An Operator's Blog - with Soumitra Sharma

This episode delves in-depth into building a Prosumer AI startup. We cover everything from overlooked spaces in AI, how to choose problem statements as a founder, learnings on upfront market research & customer discovery, creating defensibility in Prosumer AI, managing the foundation model layer, including closed source vs open source, Prosumer GTM, particularly influencers and affiliate marke...

This episode delves in-depth into building an AI Applications startup in the area of Compliance.  We cover everything from how to choose problem statements as a founder including a 2x2 framework for idea evaluation, approaching building in “boring” verticals, executing an effective customer discovery process, thinking through product differentiation in the Applications layer, evolution of GTM in t...

This episode delves in-depth into the present market landscape, challenges & opportunities being navigated by AI infra startups in the Bay Area.  We cover everything from parts of the AI ecosystem that are overhyped and underhyped, real AI infra pain points & apprehensions of enterprise customers, nuances of leveraging closed source vs open source models in enterprise infra, discovering ga...

This episode goes in-depth into the key operating aspects of building & scaling a US-India Enterprise Dev Tools Startup.  We cover everything from the ground reality of how AI is impacting enterprise dev tools, why engineering founders should code less & sell more, thinking through ICPs, MVP best practices, GTM approaches, including outbound and events, the importance of founder-led sales,...

This episode goes in-depth into Skydo’s journey from Day 0 to emerging as a category leader in India's cross-border B2B payments today, helping more than 6,000 Indian products & services exporters receive payments from 150+ countries & in 32+ currencies. We cover everything from the untapped cross-border payments opportunity, learnings from fintech MVP iterations, doing customer resear...

This episode goes in-depth into the key operating aspects of finding & working with US design partners as a US-India cross-border founder.  We cover everything from correctly defining who a design partner is, major categories and personas on the B2B side, discovering, qualifying, convincing & engaging them including navigating their organization structure, partnering with them to build ear...

This episode goes in-depth into the key operating aspects of building & scaling a US-India cross-border AI startup serving the US financial services market. We cover everything from customer behavior & AI adoption patterns by large US financial services enterprises, approaches & frameworks for building fintech MVPs, state-wise & country-wise regulatory & business nuances, AI’s...

This episode explores US GTM strategies, playbooks, and learnings for US-India B2B founders. We cover everything from the playbook for finding the shortest way to PMF with the least capital raised, step-by-step framework for building B2B software MVPs, nuances of serving customers in the US vs India, finding US design partners including the best ways to generate leads & get warm intros, and fi...

This episode goes in-depth into what founders can do to engineer & navigate an exit for their startup. We cover everything from various types of exit routes (classic M&A, Private Equity buyouts, acqui-hires, asset sales, etc.), what large acquirers look for, generating acquisition interest, fielding corp dev inbounds, valuation methods, key deal terms, how to become diligence-ready, and fi...

This episode discusses the ground realities and daily challenges of moving to the US to build your startup as an India-based founder. We cover everything from the first 90 days, logistics & compliance issues, acquiring early US customers, evolving the product roadmap from Indian to US customers, setting PMF goals & KPIs, relationship-building & other US GTM tips. Joining me for this di...

Most investors try to “slot” startups in their heads, whereas extraordinary venture outcomes lie in the “slot violations”. Source post - https://operator.blog/2025/02/13/insight-arbitrage/ *Audio Overviews generated via NotebookLM. ***** Check out "An Operator's Blog" (https://operator.blog/) for weekly posts on Startups, Investing, and Life. I am a venture investor focused on the US...

This episode goes in-depth into building a US-India marketing tech startup. We cover everything from finding & engaging with 0-to-1 design partners, building MVPs, using Indian customers as a springboard to global markets, US GTM best practices & case studies, how to differentiate against global competition including the value of product craftsmanship, org. design, pricing, and finally, le...

Eliminating weak links that introduce the possibility of Ruin is key to thriving in the real world. Source post - https://operator.blog/2025/01/15/avoiding-risk-of-ruin/ *Audio Overviews generated via NotebookLM. ***** Check out "An Operator's Blog" (https://operator.blog/) for weekly posts on Startups, Investing, and Life. I am a venture investor focused on the US-India corridor. Feel free to rea...

