Gaurav Rodrigues
@gaurav-rodrigues.bsky.social
Obsessed with building stuff that truly matters.
I can’t stop myself from doing napkin math at every place I go and reading Paul Graham essays in bed before crashing.
I post random stuff I find interesting & juicy. Once in a while, it resonates with all.
I can’t stop myself from doing napkin math at every place I go and reading Paul Graham essays in bed before crashing.
I post random stuff I find interesting & juicy. Once in a while, it resonates with all.
Stewart Butterfield spent 3 years building Glitch, a multiplayer game.
Shut it down Nov 2012. Users didn't stick.
Pivoted to their internal chat tool: Slack.
$1M revenue in 3 weeks.
$1.2B valuation 8 months later.
Listen to what users actually need.
#BuildInPublic #Founders #StartupLessons
Shut it down Nov 2012. Users didn't stick.
Pivoted to their internal chat tool: Slack.
$1M revenue in 3 weeks.
$1.2B valuation 8 months later.
Listen to what users actually need.
#BuildInPublic #Founders #StartupLessons
February 17, 2026 at 7:14 PM
Stewart Butterfield spent 3 years building Glitch, a multiplayer game.
Shut it down Nov 2012. Users didn't stick.
Pivoted to their internal chat tool: Slack.
$1M revenue in 3 weeks.
$1.2B valuation 8 months later.
Listen to what users actually need.
#BuildInPublic #Founders #StartupLessons
Shut it down Nov 2012. Users didn't stick.
Pivoted to their internal chat tool: Slack.
$1M revenue in 3 weeks.
$1.2B valuation 8 months later.
Listen to what users actually need.
#BuildInPublic #Founders #StartupLessons
Alex Florescu built an image optimization API. Fast, efficient, useless.
Too technical. No one could use it.
He pivoted: Built a WordPress plugin instead.
$50K/mo. 1M+ websites.
Focus beats features every time.
#BuildInPublic #Startups #Bootstrapped
Too technical. No one could use it.
He pivoted: Built a WordPress plugin instead.
$50K/mo. 1M+ websites.
Focus beats features every time.
#BuildInPublic #Startups #Bootstrapped
February 17, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Alex Florescu built an image optimization API. Fast, efficient, useless.
Too technical. No one could use it.
He pivoted: Built a WordPress plugin instead.
$50K/mo. 1M+ websites.
Focus beats features every time.
#BuildInPublic #Startups #Bootstrapped
Too technical. No one could use it.
He pivoted: Built a WordPress plugin instead.
$50K/mo. 1M+ websites.
Focus beats features every time.
#BuildInPublic #Startups #Bootstrapped
David Karp built Tumblr in his bedroom at 21.
No investors. No co-founder. Just 2 weeks of code.
Launched with 75,000 users in first 2 weeks.
6 years later: Yahoo bought it for $1.1 billion.
Young, fast, and solo beats slow and funded.
#BuildInPublic #Startups #SoloFounder
No investors. No co-founder. Just 2 weeks of code.
Launched with 75,000 users in first 2 weeks.
6 years later: Yahoo bought it for $1.1 billion.
Young, fast, and solo beats slow and funded.
#BuildInPublic #Startups #SoloFounder
February 17, 2026 at 8:10 AM
David Karp built Tumblr in his bedroom at 21.
No investors. No co-founder. Just 2 weeks of code.
Launched with 75,000 users in first 2 weeks.
6 years later: Yahoo bought it for $1.1 billion.
Young, fast, and solo beats slow and funded.
#BuildInPublic #Startups #SoloFounder
No investors. No co-founder. Just 2 weeks of code.
Launched with 75,000 users in first 2 weeks.
6 years later: Yahoo bought it for $1.1 billion.
Young, fast, and solo beats slow and funded.
#BuildInPublic #Startups #SoloFounder
Stewart Butterfield spent 4 years building a video game.
It flopped.
But the internal chat tool his team built?
That became Slack.
2014: Launched
2019: $20B IPO
2021: Salesforce bought it for $27.7B
Your 'side tool' might be the real product.
#Startups #BuildInPublic #ProductMarketFit
It flopped.
But the internal chat tool his team built?
That became Slack.
2014: Launched
2019: $20B IPO
2021: Salesforce bought it for $27.7B
Your 'side tool' might be the real product.
