For anyone who is confused on what product market fit looks like, this is it! Had the fortunate chance of backing @Aa_Agarwl on day one, when this wasn't a category, and have seen him will this into existence. But we are just starting, so much more to be done. Like he said, back to work!

It was awesome speaking at YC Startup School India a few days ago. You could feel the collective builder energy. The students in that room will dictate what India looks like in the next 20 years 🫡

So inspiring to see and meet 2k builders in one place at YC Startup School India. Thanks a lot @ycombinator, @snowmaker, @agupta and @xuster for making this happen. The future is here and now!

What I told 2,000 future founders in Bengaluru today: 1/ We believe we are at the start of a second wave of Indian companies that will build world-class AI native products for the global market. Emergent and Giga are the model of the future. 2/ Just because a space seems crowded doesn't mean it's too late. Zepto, Emergent, Giga - none were first movers. Second mover advantage is real. 3/ In fact, a good formula for finding startup ideas is to look at ideas that are showing some promise and just execute them better. Execution is everything: if you're an exceptional engineer, and you can build and move faster than your competitors, you'll win. 4/ There is every reason to believe Indian teams can beat US teams building global products. The level of engineering talent here is on a whole different level, and that's the key input. 5/ In the AI era, the best founders are the ones building at the edge of what's technically possible. You need to be experimenting wth the latest models, the latest open source projects. 6/ Stay in the flow of information. Watch the right podcasts, follow the right people on X. With AI changing this fast, you need to know what the smartest builders are thinking. 7/ Most of the best startups don't come from someone explicitly trying to start a company. They start from someone building a project just for fun, or tinkering with a new technology because they are curious. India needs more of this "tinkering" culture - this is how you have novel ideas when technology is shifting quickly. 8/ Founders are getting younger. Aadit was 18 when he started Zepto. The Giga founders were 20 when they came to SF. Young people who can learn very fast have the advantage right now. 9/ The best founders are pushing AI coding to the max. You can now write 20K lines of code / day. One person can do the work that just a year ago would take a 100 person team. The best builders are taking advantage and building at Garry Tan speeds.

Tomorrow. YC Startup School India.

Must attend!

We just opened up applications for Standard Capital’s inaugural fall 2025 funding cycle!

Founders, just one office hour with @paultoo or @daltonc can change the trajectory of your company, and to have both of them on your side, is game changing! What an unbelievable combo! Had the fortunate chance to work with PB as our group partner when we went through YC, and Dalton when I was a Visiting GP. Fun story, PB coined the term 'Trojan Cow' to describe Supr in one of the group office hours and it became our go to way to describe the company. The trojan cow slide on demo day killed it!🐄 And, I learnt so much about being an investor by just shadowing Dalton🙏. There is no one who knows more about startups than him. Congrats guys!

Nexus Venture Partners is thrilled to announce Snabbit's Series A funding. Snabbit, India's first quick-service app for on-demand home services. We are excited to back the Snabbit team. @suvirsujan I @_puneetKumar I Aayush Agarwal #homeservices #innovation #India ecoti.in/bPvJWb

This needed to be said and @paulg has the superpower to name it and give founders the courage to follow this! @bchesky talks on this topic, especially the one with Lenny, is one of the most recommended talks by me to founders of scaling companies.

Puneet has been amazing to work with

Work with Puneet. He would be an amazing partner to you in your startup journey. @_puneetKumar

Excited to join @NexusVP as a Venture Partner and pay it forward to the startup ecosystem. After building multiple startups and investing in companies globally as part of @ycombinator, I am eager to partner with and learn from the next wave of entrepreneurs. Looking forward to work alongside @suvirsujan, @b_jishnu, Anup Gupta, @oneabhishek, @pratikpoddar, @Anand_datta, and our offices in India and the US. If you are building something or thinking about it, please reach out. I love talking to founders and learning about new spaces. Please drop a note at puneet@nexusvp.com.

Before we applied to @ycombinator, many folks said Jack and I were "too old" for it. They were well meaning, but never has worse advice been given. Our Group Partners @bradflora and @_puneetKumar accelerated us on product, sales, and even now on hiring. 10/10. Just apply.

Wow, just watched this, what a great epsiode by @daltonc and @lennysan, a must watch! I don't know anyone else who knows more about startups than Dalton. Kudos to Lenny for getting so many nuggets out of him in this episode.

The deadline to apply for YC S23 is tomorrow, Friday, April 7 at 8pm PT! Apply at ycombinator.com/apply.

Why should you apply to YC? ycombinator.com/why

Some of the open core companies in my YC W23 group this batch: github.com/dittofeed/dittofe… github.com/fern-api/fern github.com/inqueryio/inquery github.com/Mirrorful/mirrorf… github.com/map3xyz/superchar… github.com/ai-sidekick/sidek… github.com/swishjam/swishjam github.com/uptrain-ai/uptrai…

Thousands of startups and small businesses are at risk due to the SVB failure. We ask for depositors to be made whole, and for regulation to prevent this catastrophe. 650 founders who employ more than 22,000 people, have already signed. Please spread the word. ycombinator.com/blog/urgent-…

Congratulations to the 2023 YC Top Companies! There are now 16 public YC companies, 290 private YC companies and 33 exits that are valued at over $150M, and over 80 that are worth more than $1B. ycombinator.com/topcompanies