In partnership with

Hey y’all - In a world where headlines celebrate funding rounds and valuations, the real edge belongs to startups that prioritize clarity over capital. The most resilient founders aren’t just those with deep pockets, they’re the ones who deeply understand their users, iterate quickly, and say “no” more often than “yes.”

Clarity means knowing what not to build. It means doubling down on the one thing your early adopters can’t live without, rather than chasing every shiny feature or growth channel. It’s the art of simplifying your roadmap so execution becomes inevitable.

This week, ask yourself:

Because while capital buys time, clarity accelerates outcomes.

And in the long game of building something that lasts, clarity compounds faster than cash ever will.

Here’s today at a glance:

PS - Become a member to get access to my founder membership including an engaged community, fundraising support, fireside chats and more.

🔗 Mohit’s Picks

My favourite finds of the week 

• How Indian Startups Are Adopting AI And Real-Time Data To Drive Rapid Decisions [Link]

• How to Survive and Thrive in a Volatile Market [Link]

• How Square Yards Built A INR 1,400 Cr+ Business By Owning The Entire Real Estate Lifecycle [Link]

• Why most people have small personal brands [Link]

• 9 Side Hustles That Can Help You Replace Your 9-to-5 [Link]

• Top 10 Low-Cost AI-Based Business Ideas for Solopreneurs [Link]

• Lying To AIs In Prompts Might Lead To Trust Issues With Them Later [Link]

• Every leader should create a "how to work with me" guide. [Link]

💡Opportunity: The Solo Consultant Stack

India’s growing tribe of niche consultants, ex-bankers, product coaches, HR auditors, ESG advisors, are thriving independently. But most still juggle their operations manually, with scattered tools and patchy systems. That’s your opportunity.

👉 Opportunity: Imagine a purpose-built SaaS stack that lets solo consultants run like a lean, high-performance firm, without hiring.
Key features could include:

• Auto-generated client reports using call transcripts

• Proposal builders with modular pricing templates

• Smart invoicing with GST compliance and client-facing dashboards

• Feedback capture that auto-converts into case studies or portfolio highlights

🎯 Why now?

• LinkedIn is a serious lead machine for experts

• AI is reducing the “effort-to-outcome” ratio in service delivery

• There’s no CRM or operations tool truly tailored to solo consultants

Think of it as “Notion meets Superhuman for high-trust advisory businesses.”
These professionals aren’t looking to scale like startups, they want to scale impact without complexity.

The market is quiet, underserved, and hiding in plain sight. Yet the demand is real and rising.

Build the stack that makes one-person consultancies feel 10x bigger. The margins are great, the churn is low, and the word-of-mouth is powerful.

Sometimes the best SaaS play isn’t the loudest market, it’s the clearest signal.

🧠 Framework: The Fast Feedback Funnel

Before writing a single line of code, smart founders run their ideas through a Fast Feedback Funnel, a three-step system to test resonance and clarity in days, not months.

Step 1: ICP Screener
Use a simple Google Form with 3–4 questions to qualify your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). This ensures your prototype lands in the right hands.

Step 2: Prototype Call
Host a 15-minute call to walk prospects through a Figma mockup or Notion flow. Keep it lean, no feature dumping, just a narrative.

Step 3: Ask These 3 Questions:

1. What’s unclear?
2. What’s exciting?
3. What would make this an immediate YES?

Log every response in a single doc. By 5–7 calls, you’ll start to see repeat patterns. By 10, you’ll know what to build, and what to ignore.

User conversations aren’t a “phase” before building. They are your operating system.
Because clarity compounds faster than capital, and nothing clarifies like real feedback.

🛠️ Tool: UseBerry

UseBerry helps you validate UI/UX prototypes before writing a single line of code.

✅ Upload Figma, Adobe XD, or Sketch flows
✅ Share with target users
✅ Track where users click, drop off, or get confused

Ideal for:

• Pre-MVP testing

• Investor demo polish

• Early user onboarding testing

📈 Trend: “Pre-PMF” Founder Circles Are Going Private

A quiet shift is underway in India’s startup scene: early-stage founders are turning inward. Instead of building in public or sharing on Twitter, they’re forming intimate, private “pre-PMF” circles of 5–15 peers, founders all navigating the same zero-to-one chaos.

Inside these trusted micro-networks, decks are shared without polish, metrics are discussed without spin, and challenges are met with brutal honesty instead of performance. There’s no pressure to impress, only to build better, faster, and with more clarity.

Why it works:

• Deeper context leads to sharper advice

• Zero judgment when you’re pivoting or failing

• Honest feedback replaces performative validation

Popular tools:

• Telegram + Airtable: for instant founder intros

• Notion logs: linked weekly standups and progress tracking

• Monthly Zoom check-ins: 60-minute accountability rituals

These groups are less about networking and more about operating. Think of it as your own advisory board, except it’s made of people in the trenches with you.

In a world obsessed with virality and visibility, the strongest GTM hack may just be a small, brutally honest founder circle that keeps you grounded, focused, and shipping.
Sometimes, the best traction doesn’t come from the outside, it starts with 10 people who get it.

💬 Quote: Drew Houston (Dropbox) 

Startups aren’t a race to perfection, they’re a series of experiments, each nudging you closer to that one breakout moment. Every pitch, user interview, and iteration is data for your next move.

So don’t obsess over being the fastest or flashiest. Obsess over learning. Take the shot, again and again. Because the founder who keeps showing up, adjusting, and aiming smart? They only need one shot to land, and that changes everything.

🎯 Optimize for momentum.
📈 Aim for insight.
🔥 Bet on persistence.