#Startups #BuildInPublic #ProductMarketFit
February 17, 2026 at 8:07 AM
Stewart Butterfield spent 4 years building a video game.
It flopped.
But the internal chat tool his team built?
That became Slack.
2014: Launched
2019: $20B IPO
2021: Salesforce bought it for $27.7B
Your 'side tool' might be the real product.
#Startups #BuildInPublic #ProductMarketFit
It flopped.
But the internal chat tool his team built?
That became Slack.
2014: Launched
2019: $20B IPO
2021: Salesforce bought it for $27.7B
Your 'side tool' might be the real product.
#Startups #BuildInPublic #ProductMarketFit
Maor Shlomo built Base44 as a side project after military service.
6 months later: 300,000 users. $3.5M ARR. Zero VC funding.
Wix bought it for $80M all-cash.
Profitable in month 5.
Bootstrapped speed beats funded competitors every time.
#BuildInPublic #Startups #MicroSaaS
6 months later: 300,000 users. $3.5M ARR. Zero VC funding.
Wix bought it for $80M all-cash.
Profitable in month 5.
Bootstrapped speed beats funded competitors every time.
#BuildInPublic #Startups #MicroSaaS
February 16, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Maor Shlomo built Base44 as a side project after military service.
6 months later: 300,000 users. $3.5M ARR. Zero VC funding.
Wix bought it for $80M all-cash.
Profitable in month 5.
Bootstrapped speed beats funded competitors every time.
#BuildInPublic #Startups #MicroSaaS
6 months later: 300,000 users. $3.5M ARR. Zero VC funding.
Wix bought it for $80M all-cash.
Profitable in month 5.
Bootstrapped speed beats funded competitors every time.
#BuildInPublic #Startups #MicroSaaS
Jyoti Bansal sold AppDynamics for billions. Made 400 employees millionaires. Then called it his saddest day. Why? He realized he loved building more than the exit. Six months later he started Harness. Now also worth billions. Build for the problem not the money.
February 16, 2026 at 8:15 AM
Jyoti Bansal sold AppDynamics for billions. Made 400 employees millionaires. Then called it his saddest day. Why? He realized he loved building more than the exit. Six months later he started Harness. Now also worth billions. Build for the problem not the money.
Whitney Wolfe Herd got harassed out of Tinder.
She could've sued.
Instead, she built Bumble.
Women message first. Changed dating forever.
3 years later: youngest woman CEO to take a company public.
$13 billion valuation.
Revenge in the form of a better product. #WomenInTech #Startups #Founders
She could've sued.
Instead, she built Bumble.
Women message first. Changed dating forever.
3 years later: youngest woman CEO to take a company public.
$13 billion valuation.
Revenge in the form of a better product. #WomenInTech #Startups #Founders
February 15, 2026 at 7:34 PM
Whitney Wolfe Herd got harassed out of Tinder.
She could've sued.
Instead, she built Bumble.
Women message first. Changed dating forever.
3 years later: youngest woman CEO to take a company public.
$13 billion valuation.
Revenge in the form of a better product. #WomenInTech #Startups #Founders
She could've sued.
Instead, she built Bumble.
Women message first. Changed dating forever.
3 years later: youngest woman CEO to take a company public.
$13 billion valuation.
Revenge in the form of a better product. #WomenInTech #Startups #Founders
Tope Awotona pitched Calendly to 100+ investors.
All said no.
He bootstrapped with his life savings instead.
7 years later: $3B valuation. Solo founder. Profitable.
Sometimes the best investors are the ones who reject you.
#Startups #Founders #Bootstrapping
All said no.
He bootstrapped with his life savings instead.
7 years later: $3B valuation. Solo founder. Profitable.
Sometimes the best investors are the ones who reject you.
#Startups #Founders #Bootstrapping
February 15, 2026 at 7:28 PM
Tope Awotona pitched Calendly to 100+ investors.
All said no.
He bootstrapped with his life savings instead.
7 years later: $3B valuation. Solo founder. Profitable.
Sometimes the best investors are the ones who reject you.
#Startups #Founders #Bootstrapping
All said no.
He bootstrapped with his life savings instead.
7 years later: $3B valuation. Solo founder. Profitable.
Sometimes the best investors are the ones who reject you.
#Startups #Founders #Bootstrapping
Ben Chestnut started Mailchimp in 2001 as a side project.
