Japjot Sethi

Back in Bangalore, but an exciting few days in Boston and NYC with the Citizen Stack team as they take the India Stack on the road, including at the UN.   What was built in India, for India, is a monumental achievement in showing what is possible when imagination, will, and dedicated group of spirited volunteers (ProductNation/iSPIRT) combine the best of technology, public policy, legal frameworks, and private sector participation to create the rails for citizen inclusion and the delivery of public goods.   This is such a significant story for world that few outside understand for myriad reasons—including complacency and complexity—and so large and difficult to grasp (at least in the west) that when one looks at what India has achieved in such a short time it feels like the stuff of science fiction.   Having seen this story unfold, from the early days of Aadhaar, the well-worn assumptions about how India consumes, transacts, travels, saves, and invests, have been rewritten and will evolve with new stacks in health, agriculture, and data protections. Given India’s average age is 28, there is a whole generation that is going to experience a vastly different set of public goods and services that would have been unimaginable a decade ago.   For starters, India has: ·     Authenticated 1.4 billion people with a digital identity ·     $230 billion of monthly UPI transactions and on track to hit 1 billion transactions per day in the next 2 years ·     Reduced the time to open a bank account from 6 days to 1 hour ·     Efficiently administered 2 billion covid vaccination doses over 18 months, without adding an additional clinic   Having set a benchmark for inclusive growth, low cost delivery, consent, and data privacy, the story has now gone global. It was inspiring to hear directly from numerous UN participants (France, Philippines, Ethiopia, among them) on implementing elements of what India has open-sourced to the world. Specifically, the Modular Open Source Identity Platform (MOSIP), which was developed at International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore provides a flexible and scalable identity platform that caters directly to the needs of diverse populations, including those in remote and underserved areas. Already implemented by 18 countries, representing 110 million people, MOSIP-based systems are on track to providing a legal and verifiable ID for the remaining billion world citizens that still lack one. Thank you Sharad Sharma and Jasminder Singh Gulati, and your teams for including me on what I hope is the beginning of many Citizen Stack events around the globe. What a time to be proud of what India has given the world. #ExportQuality #IndiaStack #Aadhaar #UPI #DPI Amie Patel Pankaj Jain Vaibhav Parikh Anurag Saxena Digital Public Goods Alliance Ravi Tyagi

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🎙️Eric Colbert came on Startup Mindsets to talk about starting Vouch Vault, Inc. with Jay Chandrasekhar from Super Troopers. We also talked about surfing 🏄‍♂️ early morning, the need to have trustworthy recommendations, user acquisition strategies and more. 👕🧢Browse our new merch collection: https://lnkd.in/dDjPEvSt #startupmindsets

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Major shifts are happening in the mobility space as Rapido achieves unicorn status, raising a significant $200 million in funding led by WestBridge Capital, with additional backing from Nexus Venture Partners. This new milestone signals the rapid rise of Rapido as a key player in the ride-hailing and bike-taxi market, especially at a time when the industry is ripe for change. In my view, Ola seems to be on autopilot when it comes to its core taxi services, as the company diverts much of its focus to ventures like Ola Electric and Kutrum. While these initiatives are impressive, they also leave a gap in the traditional taxi market, providing an opportunity for competitors like Rapido and Blu to step in and seize market share. With this latest round of funding, Rapido is well-positioned to double down on innovation and scale its bike-taxi and last-mile mobility services, potentially reshaping the landscape of urban transportation. As the Indian mobility market continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how these dynamics play out, especially as players like Rapido gain momentum and challenge Ola’s dominance in this space. 🚖💡 #RapidoUnicorn #MobilityInnovation #StartupSuccess #RideHailing #FutureOfTransport

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The REAL high EV (expected value) exit may not be working at #bayarea #vc #startups it is being a #whistleblower at them :) https://lnkd.in/esWrjGds

