Ankita Chopra’s Post

I have exciting news to share! 🚀 Last week I hit a very important milestone: The end of my 9 to 5 journey. And now I can say: Hi! I'm Jose, co-founder and CEO of 23harmony Studio. Quick facts about me: → I'm 29 and married to Andreea 🥰 → I grew up in a remote town in Patagonia 🏞️ → I worked in recruitment, sales and finance 👨💻 → I love business, economics and sustainability 📚 → We have two little cats: Thumbelina and Biscuit 🧚🍪 → We lived in Germany and moved to Spain last year 🌴 My purpose in life is to bring value to society so we can all live better lives. Startups are a great vehicle to achieve this improvement. We've never faced such challenging times in history. That's why we want to help inspiring founders bring their impact-driven ideas to life. Let me tell you what 23harmony Studio is about: We help tech startups build high-quality and easy to use apps and software products. What makes us different? 𝗪𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 → Our business is built for startups. → Flat fee. No hidden costs or surprises. → 100% flexible. Pause, resume or cancel anytime. 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 → Optimized workflow for fast-paced startups. → We focus on 1 task at a time to maximize speed. → When we're done, your devs can turn on their magic. 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗽𝗽 → Seamless, efficient and transparent collaboration. → Set prios, add tasks, feedback and real time updates. → All in one place: your personal design dashboard. Today is the beginning of the rest of my life. And I couldn't be more excited! 🥳 We're gearing up and opening slots for Q1 2025: If you're building a product, DM me to book a demo and learn more! Wish you all a great start into the month 🙏

Alright, let's talk startup growing pains. You're scaling. You're ready to take over the world. But here's the thing - not all strategies work everywhere. It's a bit like trying to use a London tube map to navigate the Tokyo subway. Different places, different rules. I'm not just talking about translating your website or chucking in a couple of local phrases. It's about really getting under the skin of your target audience and understanding their culture. With international expansion a big piece for us, there isn't a shortcut around this. Go deep, do your homework, thrive. Agree? #internationalexpansion #growth #culture

🔥 As June comes to a close, I reflect back on what has been an incredibly productive and exciting month for Forum Ventures AI venture studio. We met with 3 of our newest venture studio Founders IRL in Toronto for an incredible kickoff. 3 intensive and immersive days of product, engineering, GTM, teaming and more. The learning? Do them as early as possible. Not only were the sessions productive, but it solves for a lot of the nuances of working together in a distributed manner early. We also sent our three founders to have dinner at the end without us. It takes a village. I ran sessions on teaming, and outside of the tactical what, when, how, and who they need to bring on as the initial hires, the conversations centered around the shared values the founders wanted to cultivate in their teams, fostering a safe space for diversity of thought, and building trust and transparency with a remote team. This reinforced how key the initial hires are. Great talent attracts great talent. On the hiring front, 2 of our Studio Companies, vanse.ai and Safeguards AI have brought on founding engineers! ☀️ What's in store for July? We have multiple opportunities open for Studio Companies, and we're looking for more Studio Founders in various sectors! Top of mind for us right now are real estate, financial services, highly regulated spaces, predictive maintenance, and chaos engineering. #venturestudio #regulatoryAI #realestate #financialservices #founder #predictivemaintenance #chaosengineering

I’ve been researching startups now for more than 4 months, And most Founders fail to give their audience "a reason to buy from them". Yes, I agree, from your point of view, you’ve come up with a technology that could potentially rewrite mankind’s destiny. But, your customers need help seeing it. They need help differentiating you from the rest. The uncomfortable truth is that, they already have a solution for the problem you’re trying to solve. Before Uber, people had taxis Before Notion, people had Google Docs Before Airbnb, people had hotels What you’re doing is providing a better alternative. But they won’t be able to see it until you help them see it. People have less time and more choices. Your success depends on whether you can make your audience differentiate you or not. That is why you need brand strategy. Brand Strategy is something you work on from the beginning, not later. If you’re interested in strategically differentiating yourself, drop me a DM.  _____________________ I’m Maalinee Ramu. I help tech companies escape the high failure rate by developing a strategy for their brand and translating their technical complexities into engaging messages.

I’ve loved the #FounderMode conversations, but let’s be real: some of it feels founder-centric to the point of self-absorption. That’s why Molly Graham’s insights hit home. Nailing #FounderMode means mastering how to scale yourself as a founder. It’s not just about hiring talent—you need to know who thrives in your orbit and be crystal clear about it. One of my biggest mistakes? Not doing that early enough. Graham also brilliantly outlines the traits of an effective startup operator: - Asking incisive questions - Solving problems from first principles - Translating founder vision into actionable plans - Embracing an experimentation mindset: try, fail, learn, iterate - A product mindset: prioritizing customer-centric, scalable solutions - The ability to speak truth to power and a willingness to fight battles/negotiate for the important things - Organizing and motivating people to get things done The role of an effective startup operator isn’t to be a “yes person” to the founder, "but rather to fundamentally understand the DNA of the founder and the company, and partner with the founder to build the strongest company possible." As founders, our job is to be humble, curious, and self-aware enough to recognize this. In Graham's words: "It is the journey of finding people that you WANT to learn from and you look forward to fighting/negotiating with – the journey of surrounding yourself with people who will make you better. " https://lnkd.in/emMzVmEq

