take your own risks if you are so convinced the idea is that great. And, according to page 17 of your pitchdeck, it is going to be massive and hit a $1bn market within 5 years!

So what's a year without Netflix or dining out when that's the goal? You will be too busy building and making sales for a social life anyway.

Investment is for scaling. Not for creating the damn thing on day 1.

---

* smallprint: yes, sure, we know that if you're in quantum something or other, or deeptech, or need a van to deliver your mince pies to factories, or to buy stock, or do medical research, [or insert 1,000 other ideas], then you are special and this post does not apply to you. So please, walk on by, nothing for you to see here. This is for people building apps, websites and stuff like that.

Launch your MVP in 30 days | 30yrs in startups (exited. 0→£mil * 2)

I just read an expert's idea of a "5 yr plan for startups". More theoretical tosh! As a founder you need to be out in much less than 5 yrs, sat on the beach with a piña colada, and planning your next startup.

Let's be honest, for most founders, if you are still in at the 5 year mark, you've probably missed the exit ramp and are a zombie startup, kidding yourself you're still capable of "scaling" and reaching mythical unicorn status.

The speed of startups in this mad new AI-backed world means, if the business is doing well at 2-3 years, you should find someone bigger who knows how to launch it into the next orbit. For most founders, this is not you.

Exit at 2-3 years. Low £millions. Go again. Repeat until the care home calls.

Oh, and by the way, that exit money needs to be hard cash. And it goes to founders only - no investors to take any cream off the top.

If you spent 6-12 months of those 2-3 years faffing about finding an investor, then you've wasted the most critical period of a startup's early life.

You can disagree all you like, and spend half your days on here, talking the talk and arguing with AI-written posts.

The startup process is simple: Build, sell, sell-out.

If any part fails, then pivot or find a new idea, and go again.

JFDI !

Hey Linkedin algorithm, send this to everyone subscribed to my newsletter. Ask them to let me know if I should start writing it again.

Hey all, I've just remembered I have this newsletter. It was set up about 300 years ago, and somehow it has collected 6,720 of you 😊 So my big questi

Open article: Hello, is anybody seeing this? by Steve Procter • 1 min read

Startup circus 'experts' say "build it and they will come" is wrong. Really? Post daily on social, grow your followers & fans, then give them a little nudge when you launch something new. Watch them come. Selling has never been easier.

Someone asked me if they should create a business plan, pitchdeck, and financial projection for their brand new startup and app idea? My answer is simple: Hell no! Real founders fly by the seat of their pants.

Sure, write down a few pages of ideas and notes. But otherwise, just focus on building, making sales, and pivoting.

That last one, pivoting, is what makes too much planning a complete waste of time. Don't kid yourselves your idea is so solid you won't need to. You will be pivoting so much, you'll feel like a ballerina practicing her pirouettes.

So stop talking the talk. That's what Linkedin armchair experts do.

It's time to build fast and make sales. Which is what real founders do.

I saw this post recently: "has anyone managed to create a profitable startup yet from vibe coding?" Such a stupid question. AI-assisted dev doesn't make sales, that's your job. But it does help you start selling much sooner.

Oh good grief! Can we stop blaming AI dev tools whenever we see a crappy vibe coded app. Platforms like Replit are fantastic and work great when you know how to control them and feed them the right information. But if you don't, then, as us old-schoolers like to say: Garbage In, Garbage Out.

Indian Silicon Valley Capital

Deploying ​Curated Early Stage Capital from the top 1% Operators and Founders across the Globe.

Personalised, Deliberate Value, built on top of the leading Business Podcast in the country. If you are looking to raise angel capital of up-to $150K when closing your pre-seed, seed round, get in touch with me at jivrajsinghsachar@gmail.com

Portfolio: 20+ Companies Partnered with via 150+ Operator/Founder Angels.

Check us out at - https://indiansiliconvalley.in/portfolio

Founder & General Partner (GP)

Tribe Capital

Venture Partner at Tribe Capital India, setting up a $150Mn Series A+ Fund. Working closely with the India leadership to help establish and evangelise Tribe in India. Excited for growth capital flowing in India and establishing a synergistic relationship with the India early stage network. 

Really grateful to Vishesh Khurana and Arjun Sethi for the opportunity.

Venture Partner

Indian Silicon Valley 

I curate, host & produce the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast, a conversations with some of the leading founders & investors from the Indian Ecosystem to understand more about building a legendary company. 

The Podcast has soon become the leading platform to gain knowledge about the Indian Ecosystem. In the last 25 months, I have hosted 125+ Guests out of which 50+ have been founders of Unicorn Companies, producing over 8000 Minutes of valuable content. 

Check us out on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5HZ9y88I43ba7pO5S3K9nM

Building

Masters' Union

Leading the Venture Initiation Program (VIP) and designing the Venture Capital Program (course work + placements) at Masters' Union. Playing a small part in brewing job creators of tomorrow as Masters' Union disrupts higher education in the country and beyond. 

Super thankful to Pratham Mittal for such responsibility and faith in me.

Leading - Startup Projects & Visiting Faculty

Angel Investor

Investing personal capital to be a part of Startup Journeys where there is value to be added. Mostly via RUVs + SPVs! 

8 Company Personal Portfolio (Beyond the Syndicate)

Consulting

Consulting on various projects across - Narrative Building for Founders, Vertical Content for Venture Funds & Companies centred around Venture, Strategising & Curating Entrepreneurship Events, Fundraising Strategy for early stage companies, etc. Get in touch at jivrajsinghsachar@gmail.com

I've recently opened some slots on Topmate to make this more structured in nature - https://topmate.io/jivraj_singh_sachar

Consulting 

Marwadi University

Speaker

AngelList India

Helping democratize the ecosystem alongside a phenomenal team! 