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After nearly five incredible years, today is my last day at Tesla. I joined Tesla in 2019 as an avid fan and owner, moving from North Carolina to California to take over the referral program—a program I knew and loved, having referred 12 people myself. Here are some highlights of my team's accomplishments: 1) I revamped the Referral Program to maximize value for Tesla owners. I rebuilt it to be more approachable, offering a variety of awards, 48-hour fulfillment, and enhanced referral tracking. We brought back the magic of the older programs with exclusive awards like invites to unveilings, early Cybertruck deliveries, and CyberHammers. I hope the program returns, as it’s a core community connector. Thank you to everyone who used it! 2) I took our enterprise platform, Tesla for Business, from 0 to 1. In 2019, we only offered a consumer experience, leaving large enterprises without a proper fleet management option. Now, Tesla for Business allows seamless management of any fleet size and supports pay-per-use Wall Connectors and Tesla Semis. 3) I helped Tesla become the first company ever to price items natively in Dogecoin on Tesla Shop. Over the holidays in 2021, Elon wanted us to start accepting Dogecoin for items on Tesla Shop, with prices set in DOGE globally. The team spent over 72 hours non-stop tackling legal and financial hurdles. On January 13th, we launched globally, setting the price of items in DOGE, proving Tesla’s ability to move fast and achieve the unprecedented. 4) I worked with SpaceX to launch tens of thousands of photos from the Tesla community into space. We worked with SpaceX to launch tens of thousands of photos from the Tesla community into space. On August 4th, 2022, we launched a laser-etched mosaic with all the owners’ photos into space! 5) I helped launch Tesla Tequila, CyberBeer, Cyberwhistle, and many other limited edition items on Tesla Shop! My Tesla Shop team built infrastructure to handle massive traffic for low-quantity, high-demand items. The last 420 bottles of Tesla Tequila sold on 4/20 at 4:20 pm for $420 sold out in under a minute! Bottle 369/420 will remain on my shelf as a reminder of the fun launches and late nights the Shop team and I pulled off. I am grateful for the opportunities Tesla has given me and will remain their biggest fan. The next chapter for Tesla will be incredible. I have no doubt they will continue to lead the global EV market, solve generalized autonomy, and bring Optimus to market as one of the first mass-market humanoid robots. If you want to talk EVs, referral programs, growth, or the next wave of innovative technology, my DMs are open. I am always available to connect on new opportunities, ideas, or how the future should be built. What’s next for me? If you know me, you know I can’t sit idle for long. I’m looking forward to how my next chapter unfolds. San Francisco is truly the city of builders, and the startup ecosystem is as vibrant as ever—I’m excited for what’s next!

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I first met Mike Maples, Jr in 2010, when Founders Network was just an idea. Over the years, Mike and his team at Floodgate (special shoutout to Arjun Chopra) have been great mentors, sharing their insights and guiding our founders. Most recently, their advice played a pivotal role in helping us launch Founders Network Fund. Today, Mike shared the key ideas with FN'ers from his new book Pattern Breakers (https://a.co/d/buKBd5O ), which explores the insights he’s gained from backing companies like Twitter, Twitch, and Okta -- and which put him on the Forbes Midas List 8x. This is the most important book on startups in the last ten years, according to Steve Blank. My notes on the key concepts of his talk: 1) Inflections – "not a trend but a change event that represents a turning point in our ability to provide empowerment." e.g. The GPS chip in iPhone 4s 2) Insights – "a non-consensus and right insight about the future that's powerful and non obvious and leverages inflections." e.g. Lyft = GPS + strangers driving you 3) Founder future fit – "Living in the future before other people live in the future and then try to build what's missing in the future." If you're a founder, check out the book. Grateful for the impact Mike and Arjun continue to have on both me and the Founders Network community!