No VC money. No board pressure. Just slow, steady growth.
20 years later:
Intuit bought it for $12 billion.
Most bootstrapped exit in tech history.
Patience beats hyper-growth.
#EmailMarketing #SaaS #Bootstrapping #IndieHackers #B2BSaaS
No VC money. No board pressure. Just slow, steady growth.
20 years later:
Intuit bought it for $12 billion.
Most bootstrapped exit in tech history.
Patience beats hyper-growth.
#EmailMarketing #SaaS #Bootstrapping #IndieHackers #B2BSaaS
February 15, 2026 at 7:25 PM
Ben Chestnut started Mailchimp in 2001 as a side project.
No VC money. No board pressure. Just slow, steady growth.
20 years later:
Intuit bought it for $12 billion.
Most bootstrapped exit in tech history.
Patience beats hyper-growth.
#EmailMarketing #SaaS #Bootstrapping #IndieHackers #B2BSaaS
No VC money. No board pressure. Just slow, steady growth.
20 years later:
Intuit bought it for $12 billion.
Most bootstrapped exit in tech history.
Patience beats hyper-growth.
#EmailMarketing #SaaS #Bootstrapping #IndieHackers #B2BSaaS
Jan Koum was on food stamps in California.
Applied to Facebook. Rejected.
Applied to Twitter. Rejected.
Built WhatsApp instead.
Facebook bought it for $19 billion.
Sometimes rejection is redirection.
#Bootstrapping #StartupStories #Entrepreneurship #GrowthHacking #Founders
Applied to Facebook. Rejected.
Applied to Twitter. Rejected.
Built WhatsApp instead.
Facebook bought it for $19 billion.
Sometimes rejection is redirection.
#Bootstrapping #StartupStories #Entrepreneurship #GrowthHacking #Founders
February 15, 2026 at 7:20 PM
Jan Koum was on food stamps in California.
Applied to Facebook. Rejected.
Applied to Twitter. Rejected.
Built WhatsApp instead.
Facebook bought it for $19 billion.
Sometimes rejection is redirection.
#Bootstrapping #StartupStories #Entrepreneurship #GrowthHacking #Founders
Applied to Facebook. Rejected.
Applied to Twitter. Rejected.
Built WhatsApp instead.
Facebook bought it for $19 billion.
Sometimes rejection is redirection.
#Bootstrapping #StartupStories #Entrepreneurship #GrowthHacking #Founders
Tony Dinh built TypingMind in one weekend after ChatGPT's API launch.
Solved ChatGPT's missing search and folders.
No ads. No VC funding. No team.
Hit $10K revenue in 10 days.
$500K in year one.
Speed beats perfection every time.
#BuildInPublic #MicroSaaS #ProductHunt
Solved ChatGPT's missing search and folders.
No ads. No VC funding. No team.
Hit $10K revenue in 10 days.
$500K in year one.
Speed beats perfection every time.
#BuildInPublic #MicroSaaS #ProductHunt
February 15, 2026 at 7:09 PM
Tony Dinh built TypingMind in one weekend after ChatGPT's API launch.
Solved ChatGPT's missing search and folders.
No ads. No VC funding. No team.
Hit $10K revenue in 10 days.
$500K in year one.
Speed beats perfection every time.
#BuildInPublic #MicroSaaS #ProductHunt
Solved ChatGPT's missing search and folders.
No ads. No VC funding. No team.
Hit $10K revenue in 10 days.
$500K in year one.
Speed beats perfection every time.
#BuildInPublic #MicroSaaS #ProductHunt
Val Sopi built BlogMaker in 20 hours as a personal challenge.
No AI. No team. Just him and CodeIgniter.
First customer paid on launch day.
Today: 5-figure ARR, 50% month-over-month growth.
Speed beats perfection. Ship fast, iterate faster.
#IndieHackers #SaaS #Bootstrapping
No AI. No team. Just him and CodeIgniter.
First customer paid on launch day.
Today: 5-figure ARR, 50% month-over-month growth.
Speed beats perfection. Ship fast, iterate faster.
#IndieHackers #SaaS #Bootstrapping
February 15, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Val Sopi built BlogMaker in 20 hours as a personal challenge.
No AI. No team. Just him and CodeIgniter.
First customer paid on launch day.
Today: 5-figure ARR, 50% month-over-month growth.