This episode goes in-depth into the current state of the AI Agent landscape and how US-India SaaS founders should manage this AI transition.  In the 1st half, we cover key facets of the agentic market, including horizontal and vertical use cases, how customers are adopting them, challenges in going from zero to demo to production, and what startups can do to stay relevant in this fast-evolving opp...

Presenting a compilation of my best ideas & observations from 2024. Source post - https://operator.blog/2024/12/26/my-best-ideas-of-2024-a-compilation/ *Audio Overviews generated via NotebookLM. ***** Check out "An Operator's Blog" (https://operator.blog/) for weekly posts on Startups, Investing, and Life. I am a venture investor focused on the US-India corridor. Feel free to reach out on Link...

From my vantage point as a US-India venture investor, sharing what I observed in 2024 and my expectations from 2025. Source post - https://operator.blog/2025/01/02/us-india-india-to-the-world-2024-recap-2025-expectations/ *Audio Overviews generated via NotebookLM. ***** Check out "An Operator's Blog" (https://operator.blog/) for weekly posts on Startups, Investing, and Life. I am a venture investo...

This episode explores the playbook, mindset, and tips to fundraise as an immigrant founder in Silicon Valley. We cover everything from dealing with cultural baggage, getting warm intros and building trust, prepping your startup to be venture-fundable, storytelling to stand out amongst the crowd, leaning on peer founders and mentors, going from leads to warm conversations to money in the bank, the...

This episode goes in-depth into building a US-India robotics startup. We cover everything from how to build robotics MVPs, acquire early US design partners, structure and manage a global supply chain, US GTM approaches, hire deep tech talent, and finally, tips and playbooks for fundraising in Silicon Valley as an Indian robotics startup. Joining me for this discussion is Abhinav Das, co-founder an...

This episode explores GTM strategies and learnings for US-India B2B SaaS startups. We cover everything from finding design partners in the US, scoping MVPs, figuring out what ICP to focus on, navigating the unique challenges of early PMF, GTM hiring in the US, and finally, working towards creating M&A exit options. Joining me for this discussion is Satya Ganni, an experienced SaaS founder and...

This episode goes in-depth into various aspects of community-building as a US-India startup. We cover everything from should 0-to-1 founders spend time on community-building, what type of community-building initiatives to focus on, best practices from Airbase’s ‘Off the Ledger’ community of CFOs, how to drive tangible business outcomes from community events, and finally, some learnings on relation...

This episode is an in-depth discussion of going 0-to-1 as a US-India dev tool startup. We cover everything from how to identify market gaps, ways to think about dev tools MVPs, leveraging the India developer market to build global products, comparing various GTM channels like Hacker News, GitHub, Reddit, LinkedIn & open-source communities, learnings from shuttling between the US and India and...

This episode goes in-depth into contrasting the product ecosystems of Silicon Valley versus India. We cover everything from similarities & differences between product leaders in both ecosystems, their product-building philosophies, what they can learn from each other, and a bonus section on how US-India founders should approach community-building and networking in the Bay Area.  Joining me for...

I am experimenting with a new format in this episode. To surface truly helpful operating tips and insights for India-based founders looking to expand in the US, this discussion goes in-depth into case studies across a startup’s lifecycle and based on real scenarios I frequently encounter as a US-India VC investor. This episode covers everything from how an idea stage founder starting up in India s...

This is an in-depth discussion on how US-India startups can use curated events to drive US GTM. It covers topics such as what type and stage of startups are most suited for leveraging an event-based GTM strategy, operating learnings around event design and planning, a deep dive into the CXO roundtable format, and tracking the ROI of these events. Joining me for this discussion are Nivas Ravichandr...

This is an in-depth jamming session on how Indian startups should look at AI, including real addressable opportunities, how to differentiate and compete against global competitors, what pre-AI SaaS startups should do to stay relevant, the India domestic AI opportunity, and finally, operating learnings for US go-to-market. Joining me for this discussion is Thiyagarajan Maruthavanan (Rajan) - Managi...