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Waymo's Fully Self Driving (FSD) technology has just got better. Watching it in downtown San Francisco changes your perception 'Vehicle-Ownership'. FYI - Waymo is a Full-Self Driving (FSD) ride-hailing app. Think Uber, with no actual driver (just cameras and intelligent vision). 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝? 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 notable advancements from Waymo highlight a transformative shift: their service now facilitates 50,000 weekly paid trips across three major cities. This marks the beginning of a broader expansion, with Tesla and BYD poised to accelerate the widespread rollout of fully self-driving (FSD) vehicles within the next 18-36 months. 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 The traditional model of car ownership is ripe for disruption. Today, personal vehicles are significantly underutilized, sitting idle 90-95% of the time on driveways and agrages. However, the integration of FSD technologies presents an unprecedented opportunity. Imagine your car not just as a mode of transportation but as an asset earning for you, similar to how Airbnb revolutionized home sharing. This shift could turn every vehicle owner into a potential entrepreneur, maximizing the utility and profitability of their automotive investments. Enhancing Safety and Supporting Sustainability 𝐄𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞  Beyond economic benefits, the rise of FSD is set to enhance road safety . Waymo's recent results showed 72% fewer incidents across SF and Phoenix. - Human Benchmark: 21.2 Incidents per Million Miles (IPMM) - Waymo FSD: 8.8 IPMM (58% Lower with a 95% Confidence Interval) Link in Comments to Research Paper: https://waymo.com/safety/ Waymo has accumulated to date 10 million experience since 2015, en-route to become the world’s most experienced driver (by mileage) in next 24 months 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 Y𝐨𝐮𝐫 B𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 As business leaders and consumers, understanding and adapting to these changes is crucial. The future of urban mobility for passenger cars, commercial vehicles will influence how we plan our future revenue models, spend on R&D and technology risk management. #FSD #Waymo #AutonomousVehicles #UrbanMobility #FutureOfTransport #Tesla #BYD #InnovationInTransport

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Big News: The Official Day Zero is here! 🤩 Thrilled to announce the official launch of Fibr and to celebrate our funding led by the visionary Accel, 2am VC, and my mentors Kunal Shah and Yamini Bhat At Fibr, we obsess over micro insights. One such hypothesis was that landing page personalization is often overlooked, yet is a super-critical tool to reduce CAC in the cookieless era. Like every market creation opportunity, testing this hypothesis took us some time. We decided to only go out and launch when this hypothesis was completely tested. And guess what? We saw a 10-15% increase in conversions from partnerships with large enterprises in the broadband, insurance, and interior design sectors across geographies. If you are a mid-market/enterprise marketer struggling with CAC, we would love to help. Here’s the kicker: Share this post and tag a fellow marketer who needs to hear about this! Both you and your friend’s company will snag 2 free months with the enterprise version of Fibr Web personalization product. Only 20 slots for this early bird offer. DM me to seize this exciting offer and let’s revolutionize your marketing together! Read the full news here: https://lnkd.in/gx_EQtx5 Thanks, ADWEEK AdExchanger for the mentions. #Fibr #Launch #MarketingRevolution #Personalization #CAC #Martech #FundRaise

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Will we need websites at all? How can you compare the current AI boom with the age of oil exploration? What does it mean when we say in the world of AI, compute vs. data will have gravity? During the Antler India Residency 4 that concluded recently, we had our good friend Hemant Mohapatra stop by to chat with founders re: his and Lightspeed's take on AI, and especially AI for India, incl. one of their marquee investments Sarvam AI. Sharing our interaction w/ Ishavasyam Dash

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We're excited to announce our partnership with Kunal and Arunram (former Co-Founder and CTO of Blockdaemon) in leading a $4.0M seed round into Arya. Arya is building an AI-native human capital management system for healthcare workforces. By automating key skills across scheduling, payroll, compliance and employee onboarding, Arya's product allows healthcare services organizations to let their teams focus on care while removing considerable human intervention. We believe healthcare is one of the most compelling markets for agentic solutions, tackling a market measured in payroll instead of technology spend. Most critically, we believe solutions like Arya increase the surface area between clinicians and patients to drive better outcomes, while reducing massive costs and time delays. Since growing ARR 6x yoy, we believe Kunal and Arun represent the types of founders we are lucky to back at Twelve Below: ambitious, humble, technically-oriented and first principle thinkers. https://www.aryahealth.ai/