Speed beats perfection. Ship fast, iterate faster.
#IndieHackers #SaaS #Bootstrapping
No AI. No team. Just him and CodeIgniter.
First customer paid on launch day.
Today: 5-figure ARR, 50% month-over-month growth.
Speed beats perfection. Ship fast, iterate faster.
#IndieHackers #SaaS #Bootstrapping
Sahil Lavingia failed to raise his Series B in 2015. Had to lay off 75% of Gumroad staff. Silicon Valley called him a failure. He stopped playing their game. Today Gumroad does $10M ARR with 1 employee: Sahil. Profitability is the ultimate freedom. #Startups #Bootstrapping #Founders
February 14, 2026 at 7:09 PM
Sahil Lavingia failed to raise his Series B in 2015. Had to lay off 75% of Gumroad staff. Silicon Valley called him a failure. He stopped playing their game. Today Gumroad does $10M ARR with 1 employee: Sahil. Profitability is the ultimate freedom. #Startups #Bootstrapping #Founders
Instagram: built in 8 weeks, as a side project, on weekends.
Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger had day jobs. Built Burbn, then stripped it to ONE feature.
$1B exit 2 years later.
Weekend builders ship faster.
#Startups #BuildInPublic #WeekendBuilders
Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger had day jobs. Built Burbn, then stripped it to ONE feature.
$1B exit 2 years later.
Weekend builders ship faster.
#Startups #BuildInPublic #WeekendBuilders
February 14, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Instagram: built in 8 weeks, as a side project, on weekends.
Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger had day jobs. Built Burbn, then stripped it to ONE feature.
$1B exit 2 years later.
Weekend builders ship faster.
#Startups #BuildInPublic #WeekendBuilders
Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger had day jobs. Built Burbn, then stripped it to ONE feature.
$1B exit 2 years later.
Weekend builders ship faster.
#Startups #BuildInPublic #WeekendBuilders
Anthropic just raised $30B at a $380B valuation.
While everyone's building AI chatbots, they're building the rails.
Infrastructure always wins. Apps are commoditized.
The picks-and-shovels play never gets old.
#Startups #AI #VentureCapital #Founders #TechNews
While everyone's building AI chatbots, they're building the rails.
Infrastructure always wins. Apps are commoditized.
The picks-and-shovels play never gets old.
#Startups #AI #VentureCapital #Founders #TechNews
February 13, 2026 at 7:10 PM
Anthropic just raised $30B at a $380B valuation.
While everyone's building AI chatbots, they're building the rails.
Infrastructure always wins. Apps are commoditized.
The picks-and-shovels play never gets old.
#Startups #AI #VentureCapital #Founders #TechNews
While everyone's building AI chatbots, they're building the rails.
Infrastructure always wins. Apps are commoditized.
The picks-and-shovels play never gets old.
#Startups #AI #VentureCapital #Founders #TechNews
Anthropic just raised $30B at a $380B valuation.
While everyone builds AI chatbots, they're building the rails.
Infrastructure always captures more value than applications.
The picks and shovels play wins again.
#Startups #AI #VentureCapital #Founders #TechNews
While everyone builds AI chatbots, they're building the rails.
Infrastructure always captures more value than applications.
The picks and shovels play wins again.
#Startups #AI #VentureCapital #Founders #TechNews
February 13, 2026 at 7:07 PM
Anthropic just raised $30B at a $380B valuation.
While everyone builds AI chatbots, they're building the rails.
Infrastructure always captures more value than applications.
The picks and shovels play wins again.
#Startups #AI #VentureCapital #Founders #TechNews
While everyone builds AI chatbots, they're building the rails.
Infrastructure always captures more value than applications.
The picks and shovels play wins again.
#Startups #AI #VentureCapital #Founders #TechNews
ElevenLabs just raised $500M at $11B valuation.
13 months ago? $3.7B.
That's a 3x jump.
The lesson: They didn't build "AI for everything."
They built voice AI. Just voice.
Vertical depth beats horizontal breadth.
Every time.
#AI #Startups #VoiceAI #TechTrends
13 months ago? $3.7B.
That's a 3x jump.
The lesson: They didn't build "AI for everything."
They built voice AI. Just voice.
Vertical depth beats horizontal breadth.
Every time.