You've probably heard a buzzy phrase floating around lately - "founder mode” - It sounds like a secret level in a video game, doesn't it? Like, if you can just unlock it, you'll suddenly know all the right moves to scale your startup to unicorn status. Paul Graham’s recent article talks about Brian Chesky’s journey at Airbnb and the distinction between founder mode and manager mode. According to Graham, founder mode is where the magic happens—you know, like Steve Jobs summoning his famous “reality distortion field” at Apple. But here’s the thing: Paul and his esteemed peers might have left out a few, shall we say, nuances. Don’t get me wrong, Brian Chesky is a legend, and there’s a lot to learn from his experiences. But can we all agree that the idea of a singular “right way” to run a startup just doesn’t exist? Spoiler alert: it’s way more complicated than just choosing founder mode over manager mode. Read more about the hard work that no one wants to talk about, but that women naturally excel at: https://lnkd.in/g65TbSMe

I am thrilled to announce the launch of our company, Realm, and €1.7M pre-seed led by Lifeline Ventures joined by many entrepreneurs and operators we admire. Realm is a conversational search engine that gives teams perfect memory. It helps companies find anything they’ve ever written. Millions of overlooked fragments can now be transformed into a mosaic of insights that employees can easily interact with. The mission is very important to us. We describe our team as friendly, ambitious nerds who think spreading knowledge is the foundation of any meaningful endeavor. When knowledge moves faster, the wheel of progress spins faster. We believe Realm can significantly improve how great teams operate. Today, we’re privileged to help many forward-looking companies do just that. We’ve only scratched the surface of what an LLM and accurate search with access to all your company’s tools can achieve. In the future, Realm will take action across your stack and help you do complex tasks on your behalf. If this mission resonates with you, let’s talk. https://www.withrealm.com/

Most innovative companies fall into the trap of bureaucracy as they scale, dragging even their most-driven employees into the abyss with them. It happens to the best of us. Are you... 🔴 More focused on covering your back than driving real results? 🔴 More concerned with making your manager happy than solving real problems for your customers? 🔴 Spending most of your time creating powerpoint presentations, attending never-ending meetings, and rehearsing for those meetings? Then you're full on in Bureaucrat Mode, so accurately described by Andrew Chen in his latest post. But fear not, there’s a way out, although not for the company plagued by the ”self-replicating bureaucrats” phenomenon. Enter tech’s circle of life: nimble new startups emerge to challenge the bureaucratic beasts and take over. If you ever struggled with bureaucracy, this is a must-read: https://lnkd.in/gc6rZhYY

In todays wild ride of a business world, speed is the new currency. For startups, getting your product out there faster than your competitors isnt just nice - its survival. And how do you do that? With a tight-knit, in-house team that operates like a well-coordinated sports team. Think about it: when your crew is all under one roof, collaboration happens naturally. Spontaneous ideas, quick pivots, and that magic spark that you just cant fake over Zoom. Whether you are crafting killer product features, designing UI/UX, developing, coding, or masterminding marketing and acquisition, having everyone in the same space keeps the energy high and the ideas flowing. Lets be real - remote work can sometimes feel like trying to brainstorm through a glitchy video call. Sure, you can make it work, but nothing beats the real-time arguement and instant feedback that happens when you are all in the same room. Its easier to spot that game-changing idea or fix that bug when you are face-to-face, not staring at a screen with a lag. Plus, building a strong company culture is way smoother when you are all sharing the same coffee machine instead of virtual backgrounds. Those everyday interactions build trust, camaraderie, and a sense of belonging that’s hard to replicate remotely. And when your team vibes well together, your startup vibes well too - driving operational efficiency and sustained growth. While remote and hybrid models have their perks, nothing beats having your team together - especially when you are in the trenches, hustling to bring your vision to life. Its about creating that synergy where every part of the team is in sync, pushing a startup to hit that time to market like a boss. So, if you’re aiming to make a splash and leave your mark, remember: an in-house team isn’t just a preference - its your secret weapon. Keep your squad close, keep the ideas flowing, and watch your startup soar. #Dosty #FoundersNote #TeamSpirit

What's the worst business for a first time founder? I get pitched ideas all the time, especially when I speak at universities. They typically go something like this. Them: “Hey, I’ve got an idea for a product. Would you be willing to give me feedback?” Me: “Sure!” Them: “I want to create an app that allows [X] to [rent/buy/meet/connect] from/with [Y].” Me: “Congratulations! You’ve chosen the hardest possible business to create.” Seriously, 95% of first time founders will pitch some version of a marketplace or social network. The top ideas I hear are: -Connecting people with local activities (sports, games, clubs) -Helping people rent things from each other -Dating app -Social network for [insert demographic] Don’t get me wrong, consumer products with network effects have created the most valuable companies in the world. It’s not that these are bad ideas, they are just bad ideas for a first-time founder. Why? -Slow to revenue–most of these companies struggle to monetize until they get to a critical mass which could take years. -Slow to start–It’s going to take months to even get an MVP of your product in the hands of the first user (especially with today’s expectations on consumer product experiences). -High startup costs–rarely can products like these be built by a single person. It’s going to take an extremely talented team, who’s unlikely to work for free (as most talented developers have been burned by equity only). -High failure rate–for every success, there are hundreds of failures with similar products. You have better odds in Las Vegas. It’s not their fault. I understand why people have these ideas–they’re consumers. Many haven’t even entered the workforce yet. The things they use and see around them are consumer marketplace or networking apps. They see the success that these products have had. And they don’t have any other ideas. That sounds very bleak, Josh. So what should a first-time founder do? That's what I answer in today's article on Substack. (link in the comments)