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🚖 The Future is Here: My Experience with Self-Driving Taxis 🚖 Yesterday, I had the incredible experience of being picked up by a Waymo self-driving taxi in San Francisco! 🤖🚘 It’s amazing to witness firsthand how autonomous technology is rapidly becoming part of our daily lives. As I rode through the streets of SF without a driver, I couldn’t help but think about the ripple effects this innovation will have across various industries, including marketing and advertising. Self-driving taxis are just the beginning. They will transform transportation, logistics, urban planning, and so much more. But what about our industry? At iSource Marketing, we see this as a game-changer for marketing and advertising. Imagine the possibilities: - Geo-targeted Ads: With more precise data from autonomous vehicles, hyper-localized and time-sensitive ads will become more prevalent. - Enhanced Customer Journeys: The in-vehicle experience offers a unique space to engage customers with personalized content, whether it’s entertainment, shopping, or education. - Brand Partnerships: Brands will look to partner with autonomous vehicle fleets to create immersive experiences on the go, making it easier to target specific demographics in transit. The rise of self-driving taxis is a reminder that innovation is continuous, and as marketers, we must be agile and forward-thinking. At iSource Marketing we are ready to help businesses navigate this exciting new landscape. Check out the videos I captured during my ride with Waymo to see the future in action! #SelfDriving #waymo #Innovation #Marketing #Advertising #AutonomousVehicles #IsourceMarketing #weknowtech

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Innovation AND execution exemplified....but why did Tesla succeed? EV's are everywhere and there is so much demand. There is Rivian, Lucid and multiple others... At the end of the day, this is why many great ideas in VC ultimately fail...execution and lack to a path of profitability. Here is why Tesla succeeded vs Ford but many others are struggling: 1. First Mover Advantage: Tesla has been producing EVs at scale for over a decade, giving it a head start in refining manufacturing processes, supply chain management, and cost reduction. - Economies of Scale: With a significantly larger production volume than newer competitors, Tesla benefits from lower per-unit costs. 2. Control Over Supply Chain: Tesla designs and produces many of its components in-house, including batteries and software. This reduces reliance on third parties and allows better cost control and faster innovation. 3. Manufacturing Innovations: Gigafactories: Tesla’s Gigafactories are designed for scale and efficiency, incorporating automation, innovative production lines, and co-location of battery production. Gigapress: Tesla uses massive casting machines (Gigapresses) to produce large, single-piece components, reducing assembly complexity and costs. Focus on Simplicity: Tesla's designs emphasize simplicity, using fewer components and standardizing across models, which reduces manufacturing complexity. 4. Scale: Lucid and Rivian are producing at much lower volumes, leading to higher per-unit costs. At the end of day, Tesla makes $9,264 per vehicle (profit) while Rivian loses $38,784 per vehicle and Lucid loses $137,150 per vehicle. Same idea, right? Just done very differently... #venturecapital #endowments #familyoffices

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"You can’t be truly successful without being true to yourself." I had the pleasure of hearing Kara Swisher speak at the Dean’s Speaker Series at University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business a couple weeks ago, and this quote really stuck with me. Kara was incredibly candid about her journey covering the tech world for decades, but it was her advice on authenticity that truly hit home. After the event, I asked her about her thoughts on navigating the entrepreneurship space as a founder from an underrepresented background. I’ve often found myself code-switching or "cosplaying" to fit into certain professional spaces, and I’ve been torn about whether that’s necessary in the exclusive world of venture-backed startups. Kara’s response? Focus on building the best product and staying true to the mission that drives you. That advice resonated deeply, especially as I work on building a product that addresses some of the hardest and most meaningful problems in healthcare and nutrition—areas that have personal significance for me. If you're as passionate about advancing health and nutrition through AI as I am, or if you’re building in these spaces, let’s connect. I’d love to continue this conversation and explore how we can make real impact together. #Entrepreneurship #Authenticity #HealthcareInnovation #AI #NutritionTech #FounderLife

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Thanks Roman Kirsanov, Neeti Gupta, and Jonathan Kingsepp for the insightful conversation on AI and hyperscaler ecosystems.