#AI #Startups #VoiceAI #TechTrends
February 13, 2026 at 8:12 AM
ElevenLabs just raised $500M at $11B valuation.
13 months ago? $3.7B.
That's a 3x jump.
The lesson: They didn't build "AI for everything."
They built voice AI. Just voice.
Vertical depth beats horizontal breadth.
Every time.
#AI #Startups #VoiceAI #TechTrends
13 months ago? $3.7B.
That's a 3x jump.
The lesson: They didn't build "AI for everything."
They built voice AI. Just voice.
Vertical depth beats horizontal breadth.
Every time.
#AI #Startups #VoiceAI #TechTrends
AI startups raised $165M+ TODAY alone.
From lab-grown brain chips to AI agents managing money - the pace is wild.
But here's the thing: funding ≠ execution.
The solo founders building lean are still winning. 🚀
#StartupLife #Entrepreneurship #AI
From lab-grown brain chips to AI agents managing money - the pace is wild.
But here's the thing: funding ≠ execution.
The solo founders building lean are still winning. 🚀
#StartupLife #Entrepreneurship #AI
February 12, 2026 at 7:04 PM
AI startups raised $165M+ TODAY alone.
From lab-grown brain chips to AI agents managing money - the pace is wild.
But here's the thing: funding ≠ execution.
The solo founders building lean are still winning. 🚀
#StartupLife #Entrepreneurship #AI
From lab-grown brain chips to AI agents managing money - the pace is wild.
But here's the thing: funding ≠ execution.
The solo founders building lean are still winning. 🚀
#StartupLife #Entrepreneurship #AI
Former GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke raised $60M for his new startup Entire. It helps developers manage AI-generated code by pairing it with context. The lesson: Build infrastructure for the AI era, not tools for old workflows.
February 12, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Former GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke raised $60M for his new startup Entire. It helps developers manage AI-generated code by pairing it with context. The lesson: Build infrastructure for the AI era, not tools for old workflows.
Meridian raised $17M for AI financial modeling. Not an Excel add-on - a standalone platform with verifiable outputs and audit trails. $5M in contracts weeks after launch. The lesson: Don't automate the old workflow. Build the new one. #StartupFunding #AIAgents
February 12, 2026 at 8:02 AM
Meridian raised $17M for AI financial modeling. Not an Excel add-on - a standalone platform with verifiable outputs and audit trails. $5M in contracts weeks after launch. The lesson: Don't automate the old workflow. Build the new one. #StartupFunding #AIAgents
AI funding is wild right now. Sapiom raised $15M to let AI agents buy their own tools autonomously. We are watching AI systems become actual economic actors - the shift from AI as tool to AI as independent operator is happening faster than expected. #AIAgents #StartupFunding #AI
February 11, 2026 at 7:01 PM
AI funding is wild right now. Sapiom raised $15M to let AI agents buy their own tools autonomously. We are watching AI systems become actual economic actors - the shift from AI as tool to AI as independent operator is happening faster than expected. #AIAgents #StartupFunding #AI
The startup playbook just changed.
2026 isn't about building better chatbots. It's about AI agents that DO things - negotiate contracts, manage workflows, source components.
Elite teams now orchestrate hundreds of digital workers instead of large departments.
#StartupLife #AI #Entrepreneurship
2026 isn't about building better chatbots. It's about AI agents that DO things - negotiate contracts, manage workflows, source components.
Elite teams now orchestrate hundreds of digital workers instead of large departments.
#StartupLife #AI #Entrepreneurship
February 11, 2026 at 8:01 AM
The startup playbook just changed.
2026 isn't about building better chatbots. It's about AI agents that DO things - negotiate contracts, manage workflows, source components.
Elite teams now orchestrate hundreds of digital workers instead of large departments.
#StartupLife #AI #Entrepreneurship
2026 isn't about building better chatbots. It's about AI agents that DO things - negotiate contracts, manage workflows, source components.
Elite teams now orchestrate hundreds of digital workers instead of large departments.
#StartupLife #AI #Entrepreneurship
2026 is shaping up to be a great year for entrepreneurs. The tools are here, the opportunity is clear. Time to build. #StartupLife #Entrepreneurship
February 10, 2026 at 7:02 PM
2026 is shaping up to be a great year for entrepreneurs. The tools are here, the opportunity is clear. Time to build. #StartupLife #Entrepreneurship