Building products for future Fund Managers (Syndicates) and early stage founders who want to structure their angel capital better (RUVs). 

Reach out to jivraj@angel.co for any queries that you may have!

Venture Operations

ACE Humans

Founded a storytelling platform featuring stories of diverse unique accomplished individuals!

Through the journey of this platform, I have interacted with over 250 extraordinary individuals at the highest stature from different walks of life. We have published their stories via ACE Stories and have completed more than 28 Episodes of Live Talks with such wonderful personalities. 

Some of the people I have interviewed include -
Mr. Nikhil Kamath, Co-Founder and CIO, Zerodha and True Beacon
Ms. Jwala Gutta, Olympian and Arjuna Awardee
Ms. Shruti Chaturvedi, Founder and CEO - Chaaipani
Ms. Ayesha Billimoria, Athlete and Founder - Fitgirl India Project
Ms. Bhargsetu Sharma, Founder - Humans wit Humanity
Mr. Ankur Warikoo, Co-Founder - Nearbuy
Ms. Shneel Malik, PhD Research and Bio-Architect
Mr. Shantanu Gupta, Author of 'The Monk who became Chief Minister'
Mr. Unmukt Chand, Captain U19 Indian Men's Cricket Team 2012
Ms. Asweetha Shetty, Founder - Bodhi Tree Foundation
Ms. Shreya Rao, Miss India 2nd Runners Up 2018
Ms. Mira Erda, First Woman From India to win a Championship in the Formula 4
Mr. Pratik Gauri, CEO - 5th Element Group India 
Mr. Ritesh Malik, Founder - Innov8
Mr. Maneet Gohil, Co-Founder & CEO - Lal10
Mr. Abhishek Saini, Founder - Those in Need
Mr. Vicky Roy, Photographer, Forbes 30 under 30, Vogue 40 under 40, MIT Fellow
Ms. Ridhi Gupta, Banker and Writer 
Mr. Ankur Chawla, Entrepreneur and Author 
Mr. Neeraj Narayanan, Traveller & Founder - This Guy's on his Own Trip
Ms. Alka Rai, Human Resource Expert 
Mr. Gangadhar Patil, Co-Founder and CEO - 101Reporters, TED Fellow
Mr. Taran Singh Bedi, Co-founder and CEO - Wowzoo
Ms. Deeya Bajaj, First Father-Daughter Duo to Summit Mt. Everest
Dr. Vishal Rao, Oncologist
Mr. Narpath Parmar, Mentalist and Mind Reader 

This has been an absolutely great experience, and I continue reaching out and creating positive impact in my own way!

Instagram Page Link:
https://bit.ly/ACE_Humans

Founder & Storyteller

Every Infant Matters

My role is to facilitate the community around Every Infant Matters. For Partnerships and Fundraising, feel free to contact me at - jivraj@everyinfantmatters.org

Head of Community Outreach

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

I've spoken to 200+ founders on my podcast, and everyone wants to build a personal brand!

Yet nobody knows where to start, what to do and who to go to. 

I did not know either, when I started my podcast journey. 

Then I met Aryan & Divye, building Binge Labs. They helped me go from 10K to 100K Subscribers on YouTube and scaled Instagram to 40K+ followers. 

Their understanding of the platforms is unparalleled and they're so smooth to work with. 

As a business, they've gone from starting to dominating the market in less than 2 years, working with leading founders across domains - D2C, Fin, Education. 

They're two of the most hardworking, hustly, dedicated and humble founders I know and I am so glad to call them friends. 

As a matter of fact, they’ve built personal brands for a lot of my friends and leading players in the game - Supirya Paul, Prashant Desai and Mukul Rustagi etc 

On a side note, really happy to receive their invite-only personal branding playbook, and it is THE best learning library for personal branding in the country - PERIOD.

BingeLabs is the perfect example of taking a niche, keeping your head down and building an insanely amazing business on top of it.

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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Something interesting is happening in AI right now.
Two entities that everyone wrote off as "behind" just proved everyone wrong. Together.

Google in AI. India in AI.

Both were dismissed. Both underestimated. But now both are making moves that matter.

When the AI wave hit, the narrative was clear. OpenAI leads. Google lags. And India? Building services for the world, not products.

Then Mukund Jha builds Emergent.

Former Googler. Indian founder. Building from Bangalore.

He doesn't compete on hype. He competes on what Google taught him. Engineering depth. User obsession. Products that work in production, not just demos.

The result?

2.5M+ builders. $25M ARR in 5 months. 3M+ applications built. Users switching from every competitor saying "nothing else is this stable."
Emergent isn't creating prototypes. It's creating production-ready apps from chat. Full-stack. Real deployment.

While everyone raced to ship fast, Mukund raced to ship right.

And today, Google's AI Futures Fund invests.
This isn't just funding. This is two narratives changing.

Google backing platforms that power real applications, not just demos.

India showing that technical founders can build global products that compete on quality, not cost.
Being behind meant learning from everyone's mistakes. Building without the pressure to be first. Focusing on foundations while others chased headlines.

Google taught Mukund how to build for scale. He took that back to India. Built Emergent. Now Google's backing what he built.

The technical founder wins. The patient builder wins. The one who prioritizes stability over shortcuts wins.

This isn't just about one company. It's about what happens when two forces the world underestimated build something real together.

Do you think the AI race will be won by those who shipped first, or those who shipped right?

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The Battle

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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);}Steve Procter's LinkedIn Performance

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