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I've seen the incredible impact of digital transformation across diverse emerging markets. One insight that truly stands out from this recent blog I read, is the untapped potential in Bharat’s Tier 2 and 3 cities. At Wix, we've experienced remarkable growth in these regions, with a solid portion of our new users coming from Tier 2, Tier 3, and rural areas in the past year alone. With a competitive pricing of Rs 200/mo we saw great results and it's indeed possible to tap into the large volume of users from Tier 2/3 cities with the right strategy. This is a testament to Bharat's substantial digital adoption and entrepreneurial spirit. We’re committed to empowering businesses of all sizes to succeed online, and it’s clear that the future of innovation lies in understanding and catering to these dynamic and aspirational consumers. For all the entrepreneurs and startups, now is the perfect time to harness this potential and create solutions that resonate with Bharat’s diverse customer base. Check out this blog for more eye-opening insights: https://lnkd.in/gShRssgm SeedToScale

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Thanks to Steve Ispas for hosting me on the #bayareainnovators show for The Epoch Times—excerpts in the link below. This interview is about #innovation, #startups, #founders, #entrepreneurship, #venturecapital, #funding, #exits, #ecosystem, #accelerators, #failures, and #success! We delve into how Silicon Valley continues to be the global hub for technology and startup activity while spreading this phenomenon worldwide. We also explore the role of VCs in startup success, the three horizons and six degrees of innovation, reasons why startups may fail, and much more. Full interview here: https://lnkd.in/gZc2yfbm FYDA Venture Partners FYDA Growth Partners Network VC Techne Infiniti Ventures

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what city should you build your startup in? I was in SF for a few days last week and I've been reflecting on this age old debate what I've noticed about this question, is that people always talk their bags. - if you live in LA, you'll talk about quality of life - if you live in NYC, you'll talk about how cosmopolitan NYC is - if you live in SF, you'll talk about how SF is coming back - if you live in St. Louis or some other random city, you'll talk about how great remote work is having lived in 3 major hubs - SF, LA, and now NYC - I've come up with a simple heuristic for making this decision: there's a spectrum: SF -> NYC -> .... -> middle of nowhere the more advantages you have, the further right you can (not "should") move. advantages include: - strong network (of investors, hires, customers, etc) - experience in startups - experience building great software - strong work ethic - credibility in startups (e.g. multi-time founder, worked at a top tech co) - traction with your company the reality is, because SF has so much density of people who have invested in and built the most influential tech companies in the world (even still after the pandemic) and because there's basically nothing to do there except work, it is the best place to passively accumulate these advantages. this means, for most unproven, non-conventional founders (esp. who are new), SF is the best place to be. and even for folks with every advantage, it's still crucial to visit SF and build relationships with people who live there. I remember hearing a stat that YC companies based in SF were 2-3x more likely to succeed than ones that weren't. so why am I living in NYC instead of SF? family at the end of the day, stacking advantages is irrelevant if you don't have your basics accounted for. NYC is the closest tech hub to a lot of family that lives in Pittsburgh. as I've gotten older, being close to them has become more important to me. additionally, meeting a partner to start my own family is just easier in NYC than SF, which is something I'd like to do soon. I've noticed that my effectiveness as a leader is just exponentially higher when I'm in a loving relationship. having spent 8+ years in SF (on top of graduating from Berkeley and growing up in the Bay Area), I've also accumulated a lot of the advantages listed above. that coupled with staying active on twitter/linkedin and visits to SF nearly every other month, give me many of the benefits of the city without having to live there. there are many exceptions that do not follow this heuristic, but startup success is a probability game and the more things you can do to increase that probability, the better. fwiw SF is also one of the most beautiful cities in the world, this is a pic I took while on a walk during the pandemic

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